INTRODUCTION

Harmony - in many ways, is a symbol summing up what Smart Doll means to me - diversity for all. Why did I make her when no other manufacturer in Japan or asia make black soft vinyl fashion dolls? 


I was born and raised in Hackney London - my best friends (and worse enemies lol) were black. I was actually raised by separate black, white and Indian foster families as my parents were struggling to make ends meet.

As a foreigner in Japan raised in such an environment - and being the founder of the only Japan based company to make black fashion dolls, I want to set standards with Smart Doll and create choices for folks instead of presuming that people just want fair skin tones.

Do you know about the "Doll Test" conducted by Kenneth and Mamie Clark? Check this search result on Youtube to see disturbing results where black kids were asked "which is the bad doll, which is the nice doll?" when presented with a black and white doll.
This sort of racism is further fueled by Japanese doll manufacturers calling their white skinned products "normal" insinuating that other skin tones is anything but normal. Hopefully other Japanese companies will reconsider renaming their white skin tones with the introduction of Harmony.

A few years ago I rolled out a skin tone I called "Cocoa" and while it was kinda nice, I thought it could do with some improvements so I consulted with my man Darius who worked with me on various prototypes to come up with the new Cocoa skin tone.

ABOUT THE PRODUCT

Read the Buyers Guide to find out what the Sports Bra and Apparel sets come with.

Due to it's material properties - all soft vinyl is prone to scratches but they are hardly visible on our Milk or Skin tones - for Cocoa however, they can stand out a lot. For this reason, we include 1 Melamine sponge with Harmony incase you scratch her body with your fingernail or whatever.

Take the sponge and brush *lightly* on the surface to remove the scratch. If you scratch her face by accident, brush LIGHTLY with the sponge to remove it (sorry had to use caps because I MEANT IT!) or you will remove the makeup too. Some of the sponge will leave white powder on the skin surface - just wipe it away. Scratches will either disappear completely or  become not noticeable unless you are staring at it with a microscope.

Also, the properties of soft vinyl encompass blemishes through the slush casting process which are more noticeable in the Cocoa skin tone - if this is not cool for you then do not buy this product.

Due to the lack of manufacturers making black dolls, no wig maker makes wigs with black silicone parting lines - they all come in white! For this reason, we use a mix of matte coat with black ink on the parting line - some of it may smudge off on your finger. The wig cap remains a slight tea color though but its covered by the wig. 

The wig that comes with Harmony is called Long Wave Black and eyes are called Ebony 2018.

ABOUT TAKING PHOTOS

Dust shows up more clearly on Cocoa so make sure to check Harmony's face for dust before taking photos. You may need to turn up the exposure slightly when taking photos of Harmony due to her dark complexion.