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Tan skin worries..... color changing?

Nov 28, 2016

    1. Okay, so this might be silly, but I'm a noob so please be easy on me lol. I have seen a bunch of tan skin dolls, and they're gorgeous! I would love to have one! But every time I look at different manufacturer sites they always say something along the lines of "tan skin may feature air bubbles, uneven coloring, raised seam lines, and rough surfaces". Also they say that it has a tendency to undergo "color changes" more quickly than other skin colors. I assume they mean the resin may change color at a faster rate?

      All of the tan skin dolls I have seen didn't seem to have any of these issues, but I'm wondering if anyone has gotten one that did? Since it is a "known issue" would a company fix something that was unsightly even if it was considered normal? Does anyone have pictures of any uneven coloring or bubbles on their tan skinned dolls? And when they change color do they still have a good coloring to them or are they off looking? Has anyone else been unreasonably scared off by this like I am? LOL! I'm sure I am overthinking it, but I just want to know other peoples experiences with Tan skin.
       
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    2. Also curious about this. I have bought a tan doll that is on its way to me and would like to know how it looks if it ''yellows''. I heard you cannot really mod some company tan skins? Is this true?
       
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    3. It depends on the company, really. Modern resin technology can give you a nice tan that's resistant to fading and the same color all the way through. Older resins, and the companies that still use them, can be subject to problems, but they're usually minor. I think the disclaimers on the company sites are just a CYA kind of thing. ;) When tan resin changes color, it's usually the red tones that fade first. So it doesn't exactly "yellow", just get "less red" if that makes sense.
       
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    4. Tan skin has a lot of reasons why it would be different. The company would have to use more dye to make the resin darker and that would cause uneven coloring, bubbles or swirls. Also the companies usually avoid sanding the resin because it cause the resin to have some lighter patches.
      Like alewife said, red tones are used more in tan skin and red tones are what breaks up first and disappears. Older tan skin dolls turn green as it mellows (think, red+green= brown, thus, red-brown=green). However, lately, many companies has improved the formula and reduced this issue. Also with this, many companies improved the technique of removing the resin from the mold that they don't have to really sand the doll so much to make it look good.
      They're honestly beautiful tone and don't fret about your doll having some oddities, it's normal and it's what gives it a character. ^_^
       
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    5. I've owned 4 tan dolls in the last 10 years. And unfortunately all of them for less than a year. But that has more to do with my finances and my changing taste in dolls. (sizes mostly)

      The four dolls I've had were beautiful. Since I haven't had a tan doll for long enough to notice any fading/yellowing/discoloring, I can't help there. But my dolls have all been beautifully made, no bubbles, no uneven coloring, no rough surfaces. I can't really tell you about seam lines as they've never bothered me, raised or otherwise.

      Three out of the four were all from the same company, Limhwa. My first was an MSD sized girl that I purchased back in 2009. She was maybe a little dusty looking, but not bad and mostly in the joints. She was still pretty smooth. Not as smooth as the other two from Limhwa though. The other two Limhwa's don't look dusty. Here's some pics of the girls so you can see the resin:
      2009 Limhwa
      2016 Limhwa

      You can see in the 2016 Limhwa picture that the girls are different colors. I purchased them from JunkySpot and I'm not sure how long they've been there. So maybe the resin color difference is the "yellowing" or they were from different resin batches. I'm not sure.

      And the other tan doll I have is from Ringdoll and I LOVE him. He is so beautiful. His resin is smooth and perfect! Haha.
      Ringdoll
       
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    6. Tan resin is absolutely gorgeous, but it requires a bit more care. You should not be worried about buying tan resin, but just be aware of the following:

      The oxidation process of a tan doll is called "greening" instead of "yellowing" because once the red pigment starts fading, the resin will gain a green hue. To reduce the oxidation process don't leave your doll in sunny places for prolonged periods of time. Always avoid direct heat (such as light bulbs, or heaters), and you can coat them with a bit of Mr. Super Clear UV cut if you become paranoid enough.

      Another thing to remember about tan resin is that it changes color if you try to sand off the resin. All dolls have some seam lines due to the manufacturing process, and they might even come with slight imperfections. Some lines/imperfections are more apparent than others, but on tan resin you can't sand them off because the tan resin will gain a white or smokey grey color.

      Finally, most companies will offer replacement parts if they come damaged during shipment, but most often, you may have to order replacement parts that have been damaged using their COA number.

      Personally, I own a handful of tan dolls because I love their color. A couple of my dolls actually have some oxidation. My Iplehouse Aurora in real skin resin has an even discoloration, but you can see a light green tint that does not appear at all in photographs. On the other hand, my light brown Iplehouse Storm has severe oxidation on his neck and his left forearm and the color is definitely green. Both are in the old resin, so unless glow skin matches the old, I can't get replacement parts >_<.
       
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    7. Do you have any photos to show the green tint it becomes? Will they turn green even if they are out of light most of the time or will it still happen over time?

