Forever faceups?

I always keep the same faceup. Once the character is set, I don't change them anymore.

 

I’ve been collecting and doing my own Faceups on my dolls since 2011, but the oldest Faceup I still have in my collection is from 2014 and it’s held up pretty well. I do want to redo it, as I can do better now, and have redone several of my dolls over the years to keep up with my vision as their characters evolve.

I do have a friend who has an even older Faceup of mine in her collection, and it’s held up well too since 2012. So it is possible to keep faceups nice for ages. They can start fading though after 10+ years, which is one reason why often Faceups get redone.

I did. have a thing happen where I redid one of my earliest Faceups form the beginning of 2012 in 2017-18, and I absolutely hated the new Faceup… like down right loathed it, I just lost the perfection of that old Faceup in the new version. I did eventually redo the Faceup again in 2021 when my doll got a new body and I had to color match him. I did some other things, like added scales, but once I was done with that Faceup, I felt reconnected to that doll. Even if it didn’t look the same as the one from 2012, he was perfect again.

 

I had a couple of dolls with a faceup that was 10+ years old, one of them maybe looked a tiny bit old in terms of the sealant colour but otherwise they both looked great, one was by a professional and the other by a friend. Most of my dolls get one faceup and I never change it again unless I change the character or the hair colour or something that requires it and that has only happened maybe once or twice. I still haven't found myself in the position of having to redo a faceup because it chipped or aged very bad or anything like that.
Since I sold a lot of dolls in recent times downsizing, my oldest dolls right now are 5 years old, and they still have the same faceup I did for them back then and it looks like I did it this week.
Maybe it's also because I keep my dolls in their boxes and I only take them out for photos so they're not continuously exposed to the light or environment in general.

 

All my dolls but one are 10+ years old and still have their original face-ups. Surprisingly, they're still in pristine condition. Some of them are from defunct companies, but I must confess, I tend to keep even the face-ups made by myself if they're good enough. I'm a creature of habit.

 

You can keep faceups for a long time if you’re careful, but like any other painted object the vibrancy of the colors will fade, especially in the blues and reds. I usually don’t make it past a few years before I’m refreshing a doll, but I have some that have held onto their faces and still look good, just a little paler.

 

The oldest face-up within my resin family is from 2015 or so, and it was the first face-up of that doll, made by a friend of mine back then. It hasn't aged at all in my eyes, but it is a really simple face-up so I'm not surprised. Also, I keep them away from the sun at all times, so I don't think there should be a discoloration.

 

I only just started collecting this year, but I think that once I'm happy with a face-up, I'll end up keeping it forever in most cases (unless it gets damaged of course, or I want to completely redesign the character). All of my currently-owned dolls are secondhand so they've arrived in various states. Some have their company face-ups and look great still so they'll probably keep them, one I've already had an artist redo the face-up for and can't imagine ever wiping, and another has a company face-up but I'm not happy with it, so I'd like to have it redone down the road. I think the only ones I'll wipe more than once are practice heads. I'm really bad at face-ups as I just started so I haven't made one that I'm happy with yet

 

Same. Their faceup is definitely tied to their character, and I take great strides to get it right the first time. I’ve been collecting since 2006, and all my doll’s faceups (both company and done by me) are still delightfully pristine. I have occasionally touched up a bit of damage from a ding, and I’ve “enhanced” a few existing faceups as needed for character. I have of course wiped a faceup and redone it on some dolls I purchased second-hand. A couple of times I’ve completely wiped and redone a faceup because a character completely changed. But nothing has ever required redoing because of fading. Once I’m completely happy with it, it seems to stay just fine.

 

I got my first resin BJD (head sculpts) with custom face ups from their respective makers. I always intended to keep them that way, although my main goal upon discovering these dolls was to customize them. My first two heads still have their original face ups, the oldest one from winter 2003-2004, by CP/Luts artist at that time, on a VDES head sculpt. The second one is from around winter 2006, by SoulDoll's artist at the time, on a Paris. I unfortunately wiped my 3rd BJD's face, because I wanted to mod the head (it's a huge long-*ss dilemma, so I won't explain).

I got a fully painted fourth doll with SoulDolls full body blushing and face up around 2007-8-ish, on a Bebe Aku. Whom, I also got that way intending on keeping that way forever, and still has all of it intact.

The dolls I've painted myself, I have redone multiple times, most of my older heads I don't even recall anymore how many times I've redone them. The ones I paint myself I don't mind redoing as often as I feel like I should. I kind of enjoy painting a little too much, so much so, that I have a hard time not wanting to keep repainting my own works (on dolls/toys). (:

 

I personally do not do face ups. I haven't got the skill set.
So all my dolls have either company face ups or artist face ups. I've never changed any of them if they came with a face up or if I've paid for one except for one head. I changed him in an attempt to reduce the yellowing in his sealant and I sort of regret it...his new face up is more extreme than his original one. He still needs a body anyway.

 

I have a couple of very, very old Volks dolls who still have their old-fashioned, original faceups. At this point, I'd really hate to have to replace them. Those old paint-jobs are like historical relics. The more the hobby moves on, the rarer and rarer they become. At this point, I sort-of feel like I need to keep them as archival examples of that earlier, now pretty much extinct, style.

Luckily, they're still in great shape. Primitive and very simple by modern standards... But still as solid as they ever were.

 

A lot of my dolls have faceups that are 10-16 years old. Some are ones I've done myself, some are from other artists.
Will I ever redo some of them? It's very possible. But there are some that are definitely here to stay unless they get damaged to the point of absolutely needing to be redone. and then I'll cry lmao

 

My first bjd still has her default faceup from six years ago. I don't always love it, mainly the colors aren't what I go for these days, but it's so beautiful that I won't wipe it til I have to.

 

Both my Elfdoll Soah heads have their company faeups from... erm... sometime around 2005/06ish I'd guess...


I can't imagine Sera not having this face as it's part of who she is. I either needed repainting, I'd ahve to find an artist wiling to emulate the original faceup.

Some of my others have had to be repainted due to fading of the colours, yellowing of resin, or damage to the faceup and it's always been a nail-biting experiene as to whether they weould come back to me as the same character they were before.

The most drastic change was a greening/yellowing issue (hybrid doll) who had to have a darker skintone t even out the colour of all the pieces, but it was explained away by a convalescent trip after an ilness and returning with a tan, since the talented faceup artist retained the essence of the original character.

Teddy

 

I seldom do faceups, and once they're done- by me or by a company or faceup artist -they tend to stay put. Sewing is more interesting to me- while faceups are fun, the production of getting out all the supplies and setting aside hours to work on them is less so (for me, at least).

 

I tend to wipe face ups pretty frequently bc i just love doing face ups and also i think that after some time passes i could do better :,) Only one out of 7 has her face up for over a year now but im also 100% satisfied with the way she looks so i think it will be her forever face up.

 

I do my own faceups (only one of my dolls isn't by me) and I like to redo them as the character grows or my skills improve. But I do have a couple I'm really happy with and likely won't change unless they chip or something has to be redone.

 

I hardly ever change a doll's faceup, so yes.

Victor especially will not be changing his faceup ever, if I can manage it.

It took me something like 4 tries to get him right, and he just IS. His faceup IS.