I have a small handful of films I'm just itching to discuss here at The Sequel, and one of those was going to be covered today (a hint on what the film was: it involves a "hanging rock".). Alas, work has gotten in the way and instead I've to go to Plan B for today's blog: posting some result shots of the dolls I gave boil washes to last week. To make it a bit more interesting, I shot the ladies in front of some pieces by Alex Gross, one of my favorite Pop Surrealists.
First up is SRM Lagoona. Her hair came out straight, just as I'd hoped, and looks pretty good! I may need to apply a product of some kind to fix the split ends. But I think she looks pretty fab overall! Check her out...
The other girl who went under the boil was DT Abbey. Really, she got more of a simmer perm than a boil one, because I wasn't sure how her tinsel would handle the heat. Again, I'm happy with these results. Her actual hair is so much better now -- smooth, silky, and manageable. The tinsel still isn't perfect, but much better than it was like before. Here she is in her icey glory...
Music today has been Goldfrapp...
Over through a dark and gentle sea Open into portal seventeen I wanna laugh and tape it down
Skelita's boil perm is complete! You may remember that a few days ago I discussed my plans to give Skelita a disco roll hairdo. Although I'd been boil washing for a couple weeks I was ready to take the next step and do an actual perm. So, like a virgin, this was my very first time. I followed my printed out instructions carefully, but my knobby guy fingers and the tiny straw pieces you're supposed to curl the hair around didn't hit it off. I decided to ditch the straws and just use bobby pins on their own to hold the curls.
I figured this would lead to unexpected -- and perhaps unwanted -- results, but seeing as this was my first time I reasoned some experimentation would only enhance the learning experience. (Ahem.) Once I poured the boiled water over her head it was time for the brief warm water soak. Considering the Cirque-like contortions she had to put her body through for this portion, Skelita took it in stride...
Next came the ice water rinse. This was much simpler for our skeletal girl.
Uh, the ice water. This was the only pic I took of this part.
Then the wait. She patiently sat on her little white washcloth for 26 hours.
Once I had the pins out I gazed upon a brand new girl. She had the fat rolls surrounding her head, although they weren't as structured as I had originally planned on. I gently combed it out, did a little styling with my fingers and, well, see for yourself...
All things considered I'm really happy with it! It's not perfect, but it's not bad, either. I feel it has enough structure to make it look "put together", but a bit of messiness to give it a pleasingly (to me) carefree vibe. It's also much thicker and silkier than it was before.
What say you? Am I too close to the experiment to judge it properly? Or does it work?
I've recently discovered the wonders of boil washing doll hair. I was always aware of it but wary of trying it myself because, I don't know, putting my dolls' hair in boiling water just seemed kind of scary. What if I ruined it? But after getting a few too many MH dolls with bad hair I bit the bullet and went for it, and what do ya know? It works! Really well! Now I've decided to take it a step further and try my hand at doing an actual boil perm. The girl going under the boil? Miss Skelita Calaveras!
Preparing for the boil.
The plan is to give her a disco roll, that wonderful 70s 'do that took feathered hair and gave it more structure. I'm hoping the final result will look something like this but, you know, black and orange and attached to a skeleton girl.
Beautiful!
Since Skelita's hair comes with a bump in the back made with a ponytail and some odd rooting, earlier today I first gave her a simple boil wash. I wanted to get rid of the crimp the ponytail left when I took it out, and also line the rest of her hair up with the sidepart she has up front. Once her hair dries, if everything has gone as planned, she'll be ready for the actual perm tomorrow!
Skelita's so pretty! I hope the disco roll works because I think it'll really enhance her beauty even more!
There's a little bit of gunk there, but that should brush right out once the hair is dry.
I have some other doll stuff planned for later today. I have two SRM Lagoonas because I just really love that doll and wanted a backup; one of them is getting a wash today. What I like so much about this Lagoona is that her hair is a much brighter yellow than usual, and she has those cool green streaks. Also, she has a middle part, something pretty rare for Lagoona. I'm not going to give her a perm or anything, I just want to relax the hair -- hopefully enough that it's actually straight, but a mild wave will do. I'll also be boil washing my Dead Tired Abbey's hair since it came out of the box pretty scruffy. Her tinseled strands are especially bad -- bent in places and jutting in every which direction. Hopefully the tinsel can handle the heat. It's made of a different material than the rest of her hair; it feels thicker and plastic-y. I may bring the water to a simmer instead of a boil just to be safe.
Love those green streaks!
Crazy hair! Must be tamed!
I'm also hoping to get my review of the Blob/Ice Girl CAM up. I already have the pictures taken and edited, it's just a matter of getting it written and put together. I might wait until tomorrow for that, though. In any case, lots of doll activity today! Woo-hoo!
Ice Girl may just be my favorite CAM yet.
I was skeptical of the molded hair when I saw pics online, but I actually really love it!
The background music today has mostly been the David Byrne and St. Vincent album. My friend Laura turned me on to it a few nights ago and it's been in heavy rotation at the house since.
