One evening in June, like every other day, Sang sat at his desk, with all kinds of colors and small brushes on the table.
`Even though I’ve made the faces of many types of dolls, I’m still nervous when it comes to expensive ones, I do it very slowly. If it’s broken, I’ll have to pay a month’s salary,` the boy from Ben Luc said jokingly.
It takes Sang 4-5 hours to complete a doll’s face.
In the community of doll players in Vietnam, Phan Ngoc Sang is a very famous name and is trusted by demanding customers when they need to `renovate the beauty` of expensive dolls.
The fate that brought Sang to this profession began when she saw a doll beauty video on a friend’s phone during her second year of college.
Studying interior design, liking to learn new things, and passionate about drawing, Sang ordered a few cheap dolls to practice making.
For painting or makeup, the doll’s face needs to be coated with a spray as a primer.
The dolls he bought had the same face. He used bleach to clean their faces.
Not only did Sang redraw her face, she also redid her hairstyle when she saw that the doll’s hair was tangled.
That guest later sponsored a doll beauty contest on Facebook.
Sang’s customers are often collectors who own a large number of dolls and want to change their `pet’s` face to look more different.
But Sang’s special joy comes from the old dolls their owner has owned since he was a child.
The completely new look of a little girl doll was given makeup by Sang.
Each customer has a unique request for their doll’s face.
Two years ago, after more than 3 years in the profession, he first met a difficult customer.
After that time, he learned from experience to ask questions carefully.
He considers himself a person who easily gives up and speaks rudely, but when he encounters difficult customers, he stays calm and perseveres.
Later, beautifying dolls did not stop at repainting their faces.
Only once did a customer ask him to make eyes for the doll as clear as glass, but Sang refused because he didn’t know where to get the materials to make the eyes.
`What makes me happiest is when customers say, ‘I’ve never seen such realistic doll eyes,’` Sang recalls.
Famous in the `doll village`, for about a year now, many designers and fashion store owners have brought mannequins to hire him to do makeup for about 1.3 – 1.5 million per face.
`Furthermore, the weight and size of the mannequin’s face are larger, making it heavy to hold, so after a day of work my arms are tired,` Sang shared.
Makeup mannequins will increase the value of expensive outfits.
As someone who sent Sang to do makeup for nearly 50 dolls of famous cartoon characters in her collection, Ms. Luc Bao, 34 years old, in Hanoi is always surprised when she receives her pets back.
One time, Ms. Bao made Sang a doll in the movie Avatar.
`Different requirements give me a new experience and experience,` Sang said.
There was a time when Sang thought that after graduating from school, he would just need to find an office job.
In the near future, he plans to create a line of personally branded dolls.
