Style Girls Piper and Quinn visited my work table this month and got a deluxe makeover just in time for the new year. It's getting to be a tradition to close out the year with something Style Girls related. I didn't plan it that way during the last few years; it's just sort of happened.

I have actually been wanting to try a custom paint on these 14" dolls for a long time and finally got around to it. When I reviewed them a couple of years ago, I noticed that Quinn (and also her twin Maisie) had slightly crooked eyes that made me want to fix them. I also wanted to see if the process was anything like the eye swap I did on 14" Hearts for Hearts Girl Tipi. (It wasn't.)

Same with Style Girls Piper. When I first bought her, I thought her uneven eyebrows gave her personality. But that got old really fast and called for a fix.
 

So Piper and Quinn got lucky and were chosen for my Style Girls makeover test subjects. But because I really liked the results, the rest of my Style Girls will probably get new faces too.

The first major step in their re-do was new eyes. While the default style of their eyes is cute for a bargain doll, it's not as realistic as I'd like.

I wanted eyes with more depth and realism. I had several 14mm half round acrylic eyes that I had gotten when I was working on my H4H dolls, but I didn't really know if they would fit the 14" Style Girls. One way to find out! So I picked out a hazel-green color for Piper to match with her original deep green eyes. Likewise, I chose blue for Quinn.

I was a bit surprised that once I got the eyes out (which, unlike H4H dolls, required me to remove their heads) they weren't 14mm half round eyes at all, but 18mm oval. Huh.

Whatever, I already had their eyes out; might as well try to fit the square peg into the round hole!

Fortunately the eyes fit. Even better, I loved the result!

They actually fit very securely, almost like the different eye shapes could be interchangeable in these little dolls. And while there might be a little extra space at the sides of the eye socket at certain angles, it isn't really that noticeable to me. Besides, I love the more realistic style and color of the round eyes.

Here's Quinn (left) with her twin Maisie, for comparison.

Next, I removed the factory face paint. At first I just removed the lip color, until I realized Quinn's brows were also crooked! So off came everything, minus the eyelashes.

Finally it was time to paint. Normally I start painting a doll by adding the blush first. But for some reason I was compelled to start on the brows. I used a basic brown color and created a simple set of brows just to get the shape and placement. I planned to add detail later.

It must have taken longer than I expected because I ran out of daylight for proper photographing. So I snapped a couple of pictures by incadecent light to record my progress, and called it a day.
 

The next morning I added a layer of lip color, and even a little shading around the eyes.

Once that layer was dry, I added a second layer, appling blush in a natural pattern across the cheeks. I added a little more definition to the lips as well.
 

I decided I wanted Piper to have freckles. I thought they would go well with her auburn brown hair and greenish eyes. While it might be hard to see in photos, I applied her blush in a slightly speckly, pre-freckles pattern.
 

Then came the third layer of color, where I also added more detail to their brows. Piper got a light layer of actual freckles.

This is the part in doll painting that's always a lot of fun for me, where you can see things starting to come to life.
 

Next I added some detail to their lips and painted their teeth. And Piper got more freckles!

If you are in any way familiar with my custom doll work, you probably know I'm super partial to freckles. :)

Lastly, I added a matte sealer to Quinn's and Piper's faces and a satin finish on their lips to protect the paint.
 

At the last minute, I decided to re-do Quinn's eyebrows to give them a little more detail and make them a little bolder. I love the new version. :)

I also took the curling iron to their hair to give it a little extra body, partcularly Piper's whose coarse hair lacks movement. It's a little better now, though I actually considered cutting it off and giving Piper a wig! For now though, I'll probably leave it as is
 

Now Piper and Quinn need new fashion to go with their new faces. Stay tuned for my update on their new clothes.
 

Meanwhile, here are some comparison pictures with Quinn's and Piper's look-alikes Melanie and Maisie to get a kind of before and after view.
 

Originally, I wasn't sure how eye-swapping or face repainting would work on these lower-end dolls. Would the 14mm eyes fit? Would the thin vinyl actually take the paint? But everything went as well as I hoped, and since I really like the results, I'll most likely do more makeovers for the rest of my 14" Style Girls in the future.