Hello and thank you for all the nice things you said! 8O!!!!!! I’m sure you can be really great someday, and since you’re practicing I don’t doubt that the day you are fantastic won’t be soon. I think making a face-up look masculine or feminine really depends on the sculpt and personality you’re going for. For instance, if you wanted to do a severe, tragic face-up that is meant for a boy on a head with a very soft brow bone then the first place you’d have to tackle would definitely be to intensify the brow area. If you wanted a young, peppy, happy boy then you the soft brow bone would work to your advantage. So if you could tell me the mold and what kind of look you’re going for, I can give you more specific advice! I’ve done face-ups for boys that obviously included them wearing makeup (I’ve done four face-ups where the owner requested blue eye shadow, but the doll still looks fairly male), and face-ups for girls where their eyebrows are thicker and hairy and had nude lips.

A general tip is to groom the eyebrows less when doing a face-up meant for an outwardly male character. I don’t find that this always necessary and I kind of object to the notion that only female face-ups can have groomed eyebrows, but I’ve seen that advice given often. Other pieces of advice in similar veins is to contour more, blush less. Keep the palette more nude, don’t go crazy with eye makeup haha! Still, like I mentioned before— it really depends on what you’re doing. ;) You can message me with more info and I’ll hash out a plan, haha!