...to this, in a few simple steps.
1) First, lightly wet your doll's hair, add normal conditioner or detangling spray, and gently comb out all the tangles, starting at the bottom of each clump of hair and working towards the top.
While this step will remove all the knots, and is necessary, it will also misalign the strands in the ringlets, removing the original effect.
Now here's how to get those bouncy curls back!
2) After detangling it, re-wet your doll's hair. It should gather itself into thick strands or sections, which are an indication of where the original ringlets were. Separate one section.
(What we're trying to do is realign the curls so they are wrapped around each other again.)
3) Fill a small cup with warm water and soak the section of hair in it, getting as much of the hair into the water as possible.
4) Gently pat the hair dry in a cloth or paper towel. Do not rub, scrub, or squeeze. Try not to tangle or crush the curls.
5) Now, starting at the bottom of the section, re-comb the hair, combing it against your hand to get all the ends facing and curling in the same direction. This will realign the strands.
The section should now look like this.
Note that the ends are kind of ratty and not all the curls are back. We need to keep going.
6) To improve alignment, gently bounce the curl in your hand and smooth any strands that stick out downwards, so they slip back into the curl.
7) The ends will probably now look like this.
They will be all different lengths, kinked-up, and curling in different directions...
If you like, you can smooth a little hairstyling gel over the ends of the curl to hold them in place, but this isn't required.
Your curl may now be finished. However, sometimes, it won't want to recurl and will look flat or straight, or have a straight part in it as if a curl is missing. If this is the case, continue to the next step...
Step 8) To recreate a curl, pull out the curl straight and comb it all the way down.
Then, look carefully at it to see if it "wants" to curl in a certain direction.
Now, tightly wind the curl around your finger in the same direction as the "preferred curl." Wrap it as far as you can and hold it there for a few seconds.
Then, pull your finger out of the roll - DO NOT unwind the curl manually. Let it fall out of the roll on its own.
Bounce the curl in your hand to fluff it and help restore its shape.
Repeat steps 1-8 for the other sections of the doll's hair, keeping the finished curls away from the unfinished sections of the doll's hair.
9) Finally, gently comb the top of your doll's hair, before the curls start, to smooth it out and make the curls look more natural.
This will also help distribute the hair, preventing bald spots.
For reference and for your viewing pleasure, here's the turnaround of Lucy's fully restored ringlets again:
And that's it! This process can be time-consuming, depending on the quality and condition of the hair. However, it is very effective, and is a surefire way to restore the lost beauty of a doll's hair.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for my next post!
