Rainbow High Series 1 Violet Willow Doll: A Review (Sort Of)

Let me start off by saying that this post was an afterthought. It was only after Violet was unboxed and her hair brushed that I decided I should write a "review," which is why I'm hesitant to actually call it one. There will be no pictures of Violet in the box, no pictures of her being unboxed, and no pictures of her fresh out of the box. So in reality, this is only a partial review. Either way, I do hope it's somewhat informative and entertaining, and know that I hope to post proper reviews as I collect more of these gorgeous dolls. 

Rainbow High Violet Wilson. I posed her holding her extra dress.

Rainbow High is a line released by MGA Entertainment (the creators of Bratz and L.O.L. Surprise!) earlier this year. The concept is that each characters' design is based off a different color, with the brand's slogan even being #CollectTheRainbow. The characters are students that attend a school located at the end of the rainbow. So they're basically dolls with Bratz's fashion sense and Monster High's concept. Anyway, I've been intrigued by them since they first came out, but I was never fully committed to purchasing any of them...until now.

The first time I saw a Rainbow High doll in person was, believe it or not, at Walgreens. For one thing, I didn't even know they sold newer doll lines, so it was a pleasant surprise. They only had two characters in stock, Violet Wilson and Amaya Raine (who comes with a playset), and there were only about three of each left on the shelf. Although I wasn't (and still not) the biggest fan of Amaya, I liked Violet. I was much more impressed with her in person than I was with her stock photos. But still I ended up leaving her behind. I wasn't fully sold yet.

That all changed when I took a trip to Target last night. I had previously seen a display for Rainbow High at that store, but they were sold out of every doll. Out of curiosity though, I still peeked down the toy aisle. Well, Target must have stocked up for Christmas, because they had a whole bunch of Rainbow High dolls. Again, my eye fell on Violet, and I was more tempted than I was before. But what convinced me completely to take her home was the fact that Target was offering 25% off any one toy purchase to Target Circle members. Into the cart Violet went.

Using the promotion, I payed $21 and change for Violet (including tax), which is about $5 less than her original price tag of $26.99. In my opinion, it's a decent deal for an articulated doll with a stand and extra outfit.

As soon as I got home I took Violet out of her box. The packaging was a bit of a pain to get open; there were lots of different sections with accessories (for example, the extra outfit is in a different part of the box than the actual doll, and hidden behind that is her stand and hangers for her clothes). There were also a lot of little plastic ties holding the doll in place, but they could be cut fairly easily with a pair of scissors. The only real difficulty I had was not damaging the doll as I cut the ties, especially the ones holding her hair in place. 

Speaking of Violet's hair, you could immediately notice that styling product was used in the front sections. It was stuck together and hard to the touch, crunchy even. Personally, I don't think it was necessary to have put anything in her hair, as it's all straight, so there's no curls to keep in place. The good news is, I was able to get most of the crunchiness out with just a good combing. Once that was taken care of, I could appreciate her locks a lot more.

Her knee length hair is periwinkle in color with lilac and silver streaks and silver rooted tinsel. The front section is pulled back away from her face and secured in a wrap around ponytail. She also sports bangs cut straight across her eyebrows. Like the front sections of her hair, they also had styling product in them, but I opted to not brush it out because I felt that it would help keep the bangs in place. He hair is very silky to the touch, especially in the back, where no product was used at all.

A look at Violet's hair from the back.

Violet's face has a pearly finish. She has large, beautiful blue and purple inset eyes, rooted upper lashes, sparkly lavender colored eyeshadow, and heavy (yet flattering) eyeliner. Her lips are slightly parted and are pinkish-purple in hue with white highlights on her cupid's bow. Her nose is cute as well, and her overall expression is very innocent. 

Violet comes with two outfits, one she is wearing and an extra one to change into to. She comes wearing a sequined spaghetti strap dress, which is almost iridescent in color. She has a faux-fur long-sleeved jacket, lined with a shimmery purple material. It's my personal favorite part of her outfit, aside from the fact that it does shed a bit.

Violet in her first outfit. So glamorous!

Violet's jacket is lined, which is rare for doll clothing. I think it's a nice touch.

She has strappy purple shoes with pearl studded high heels, which she wears over socks made from the a fabric similar to the lining of her jacket. On the strap of each of her heels is a little gold "RH," the initials of Rainbow High, which I think is an adorable detail. 

I love the gold accents around the pearl studs on her heels!

To finish the look, Violet has a pair of silver and purple star earrings. Part of the star portion is molded to look as though its dripping, which is an interesting touch, although I'm not sure how it relates to the rest of the outfit.

Please excuse my thumb. I had to pull the fur of her jacket away from the earring so I could get a better picture.

As I mentioned before, Violet has a second ensemble, which consists of a dress, jacket, and heels. 

Violet's complete second outfit. A bit more casual than the first, but still stylish.

The dress is light purple with spaghetti straps and overlaid at the skirt with two layers of tulle. It also features a long white ribbon tied around the waist, with the word "rainbow" written down it. 

The moto jacket is a lilac faux leather material. The amount of detail that went into the jacket is phenomenal. It has a faux zipper and pockets, but a functional belt and buckle to secure at the waist. 

Love that the belt buckle actually fastens!

She also has an extra pair of shoes, which are painted in two shades of pearly purple. The straps are molded to look like fabric laces tied into bows. They are made from a soft plastic, but it's still quite the challenge to get the straps over the doll's heel. 

I decided not to pair the socks with Violet's outfit. Unfortunately, the shoes were a bit big on the foot without them.

Violet comes with some functional accessories as well; two purple hangers for her second outfit, a glittery purple comb, and a matching doll stand. It comes in three pieces and needs to be assembled, but goes together very easily. 

As far as articulation goes, Violet has joints at the wrist, elbow, and shoulder, hip, two joints at the knee (comparable to a Made to Move Barbie doll), and her head can swivel from side to side. 

A better look at the range of motion in Violet's knees. 

Another interesting thing is that her hands are removable so she's easier to dress, like Mattel did with Monster High and Ever After High. The difference is that these are a bit more difficult to get off. And be careful when reattaching them; you don't want to snap the pegs that hold her hands in place. 

I love the concept of detachable hands. One of the hardest parts of dressing a doll is getting the sleeves over her fingers. It's great not having to struggle with that.

Overall, I am very pleased with this doll and this line! For awhile, there was nothing that caught my interest in the toy aisle, and Rainbow High gives me something doll-related to look forward to now. I'll definitely be buying more in the future!