Robyn from Barbie Life in the City

Robyn is a character in the Barbie Life in the City series.

Ebony-complexioned Robyn comes with a café kiosk with shelves and accessories. 

Robyn has a non-articulated petite body, brown painted eyes, rooted brown natural textured hair with auburn highlights, and paint-on black baby hair. She wears a pink fruit-print top with a pink skirt, and turquoise slip-on sandals.

The café kiosk

The playset includes a kiosk with shelving, a reversible "open" and "closed" sign, a cash register screen, and a service counter. A cup of coffee, a pretzel, a muffin, and a croissant are also included. Robyn also has a leashed puppy.

This photo of the top of the kiosk illustrates most of the café accessories and the puppy.

This is a closer look at the counter and cash register screen.

The kiosk, Robyn, and the puppy are illustrated on the back of the box.

Other Barbie Life in the City characters are also illustrated.

Two Brooklyn Barbie Life in the City playsets are featured on the back panel of the box.

Robyn poses with Brooklyn Barbie

A close-up headshot of Robyn and Brooklyn Barbie

Before she arrived, based on the prototype photos, I thought Robyn shared the same head sculpt as Brooklyn Barbie, but their sculpts are different. Robyn's head is marked ©2021 MATTEL. So she is relatively new. I am not sure if Mattel has used this sculpt before, but her face looks familiar. The toothy grin is a bit bothersome, but I can live with it until I decide to give her a closed mouth with acrylic paint. 

In the final picture, Robyn sits with Barbie Looks Model #10 for a complexion comparison.

Their complexions appear to be about the same.

 I pierced Robyn's ears with quilting needles, which are used as stud earrings. 

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Ebonilicious!

The ebony beauties are from L-R:  Princess of South Africa Barbie, Barbie Basics Model  No. 04, and Model of the Moment Nichelle (click to enlarge)

For some time now I have wanted to publish a post featuring natural-hair dolls.  This is that post.  The hair underneath the wig worn by the center doll, Barbie Basics (BB) Model No. 04, Collection 001, is a short cropped style.  For this occasion, however, she opted for a more dramatic look provided by the larger Afro wig borrowed from Urban Antoinette Adèle Makéda.  The other two ladies have tightly coiled natural tresses. 

Each doll has been redressed, some more recently than others.

Princess of South Africa Barbie wears a new metallic gold dress

Princess of South Africa (POSA) wears a metallic gold dress and coordinating black and gold, sequined shawl by eBay seller, barbie-couture.  As a repeat customer, I can attest that the quality clothes she sells are as she describes them:  durable, updated, and fashionable.  Use of stretch fabric, in most cases, allows her fashions to fit the rail thin ModelMuse body as well as the more curvaceous body POSA possesses.  The gold tone, bow-shaped choker worn by POSA is actually an adjustable ring.  The bow is encrusted with yellow faux diamonds.  Black and silver shoes from Barbie Basics Look No. 02, Collection 001 are the perfect complement to POSA's gold and black ensemble.

Wearing a little black dress or redressed, wigged or not, Model 04 is fully confident in the skin she's in. 

Having retired her little black dress nearly a year ago if not longer, Model 04 now wears the only solid color Barbie Fashionistas dress I have ever seen. The lavender color of the dress and her deep complexion are an appealing combination.  Her silver shoes are from Barbie Basics Look No. 02, Collection 001.5.  As mentioned previously, Model 04 borrowed the Afro wig from Adèle. 

Model of the Moment Nichelle, looks lovely in bronze and black

Model of the Moment Nichelle is the most recent of the trio to be redressed.  Her bronze lamé one-shoulder top, bangle bracelets, and shoes were borrowed from BB Model No. 08, Collection 002.5.  Initially she was going to go buck wild and wear the top alone to flaunt her shapely legs.  Actually she did this for a couple of days in the doll room, but some of the guys were getting a little "emotional" as a result of her overexposure. I thought the black leggings, made by Shasha of Atelier ni Shasha, would calm their emotions.  Girlfriend wouldn't have been able to do an about face without exposing her buttocks had she not put on those leggings.  Her bronze, star-shaped earrings were purchased on a card of five pairs from a local beauty supply store for a dollar. 

I usually buy most of my fashion dolls' earrings from that store and just as often dismantle these over sized, often dangle earrings to create multiple playscale-size earrings using paired pieces from the parts.   Model 04's bow-shaped choker was purchased there, too.  I usually use toe rings as necklaces for my playscale people, but, according to the clerk, they were sold out.  She kindly suggested an adjustable ring instead (not knowing I wanted to create a necklace for a doll).
  

Beauty can be found in people of all sizes, shapes, colors, hair textures and hair lengths.  These three inanimate, gorgeous representations of women and the people who look like them are proof that ebony skin and natural hair are included in the many combinations of beauty.  One standard of beauty is a myth.  


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