Thursday, November 17, 2016

Review & Giveaway: Inspiring a Healthy Self-Image with My Muse Dolls

Disclosure: I received a My Muse Doll for review purposes; all opinions expressed are my own.




Watching my children in creative moments is one of the most rewarding parts of parenting. Seeing them focused on scenarios that they've created and even stumbling upon sometimes hilarious vignettes they've staged around the house brings humor to my day. With the holidays approaching, I'm looking for gifts that will inspire more of this creative play in my children so when My Muse Dolls reached out to me I was excited to learn more about their high-quality, diverse dolls. 


Three of the four founding members: Torlisa Jeffrey (CMO), Ebele Kemery (CEO) and Amaka Cypriana Uzoh (Director, Digital Brand Strategy & Partnerships) (Not pictured: Jullin Ebuji, COO)
My Muse Dolls was created by a thoughtful team committed to creating dolls that inspire girls to see their beauty and seize their dreams. Seeing the dolls' range of beautiful skin tones and hair textures coupled with their compelling stories and colorful outfits, I knew it was a doll that Nia would love.

I was right!



I selected Keva for Nia because her story reminded me a lot of her - she's American and is involved in so many interests and activities. Each My Muse Doll's name means "beauty" and Keva's name is Celtic. From a heritage perspective with Nia being Nigerian and African-American this is especially important: Nia's full name is Virginia Adanna Agbai. She is named Virginia for my grandmother, Mary Virginia, who actually does have Irish heritage and "Adanna" means "father's daughter" in Igbo, the language of Uka's family.




Keva arrived in an outfit Nia would love to wear herself: jeans, a floral top and adorable pink-high- tops. We noticed her hair is multi-textured and kinky, just like Nia's. She can style it however she wants, but prefers to leave it out and about - kind of like her own hair! When Nia brought her doll to share with her fellow 1st graders she was concerned that her classmates wouldn't like her hair. Instead, she told me they loved it! It was their most favorite feature of the doll. I believe exchanges like this help foster positive self-image in children.

Nia and I like My Muse Dolls' attention to detail - Keva's pink high-tops and the trim on her jeans are adorable!
My Muse Dolls retail for $79.99 and has two collection: Featured Dolls, representing dolls from around the world with their own unique stories and clothing, while Your Muse collection allows you to customize your doll based on 3 skin tones and 3 hair textures.

Building Your Muse is simple on the website with an array of outfits to pick from: 



Nia especially likes that she can interchange her other 18" dolls outfits with Keva - it's fun seeing what combinations she comes up with! Keva came dressed in jeans and a floral top but we also received The Lagosian Outfit to dress her up in too. I'm quite the sucker for awesome packaging and Keva came in a sturdy, keepsake box and her outfit change was also made of the same sturdy material with a magnetic clasp. 



Here's a little video showing Nia meeting Keva:



Would you like to win a My Muse Doll for a special child in your life? My Muse Dolls has generously offered to give 3 Harlem Lovebirds readers a chance to win a My Muse Doll:

L to R: Adamma; Your Muse: Medium Tone, Bob Hair; Liliana
To enter, select which of the 3 dolls you'd like to win and enter just that giveaway - duplicates will be disqualified. The giveaway starts today, November 18 and ends at Sunday, November 20 at midnight, EST with the winner announced on Monday, November 21 (open to U.S. residents ages 18+)

#1 Adamma:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


#2 Your Muse: Medium Tone, Bob Hair:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#3 Liliana:

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Good luck!