The story all started sometime last week when I bought a new hair straightener.
No, I guess it all started way before that. It's only that things only had a chance to "click" last week.
Last week I found a cool-looking hair straightener in a second hand shop. Me and my own straightener have never really been friends for several reasons. It takes a lifetime to heaten up, there is no controller, not even an on/off switch. And it pulls my hair - though until last week I thought it's kind of normal. All these, and the curoisity of wanting to try pony/dolly hair straightening made me come home with the straightener. I had it tried out, it worked (more like [i]made two of my fingers melt upon my dumb way of checking whether it works or not[/i]. That was the usual way I tested mine. It still not burned after about 5 minutes. This one took less than a minute to heat up fully), and for less than about 6 dollars I felt happy with my purchase.
That evening I did a quick search, and the reviews were promising, and the next day I tried it out on my hair (rainy weather makes my hair poof up and form annoying waves, so I even had a good reason), and it worked like magic :O Not only did it do a good job without having to wait 20 minutes, but it didn't pull my hair. Until now I never thought hair-pulling is not something you just have to bear with. I was in love.
Now to try it out on synthetic hair.
By this time I have only tried boil straightening, I never dared to try out my old hair straightener on any ponies or dolls I have. I was scared of runing the hair, especially because of the lack of controllers, and I was lazy to wait 20 minutes to be able to work for two minutes, then having to unplug in fear, wait... it was just too much fuss. However, now that I have a controller this might just work out.
During the day I also realised who might be the perfect guinea pig for my first try: I have an old Igel Sailor Mars doll who came to me in a bag with other toys, and whose hair was basically one single dreadlock. I have already tried taming and combing it out, but always gave up after a few hanks of hair. By this time I was already ready to chop the hair off during the weekend with a "oh, I have to learn how to rehair properly", so there was nothing left to lose.
I wish I had taken "before" pics! I wouldn't believe it it the same doll, hadn't I done what had. The happy outcome is that I have given the doll's hair a new life. The sad outcome is that I won't have the chance to try and exercise rehairing now.
"Rei-chan is evil fighting-approved"
Now on to something more serious. Together with the hair straightener I have also found and purchased a Liv Hayden. I was so happy to have found her, because I wanted to have a Liv doll for so long!
Or, well, I wanted to have their bodies (oops). I love the articulation of Liv bodies, but I was never able to get to like their heads. The inset eyes are beautiful, but the proportions, or maybe the shape of the head is just not my taste. Also, so me Livs look not like teenz or young adults, but more like women in their 30s, which, for some reason, also doesn't appeal to me as a doll. Hubby says it must be because I'll also be in my 30s very soon -.-; :P
Let me add in another storyline. My first doll whom I bought as an adult, for myself, was Moxie Teenz Tristen. Back when I found her I did not know Moxie Girlz also exist. Later when I learned of their existence their cute faces also stole my heart, and I wanted one desperately to use as "little sisters" to Moxie Teenz.
When I found my first Moxie Girl, though, I realised this will not really work out, as they are simply too small for that. However, sometime later I have seen some pics of Moxie Girlz heads on Liv bodies, and it seemed to be the perfect solution. However, neither of these lines were available for sale in local shops*, so this still remained a challenge.
Last year I found a MG Avery during an abroad trip in a flea market, who had the most adorable little face, but her hair was awful. I already had two Averys, and I never intended to have even two, let alone three. Still, I was never able to let any of them go: the first had two braids and thus a back part, and an overall cute appearance. The second one's face didn't really get to me, but she had the most gorgeous long and straight hair. And the third one... awful hair, lovely face... and huge sentimental advantages (I just can't attach to store-bought dolls as much as to lucky finds). So they all stayed with me, and I was constantly angry/disappointed with myself for not being able to let at least one of them go.
*Moxie Girlz made a short appearance in local Tescos last year, but it seems they didn't sell well, as after awhile they just got on sale, and when sold out, never returned.
Fast forward to last week and my lucky finds. When I finished Mars and started to think of who to fix next, poofy-haired flea market Avery came to mind - and also the forgotten solution of a body-swap. I dug Avery up and measured: on a Liv body she'd be just the perfect-sized little sister to Melrose! Now I only have to cure her hair. I made a proposal: if I am able to make her hair nice and straight like the other one's, th eother one will go. Braided Avery will stay with the other Moxie Girlz, and flea market Avery will get a new body and a new big sister in the Moxie Teenz family.
So I started to straighten Avery's hair - and soon realised this will be an even harder fight than it was with Mars. The hair of Mars was in definitely worse condition, but her hair seemed to have been easier to straighten. If this wouldn't be enough, her head is about 1/4 the size of that of Avery. And Avery has much thicker-rooted hair.
Now I am somewhere halfway done, and it's only the first round. There ends are still frizzy, just much less, and there's already a light at the end of the tunnel. She'll need some haircut, but we'll see how much will be needed. I'll post some pics of her once she's finished.
