New here and curious about trends, for example I’ve heard of nostrils being opened, but apparently that’s no longer as common as it once was.
What else can you think of that has changed when it comes to reborns, and what are some current trends you’re seeing now?
Painting the inside purple. That was what was done to neutralize the orange dolls and it bled through over time.
The inside of the entire doll??
I am not reborning for long enough for seing trends, but I noticed that there’s more and more painted hair. And not always well done.
Using Rit dye inside the doll also, and painting with stencil paints.
also using sand to weight the baby
This was before I started, but I came across an old website that explained the old way of reborning. It included sanding the head to take the hair grooves off, painting the inside of the doll, using crayon on the cheeks to get them nice and rosy, drilling holes in the head to push the hair through… It was trip, haha.
From my own experience, when I started Genesis was considered the best paint to use. Air dry was considered bad. Now people have their own preferences but one isn’t though of as better than the other.
Bubble gum pink vinyl and thank goodness it did not last long.
This is how I started…it was a huge undertaking as you had a ton of work to do before you even got to the work of painting etc. Kits were available but at that time most people were still making the berenguer and Ashton drake’s
I don’t think I’d have made more than one doll! It’s super interesting to read about, though.
Air dry paints got a bad rap because folks were using cheap ones and thinning them down with nothing but water. It breaks down all the binders in the paint leaving behind a very cheap pigment with nothing to bond it to the vinyl. Thus the fading. I also find that a lot of “reborn” paints being sold are just paints mixed by someone in their home and they don’t always have good ingredients or proper ratios of mediums/thinners to paint. This is why I prefer to use a reputable brand such as RebornFX or a high quality artist grade like Golden Fluid Paints and mix my own.
@kareninflorida can probably weigh in. She just celebrated her 18th (or 19th) reborn Anniversary
I remember that! I found the same website when I started too. Prillycharmin, right? I actually used her methods for my first baby! I bought the body pattern from her too!
We used to buy purpled tinted play sand you could get at Walmart. Pour it out on a tarp and let it lay all day in the sun to be sure it had no moisture. Then I would put it in a big rubbermaid container with a bottle of baby corn starch powder and stir it up. This was what the limbs were filled with. I used poly pellets in the body. That was back when no one thought play sand was a bad idea.
I remember baby wigs, purple paint inside for a lovely “newborn” look, eyelashes glued on sleeping babies, play sand filling arms and legs, replacing eyes on awake Berenguers, drilling noses, no doll kits, no tutorials, white gel pens and clear nail polish on nails, stencil paints, oil paints and acrylics that had to cure forever, and then moving on to sanding the ridges off the heads so we could root with felting needles and warm rice socks. So much has changed since 2002 when I started out…what I really love most is having doll kits, Genesis paints, doll forums, and phones with cameras.
Prillycharmin! I remember!
Don’t forget about Bloomers and bows!
I started with stencil paint. Wal-Mart dolls. Purple dye inside. And cutting open mouths for pacifiers.
So long ago.
Sanding hair lines off. Nail polish. Gel pens for nail tips.
And no tutorials!
Ah. It sure has changed.
Does anybody remember the blue sharpie for veins?
Oh yes…I tried it once and that was enough 
Yep ~ that’s one I never got around to trying, but I remember very carefully slitting the eyelids open to insert fake lashes. LOL…seems so ridiculous now but hey, we were learning!
Was anyone else on Dawn’s forum? She’s now Delta Dawn, doesn’t reborn anymore just processes mohair.
I’m so not into social media that I didn’t even join this forum until 2 years ago. I’m a real slow poke to catch up with the times.
I never heard about cutting the eyelids! That’s definitely one way to hide the thread of fake lashes…