Overcoming doll anxiety

Before even getting my first vinyl doll, I knew that touching face-ups was something to be avoided. Now I have two - a V1 DD Moe and a Tinyfox Yi - and although neither was especially expensive, I'm terrified of ruining their faces!

 

Just yesterday, I was struggling to put a wig on Yi when I realized my thumb was pressed against her eye paint. I felt awful and immediately tried to blot away any oils with a cotton round. Later, as I was cleaning up Moe's bangs with styling wax, I became similarly worried. Would the wax in the hair over her eye harm her? Did my fingers make contact with her eye makeup?

 

It's all very stupid, especially considering they both have (presumably sturdy) factory face-ups. I just can't seem to avoid making similar mistakes every time I touch them. 🫠 It makes me not want to handle them, and that's no fun! Do you have any advice for overcoming this?

(I need to post pictures of Moe soon! She just arrived last week!)

 

Edited May 15, 2024 by fingerfloss

If you're worried about the oils on your hands, I would suggest looking into wearing some cotton gloves whenever you handle your dolls. You could also just make sure to wash your hands with a good soap and drying them well before touching your dolls too. As for the styling wax, I would say it depends on the product you're using. If its the water wax from Volks, I think you should be safe. Whenever I've used products for hair styling, I always put some kind of barrier (a few layers of saran wrap) between my dolls face and the wet product. I would remove the barrier once the product was completely dry. Have yet to run into any issue with my dolls face-up being effected by this.

I've also sealed some of my factory face-ups again with a few coats of Mr. Super Clear Matt UV spray, due to my similar fear of scuffing my dolls faces. I've heard some people advise against it though, in-case the sealant used for the original reacts badly to the MSC. I haven't had this happen with any of mine, but wanted to mention it so you would be aware in case you do consider this option.

It is truly no fun being worried you might 'ruin' one of your dolls, though. But, things can and will happen no matter how careful you are. At the end of the day, stains can usually be treated (and even avoided to a certain extent with body suits), joints can be fixed, and replacement items can be bought. Having to purchase new parts because the previous ones were stained isn't ideal, but it is still an option regardless. Hopefully you find something in my ramble that helps ease your fears though! I 100% understand where you are coming from. Maybe some others on this site will have some good advice/tips in case mine falls flat lol 😊

I think certain anxieties simply lessen with time as you realize they're exaggerated - when I got my first BJD I was so afraid I'd break them somehow or scratch their faceup off! It never happened though, even when they tipped over into a pile of rocks lol.  It doesn't hurt to be cautious for the sake of safety, but general touching is unlikely to cause any damage that can not be fixed. They're not fragile porcelain :).

I second the poster above suggesting to get a pair of cotton gloves if you're super worried about their face.  As long as you're touching them with clean, dry hands you'll be fine! If you find yourself fiddling with the wigs often, you can buy one of those small doll combs and use that - I like to use the tail end of mine for things like adjusting bangs and pieces of hair around their eyes.

22 minutes ago, mmmuguet said:

I think certain anxieties simply lessen with time as you realize they're exaggerated

Yes, 100% agree! The first stain I got on my DD, I thought I had completely destroyed her. It was on her face (chin area) of all places too, the hardest part to replace. It was a very prominent black mark, hard to not notice. Looked up some recommended treatments on this forum and on YouTube, and started treating her ASAP. The stain came out in a just a few sessions over 2 weeks. Certainly wasn't ideal, but it made me realize that these kinda things aren't always as bad as they seem. Stains can certainly be bad, but they aren't the end all be all. I've since learned about the precautions I can take to avoid stains like these from happening again (body suits, tape, washing, etc). I've still managed to get a few more stains, so I'm certainly not perfect at care by and means. But none of these have been nearly as bad as that first one.

I feel like this goes for most of these kinds of fears. They don't have to be the worst things to ever happen. It really does just take time, research, and experience. :)