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I believe in trying to keep a ponies hair as close to it's original state as possible. Follow these tips
to restore your ponies hair based on the look you want and the problems you encounter. Please note- I do not recommend leave
in conditioner, hair spray, or gel to be used on ponies. These products do not absorb into their plastic hair like they do
on human hair and they tend to cause build up in the ponies hair leaving it greasy and dirty over time.
Simply Stylin' Do!
A lot of ponies, especially the original ones, had pretty
simple hair styles. Their hair was smooth, shiny, and straight with a bit of a curl at the end of the tail, and the mane curled
around the face to frame it.
Following the bathing part, while your ponies hair is still damp brush it smooth.
Start
with the mane and lay it to the side you want it on, and wrap it around the ponies head, down and around her neck. If you
want it a bit more in the face, put some in front of the ear when you wrap it around.
Lay the pony on her side to let it
dry. If you need to hold it in place I recommend a scrunchie as hair bands and rubber bands tend to leave crimps or waves
in this do.
For the tail brush it all together smooth, bring it down between the ponies two back legs, between her
two front legs, and wrap the ends around one of her front legs. If you want a wider curl wrap the ends up over her
shoulder by her neck instead of around her front leg. For extra long hair wrap it between her legs then up around her neck
as well. Lay her on her side to dry or use a scrunchie to hold it in place.
Extreme Up Do!
This is for the ponies that require hair a bit more fancy. Ponies
such as the sweetheart sisters, rainbow curl, tropical, and sippin soda ponies had much more styled hair do's.
Waves:
this is pretty simple. After completing the bathing section, braid the hair and wrap the ends around a pencil, straw, or curler to
give them a little curl too since it is hard to braid the ends. Secure with a hair band or scrunchie if needed. Let dry
a few days. This makes sure thick hair is fully dry and that the wave is really in.
Ringlets and curls: For curls you
can do a simple curl by taking the ponies tail, wrap iiit down between her back legs, and around one back leg (usually it
will wrap around about twice.
If you want a bit fancier curls basically you just take sections of their hair and put it
up in curlers for this one. However you don't need to use curlers. For wider curls you can also use empty thread spools, thick
pens, etc.
If you would like those tiny ringlets you may not find the small curlers you want. You can use a plastic
drinking straw or pencil. Start at the ends, wrap the hair around the last loop of hair once and slowly move your way up (or
down) the straw with the hair. Secure it with a scrunchie or hair band.
Or, if using a plastic straw, you can cut it into shorter sections (to match how much hair you
are curling on it. And secure the hair at each end with a bobby pin, slip one side over the hair and the bottom
half into the straw. Let dry a few days, remove the securing device and slip the straws out.
Intense Hair Care Therapy
If your pony has extremely dry and frizzy hair, that
the conditioning steps on the bathing page didn't resolve (which is pretty likely as usually when hair gets frizzy it gets
bad, though the conditioning step when brushed, REALLY can help)
then you are going to have to try something else.
*Please note, Perfume puff ponies are supposed to have puffy,frizzy, fuzzy hair. Please dont try and
"fix" their hair. It's supposed to be like a big afro. If anything, get yourself a pick.
If the conditioning step on the bathing page helped significantly but not all the way and your ponies
hair is not too bad then you could try going to the store and picking up some de-frizzing hair stuff by the
leave in conditioners.
This stuff is made by various companies in little bottles and they usually advertise: relaxes curls,
smooths fly aways, relieves frizz, improves shine, etc. (one example is Redken Straight 05 Straightening Balm)
Follow
the directions on the bottle but be careful not to use to much as these can sometimes be oily and you don't want build up.
Ponies are small, they don't need much.
I also recommend trying one of these strighening creams on ponies with tinsel in their hair as it is
delicate.
If your ponies hair is REALLY bad then you are going to have to turn the heat on. And by that I
mean, the heat on your curling iron on. (or hair straightener- either will work, but whatever you do just PLEASE don't
use a crimping iron!!)
A curling iron will really remove frizz and return shine to your ponies hair.
Tips:
- adjust heat setting based on pony and how hot your iron gets.
G1=medium/high G3=Medium/low.
