When a new doll arrives, one of the first things on my to-do list is hand blushing and manicure. It’s not complicated and it’s a fun way to level up the look of your doll, so here’s a guide to my process.
Hand Prep
Tools needed:
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- Wet/dry sandpaper
- Needle files
- Hobby knife/x-acto tool
- Mr Super Clear Matt sealant
- Half-face mask with organic vapor filters
- Cotton gloves
Visible seam on the thumb
Painting preparations for vinyl doll hands are simple- wash hands with mild soap and warm water, and allow to dry.
For resin BJD hands, the process is a bit more involved. Blushing over seam lines doesn’t always work out well, so I like to remove them as much as possible. I use the hobby knife to shave down edges that stick out, reducing further as needed with needle files. Then I do a pass with wet-dry sandpapers, these are great for getting in between fingers and those hard to reach areas. I start with a coarser grit sandpaper such as 300, and do several passes with increasing grades up to 1000. While sanding resin you should avoid breathing in any dust – wet sanding helps with this, be sure to clean up and dispose of any dust before it dries and becomes airborne.
Once hands are prepped, I bring them outside to spray sealant.
Wearing a proper mask is critical here, you do NOT want to breath in the spray sealant. I use a 3M half face mask, size small, with 60921 filters. These filters protect against both aerosol sprays and fine particles, but they might be overkill for this particular task. You can pick up spray painting filters instead if those are cheaper.
You can see I’ve got my hands on these hobby clips stuck in styrofoam, it’s very convenient to keep them elevated so that spray/debris aren’t bouncing off the surface below as you spray. Since vinyl hands are hollow you can easily go the budget route and use chopsticks stuck in a jar to hold them up too.
Here’s a little guide to how I spray sealant:
Hand Blushing and Manicure
Once the hands have 1-2 coats of sealant that’s well cured, it’s time to start blushing.
Tools Needed:
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- Pastels (chalk type, not oil pastel)
- Cotton swabs
- Hobby detail paint brush
- Powder brush
- White acrylic paint
- High Gloss medium or gloss varnish
- N95 mask
Powdered pastel are great for imitating the look of airbrush without the hassle. I use mostly Volks pastels, with a few others mixed in for special colors. I shave the pastels into powder by scraping the stick with a butter knife.
When working with pastel powder it’s important to avoid breathing in the fine particles, so I use an N95 mask. I also use white cotton gloves so I can clean up easier and keep pastel off of my skin.
Using the cotton swabs I pick up pastel powder and rub it onto the hands. I start with the most vivid color, usually a rosey pink for light skin tones, and blend the edges with medium pink and a bit of peachy orange. For dark skin tones I use mostly red pastel to blush. When there’s excess pastel dust on the hand, I use a big soft powder brush (like the one used for makeup) to dust off the extra.
The strongest and most vivid colors are applied to the fingertips, with gradually less saturated highlights applied to each joint. I also lightly blush the palms and undersides of fingers. For masculine hands, I might add a bit of blue/gray to the back of the hand and to highlight sculpted veins.
My primary tool is the cotton swab because I can firmly rub pastel onto fingertips and joints, but for difficult to reach areas/small details I use a small brush to gently apply pastel.
Once I’m satisfied with my pastel application, I use a small brush with wet bristles to lift and remove pastel from the fingernails. This has the effect of returning the nail area to skin tone, making it lighter in comparison to the blushing around.
After that has had a chance to dry, I repeat my sealing process and apply 1-2 good coats to secure the pastel powder.
For very stylized/anime type hands you can stop there if you want. But for a more realistic look, I like to paint a bit of detail onto the nail.
First I use white or off-white acrylic paint mixed with slow-dry medium to paint the lunula, which is the light semi-circle at the base of the nail bed. Then I’ll paint along the end of the nail with the same light color. If the nail is long and overhangs the end of the finger a bit, I’ll paint the underside of the nail too.
It’s tricky to paint such small details and might take some practice to get it right- the slow-dry medium makes wiping mistakes away easier. And of course the nails are super tiny so small flaws will be basically invisible anyway, don’t sweat it.
Once the painted nail details are dry, I add gloss to the nails using a high gloss medium. I like the Liquitex one in particular since it’s easier to work with than varnish gloss. I can apply one coat for a semi-gloss effect, or 2-3 coats for a high gloss look. And mistakes can be easily cleaned up with water while the medium is wet. When the gloss is dry, the hands are finished and ready to use!
That’s all there is to it! Blushing hands is pretty straight-forward and you don’t need a ton of specialized tools. Hand blushing does usually end up getting rubbed due to handling from posing and changing outfits, and the reds in pastel can fade over time resulting in pale hands. At that point you just need to strip the sealant and repeat the blushing process, but each blushing application usually lasts many years.
And of course you can use this same technique to blush heads and other body parts, just take precautions and always use a mask when working with aerosol spray and fine particles.
