Meet Cerise Hood From Ever After High!

Since it’s now fall of 2017, and we haven’t seen any new merchandise, many fans are speculating that Ever After High is being discontinued.  Besides not having any new dolls (not even budget ones), they were not at this year’s Toy Fair, and the Netflix series has been canceled.

In spite of this, there are some who believe that, while it’s had some setbacks, Ever After High is not dead and will be rebooted at some point in the future.  Personally, I have no idea which is true!  Both sides have valid arguments.  Since everyone seems to agree that the future of Ever After High is up in the air though, I’m going ahead and picking up the rest of the dolls on my wish list while they’re still available.  Basically, the whole collection!

Which brings us to the main topic of today’s post and the introduction of my latest acquisition:

Cerise Hood!

Cerise Hood is considered a rebel at Ever After High.  She is the daughter of Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf (aka, “Mr. Badwolf”).  Technically, since royals and rebels are not supposed to intermarry, Cerise shouldn’t even exist.  Because her parents keep their marriage a secret, Cerise hides her wolf-like tendencies and features (ears) from the other students.

I’ve wanted Cerise for a long time and was planning to get her once I’d recuperated from a previous (but totally worth it!) purchase.  She was about $20 (with Prime shipping) when I bought her; however, that price recently jumped to about $50 plus shipping.  I’m finding this to be a trend with a lot of the “First Chapter” dolls.  They are becoming more expensive and harder to find, so I feel pretty fortunate to have gotten Miss Cerise for that price.

Here is Cerise Hood out of the box and with her accessories:

She comes with a plastic picnic basket and a small, cardboard “booklet”.

Alright, I know what you’re thinking.  This isn’t the original Cerise!  Where is the book shaped box?  And the beautiful background? And where the heck is her doll stand!  As I mentioned above, the original “First Chapter” dolls are becoming very hard to find.  This is a re-released version of Cerise, therefore, she came with a budget box and fewer accessories (no bracelet and ring).  However, I knew this was the case when I bought her.  While I would have loved getting a cute box and extra accessories, I ultimately wanted to find Cerise for a price I was comfortable with, so I sacrificed a little on the details.

Here is a look at the background and back of the box.

It has a purplish-pink background and a tree with lots of little picnic baskets hanging from its branches.  On the back of the box is a picture of Maddie, Raven, and Cerise, along with a series of questions followed by Cerise’s answers.

Here is a closer view of the questions and answers.

Instead of a bookmark, this version of Cerise comes with a small booklet.

There is a drawing of Cerise on the front and a little blurb about her on the back.  Besides the booklet, Cerise’s only other accessory is a plastic picnic basket.

I believe the picnic basket is just like the one that came in the first edition, except that it no longer has the red checked pattern painted on top.

The back and sides are sculpted with a woven look and painted light brown.  The top is gray and has buckles molded to each corner.  The basket has a red handle with red bows attached on each side where it connects to the basket.

You can see there is a small gap between the side of the basket and the rim.

I thought there was a chance that the top could be opened, but I was wrong.  It is purely decorative.

Now that we’ve seen her accessories, let’s take a look at Cerise!

Cedar and Ashlynn can stand on their own fairly well, but Cerise had a little more trouble (I think it has something to do with her shoes).  However, if you get her feet angled just right, she can be balanced without a stand–which is good since she didn’t come with one.

Because she is the daughter of Little Red Riding Hood, Cerise wears a bright red cape and hood.

The cape fastens in the front using a small, plastic clasp that looks like chain links.

A hole is cut in the back of the hood to make room for Cerise’s hair.

After unsnapping the clasp, the cape can be taken off.

Interestingly, “cerise” is the French word for “cherry” and is a deep, reddish-pink color just like the background of Cerise’s cape.

It is sewn from a satin material and printed with a black and silver floral pattern on the outside.  The pattern has a bit of a spooky feel, but I kind of like it and think it adds to the aura of mystery surrounding Cerise!

The cape is lined with red tulle.

The lining is only on the bottom part of the cape though.  The hood is not lined–it is simply red satin.  The raw edges of the hood and cape are either hemmed or hidden beneath the mesh.

The sides and bottom of the cape have been gathered, giving it a poofy, bubble hem:

Here is Cerise without her cape.

She has a light tan complexion, slate-colored eyes, and brown eyebrows.  Her eyeshadow is a combination of light blue and gray, and her lips are painted light pink.

Unfortunately, after unboxing Cerise, I found that her hair was a little greasy, and she had a few strands that were overly crimped.

So, before taking any more pictures, I stopped to give her a quick hair wash.

Ah, much better!

I kept things simple and used just hot (not boiling) water and a teeny bit of conditioner.  I did have to trim away the curly pieces, though.  Washing had no effect, and the only way to get rid of them was to cut them out.

Now Cerise has beautiful, soft hair that is picture ready!

Before seeing her in person, I had assumed that Cerise’s hair was black, but it’s actually a very deep brown.

Her hair is straight and stops just below her waist.  Her bangs are cut short and have streaks of white mixed in.

One thing that makes Ever After High stand out from other dolls is their amazing articulation.

They have eleven points of articulation:

1. Head,
2. Shoulders.
3. Elbows.
4. Wrists.
5. Leg.
6. Knees.

They can hold a wide range of poses, which makes them fun to photograph!

Now let’s have a look at the rest of Cerise’s outfit.

Her top is a red and black checked, A-line, mini dress.

Under the dress, Cerise wears a pair of black leggings.  The leggings have a leather (or possibly even crocodile-skin) pattern.

She also has a pair of brown, wedge boots.

The boots are made to look like leather and have lots of little details, such as straps with buckles molded at the top, laces molded down the front, and a tassel of fringe molded on the toe of each boot.

Cerise’s final accessory is a belt.

Like her boots, Cerise’s belt is molded to look like leather and painted brown.  It has two rows of silver chain links and three buckles painted on the front.  It buckles around Cerise’s waist using a couple of little pegs.

Now let’s see if Miss Hood truly has ears like a wolf!  Here is a comparison of Cerise’s ears and Ashlynn Ella’s:

Okay, so they’re not super pointed, but I can see where they are sharper than Ashlynn’s.  Actually, they remind me of Tinkerbell’s ears.

I couldn’t help but get a few pictures comparing Cerise’s height to my other Ever After High dolls.  Obviously, she’s taller than Kitty Cheshire since Kitty is from Wonderland and has a shorter body.

Before last Christmas, I had no idea who or what Ever After High was.  It was only after receiving Cedar Wood as a gift that I became aware of this awesome world where all my favorite fairy tale characters mingle together!

Mattel seems adamant though that Ever After High has NOT been canceled and continues to reassure fans (via Twitter) that the series is still being produced.

Will Ever After High be rebooted at some point?  I certainly hope so!  There are so many characters I would love to see made…like Ramona Badwolf (Cerise’s sister)!  I will admit, though, the lack of merchandise is concerning.

I know the long-awaited Ever After High/Monster High crossover book is supposed to be released in October (The Legend Of Shadow High) so maybe we’ll get some new dolls when it comes out.

Ultimately, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if Ever After High will be given another chapter in dolly history