Fail Fix Dolls – Total Makeover REVIEW
AD – Fail Fix Dolls gifted for review from Moose Toys
Now that Erin is 7, she is becoming more and more conscious of fashion and style, often wanting to pick out her own outfits and decide what to wear when we go out for the day. She also loves watching some of her fave YouTube families, especially videos that involve any kind of mini make over; creative make up creations or attempts at replicating new make up looks.
As we all know however, things on the internet often appear to be much easier to create than they are in reality!! I have lost count of the amount of times I’ve attempted a hair style I’ve seen on YouTube or TikTok or convinced myself I can bake a culinary masterpiece only to end up with a major pinterest fail. The Fail Fix Dolls are makeover dolls that are feeling my pain!
What are Fail Fix Dolls?
The FailFix Squad (friends Kawaii.Qtee, PreppiPosh, Dance.Stylz, LovesGlam and SlayitDJ) are Fail Fix Fashion dolls – they have attempted some make over tutorials watching videos online, but things haven’t gone quite according to plan! Their make up looks an absolute mess, they’ve managed to get their accessories and shoes all tangled in their hair(!) and they are far, far away from pulling off their desired look!
The Fail Fix dolls need children’s help to fix their beauty look fail, by revealing their surprise fashion, transforming their hair and make up and using the included tools and hair accessories to create the look that they were attempting to achieve in the first place.
With 5 different dolls and 5 different ‘fails’ to fix, children will love trying to collect them all.
Fail Fix Makeover dolls are available to buy at Smyths Toys and have a recommended retail price of £20.00. Due to some small parts, they are recommended for children aged 6 years and above.
How do Fail Fix dolls work?
With a similar concept to Scruff a Luv’s only in a fashion doll variety, you have to remove the Fail Fix dolls from the packaging and ‘fix’ them by following a number of steps to restore them to their original (or in this case) desired glory!
Step by step instructions are included on a leaflet inside the packaging and whilst you can pretty much do the steps in any order, this is how we proceeded to Fix ours.
Step 1 – SURPRISE FASHION
When you first open the Fail Fix Makeover doll from the packaging (which I have to admit is a bit of a challenge in itself!) the doll character has a small plastic dressing gown covering up her clothes. When this is lifted away, it reveals the dolls outfit underneath. Children can check whether it is a rare or super rare outfit with special material; as some outfits are more common than others. The outfits are bright and colourful and can be removed and swapped with other dolls as desired.
Step 2 – MAGIC MASK
Apply the Magic spa mask to the Fail Fix Doll to transform her make up look, popping it on to her face and clipping it behind her ears. Once removed, it lifts away her original face to reveal her brand new look – with beautiful eye make up mastered to a tee!
Step 3 – BRUSH
Next up, you need to fix her hair style, removing all the items and accessories that are tangled uo in her hair and then brushing it until smooth using the brush provided. We did this whilst the mask was still on, but you can do it in any order.
STEP 4 – STYLE
Finally, you can finish off your Fail Fix doll’s transformation using the included tools and accessories to create the look she was originally attempting to achieve. Hairstyles include a Mermaid Braid, Cutie Buns, High Ponytail, Up Style, Faux Hawk and Red Carpet Curls depending on the character you unbox. We had Kawaii.Qtee and DanceStylz.
Our Experience
Overall, Erin found the Fail Fix Makeover Dolls really funny, particularly before their transformation. Looking a little bit like I do when I forget to take my make up before bed and left my hair to dry naturally, these dolls have made a right mess up when attempting to replicate their favourite fashion looks! I’m not quite sure how they managed to get shoes in their hair (I mean, someone really must’ve been having a bad day), bit with messy hair and make up all over their faces, they have really got themselves into a pickle.
The brushes have got tangled, their faces are red and smeared with the make up which shouldve been on their eyes and well… they are far from showcasing the look that they had in mind when they started!
The Fail Fix Dolls MAGIC MASK is very clever (although it does look a little bit sinister I have to admit!). It clips over the original face just like a face mask tucking behind the ears, and when removed it pops off with the first face to reveal the ‘inner’ face – the one with correct make up on! It isn’t really magic as such (I think we were expecting some kind of ‘wipe off to reveal’ type trick) but none the less Erin was super impressed with the mask and found it really clever!
There are 3 different variants of each doll, from common, to rare and super rare. The differences however are pretty subtle, with minor differences in the clothing or make up styles, so unlike some of the rarity levels that will encourage children to want to try and collect them all, this one doesn’t seem to have quite the same pull.
Does their hair really scrub up well?
The one question I know that parents are going to want to know about Fail Fix dolls is do they really scrub up as well as the adverts would let you believe? Or do they end up just looking like messy old dolls? Most Mums will have spent one point or other in their lives having to restore an old dolls hair with immense amount of effort, but will the children really want to do it or will it be passed to Mum to do the hard work (and pay for the luxury!)
The hair is initially obviously in a bit of a mess and does feel really crusty to start with; like it has a hard coating on. It does require a bit of work to soften it up however this is obviously part of the fun! Erin first had to untwist and remove all the accessories and then brush each section individually starting at the ends and working the way up.
It does soften up fairly well without shedding lots of hair, but some bits of her hair did stay less soft than others. Overall however, the look is fairly similar to other dolls once fully brushed as you can see in the pics. Obviously DanceStylz’s hair is braided, but still becomes loose and free so it can easily be styled.
The Fail Fix Dolls’ Finished Looks
The Fail Fix dolls stand at around 9 inches tall and come with a little plastic stand should children wish to display them (although I have to be honest Erin didn’t really use these).
The dolls are fully articulated at the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and neck which is great for creating different poses and acting out scenes. The outfits are easy to take off and restyle, with the hands also clipping off to make this a bit easier for children to do unassisted.
Erin did find the accessories such as the earrings and necklaces a bit tricky to get on, with the small hole in her ears making it quite tricky to clip the earrings into place.
There were also some hair accessories that we didn’t use (namely the small little elastic bands) but presumably these are included so that other hair styles and ‘looks’ can be created too.
Erins’ Verdict of Fail Fix Makeover dolls
Overall, Erin really enjoyed the makeover experience of the FailFix dolls, and has enjoyed playing with them with her other dolls after the makeover was complete. It is also handy that the clothing is a similar size to other dolls she has, so she has enjoyed swapping and changing their outfits.
Erin did need some assistance with some of the hairstyles (as it wasn’t always immediately obvious where to clip things) but really enjoyed brushing and styling their hair and lifting off the mask to reveal.
From a parents perspective, once I’d got over the fact it was very challenging to get out the box, I thought the dolls were really fun and a great unboxing and surprise activity.
My only real negative was the plastic shell for her robe as I think it would have been nicer if this was an actual material dressing gown that you could unwrap to reveal – and use again afterwards! As it is, it just becomes yet another piece of plastic that is likely to go straight to landfill which is a bit disappointing.
Other than that minor gripe, I loved that the dolls are a diverse mix with unique personalities and styles, a good size and are fully possible making play time really fun.
I think Fail Fix dolls will be a popular choice for Christmas!
