Corinne's Eye Makeup: Keep it or remove it?

There’ve been questions about this, so I thought I’d post these photos before moving on to the mix-n-match fashion fun with Corinne’s outfits.

For those of us with the hobby of customizing American Girl dolls, the new trend to AG’s painted eye makeup poses a big question: Should I keep the painted makeup or remove it?

While the makeup often enhances the look of a doll, it can also make them appear older or just detract from the appeal of the doll in general. Removing painted makeup can be done in a variety of ways (micromesh, non-acetone nail polish remover, brush cleaner & restorer, etc.). Some of these have been discussed in previous entries, and if you’re ready to try this be sure to do your research and decide on the right method for you.

The above photo shows Corinne’s eye makeup as seen when she is sleeping/lying down. They are a dark brown in color, a bit redder than the makeup on AG’s World by US doll, Evette.

First of all, for all of you who are curious, she does not have black eyeliner. Her eyelashes are also the same as other AG dolls currently produced. Here are a couple of close-ups of her eyes open:

The removal of the eye make-up (particularly with certain wigs) takes some of the “Disney Animators’ Princess” look away and makes her a lot more similar to the rest of the AG line-up. On the other hand, there’s a stunning quality about her with the makeup that I personally like. Normally I don’t care for “grown-up makeup” on AG dolls, but my Corinne (introduction coming soon) is going to retain hers. I toyed with the idea of removing it, after seeing these photos, but my Mom compared it to taking your favorite Brownie recipe and replacing the flour with coconut meal and the milk with water. Rarely have I fallen this in love with a doll right out of the box, so Mom’s probably right about my needing to leave it as-is.

Here are photos showing Corinne (in various wigs) with her original makeup (on the left) and without the eye makeup (on the right). The makeup was digitally removed in Photoshop.