Hello! A question before I get my first doll

Woah, your girl is beautiful! mm what sort of wax/mist do you use on her hair to style it?

I've read that you should never use human hair care products on a dolls hair since its fiber not hair. I've also read that you can use human wig care products on doll wigs.

 

Some human hair care products contain oils and other chemicals that can be damaging to either the wig or the doll, and could cause discoloration, staining, or another chemical reaction. But some do not, and are fine to use on wigs. (Same for human wig care products).

 

For example, I use a silicone-based spray when I'm straightening wigs using a flatiron, and I've had excellent results. I also use it on my own hair when I blow-dry it, and it works well for that, too. But I've got an anti-frizz gel that is perfectly fine on my hair but would be disastrous on a doll (it's got a lot of oils that would soak into vinyl and stain it).

 

Btw, excellent job on your Kosmos! The bangs turned out really well. I think that's best-styled Kosmos wig I've seen!

Woah, your girl is beautiful! mm what sort of wax/mist do you use on her hair to style it?

 

At this point nothing, so her hair is as it was out of the package. At some point I am going to try the Volks products. To my recollection one of them says you should remove the wig from the doll before using it on the wig, but I can't recall if it is oil or mist. Read the instructions carefully.

 

Btw, excellent job on your Kosmos! The bangs turned out really well. I think that's best-styled Kosmos wig I've seen!

 

Thank you.

 

She has beautiful hair, but the length in back makes it really hard to cope with at times. It was designed to be used in conjunction with her "Kos-Mos" outfit, so her bangs are quite long too. Her hairstyle is a bit 70s I think, but it works.

Hmm alright, but no matter what I shouldn't use normal wax for my dolls right?

Never used any wax so I don't know. I would think what Cauldroness suggested about products with additives would apply here too.

Also, if you get a heat resistant fiber wig you can use a curling iron on it. Don't use one on a regular wig though or it will melt.

Also, if you get a heat resistant fiber wig you can use a curling iron on it. Don't use one on a regular wig though or it will melt.

 

Yeah I have noticed that sellers do note when the fibers are heat resistant. I'm not sure why Volks doesn't use them since they overall look higher quality. I am looking forward to getting my Licht wigs. They shipped out last night.

Hmm I heard from youtubers that you could use a ratio of 1:3 of salt and water to style wigs, does it work and is it safe?

Also, if you get a heat resistant fiber wig you can use a curling iron on it. Don't use one on a regular wig though or it will melt.

 

Yeah I have noticed that sellers do note when the fibers are heat resistant. I'm not sure why Volks doesn't use them since they overall look higher quality. I am looking forward to getting my Licht wigs. They shipped out last night.

 

They probably don't use them because they don't hold styles very well. The curls and styling become loose and can disappear over time. That would be especially bad for the anime styled wigs and also they aren't shiny like anime hair. Yeah, it would be nice if Volks at least offered them as separate styles though. Volks makes a lot of weird decisions, like how they don't offer many wig colors either.

Hmm I heard from youtubers that you could use a ratio of 1:3 of salt and water to style wigs, does it work and is it safe?

 

Not sure if it works but salt can damage and color fade clothing, so I would think it has the potential to damage wigs.

 

I've also read it can be used to brighten clothing colors in the wash, which seems a bit contradictory. It may depend on the type of fabric and the dye used.

 

I have read you can do short term styles just by getting the hair fibers wet. I have washed wigs in wollite and rinsed them with warm water. Water won't hurt them, but Don't use hot water.

 

If the inside of the dolls vinyl parts gets wet mold can grow inside of it and ruin it.

 

They probably don't use them because they don't hold styles very well. The curls and styling become loose and can disappear over time.

 

That makes sense. It would be nice if they offered wigs in some of the colors of the LE doll wigs. If I want a different hairstyle for my Kos-Mos or Chihaya I'm going to have to get a custom wig.

Hmm alright thanks for the information I'll be sure not to let any water in, hmm one last question, for styling I plan to do a part-ing, but I can't style it without showing the "scalp" (I'm hope I'm explaining it right) how do I prevent this?

You could, in theory, cut a layer or two of wig hair closest to the 'scalp' short ( like a few cm short ) -- and then part the hair above that to fake a proper hairline?

As far as exposing the wig caps goes I don't have any issues with exposing them in hairstyling, but I also have never done anything extreme with the hairstyles. With Kos-Mos if I am not careful to keep the hair spread evenly when I attach her head armor the wig cap will get exposed. The head armor has a tight strap and pulls the hair very tightly against the wig cap. If it's not evenly distributed her wig cap shows through.

 

As far as parting hair I can't really say.

 

In the Kos-Mos image I posted if you look really closely at her hairline you can see the edge of the coolcats wig cap I put on her to protect her head, but it's barely discernible. That's a good example of how long hair styles can be used to conceal the things we use as props to protect the doll or to give a better look. The key in my mind is to try different things and see what works, but be gentle while doing it. These items can be fragile, so never force something.

