I figured I'd roll both reviews into one post, because I am lazy.
Let's look at McKeyla first.
Her theme is a unicorn, although the only unicorn thing going on here is that headband. Otherwise, she's really just McKeyla in a very McKeyla-style dress.
I do love how the skirt of the dress lays, but I think she needed either a belt or the waist tucked in a little.
Or maybe the bustline shaped more? I'm not sure. There's just something odd about the top part of the dress.
The fabric is nice and heavy. You really feel like your $25 is going into this doll. I like the iridescence, too.
McKeyla's boots are AMAZING. They go from pinkish-purple to purple to blue, echoing the iridescent quality of the skirt. Excellent work, whoever designed those.
Socks are definitely a theme in this line, at least with McKeyla, Ember and Adrienne. All of them are wearing this little mesh socks.
I had thought McKeyla had just the blue streaks, but no, she actually has rainbow streaks! Her hair is really awesome. Ember and Camryn were my definites from this line at first and McKeyla was a solid most likely. If I'd seen this hair right away, she would have made the definites column.
This pic with the headband is probably where you can see her makeup best. I didn't zoom in on her face, but she has eyeshadow that's lavender, pink, dark gray and pearlescent. It's wonderful.
The unicorn headband has adorable ears and a glitter golden horn, although mine is a little bent. Why she was packaged holding it instead of it being flat somewhere, I'll never know.
And finally, here she is in her mask. I think this looks neat, but also a bit too heavy. The black is too dominant and it draws your eye away from the rest of the outfit, which is far better than the mask.
Also, I have the masks from the Midnight Dance Bratz and the darkest one stained one of my dolls faces, so bear that in mind if you're considering leaving McKeyla masked!
EMBER. I was so sad when I saw her eye wonk. I hate inset eyes so much, because no one ever consistently gets them right. Even Robert Tonner's $200 dolls with inset eyes have wonk, which is a lot of the reason I stopped collecting Wilde Imagination stuff.
Anyway.
Ember is my fave from this line, because she instantly reminded me of Novi Stars Doe A Deer only human.
So yeah, I was really disappointed when I saw mine was wonky and she's out of stock, so I can't just order another. I loved her so much otherwise that I decided just to bite the bullet and keep her. I'm going to display her masked, while the upgrade I will eventually find will be unmasked.
Ember has the most intricate braiding I have ever seen on a doll. That's why I left her antlers tied down. I do not want to mess anywhere near all that braidwork.
The flowered antlers are adorable anyway, so I'd never take them off.
Ember's dress is so many different colors and layers, I can't possibly describe it well enough to do it justice, but thankfully, you can see it. It is spectacular.
Her shoes are equally gorgeous with their lovely flowers and tiny painted leaves. There are even leaves molded into the soles that I only just noticed!
Her wings have a fat peg that pops into a little hold in her back, so they're pretty sturdy. Simple, but sturdy.
There she is from the back.
Her hair needed a good brushing when I got her deboxed, much more than McKeyla's. It's not perfect and a bit dry, but it's so pretty that I don't even care. There's a more pinky layer on the underside, too.
In her mask! Thankfully, the plastic bands that hold the masks on undo at the ends of the mask, so you can put this on Ember without having to try to fit over her antlers.
Although it does, because I tried. I just wouldn't do it that way a lot.
I love her in the butterfly mask. She looks like a She-Ra character.
Ember's eyeshadow is pink, pearlescent, dark gray and a shade of green that matches her outfit. She's got some glitter going on, too, and her left eye has white petal details. There's also a little pink swoosh that runs from the inside corner of her lower eyelid about halfway across under her eye. It's a bit odd, because putting a ton of pink right around the lower lids almost makes her look like she's been crying, but it's covered by the mask, so if you don't like it, there's a fix.
I absolutely adore both of these girls and I hope TRU ships my mermaid Bryden fast! I also hope Camryn pops up. I don't know what the delay on her is. She'd better come out!
If I get any spare money, I might cave and order Adrienne, although I think she's oddly boring compared to the others. She's always got the same look and could have benefited from something different. Especially her hair. I wish it was all pink or something.
So yeah, in sum, these are the best MC2 dolls yet and I so need to catch up on the show on Netflix!
PHOTO CREDITS: Mine.
