Box opening: My queen has arrived

On Thursday last week, I received my Iplehouse SID Ashanti. It took me a while to make this post as I've been sick and haven't felt like doing much, but yet I've been a bit busy at the same time, so I haven't relaxed properly.

I'm so impressed with how fast Iplehouse are! I placed my order on September 11th and they shipped her on the 27th. Then it took nine days before she arrived in Denmark which surprised me a bit. Normally, I'm a pretty patient person, but I grew so impatient as EMS usually is faster. Then I had to wait for the letter about customs fees and this also took a few extra days, but then I finally got her!

She is just pure perfection! I'm so happy that I was able to get her before she was discontinued. ♥ Her name is Sakina and I still don't know much about her character except that she's from Kenya and fled to the UK with her parents and younger sister when she was 12, and that she, of course, also is a model, as most of my other characters. Someday I also want to get her sister, Inaya, whom I plan to be a Merry Doll Round Zuri.

The weather was weird when I did this box opening. One moment the sun was out, the next it was gone and this went on throughout all the photos, so don't mind the changing colours and light.

On the same day I also received an order from Volks, but more about that further down.

I love getting multiple things on the same day!

The Iplehouse box was ripped, but luckily everything was okay.

The inner box was not padded beside one piece of bubble wrap. I wonder if it came like this from Iplehouse or if the customs forgot to put the padding back in after checking the content. :/

My excitement was intense at this point!

There she is! I love Iplehouse light brown!

Extra hands I bought for both Sakina and Thalia, and the heel feet she came with.

Her face-up is stunning! She has about ten beauty marks on her face and it looks so good! ♥

I've seen a lot of different opinions on the new SID body, but I like it. I don't know if I like the aesthetics better than the old body, but the posing is better in my opinion.

Both SID bodies side by side. The new body is slightly taller.

The new elbow joint is so much easier to use, but I do think that the old joint looks a bit more natural.

I don't have a wig for her yet, so she stole Thalia's original wig.

Now onto the Volks order. Earlier this year I read a blog post somewhere about taking care of doll hair on dolls like Pureneemos as their hair is rooted and can't be changed as easy as buying a new wig for a BJD. Along with some synthetic hair styling products, I bought a Tangle Teezer brush that should be great because it's flexible and the bristles give in before destroying the fibres.

I've been planning this order for a while and had originally put it on my plans for next year. Volks write the full value on their packages so custom fees are guaranteed. My plan was, therefore, to make an order next year and include an outfit. But Volks had just released a dress I really liked, so I decided to order right away. Originally, I wanted the grey version with a zipper on the front, but it was temporary out of stock and with no knowledge of when it would be restocked I took the white dress instead.

Love this dress!

I was a dummy and forgot to check what sizes it fit on. It still works, though. I don't mind that I can't button it all the way.

One of the elastics for the hat broke right away. :( Might try to see if I can fix.

It looks so great on Charlie. I imagine she would look lovely in this dress and a  pair of mustard yellow stockings or tights and a pair of legwarmers.

And then just one more photo of Sakina, because she is a stunning queen so why not?