      Does anyone know if RSdolls has the new kind?
       
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    8. I was going to post about it now. I'm going to buy my first doll, it's going to be a minifee chloe and i would love her to be tan, but i don't know if she's gonna be good for my first doll. Anyone has any recommendations? *Sorry about my bad english*
       
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    9. @Alewife @Cloudsorano @Dark Angel @Lady Alexiel very very helpful information! thank you all so much for explaining all of this to me! I am into Minifee mostly, so I would probably get a tan girl from them at some point. I would think they would have "newer" resin, as I have seen lots of tan through them and it always looks good. But I guess I'd have to see it in person to judge. I would love to see pictures where you all have mentioned it "greening" instead of yellowing. Im just not sure how green we're talking here lol!
       
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    10. I don't have a clear picture of Storm's greening because He is currently not on display, but if you focus on his neck area, you can more or less see the discoloration on his neck. If you are curious, I can take pictures of him this weekend.
      https://flic.kr/p/JS9V8C

      Sadly, Aurora's color does not show up in the pictures I have taken, but the green tint can be seen with the naked eye.
       
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    11. I can see it sliiiiightly but it doesn't look so bad as I thought to be honest. ^^ does make me feel relieved! I love tan dolls so much it's sad the light and age effect dolls in general :( some dolls turn out a very nice color when they yellow though.

      Thank you so much! and I would love to see more photos once you have the time!~☆
       
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    12. Oh, how I love tan dolls! I have owned so many. The only ones I ever noticed having any green tint at all were my Mirodoll girl in burnt sugar, who was quite visibly more green than my other tan dolls, and she arrived to me that way, and my Luts Senior Delf body in brown skin, but I think it only looks that way because I paired it with a Little Rebel brown head that is slightly more red toned than the body. The body doesn't look green to me on its own, and I've had it for a year.

      I have a chocolate skin Jie Doll Michel, who is a very dark brown environmental resin. I've had him for almost five years, and he is still a gorgeous color and not a single hint of green at all. He also has no marbling, no uneven color, no sanding marks, and no seams. I feel that he has aged better than most of my WS or NS dolls!

      The worst seams I've seen on a tan doll were DikaDoll, and that was in early 2013. They were very rough. Fairyland, Iplehouse, Luts, and Soom all have seams, but they weren't bad enough to bother me, and I haven't noticed any greening. The Mirodoll had horrible sanding lines, so badly that she couldn't wear anything that didn't completely cover her body. However, that was in early 2014, and a friend of mine has ordered several dark skinned Mirodolls this year who look a hundred times better than mine did! I've owned a dark tan ResinSoul/Bobobie hybrid who didn't exactly have seams or sanding marks, but did have marbling in the resin. My sister owned one in the light tan skin, and I don't recall it being uneven at all. We've owned tan Dollzone, Angel of Dream, IslandDoll, Elfdoll, and Impldoll and I don't recall uneven colors, seams or sanding marks on them, or any greening. I briefly owned a Minifee Celine in tan skin, and while Fairyland tan dolls are notorious for messy seams and snowflaking, I didn't see any flaws on her.

      Soooo....as you can see, it really varies by company, year the doll was made, and resin batch. I feel like most newer dolls, especially from well known companies, are probably not going to turn pea green or have seams so rough they'll cut you. If you want a tan doll, don't let fear stop you. Research the specific company. Find out if they are known to have any particular problems. If they have had problems, find out if they have been fixed. (Having trouble with tan skin in 2008 doesn't mean current batches are bad.) Look for owner photos of tan dolls from the company you are considering. Go to the discussion thread, ask questions of people who do own them. Start photo requests in the Reference>Photo Reference section. If you do your research, I think it'll help you feel more comfortable about your purchase. :)
       
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    13. If you love the tan resin colors there's generally no reason to avoid buying one as your first doll. I recommend that any time you are considering buying a new (or used) doll, you do your research to learn more about the company and the experiences others have had with them. If you have questions about the tan resin of a particular company you can visit the company discussion threads on Den of Angels and see what other members have to say about the tan resin.

      It's usually a good idea not to use sandpaper on a tan doll as you could reveal a different resin color underneath. Some companies will always sand seams, other companies won't ever sand seams, and sometimes a company will sand normal skin dolls but not tan skin dolls.

      While tan resins can experience severe greening it's not common enough to lose sleep over. Really strange discolorations (including lightening of the resin or uneven color aging) are more common in older resin dolls. Tan dolls aren't the only dolls that can begin to turn a bit green anyway. White skin dolls can definitely develop an unsettling green cast over time and normal skin dolls can become extremely yellow or olive over time. I see no reason not to pick the color you like most from the beginning!
       
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    14. Newer tan resins often have a UV resistant component mixed in, which also helps protect them from changing colour too quickly over time.

