This is the type of makeup you will choose if you want to specifically decide what sort of faceup you would like your doll to have. You can be as generic as you want or as specific as you want; the choice is entirely up to you. However, please be aware that most of the Volks FCS artists have a certain basic style of faceup they do, and the less specific you are (ie the more free reign you give them) the more generic your faceup will be. If you have a particular style or look in mind that you are after, it is better to be as specific as possible when ordering your faceup.

Also, you are more than welcome to ask them to do your faceup in the style of any of their LE dolls, or one-offs that you have seen pictures of, or the like; for example, you can ask for a "Lucas" faceup, or a "Sylvie" faceup. You can even ask for an LE faceup but with different coloured or styled individual parts, for example, asking for a "Madoka" faceup but with paler coloured lips and different blushing. You can even ask for a cross between LE faceups; for example, an "Okita" style faceup but with "Isao" style eyebrows. Anything you like! You can also ask for faceups based on one-off models or FCS models shown in any of the Volks books or catalogues; just be sure you know the name of the book and the page number of the doll and Volks will sort out the rest.

You are welcome to and very encouraged to submit photos or drawings along with your faceup in order to clearly show what you are after. Please only submit photos of Volks dolls - if you try to submit a photo of a non-Volks doll unfortunately they are not able to accept it. You can submit plenty of photos with your order to get your idea across; separate photos of the eyebrow shape, lip style, eyeshadow, blushing, lower eyelashes, etc, that you are after. You can submit multiple pictures for one part, too; for example, one picture showing the eyebrow shape you are after, with another picture showing the eyebrow colour you prefer. If you are very specific about the colour that you want for anything, it's recommended that you submit a photo or printout showing exactly what the colour looks like, as people interpret colour names differently, and this interpretation becomes harder when translating into Japanese. (For example, 'plum' or 'rose' means different things to different people, and more so across languages!) For the colour, you don't need to submit a picture of the colour on a doll's faceup if you can't find it; you can just do something as simple as drawing a square in a Paint program and printing it out on a colour printer.
Note: Please submit copies rather than your originals of any pictures you want to be used as they will not be returned to you.



Volks have laid out the makeup order form in a certain way and so ask for the information in a specific order, and I often find it easiest to lay out makeup orders in the same fashion. Here is what you will want to consider when describing your makeup order. Again, as above, you can be as generic or as specific as you want.

Overall Image/Concept:
This is where you describe the overall idea that you have for your doll. You can describe the basic concept of their personality, or the basic expression that you want them to show. For example, "kind and caring, friendly and often smiling", or "haughty and arrogant, with an intense gaze and a serious, daring expression". You can describe their personality, such as "so-and-so spends a lot of time with friends, and is always talking and laughing, always easy-going", or "so-and-so is a distant, lonely, melancholy individual, who often seems to have an air of sorrow surrounding them". You can say a lot or a little, but it is better to try and keep it to a concise paragraph of 3 to 4 sentences at most. This is also where you might simply state "done like Lucas" or similar if you wanted their overall concept to be similar to a certain LE.

Eyebrows:
Here you will want to describe the shape and the colour. Eyebrows are very defining in the overall expression of a doll, so should be given a lot of thought. You can describe the shape, the length (short or long?), the thickness of them, and anything else you think is important, such as whether they should curve in any particular area. You can also describe the way you wish the strokes to be drown, for example if you prefer them to be thicker and wider apart, or thinner and more feathery. You can use expression-descriptive words, such as "arrogant" or "gentle" to help explain the expression, but if you do so, try providing an example picture. You should also describe the colour you want used. You may want to consider what wigs you intend for your doll to wear most when choosing eyebrow colours; for example, very dark eyebrows may not go well if your doll will wear a lot of pale wigs, and vice versa.

