That’s a really good point Amy. And I agree about veins. They definitely can make or break a baby. So can brows.
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Oh, yeah…the BROWS!!! I’m not great at brows which is why I make the “barely there” brows. I’m really NOT a fan of rooted brows on the newborns.
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Bearly there is always better than a “sharpie” look. That goes for brows and veins. Brows still get me every time! I need to just take the time and sit and practice brows! So I can find a way to do them that I really like and is consistent each time.
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The thing is, perhaps your basic technique would remain the same, but each babies brow is shaped differently and will arch differently. Also, depending on the features, I find some look best with more brown, some with less.
I have noticed that the overly “bruised” babies I used to see that would sell for $$$$ are rarely seen now. I wasn’t a fan of that style so I’m kind of relieved. It always reminded me of child abuse and I’d feel bad. Not how you want to feel when looking at reborns.
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My hair is like like. All babies have different shaped heads and my hairline is different every single time so I don’t want them to always look the same I just need to find a technique that I enjoy and that works every time. Gotta keep practicing.
I haven’t seen many bruised babies that made me think of child abuse. I’ve seen a few that look like they have measels or a bad rash … But I see a lot of babies with bites and blood. That bothers me. 
I can’t look at a baby shape that is bloody or grossly distorted without feeling sad and getting an upset tummy. Maybe if I didn’t have children. I don’t know. I just can’t stand to see them hurt in any way… Even a doll.
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Something else…the creases. They can be overdone or underdone. When underdone (or not done at all), it has more of a doll look, when overdone, it just looks odd.
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It might be the pictures also not picking up the detail, I spend a lot of time on detail and color and in person you can see it strongly, but in pictures almost invisible or looks very light. Just on observation.
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Just curious what you meant?
I hadn’t seen a lot of babies with that “bruised” look but there were more maybe 2 years ago. I didn’t like it. I don’t like the type you talked about, either. Heebie Jeebies, ya know?
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Starr, both of those babies are gorgeous!
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I have been thinking about this too. Been seeing so many babies lately that look barely painted. It makes them look so very dolly. There is a big difference between peaches and cream and barely painted.
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When you said this:
“The thing is, perhaps your basic technique would remain the same, but each babies brow is shaped differently and will arch differently. Also, depending on the features, I find some look best with more brown, some with less.”
I related and agree because I feel this way about my hair painting. Each head is shaped different, so is each hair line. Some need more hair some less. But my technique is the same…
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The bruised baby look is the reason I got into reborning, sadly. The very first baby I bought looked GREAT in the pics on Ebay, got him home, and ugh…looked like someone had thrown him down a flight of stairs. Now granted, that was early in 2002 and back then it was common to do a purple coating inside the limbs. Reborning has come a loooooong way since then, thankfully. Today, it truly is possible to achieve lifelike skin tones. Check out my baby Gracie, that I received from @lisalampe in the Easter swap; in my opinion, she has perfect skin tones and her lip color is AMAZING:
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She’s precious!! Very cute baby.
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I agree, she is adorable, Karen. I do love her lip color! 
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She is so cute! @lisalampe is awesome!!!
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Wow - looks like you have always been a rock star at this! Both gorgeous babies!
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I think a baby can be very light. To me what is missing is techniques to given depth and dimension. So many of those reborn are just plain flat. I try to do whatever skin tone seems to for the kit I’m working on.
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I agree with @Angel, I think it is the photography not picking up the detail a lot of the time. I like mine a little more colorful also but not clown-like.
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I thought I would share something interesting I noticed during my last newborn photography session. I knew that the skin tone of a baby will vary a lot depending on the lighting, but I was noticing that how well the mottling on the skin shows up varies as well. This is the same baby in the same 15 minute period using the same camera and camera settings. The only thing different is the light source. I was amazed by how well his mottling showed up when I changed the light (it showed up better in real life too). I could barely see it before. Sincerely, Jessica
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Amazing. Thanks for sharing!
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