We have reached the final interview! In just a couple of days, the top 25 finalists of the Neo Blythe Beauty International Contest will be announced! I hope you’re all as excited as I am! With that said, that also means all the interviews are finished, at least for now... Maybe after the top 25 finalists are announced, I may try to reach out to some more contests or maybe not. We will see!
Make sure to check out all the past interviews, if you haven’t already, and make sure you send your love and support to them and their dollies! I hope that all 6 contestants whom I interviewed make it to the top 25, but I may be biased. lol
In honor of the Neo Blythe International Beauty Contest, I am interviewing some of the participants who are involved in the contest, and just so happened to make it to the top 50 semi-finalists! If this is the first post in the series that you’re reading, I encourage you to start with this post and then read the previous interview.
It’s kind of full circle that we started with a Natalie interview, and we’re ending with a Natalie interview! Today, I’m interviewing Natalie of Ang3l.wip, the creator of “Yūjin Bītsu”. In her interview, Natalie, a massive collector of all things cute, discusses how she discovered Blythe during the height of the Tumblr days, how she signed up for the competition before having an idea, the advantage she had creating the face of her Blythe as a long-time makeup artist, and more!
We cover all this, plus what inspired her to enter the Blythe Beauty International Contest, behind-the-scenes stories, obstacles, and more. Please enjoy this interview with the maker of the Blythe doll “Yūjin Bītsu,” Natalie!
1. Introduce yourself (e.g., how you became a doll lover, how many Blythe dolls you have, other dolls you love, other hobbies, etc)
Natalie: Hi I’m Natalie! I’m a doll collector & seamstress. I mainly collect Blythe dolls but also have an interest in Moof & Takara dolls such as Licca-chan or Jenny. I do have a healthy playline doll collection featuring Bratz, Vintage Mod era Barbie etc as well. I really am just a collector of anything I find cute. I often find myself wishing I could be more selective & minimalistic in my collection but it’s just not who I am at my core. At this current moment I do have 52 authentic Blythe dolls, which is insane to admit lol.
Aside from collecting, I'm a doll fashion designer & seamstress. I launched my brand Angel.Wip last August, happy 1st birthday to me! The support and success I've found with my brand has been so amazing! Growing up I was always drawing outfit ideas, ripping up magazines, thrifting experimental clothing etc. My career path led me in other directions but Blythe has been a huge source of my creativity not only blossoming but finding its way back to what I love to do. Blythe is my #1 model always!
2. How did you discover Blythe?
Natalie: I first discovered Blythe in late middle school/early highschool, which would have been around 2009. Like most of us at that time I was hugely into Tumblr. I joke it was my first full time job, but seriously I was making money off of it by coding & selling custom themes. My aesthetic then was 100% Scene Queen vibes, rawr xo. I had quite a large following on Tumblr because of this style being at the height of its popularity post myspace era. I used to be embarrassed by these old pictures but now I just find them to be such a delightful time capsule. I remember seeing Blythe photos (almost certainly Gina Garan’s work) on fashion/art blogs & feeling like no one had ever understood me more. Blythe simultaneously felt so real but fantasy in a way that I found so alluring & addicting.
3. Your first Blythe doll?
Natalie: Prima Dolly Asheltina! She was super cheap on Mercari because the seller said her eye mech didn’t work; when I got her she was in perfect working condition! I still love her & find her so easy to redress into different aesthetics. I think the simply/prima dolly girls are a great entry point as they’re not heavily themed, a blank canvas to discover your collecting style.
4. What inspired you to enter the Neo Blythe Beauty contest?
Natalie: Being a longtime Blythe enthusiast but not a collector in my teens, when the contests initially took place, I always hoped it would come back! Most collector communities will never have such a unique or intimate opportunity such as this to share their ideas & art with the companies that own their favorite IP. I recognize it as a very special part of being a Blythe collector & don't take it for granted. I signed up for the contest before I even had a solidified idea for my doll, it was just an immediate yes!
5. Tell us about your doll entry (explain the concept, name, the Blythe you used, the techniques you used, etc)
Natalie: My entry for the 25th Neo Blythe anniversary Beauty Contest is Yūjin Bītsu! Her name is a play on best friend, “beet friend” in Japanese. The translations being 友人Yūjin = Friend & ビーツ Bītsu = Beetroot
“There once was a lonely beet farmer who wished for a best friend to share her life with. One harvest season while tending to the rows of beets on her farm, she noticed an especially small sprout. As the farmer knelt to pull the little beet from the earth, she realized it was a tiny girl! As the farmer helped clean her up the little beet opened her eyes, the farmer knew her wish had been granted. Bītsu is a gentle & loving friend. She cares about her community & the planet. She finds beauty in even the tiniest of sprouts pushing through the soil on a warm spring day.”
When deciding on a concept I was initially inspired by my love of old folktales & kitchy anthropomorphism i.e the houseware in Beauty & the Beast. It was also important for me to push myself creatively; I really made it a point to go beyond my usual pastel angel aesthetic. When I was leaving my house one day I was hit with the final inspo..my doormat has a little beet on it with the phrase “Beet it!” lol. I immediately envisioned a doll with long green hair referencing the stems & an amazing beet red puffy dress.
