French Resin or Urethane?

I live in a tropical country and as such the humidity and weather are detrimental to something as delicate as french resin, plus I don't trust myself enough to take immaculate care of it. I have an all-urethane crew, and a couple of them can photograph beautifully with that lovely translucency that french resin gives. [One of them being my WS Lati M.]

 

About two years ago, I read a thread discussing the pros and cons of French and urethane resin, and it seems that the global opinion regarding French resin has shifted significantly. I remember that in that thread, most people recommended French resin, and said that color changes were not significant, nor were they troubling. Many people swore by French resin.

But after reading this thread, it seems that most people are bothered by the fast(er) yellowing of French resin. I think this is probably because French resin has been widespread for a while now, and it's had time to yellow.

For those wondering about the mechanism of yellowing, it has to do with resin oxidizing in air. So it is a process that you cannot stop, but can slow down. When oxygen is exposed to the surface of the resin, it yellows. French resin is much more porous, meaning that there is more surface area for oxygen to make contact. It can also penetrate deeper into the resin, which is why French resin yellows much faster.

I've not yet had a French resin doll, but I'm happy with the look of urethane resin (especially when blushed!). Maybe I will make the decision later when I encounter a must have doll that's only cast in French resin.

 

i actually bought my doll before i really new about resin and resin types, i bought a AS Luxifa which is in french resin, now that i know that he will eventually yellow faster i try and keep him out of the sun as much as possible, but his yellowing will not make me love him any less. He is my first bjd and i loev him to pieces, yellow or not lol. i dont think it should matter if its french resin or not, if you love the scuplt go for it! lol you just have to be more careful if you want to slow down teh process, all dolls will eventually yellow so its not such a big deal for me anymore.

 

I prefer urethane because of the reasons below:
1. It yellows less with time. I also prefer normal yellow skintone because of that reason if there is any choce.
2. It brings out the sculpt better while french resin tends to hide some features because of its transparency.

 

I prefer NS urethane dolls. The french resin dolls I've seen haven't interested me and I don't much care for WS dolls because yellowing is more obvious on them.

Most of my dolls are Volks pureskin and I love that colour. I have a doll from 2004 who has yellowed a little, but not particularly noticably compared to my newer dolls. The colour of Volks resin is very stable from batch to batch.

 

I think as everyone has already stated, there are so many different factors which affect how fast and evenly french resin yellows, that if this factor is going to bother you AT ALL when bringing a doll home, you should give french resin a miss I have a doll in FR and I love this aspect of her- BUT I purchased her when she was already a couple of years old, and had mellowed to a lovely, even, colour I don't think I would purchase a FR doll brand new, in case it did not yellow in this way, as it would be most disappointing for me

Addit: I can't really say which I prefer out of urethane & FR as my own dolls seem to suit the resin they are made out of- I love both resins, but for different reasons- I guess it really is a question of personal preference. Meaning, I don't think one resin is superior to the other, they just have different properties.

 

I love my French resin Narae dolls. Both are the tanning skin tone, and I've noticed very, very, very little yellowing over the last 3 or 4 years. There has been a slight color change, but not enough for me to worry about. I love the look of the French resin, but I honestly can't compare it to urethane, as I've never held a urethane doll in my hand.

 

I have a french resin doll and a urethane resin one.

French resin, even yellowed (as mine is second hand) is just glorious. Urethane to me isn't special enough for a bjd. Urethane is hardier in the yellowing process but it is too opaque to bring out the best of the beauty in these dolls. It looks too much like normal plastic for something that is worth hundreds of dollars.
Even yellowed french resin has a glow to them. They do yellow faster and I have fears whenever taking my doll for a photo session.

It boils down to: Handle both before you decide.
I'm all for french resin now because of how it looks IRL. I think french resin is hard to photograph their beauty. Urethane is easier to capture their full beauty.

 

I prefer urethane resin that is pinky in tone or tanned. There are more and more translucent resins coming out within the last year that are environmental resin, so it's an option for those seeking a less opaque look for their dolls.

I have one French resin doll and a French resin head. I got both of them second hand and they're both quite a few years old. The rate of yellowing for them at this point has likely decreased (hopefully!). My Narae is tanned, so she has a warm golden colour. Whereas my Narin head was probably originally golden beige, so he is now a yellowed shade. I hybrided him with an environmental resin Impldoll body (that has a yellow tone) and he looks great on it. I really love the faceup on my Narin, so I can't try to lighten him with the peroxide and baking soda method unfortunately.

 

To do this properly one has to have three classes of resin: French Resin, Natural Resin, and Polyurethane Resin, as these are the three main types of resin used.

French Resin I would not touch no matter how nice they look when new simple because of discolouring issues.

Polyurethane resin takes a lot longer to discolour, but not as long as good old fashioned natural resin.

So if I can get it I would prefer Natural Resin any day over French Resin and Polyurethane Resin.

YMMV, of course.

Phil.

 

The difference for me between French and other resin types is night and day. The beauty of the French cannot be matched. Color change does not bother me, I see it more as an organic change.

 

What is that Natural Resin?? Which companies use it?

 

I don't like french resin translucency to start with , so yeah..I prefer urethane dolls

 

As i read it correctly Natural Resin is made of tree sap.
javasoy posted interesting link about resin : http://www.abjds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1156 you might wanna read it.

(yay for the bunnies^^)

 

I'm quite new in this hobby, so before buying my first doll, I started massive research about yellowing. Because the doll I wanted as my very first was made from FR (AS Lucifer), after discovering, that French Resin yellows faster, I decided not tu buy it and started to search for another. After two months of search, I was sure that I want my Lucifer no matter what. Even if he will yellow, nothing will change, I will still love him. What I'm trying to say, is that for me it doesn't really matter what type of resin was used to create a doll if I love the mold. But I agree it's hard to make good photographs of FR dolls - I can't make even one decent photo that would show how beautiful he is in reality. On the other hand, I'm not the best photographer to begin with...
As for now, I'm trying to keep him out of the sun...

 

Personally, I like Urethane resin better, aesthetically. I don't have French resin, but I have seen someone else's in real, and I just didn't like it. You can see through and that makes it look like a flan to me. The fingers contained no colour at all... not really like real fingers, now is it?. =/

Too bad, because I really like some of Angellstudio's dolls. =/

 

I'm exactly the same, the mold matters the most for me and the material comes second. While I'm put off by the fact FR is harder to photograph I'd still buy a FR doll if I loved it more than any available in polyurethane. It's not just a choice of FR or PU, because often the doll you want won't be available in your first choice resin.
From the limitaed range of dolls I've seen I agree that FR can look a bit waxy but it can also look very luminous and nice. But I love photographing dolls so polyurethane is preferable for me. I don't actually worry too much about yellowing as it seems enevitable whatever the material but it's something I can live with.

 

I personally am not a fan of french resin because it seems to have a "greasy" look IMO. But I admit I'm probably the last opinion you should consider since I've never actually seen or held any dolls up close. Only a far glance a few times unfortunately but that is just my take on it.