      I have owned quite a few tan dolls, the longest my Dollshe Saint who I haven't noticed much change in his colour over the last few years. His joints are quite dusty, with obvious sanded areas where he was rough from coming out of the mold. Whereas my Supia girl was smooth all over, with no differently coloured sanded areas at all. It really does depend a lot on the specific company.
       
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    15. I haven't heard of many problems in recent years. The earlier tan resins didn't use any UV protection and the companies were just trying formulas out, so sometimes there were problems. Iplehouse's Real Skin originally had a bad greening problem, but they offered discounts on replacements for people who didn't like it, and came out with Special Real Skin and UV protection about 6 or 7 years ago and I don't think I've heard of people having any problems after that. SOME companies will try and fix major problems when they occur, but usually the problems are more minor and mostly just the nature of resin and the pigments and dyes put in it to make the colors.

      I've had tanned dolls for 6 or more years and I haven't noticed any color changes. All resin will change a bit over time. Some have more obvious issues-- Long ago there wasn't UV protection and some companies used French Resin, which is more translucent, but which sometimes turned very yellow... but this was more of a problem over 10 years ago.

      As others have said, definitely do research on the specific dolls you are thinking about. People here will know about any problems and will often talk about them in the Discussion threads, and elsewhere. And you still need to keep all things out of direct sunlight or continuous florescent light.

      Personally, I have no hesitation in buying tanned dolls or any color dolls these days! As Alewife said, a lot of the warnings on company sites are mostly in case of legal issues--making sure buyers know the dolls are hand-made and may have some minor flaws or could have color changes if you sand, etc., mostly as a CYA--I have never seen bubbles and very rarely seen marbling over dozen years I've been into bjds. But it's good to be aware of possible problems--so good question. But it's not a big issue these days.
       
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    16. Thanks to everyone for their responses! I will most definitely be looking into getting a tan girl here in the short future now! Thank you all so much for putting my mind at ease about it :)
       
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    17. I own a light tan skin from Resinsoul, I've had her almost a year now and haven't seen any change and she's always been very even and beautiful. I've also seen plenty of older secondhand tan dolls that look good as new to me so as of yet I haven't seen the issue with owning tan dolls. The one I will say I've seen have bad issues is I believe Mirodoll and they're burnt sugar skintone..I've seen a lot of unfortunate box openings where the resin is blotchy and uneven heavily in color. And that in a sense is why companies must include the warning on the off chance something does happen to come out that way. The warnings come off more scary than they really tend to be from what I've seen. I will also say that I've seen great success with blushing and such to correct any inconsistencies in the tan resins. So in all don't be afraid to dive in after what you want!
       
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    18. Ahh, I'm glad to have seen this thread! I've been wanting a tan doll but I've been a bit nervous due to the horror stories and warnings I've seen. I'm glad to hear a lot of those are not the norm, and the greening really doesn't sound or look as bad as I was expecting! Thanks to everyone that posted here, and Jessdj88 for starting this topic!

      Think I'll start looking more up about the different companies I'm most interested in getting a tan doll from! : D
       
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    19. Here are some of my tanned dolls... No problems with marbling or sanding marks or greening!

      Iplehouse Theo (lt. brown) 4 years old, Iplehouse Tedros (sp Real Skin) 4 years old, and on far right Iplehouse Rex (lt. brown) 1 year in this photo--
      [​IMG]
       
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    20. I have 3 tan dolls. 2 are from AoD and 1 from RS. My AoD boys are 8 years old and I can honestly say I don't see any greening of them. One of them, Moswen (AoD) is my favourite doll of my entire collection and he's been all over the place with me doing outdoor shoots/meets and even on vacation with me several times. Tohan (AoD) was a free head I was sent in the wrong resin colour (tan instead of NY) and his head lived in a box for 8 years before I figured out who he was recently. When I put them side-by-side, I can't see any difference in the colour of their resin (they were most likely of the same resin batch since they were sent to me together). There is no marbling or sanding marks on them. The body I recently bought for Tohan is an AoD but they year of its make is unknown as I'm the 3rd or 4th owner of it. The shade of tan is slightly different than my original boys, but it's also most likely a different resin batch and I've no idea how the body was stored/displayed before I got it.

      My RS boy, Aischylos, is in their dark tan and he's about 4 years old. I haven't noticed any colour change in him and his colour is completely even with no marbling or seam lines/sanding marks. He is the same colour as the alternate hands I got for him at the same time that I got him and the hands have been in a box for most of the 4 years I've had Aischylos.

      Slightly unrelated, I also have an RS boy, Jolen, in their old blue (which is very pale) who is 6 years old. Despite living most of his life in his box (I have zero display space and Idiot Cat *sigh*), his pale blue resin has changed to a lovely, utterly even light turquoise (which totally works for his character, so I'm fine with it). When I noticed he'd changed so much despite not being exposed to light/heat, I assumed that I'd gotten an unstable batch as far as colour goes. It happens *shrugs*.
       
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