After weeks of gathering inspo, mood boards, & rough sketches I decided “Dolly Days Weekend” was the ideal base candidate. The customization process was quite arduous but so worthwhile. From dyeing the hair, sanding the face, using pastels & acrylics for the face ups, drafting the dress pattern, sewing all the clothing pieces, dyeing the fabric with real beet juice, hand painting her basket beets & shoes.. pretty much everything you see was hand done. I also commissioned her crochet pieces from my lovely friend Nichole (breathingblythe), she perfectly understood the assignment! All in all it was about 2+ months of work, I don’t want to tally up the hours lol!
It was extremely important to me for the doll to look like BLYTHE! I don’t personally like carving or altering the face that way so that was never going to be a part of my process. While top 25 is my main goal.. the Junko’s Choice award of the contest never left my mind. The idea of my doll being produced into an official Blythe? Insane. I do think this hindered my creativity & execution a bit though. I love that my final product could be reproduced in full if necessary BUT I did cut a lot of extra pieces of her outfit & accessories etc. I plan to go much bigger & push myself even further in future contests, hopefully. That being said, I’m extremely proud of her & myself!
6. What new skills did you learn throughout the doll-making process?
Natalie: Doing the faceup was intimidating to me! Prior to this I had minimal experience with pan pastels & acrylics on this medium. I’d done a few fake custom dolls in the past but never with the aim of perfection. I am not a traditional artist by any means.. but I work in the beauty industry. I think my long career as a makeup artist translated nicely to doll face ups, learning how to blend colors & draw shapes. I did a lot of practice on a fake doll before transitioning to the real base.
Another new skill unlocked was using dyes! I’d never used either synthetic nor natural dyes before, they’re so fun! I really was inspired by the photography practice of “anthotypes”- using beet juice to develop a photo. The possibilities are endless because you can really play with the level of saturation or time left in the dye, the results are all so different!
7. What was the most difficult part in creating your Blythe?
Natalie: I struggle a lot with decision fatigue & starting a new project. I could be stuck in the R&D phase for months; It was helpful this project had a deadline. I decided to just start big.. I knew once I dyed the hair there was no going back & the concept would be solidified. I'm also not the most patient person when creating, I just can't wait to see how it will turn out lol. It was a big exercise in patience while waiting between each layer.
8. Any fun behind-the-scenes stories from creating your doll?
Natalie: A silly mishap occurred when dying her hair. I spent forever tinkering with the dye ratio for the perfect vintagey shade of green. I held my breath & counted down 3.. 2..1 before dunking her bright platinum blonde hair into a bowl of dark green water. I pulled the hair out expecting a huge difference.. nothing! I was so caught off guard & then it hit me, synthetic hair. I had to rework the color ratios into a new dye formula for synthetic fibers. Et voila, the right materials create the right outcomes!
9. Who’s your favorite doll from the top 50 semi-finalists?
Natalie: This question should be illegal! There is so much talent in the top 50 but my personal tastes would be the dolls that still look like Blythe. Mima Futura by Mady (blythe_fever) is such a wonderful example of pushing every boundary of what Blythe can be while still being herself! I also love all the ways Natalie (dream.girl.things) has presented her doll Hana Harmony. Creating a playlist & all the fun edits, she feels like a real girl which is super fun. Plus I’m a huge sucker for all things pink + blue lol! They’re both friend’s of mine outside the contest but I think the best friendships are inspiring & they both push me creatively. I also have to say Fifi by Lila (esoteric.dolls) is another fave of mine, I would buy that jacket in a heartbeat! All of these girls are so incredibly talented & I’m lucky to be included alongside their entries.
10. How did you feel when you found out you made it to the top 50 semi-finalists?
Natalie: Like I could finally breathe!! I was so elated and honored. It’s been truly a dream come true to see my doll posted on official Blythe accounts!
11. Where can people find you? What type of content can we expect to see on your dollstagram?
Natalie: I mainly stick to IG ang3l.wip for my doll content but also post on tiktok ang3lwip. Lately I’ve been posting my dolls & our summer travels captured on my DSLR camera. I also have a great short form series I’ve started, showcasing my Blythe collection in chronological order. Those have been fun bite sized ways to highlight each Blythe release. I love making longer form doll content on youtube Angelwip-co when I find the time! There you can find doll unboxings, dolly mail hauls, ranking videos, collection overviews etc.
My clothing brand is angelwip.co on IG and you can shop at angelwip.com. I do have my next collection drop in the works so stay tuned!
A huge thank you to Natalie! It was so fun to read her interview because we were the same person growing up! I remember playing fashion designer as a tween with my Bratz dolls all the time. Also, hearing her talk about her Tumblr days was such a throwback! I was a big fan of scene queens and even followed my favorite ones on the BuzzFeed blogs!
Anyways, we wish “Yūjin Bītsu” and Natalie good luck. I hope you two beet' em! lol
Once again, thank you to all the contestants and their gorgeous one-of-a-kind Blythe dolls for agreeing to be interviewed! This series literally couldn’t have been possible without you. Thank you to both of the Natalies, Jen, Prince, Normande, and Madyson. I hope you all make it far in this journey to showcase your love for the holy muse that is Blythe. I hope you are proud of yourselves for having the courage to express yourselves in the form of this gentle icon. Best of luck!