 

I would definitely say try alternatives before cutting the hair. It won't grow back, so you can't undo what you do cut. If you get an LE doll and permanently alter the wig you would lower the resale value of the doll. You may be able to find LE doll wigs on ebay, and modify one of those to a different style, but they are probably pretty overpriced.

 

There are a lot of wig makers out there and all kinds of wig options. You can probably get some of the makers to make a particular wig in a custom color that matches an LE doll wig. I know you can get custom wigs made, but I have yet to ask a maker if they will replicate a commercial wig they sell in a particular color.

Edit: Sorry posted in the wrong thread by accident.

Edited February 9, 2015 by Guest

You can't part a fiber wig that wasn't originally parted. It won't be pretty. Not only would you see wig cap, but the wefts are sewn on to make the hair fall a certain way and really you can't go against that without permanently kinking or damaging the fibers.

 

If you need something very specific and can't find it, it's best to make or have made a custom wig. Or perhaps use a different medium, like fur/mohair. I've worked with mohair on the pelt and you can part that wherever because its real hair on skin just like your own head. The downside is that it has a very distinctive fluffy appearance if that's not what you want.

Hmm it's suppose to be parted, like you know some girls have parted hair at their sides, like asuna DD, at the side there is some hair which is combed towards the front kind of like a tail which is at the front and the rest goes to the back, but in between, you could notice there is some sign of scalp showing, is there any way to fix this? I'm just using asuna dd as a reference because she seems easier to explain.

^^;; I don't really know which part you are talking about;;;

 

If it's either of these areas---

 

Blue circle: Area between the ear and long strand of hair, you can try brushing some more hair to the front... Or you could take a small strand and put it behind the ear so it overlaps that area?? I don't think there will be a lot of 'scalp' showing though? Not unless you have a really thin wig?? it depends on the style though;;;

 

Orange circle: If you think there is too much scalp showing here, you can always brush some of the bangs over to cover it...?

 

^^;; Sorry if this wasn't what you were referring to;;;

If the doll is supposed to have tails somewhere there should be a separate hair group made up of longer fibers that make up the tail. If you can isolate that hair group while combing the hair it helps when styling. Those groups want to clump together, but individual hair fibers can get tangled in with other groups of fibers. Brushing with a toothbrush helps sort them out, but if you find a snarl don't pull a comb through it. You have to carefully un-knot it by hand.

 

Once you find the natural fiber groups you can use the big tooth on the end of a comb or your fingers to move them into place.

 

In those example photo's Asuna's hair should part where it is parted in the image. In order to get the spiky anime hair look they probably used their water wax product. My Makoto Kikuchi has several sort of spiky parts in her hair in the Volks product photos that the wig certainly won't make without some sort of product making the spikes.

 

 

As I said before be gentle with the item, and carefully try different things till you find a result you like. Making any sort of permanent change isn't a good idea unless you know exactly what you are doing.

 

I'll make a general observation here that photographers may use a lot of artifice to produce the results they get for product photography. When I was taking photo classes in college one of the teachers mentioned using motor oil and other similarly inedible types of things on food they were photographing to get the look they wanted.

 

Volks is probably using specific products to accomplish the results they get in their product shots; hopefully it's just the very products they sell on their website. Since their goal is to make a photo that sells the item they do also have the option to do one time things - like use glue - that ultimately destroy the wig but accomplish making the perfect image. They also probably have a wig maker styling the hair for their product photo's.

Hmm thanks guys, I think I know what my problem is, I combed everything to the back behind the shoulders including the sides, that is why the sides has scalp showing =/ hmm I heard that you can use hairspray for wig styling including doll's wigs, is it true? spray makes your hair kinda "hard" so I don't know..

Volks sells a hair styling product called Wig Mist. I would use that and not regular hair spray. Other people on the forum might know specific products that would work and not harm the doll or wig.

I've used regular hair spray where I've sprayed it on my finger tips and ran the ahoge of Momo's wig through my fingers so it would stay together It is pretty hard, so I would suggest even wig wax

Hmm I don't have wig wax with me now =/ so regular hairspray is fine? o.O

I think DivinitaAria was saying wax is better. It's up to you how you want to handle her, but if care is taken she can last a long time. You don't have to do it all today.

 

If you use products and don't like the result you will probably need to wash the hair and then leave it on a towel to dry for a few days before you can put it back on her head.

Hi!

Since the Miku limited handparts and the suit is available again for preorder... if I put additional stuff like eye-putty and stand in the shopping cart... Will they all be shipped together in april or sometime after the preorder time is over? Or only the suit and hand parts?

Hi!

Since the Miku limited handparts and the suit is available again for preorder... if I put additional stuff like eye-putty and stand in the shopping cart... Will they all be shipped together in april or sometime after the preorder time is over? Or only the suit and hand parts?

 

You'll need to buy these items in separate orders or else Volks might cancel your order.

 

If you look at the handparts pages, they all say:

 

Please try to order pre-order items and currently available items separately.