Thursday, January 20, 2011

Rapunzel's Freckles

Hi everyone!  I decided to work on Rapunzel's freckles last night and thought I'd show you how she looks now.  The more I looked at her, the more I decided she'd look better without those freckles. 

I know, I just made a point of mentioning in my last post how much I appreciated Rapunzel's appearance in the movie, and listed her freckles among the things I liked.  But before you find me hypocritical, hear me out. :)  She has freckles in the movie, but they're light and golden brown, and mostly on her nose.  My doll's freckles looked more like Strawberry Shortcake's from the 80s or something. :)  I re-watched some clips of Tangled on Youtube and realized that you don't really see her freckles unless it's a close-up shot.  I knew she'd look more like herself if she didn't have such dark freckles on her face.   

After doing some research, I got some ACETONE-FREE (very important to use this type) nail polish remover and some q-tips and began working.  After no more than 5 or 6 minutes, I had my results. 


Before:                                                                                             After:


















I left the faintest leftovers of freckles on her cheeks, although you can't see them well from the pics.  First, because she did have faint freckles, and this looked closer to them.  Second, because I was worried that if I scrubbed too hard and too long, I might also remove her blush paint, and I didn't want to do that. 

Just a quick warning, if you decide to try this yourself:  always use acetone free nail polish remover.  The regular stuff can harm your doll's vinyl.  Also, the nail polish remover will remove all the paint it comes in contact with (although some scrubbing is needed), so if you're not careful, you could also remove eye or lip paint.  Take your time and don't get the q-tips so saturated that the nail polish remover runs all over the doll's face.  If you do, you'll have more paint removed than you originally planned!

I tried adding some golden brown freckles to her nose with colored pencil, but they didn't really show up.  I still prefer her this way, though.

So, what do you think?  I'm pleased with the results.  I think she looks a lot closer to trhe movie now. :)

15 comments:

Phoebe said...

It looks much better! She has such a sweet face!
~Phoebe

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Thanks, Phoebe. I think so too. :)

Caelen said...

I agree with Phoebe.

Anonymous said...

She looks great! The original freckles looked too much like little ink spots. Definitely an upgrade!
Steph

Anonymous said...

Looks so much better .. i love the light dusting of freckles on her .. good job ..

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Thanks everyone! :)

Anonymous said...

Could I do this to an American Girl doll using the same method? I want to completely remove the freckles. Non-acetone nail polish remover on Q-tips, huh? I'm looking at the JLY 55.

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi SoMiGo! :) Yes, this would work on an AG doll. Just be sure you use acetone-free nail polish remover (it's better on the plastic), and be very careful of her eyebrows, lip paint (this will remove ANY facial paint it comes in contact with), and eyes (it could rust her eyes). Just a warning: it will take some perseverance. It doesn't come off without a bit of elbow grease. ;)

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Oh, you might also want to cover up her cloth body, as sometimes nail polish remover stains fabric.

Lys said...

Love it... Kinda wanna go buy her just to try myself... (:

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Thanks...you should! ;)

discodiva1979 said...

WoW! you did a Great job-she looks so much better-her freckles did not look natural at all. Thanks for sharing!

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

No problem! :) It was a fun project.

Shimmer said...

So...I'm guessing this is Belles Bulletins Rapunzels. I pretty sure I saw her on your ebay,just checking. Not trying to sound angry,im just wondering.

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi Agangel! You guessed correctly. The Rapunzel in this post is Belle's faithful friend. However, the Rapunzel listed on eBay is NOT. My eBay Rapunzel is one of the bigger singing dolls. Don't worry, BB Rapunzel is quite content at my house and has no plans to move away. ;)