Eye Area:
This is where you describe what you want in style and colour around the eyes. This is usually defined in three parts:
Eyeliner: You will want to specify what sort of eyeliner you want. You can ask for it to be done on the top but not the bottom, or vice versa. You can ask for inner eyeliner, but not outer. You can ask for it to be thick and strong, or natural looking. If you would like the eyeliner to extend further outwards at the outer edges of the eye, you can request that. You should also specify the colour you would prefer. You can also ask for the eyeliner to be glossed; if you want this, don't forget to specify whether you want top, bottom or both done!
Lower Eyelashes: You will want to specify how you want these painted. Note that Volks will not insert actual lower eyelashes for you; if you want these, you must insert them yourself. For painted lower eyelashes, you can specify whether you want them long or short, whether you want them to be thick or thin, whether you want them to be wispy or not, and what direction or angle you want them pointing. You can ask, for example, for most of the lashes to be angled straight down, but for the outer lashes to be angled outwards instead. You can ask for them simply to be "natural" or "girlish" if you wish. When specifying the colour, you can ask for a single colour, or you are welcome to ask for a mix of colours if you would like, such as "browns and greys" or "grey mixed with occasional ivory".
Eyeshadow: This is the blushing that is done around the eye area. Without blushing, even boy dolls look rather strange, so you will want to specify something here even if you are after a very natural look. You can simply ask for a "natural style complementing the rest of the faceup" if you wish, or you can be very specific. You can ask for different colours in different areas, such as red on the inner eyelids but grey on the outer eyelids. You can also specify different colours on the upper eyelids and below the eye area itself. You can ask for it to be darker nearer the nose but fading to a paler colour at the outer edges, or vice versa. If you have seen a particular style that you like, it is highly recommended that you submit a picture.

Mouth Area:
Here you will specify what you would like done with the lips. You can specify whether you want the mouth to be more "smiling" or more "serious" as you like. You can ask for them to be more full, or to be more thin. You can ask for the lips to be more defined (ie the outlines clearly visible) or for a more diffuse edge on them. (Look at some Volks LEs and standards for an example of diffuse lips, which are often done with airbrush rather than paintbrush.) You can also specify whether you would like vertical liplines painted on the lips or not. If you choose to have them, you can ask for them to be more subtle or more obvious. As well as specifying the lip colour you want, you can also specify what colour you would like the liplines to be, if you have something particular in mind. You can also specify whether you want the lips to be glossed or not, and if you choose to have them glossed, you can ask for it to be more subtle or more obvious. In addition, please be sure to mention if you particularly do or don't like the horizontal black/brown liplines in the corners of lips that have become more prevalent in faceups of late. While many people do like them, there are a certain subset who particularly don't like them -- so if you are one of these, make sure to mention that in your faceup description or you may get them!

Cheek and Shadow:
Here you will specify what you want for overall blushing on the rest of the face. If you want anything specific done for the cheeks, or have any particular areas that you would like specially blushed (such as the nose, or the chin, or the ears) please make a point of it. You can specify what colour you want for the overall blushing, and if you have any specific colour you want for an area, you are welcome to say so. If you are unsure what you would like, you are welcome to say "please use colours that complement the rest of the faceup". You can ask for it to be done in a natural style, or in a more specific style that you have in mind. If you have seen something you particularly like, it would be a good idea to include pictures.

Extras:
(Note: available at Sumika FCS as of September, 2008, Sato as of October 2008, and LA as of November, 2008.)

Teeth: If you are ordering an SD headmold that has teeth (F-01, F-03, F-05, F-06, F-09, F-10, F-12, F-14, or F-15) you can specify whether you would like them painted to be visible, or not visible, and how exactly you would like them to be painted. (Colour, style, etc.) Note that this does not appear to be available for MSD headmolds that have teeth.

Freckles/Beauty Spots: You are now able to order freckles or beauty spots (moles) as a part of your makeup options. If you order either freckles or beauty spots you are able to specify the colour, the density, the size, and the desired area.

Things to be aware of:
Beyond the above-mentioned freckles and beauty spots, Volks will not take requests for other birthmarks, scars, or anything outside of the normal realms of a faceup, so please do not ask them to do so as they will not fulfill this part of your faceup request.
If there is a specific colour that you do not want used on your doll, please be sure to mention it, such as "pink goes against his image, so please don't use it", or "I would prefer not to have brown tones in her blushing".
If you have a previous FCS and want your doll to look similar, as if they are "family", you can give the headplate number (for Sato FCS) or the order number from the order form if you have it (for Sumika FCS) and Volks will keep this style in mind when painting your new FCS.
Sometimes, no matter how specific you are, your faceup may not turn out exactly as you have envisioned. Each Volks FCS artist has their own way of painting, and different artists may interpret your requests in different ways. Please keep this in mind when placing your order.