Mother giving makeovers to 'hypersexualized' dolls for children

A Pasadena mother of two says she is tired of popular dolls for children with heavy makeup that look more like grown women than young girls, so she's started giving the dolls a makeover.

West Coast Morning5:54A mom gives her daughter's dolls a makeover so they look like girls, not women.

This year's popular dolls look more like grown women than young girls. A Pasadena mom with two daughters is putting a fresh face on some dolls by removing make-up from them. Bernice Hillier spoke with Jacenta Hudson and three-year-old daughter, Evelyn.

Jacenta Hudson said she first got the idea from a Facebook post that showed a mother from Australia who refurbished old dolls for her children to play with.

By removing all the high heeled shoes, the dresses, the makeup, and the lipstick, then it's just a regular little doll.- Jacenta Hudson

Hudson thought the same process would be helpful in making her daughters' dolls look more like real little girls.

"Most dolls on the market today are so full of makeup, they're hypersexualized, and they're women, so we're handing women figurines and dolls [to] our children to play with," she told CBC's Corner Brook Morning Show.

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"I thought it was such a great idea, that your dolls should look like kids — kids should play with kids dolls."

Hudson said she purchased a used Bratz doll from a local thrift store and cleaned off the doll's face with acetone she bought at a hardware store.

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She then learned how to repaint the doll's eyes and mouths, without the heavy makeup, by watching video tutorials on YouTube. Hudson said it has become something of a passion for her now.

She said the makeovers are not hard, but they are time-consuming and she spends five or six hours repainting each doll. 

"The process is really quite simple, and pretty much anybody could do it," she said.

Hudson said her three-year-old daughter Evelyn prefers the refinished dolls to store bought ones, and has become attached to the dolls. She even gets to have input on the doll's eye colour and clothes.

Hudson said the new dolls also allow her daughter to use her imagination and create her own story for the dolls, rather than following what the manufacturer might suggest.

"It's just a toy that I want her to play with. I'd like for her imagination to be her play," said Hudson.

"By removing all the high heeled shoes, the dresses, the makeup, and the lipstick, then it's just a regular little doll."