REVIEW: Glo-Up Girls

I received my Glo-Up Girls from Target.com today. As I've mentioned before, these run $19.99. 

Only Erin and Kenzie are currently available from the site. Apparently, Sadie and Tiffany were the ones that sold out. (Sigh. Seriously, people, buy more dolls that aren't just the white girls. The only reason I didn't get Kenzie was because I hate her outfit, but now that I know they fit RH clothes, I may get her when I have more fun money.) 

So the packaging on these combines aspects of Fail Fix, LOL OMG and Hairdorables. 

They obviously got the makeover aspect and wearing PJs in the box idea from Fail Fix, though Fail Fix didn't have actual PJs. The stacking of accessories off to one side reminds me of Hairdorables and their old window packaging. And the accessories coming in tissue paper in bags and shoeboxes reminds me of LOL OMG. 

These are pretty easy to open. The tray of accessories slides out of its compartment, while the doll is a few snips with the scissors and she's free. 

In the accessories tray, we have the face masks (threw them out), the bath bomb that reveals the makeup brush to "glo-up" her face (unfizzed one and threw the rest out), a makeup bag, a shopping bag with the outfit pieces, a purple pouch with a sheet of stickers and any jewelry the character comes with, and a shoebox. Attached to the other side of the tray is a tissue paper-wrapped parcel that contains the doll's purse or backpack and a belt if she has one. 

So here's all of Erin's stuff. 

I love the makeup bags. Each one opens to reveal a hidden makeup accessory. The backpack also is open so you can put stuff in it (but not seal it). 

Out of the box. 

She's attached at the head with the usual plastic tabs, but they're closer to the top of her head, which is different. 

You can see the white sheen on her face. That's the layer you remove with water to reveal the "glo-up." 

(Spoiler: It's not much of a glo-up.)

The bodies are interesting. The arms have the typical elbow and wrist joints and the hands are removable for redressing. The thigh joint is really unattractive. Big gaps there. And while the ankles are jointed, the knees are not. I tried seeing if they were click knees, but I can't get them to click at all. It's an odd choice, because I think most people would rather have knee joints than ankle. 

This is after I removed the face mask. It basically only revealed that she's wearing blush. That's it. No real glo-up here. 

The hair on these girls is not great. It's dry and it's got to be nylon. On the cheaper end of nylon, too. I'm really disappointed in it. 

 

I stuck her in the freezer for a few seconds and it revealed her dark blue nail polish. 

I wish they'd skipped the gimmicks on this line and just made fashion dolls. Take the money wasted on the footbath and makeup brush, the facemasks and the bath bomb and put it toward high quality hair, knee joints, permanent nail polish, and better quality control (we'll get there). 

Here is Erin hours later, post-salon treatment and air-drying her hair. It got HUGE. 

Her outfit is really cute on. She's the best dressed of the three I have, that's for sure. 

She's really adorable and I like her a lot. Enough that she claimed a spot next to Jett in my bedroom while the other two are elsewhere. I just wish they were better quality!

 

With her backpack and her makeup bag. The backpack looks so cute on! I love it. 

I have to say, these girls do have one thing I've never seen before. Their earring holes go all the way through their ear. I don't recommend changing the earrings a lot. I have a feeling those lobes will not hold up. 

I opened Sadie next. I'm not the biggest pastel fan (duh), but there was something cute about her. 

Oh, the art on this line. GORGEOUS. I saved all the front of the box art and made it into bookmarks. 

All the stuff. 

Forgot to mention the footbath thing before. It's to dissolve the bath bomb that the makeup brush is in. That sucker took forever to dissolve, by the way. 

Her stuff. 

This was my first disappointment. One of the belt loops on her dress isn't attached on one side. 

Here's the doll. 

The second oddity is that my Sadie has her pink nail polish already showing. It's brightest on her toes, but all of it is permanently visible. It's just my luck that it's the one of the three I would want this least for! I love Erin's dark blue and Tiffany's crazy green polish much better. 

And now behold, my Sadie's messed up left eye. SIIIIIIIIIGH. This is why I hate not being able to see a doll in the box. 

I do not normally advocate this, but with this line, I do. There's a piece of tape over the top of the plastic strip that closes the box over the side where the doll is. Peel that tape back carefully and pull up the plastic tab. Then you can slide the tray with the doll out and peek at her eyes. If she's messed up, you can easily slide the tray back in, reseal everything and return her. You're not stuck with a wonky doll like I am. 

Here she is with her hair gel washed out and her facemask washed off. 

She's a cute doll and I want to like her, but all I can see is that screwy eye. 

If anyone buys Sadie for her clothes, as I know people will do because their clothes fit RH, please let me know if you're selling the nude doll. I reported the eye and the dress to the company, but I don't know if they'll be good enough to send a replacement. I don't even care about the dress. I just want a doll with a good face. 

In her dress. This belt was just a poor idea. 

The boots are cute, but amusing because you can see the exact spot where her foot goes in each one. It's molded inside, even with toes. 

Backpack on and makeup bag in hand. 

So after the Sadie mess, I really thought hard if I wanted to open Tiffany. I wasn't completely sold on her when I bought her, but I was intrigued by her unusual hair color. 

I ended up figuring out how to slide her out of the box and check her over, so I did that and thought she was really pretty. 

In the trays. 

All her stuff. 

These still look like scrubs to me, but they are cuter than I first thought. 

Before facemask removal. 

After facemask removal and salon time. 

She has green polish, which is surprising. I really like it. 

Oh, Tiffany, why did they do you like this? 

While the designs on the jeans are cute, the fit is anything but flattering. Why Mom jeans? Are they in? WHY? And then the boring white sneakers. Not even with pink laces or anything. 

At least her earrings are adorable.

With her purse and makeup bag. 

Rainbow High to the rescue! 

I quite like Tiffany's top, so I wanted to keep it, which meant finding an understated bottom. Not easy to do in RH World. Thankfully, Skylar's skirt works very well. For the shoes, we could go more glitzy, so Bella's worked out just fine. I tried giving her Sadie's belt, but I didn't care for it, so I left it off. (And left it off Sadie. That dress doesn't need a belt.)

Here's a quick size comparison. 

I'm not sure what size I expected for these girls, but not as big as RH, yet they are. Not in head size, of course, but Erin's holding her own against Jett there. 

And here are the three girls. 

I want to like this line. I adore Erin. My only fault with her is I wish her hair was better quality. Well, and I wish the yellow half was blonde like her art. Tiffany is lovely, but needed help from another doll line. Sadie is full of flaws sadly, but I still want a better version of her, instead of rejecting her completely. 

I truly think they should have given up the gimmicks and concentrated on the dolls. Rainbow High has to be one of the most successful doll lines on the shelves and they don't do it with gimmicks. They do it with quality. They're not perfect by any means, but they don't waste money on gimmicks that could be spent on articulation, clothing quality, and quality control.

I will definitely get Alex from this line when she becomes available. I'm not sure about Rose yet. If I get her, I'll probably end up with Kenzie and just have them all, though the hair quality makes me wonder if Kenzie's will be okay or not. Alex though. I wish she was out now!

PHOTO CREDITS: Mine.