My guilty pleasure...

Eyes.

I have lots of eyes. Boxes of eyes.

     8mm to 20mm, I have lots and lots of eyes. I'd say at least 35 pairs of them (no joke). My dolls are lucky to have one wig each, but they never want for eyes.

     I like the way that glass captures light, but I also adore the realistic detail that can be brought into acrylics.

     I don't even own urethane eyes. I'm afraid of how overboard I'd go if I tried them out.

     Changing my dolls' eyes is like giving them a makeover. With brown eyes, my RS Li is just a pretty kimono girl, but with yellow ones she's like a mischief-seeking kitsune. Kiwi's classic style is green eyes, but I've come to switch them to blue from time to time (though brown is a definite no for her). Milo, well, he wears whatever. I think the biggest range in colors I have is for 10mm eyes, because I bought up a bunch of Liv dolls at Goodwill and cut their eyes out (surprisingly perfect acrylics for that size doll and enough small variations to keep it interesting).

Oni only has two pairs of eyes, and they're both yellow.

     My incoming Ringdoll Frankenstein also has (so far) two decided pairs of eyes, though because I got him as a fullset he will be coming with more. I'm probably going to stick with the 12mm-14mm range with him, which still leaves a lot of options with what I've got.

     I feel like the eyes my dolls wear seems to change the way they look for that time, and how their "personality" comes off in my mind. I like to deviate from recommended sizes to see how I can soften/intensify a doll's expression.

     The color makes a big difference, too. I really like bright eyes for my tinies, but for larger dolls I generally go for darker colors.

     They're the first thing I look for when I go to thrift stores because they don't require brushing or trimming or re-hemming of any kind. They don't need the fit adjusted, and if they're the wrong color it's not so much of a big deal. They're almost always on sale on Ebay, or people will just sell a whole lot of them to clear themselves out.

     Do I sound like a hoarder yet? If you saw the rest of my doll things, it would probably change things. As I said, most of the dolls around here are lucky to get a wig and sometimes even more than two outfits. It's just so easy to pick up a pair on a whim and not feel guilty about it. If a wig doesn't work for the doll I bought it for, it usually doesn't work for anything else in my collection, either. Eyes, I can just toss them in the box with the rest for when I feel like a quick change is in order. Often, I'll even change the eyes when I change the doll's outfit, whether it's just a repositioning or complete switch. Though often I prefer for them to kind of peek to the side like they're smiling at you from an angle (or that their attention is elsewhere. That's a little less unnerving when you're home along and there are sounds in the house.

     Overall, they just feel very convenient for me and a nice refresher when my dolls start to look bland. I like not being dedicated to one color or set position. I like the personality it lends to a doll when they aren't just staring blankly at the wall. Anyway, I think that's enough eye-talk. I hope everyone has a great week!

~~Aronzo~~