Hair, Hair Hair

Staying with the theme "Simple can be Better", I'm going to discuss hair today.

I found this Corduroy Cool Barbie at Goodwill. I won't even mention how evil my husband thinks goodwill is. I have found some very nice and rare dolls there over the last few months and since I'm out of room, I shouldn't be buying nude dolls at goodwill. That doesn't stop me if the doll is rare and in decent shape though. So David has this love-hate relationship with Goodwill. (He "loves" it when I drop stuff off, he "hates" it when I buy stuff there. It is the same relationship he has with eBay.)

This doll actually needs quite a bit of work in my opinion. She has missing hair plugs, she has an eyebrow rub, and her eyes need quite of bit of work. But all I've done so far is to wash her, switch bodies to a Fashionista body and comb her hair. (Now some people might be wondering why I'm not using Honey and I'll get to that later.)

One of the best (and most simple) hairstyles to learn is the "ponytail".
This ponytail is fairly simple, can be changed easily and some simple variations can make many looks.
The most important aspect of a good ponytail is that to pulled back part of the hair should be smooth (and not bumpy or ragged) . I use a very fine tooth comb and teeny-tiny rubber bands to make my ponytails. I often will dampen the hair to help with fly-aways. You also need to learn to center the "tail" on the head. (I know there are many side ponytails and pig tails styles out these but those need to be properly placed on the head too.) The great thing about a ponytail is position is everything. If you center the ponytail high up on the back of the head, an more glamorous look can be achieved. If the ponytail is centered lower, that is a more classic and timeless look.

I placed this ponytail on the upper part of the back of her head but kept it off her crown. I think it is a fun playful look.

Once your ponytail is in place there are several different looks you can achieve from this style.

You can twist the hair up into a bun:

You can add a rubber band to the bottom of the "tail" and roll is under for a classic updo:

Or you can roll the banded her upward to form a Balenciaga 50's Model" "do":

Both of the above dolls have a ponytail that has a small rubber band at the end of the tail and then rolled forward. It is a very useful style to learn.

And her is an update on Miss Honey, my project doll:

I have been busily working on prepping her for her partial re-root. Since I love her hair color, I decided a full re-root wasn't necessary. I've removed her bangs and I'm waiting for the new hair to arrive. (And I wish I would have had the forethought to take pictures of her for the hairstyle blog before ripping her bangs out :)  )

I will go over the basic process of removing her bangs next time. (And hopefully cover some basic re-rooting skills too.)