How to Style a Fashion Doll's Hair

If you've come this far to find information about styling a fashion doll's hair, than chances are you are a doll lover or artist. Keeping a hair style to create One-of-A-Kind (OOAK) creations for Barbie and related 11 1/2 " fashion dolls is easier than you might think. You will need a small amount of supplies, a practice doll, and an hour or so of free time on the weekend.

Materials needed

Depending on the hair style you want, you will need different types of 'tools.' Because styling a straight-haired doll usually means to put some kind of curl in it or decorative braids, etc, than you should keep a few things on hand. For varying sizes of curls you will need bobby pins, plastic straws, and/or plastic dowels cut to 1 or 2 inches in length with any type of thickness you would want for the size of a curl; the smaller the diameter of the straw, dowel or bobby pin, the smaller and tighter the curl, and the opposite is true for a larger diameter. You will also need some sewing straight pins for fastening these make-shift rollers or small (for babies) claw clasp hair holders.

You should also have on hand a few hair styling products. It isn't necessary to try and find specially formulated ones for doll hair unless you are dealing with a vintage doll and want to protect it. I've found that Aussie Instant Freeze hair spray is ideal for holding curls together; it is fast drying and smells pleasant instead of some of the other chemical smelling hair sprays for a cheaper price. You can even use a hair spray or gel that you use on your own hair as long as you do a practice run to see how it will react after it has dried. Some hair gels or hair sprays will cake or flake on a doll's hair and leave a very undesired product; so be warned.

Keep around some masking tape, a spray bottle, a comb or brush, some sharp scissors, and a sink or cup and basin.

Choosing a doll