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Don't leave the ponies hair inside the heat for to long, I haven't had it happen but you don't want melted hair.
- Do not
use heat on ponies with tinsel hair unless you want ot risk it.
- Do not use heat on purposfully frizzy hair ponies like
perfume puff ponies.
- don't go to close to the base of the pony. Usually the hair their isn't frizzy
and you don't want to melt or burn your pony.
I find it best to hold my pony between my knees so I have both hands
free. brush out their hair long while it is dry, I find that dry hair tends to work best, and brush it long and smooth. Seperate
it in around 3 sections. Brush each section smooth and straight before placing it in the curling iron, you don't want to iron
in crinkles. Place the hair in the curling iron and close it, starting at the base of the hair nearest to the head (without
getting to close to the pony itself.) Hold the curling iron closed and run it down slowly towards the ends. Repeat if necessary.
If the hair is really bad split it up into smaller sections, also spread the ends out in the curling iron, holding it closed
for a few seconds.
If you pony is in serious need of heat help but has tinsle in her hair then try and seperate the
tinsle out from each section as best as you can before using the iron. I have had to do this with a very bad G3 minty. Most
G3's have tinsel in their hair so it's hard to avoid when they need help. Tinsel aside, G3 ponies hair seems to have a much
lover "melting" (getting too soft) point so be sure to use a lower heat setting for G3 ponies.
After you are done, either get the hair slightly damp again by getting your brush wet a few times and running
it through your ponies hair, then follow the steps for styling in "simply stylin do" or "extreme up do" depending on what
you are looking for. I do not recommend using the curling iron to add curls or waves to your ponies hair.
Or after you are done, if your ponies hair is a bit dry I recommend wetting it and applying conditioner again.
Brush the conditioner through the hair smooth and let it sit in the hair a few minutes. Rinse out, brush the hair smooth again
while clean and wet, style it, and let it air dry.
Balding?! A toupe? No Way!!
Unfortunately balding is a problem with older ponies.
This doesn't mean that it cannot be fixed though.
Slight balding: if you notice your pony is starting to loose
it's hair. (it is coming out in brushing, a large number of stray hairs seem to be longer then the rest and come out easily
when pulled, It is missing one or two plugs worth even) then you can probably head off any further hair loss.
Mane: Remove
the head (I described this proccess in the mold section of bathing) brush out and straighten the hair (holding the hair at
the base with one hand to hold it "in" so it doesn't get pulled to much when you brush it.) Open up the head and inside you
will see where the hair is rooted. This is kind of messy and harsh but if no one is going in their looking you don't have
to worry. Get some strong, clear glue. (I used tacky glue but there may be better types) and just pour it where the hair seam
is, be sure to get the beginning and end of the seam as these tend to go first. Let it dry and then add more to
any areas needed. Replace head and reglue it if you wish, though I recommend not to reglue heads on.
Tail: The best
thing to do here is to reroot the tail (below) or replace the tail with a good one from another pony.
Rerooting: extreme balding
When a ponies hair is unsavable..because there is practically nothing
left to save then it's time for re-rooting. And this may be something that will have to be left up to only those extremely
dedicated restorers but it is a good idea.
I have seen a lot of rerooted ponies that could fool almost anyone, even
the collector. However sometimes it is recognizable as the pony hair will be longer then it was originally, or the pony will
have no bangs/forelock. Also it may be straighter.
But if trimmed and styled right it can be pretty much exact. There
are a lot of companies online who sell hair that is exact matches for the color (and usually texture) of the ponies original
hair.
You can also buy re-rooting tools.
I am not an expert at rerooting, I will just give you a basic over view
of what it consists of. You can look on customization websites on how to root the hair, you can just use the original color
and style for the pony.
Basically with the mane you remove the head and the old hair by cutting it out. You put the
new hair in the rooting tool, tie the hair in a knot on the inside and poke it through the hole/plug, pulling the
hair through with it. You do that for each plug (it's time consuming) and then squirt some glue inside when all the plugs
are finally done.
For the tail you open up the little metal clasp carefully with pliers and lay the new hair into it.
Replace the tail.
Cut and style the hair.
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