Different eras, different beauty standards. If you're interested in medieval costuming for instance, and you want to dress your doll in the "Butterfly Girl fashion for instance, would you be willing to follow that standard, to pluck the hairline (Or have a wig with a higher than usual hairline) very pale skin, and plucked eyebrows? Or for Elizabethan times, to have the dead pale skin, very red lips? Or Heian Japan, where not only was pale, powdered skin prized, but the eyebrows removed and painted on two inches higher, and the teeth darkened with a decoction of iron filings? All of these things might sound odd but they were part of the beauty standards of that time. Would you be willing to adopt a faceup that reflected those standards for your doll?
If I was buying a doll with that specific style in mind....sure! My resins are mainly characters from my own stories, so that hasn't been an issue so far. And for the ones that will do double and triple duty; I keep their palette neutral.
I've seen people do precisely that for dolls in costumes of various Periods! It's a very cool effect. It gives the whole doll a nice finished look, with the faceup matching the era of clothing.
My only historical doll is an 18th Dynasty Pharaoh, and he does have the "kohl" painted eyeliner and brows. However, I did skip the perfumes and oils, since I don't want to damage his resin.
I have a Heian girl in process and she will have the traditional teeth and makeup. She won't be very pretty by today's standards, but i think by hers she will be lovely.
I think she'll be adorable, Sakuraharu! I'm always interested in beauty standards and how they vary from time to time and country to country. I'm thinking of dressing my Feeple girl in nineteen-twenties gear, and that would need to include a new face up with twenties style makeup. My grandmother was a flapper, and I have a character based on her. ____________ CloakedSchemer (how I love your name!) Have you considered the scent locket, perhaps? It doesn't need to be an actual locket. Maybe something made of Milliput to look like an ankh in the hand? Or a talisman? It's just a thought. Some of those smells are so yummy, and they don't need to actually be *on* your doll, it could be tucked somewhere in the surrounding scenery too.
If I were to buy a doll with a specific time ear in mind, I would at least keep the styles of that time in mind. I'm sure I'd find a way to make it look authentic while still appealing~ (Iron teeth? Why was that a thing, I wonder?)
Iron filings in a liquid to stain teeth black, not white. It was known as ohaguro in Japan (one name for it) and an article about it can be found here: Ohaguro - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
