Comparing brands of hair

[SunPony]

In this post I compare a few brands/types of pony hair regarding feel/texture, sheen/shininess, how it is to work with a rerooting tool, hank lengths/sizes, and current color selection.  I might later compare how well they do with styling with warm water or boil perms, but I don’t have any human hair styling tools like a curling iron, so that will not appear, nor will dye.  I’d like to include RetroDolls US at some point in the future, or if anyone has any other suggestions for hair suppliers in the US I’m open to trying them.  But note that there is already a nice thread somewhere by RetroDolls talking about all their hair types, so definitely check that out if you have not already and want info on their hair!

These are all my own opinions and thoughts.  Feel free to ask questions for more detailed info or pics and I’ll try to do what I can to give you the info you need.

If you have comparisons you would like to add, please feel free to add them to this thread.

Here’s what I’ll be comparing:
TheDollPlanet TDP Nylon MLP 0.5oz hank “Ariel” red color  $3.50
TheDollPlanet DG-HQ Nylon Large 1oz hank  “Red Orange” salmon pink color  $8
Dolltress Nylon Doll Hair Mini Tress 10g  “Heart Throb” deep pink color $5
Regular My Little Pony hank of Dollyhair purchased about 5 years ago “Butterfly” color
Actual MLP hair, as worn by G1 Tic-Tac-Toe and G3 Autumn Skye

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TheDollPlanet TDP Nylon
This seems to have the thickest hairs, making it the stiffest.  It has an extremely smooth feel to it, but not a silky feel.  As far as shine, this hair is the most matte.  It would be great for a custom done in earth tones or any other time you don’t want the hair to be really shiny.  The instructions that came with it say it can be boil permed, styled with a straightening or curling iron, and dyed with Rit Dyemore and boiling water.  When working with it, it does not naturally form plugs for the rehairing tool.  I didn’t find that to be difficult to work with but beginners might.  It does seem to occasionally develop little kinks when working with it.  I purchased the 0.5oz size and it was plenty to do a G4 pony and have some leftover.  It would probably be enough to do one standard G3 or G1 rehair.  Hank length is advertised as 18.”  The image below shows one full hank on the left, and what was left of another hank after rehairing the G4 pony shown.
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TheDollPlanet DG-HQ Nylon
To me, this has the silkiest feel to it, but also has a bit of texture to it.  I also think it is the shiniest, and it is the least stiff.  The instructions that came with it say you cannot use human heat styling tools with it.  When working with it, it does naturally form plugs, and I used 2-3 of these per actual plug hole in the G3 pony I rehaired with a rehairing tool.  I ordered the large size 1oz and it was much more than needed for the G3 I rehaired – there may be enough left to do an entire second pony.  Hank length is advertised as 18.”  Shown in the picture is what is left of the large size hank after rehairing the G3 pony shown.
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Dolltress Nylon
This has a very unique texture.  It almost feels slightly rough, and also very light and airy, almost having a fluffy feel to it.  When working with it, it also naturally forms plugs, and I used 2-3 of these per actual plug hole in the G4 pony I rehaired.  It didn’t come with any instructions, nor could I find any on the website (which is pretty bare bones), so I have no idea what kind of styling it can handle or if it can be dyed.  I purchased the smallest amount possible (10g) and it was exactly the right amount for a G4 pony.  I did notice that the colors available seem to match closely with Dollyhair colors, but not entirely, so be careful – for example, Dolltress Atomic Turquoise did NOT match Dollyhair’s Atomic Turquoise, and Dolltress Pussycat matched Dollyhair Kitten (supposedly the same color as Dollyhair Pussycat only matte).  When ordering, you choose whether you want straight, wavy, curly, or super curly hair – I only ordered straight this time but I’m planning to try out one of the curly options!  Hank length is advertised as 18.”  Shown in the picture is one wrapped Mini Tress, one unwrapped Mini Tress, and one G4 pony rehaired with an entire Mini Tress.
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Summary:  Overall, I would say they are all pretty easy to work with for rehairing despite their differences. 
Smoothest, stiffest, matte – TheDollPlanet TDP nylon
Silkiest, shiniest, and least stiff – TheDollPlanet DG-HQ Nylon
Most texture, fluffy feel, probably best matches to original MLP colors available – Dolltress
Closest to original MLP hair – it’s really hard to say, Dollyhair is definitely the closest, and none of the others tested here really look and feel the same.  I think you’ll have the best luck with color matches with Dolltress, but beware the misleading color names.


Post Merge: October 25, 2020, 08:34:33 PM

Bonus pics showing comparison of stiffness and sheen of different brands:
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In the pic above, you can kind of see the stiffness of the hair by looking along the top of the head/neck to see how far the hair sticks up.  The red-orange DG-HQ on the right is the least stiff, falling over the neck readily, while the bright red TDP nylon is the stiffest, sticking up from the head quite  a bit.

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In the pic above, you can see comparison of the shininess of each type.  The DG-HQ on the far right has the most sheen to it, followed by the yellow Dollyhair, then the visibly-textured Dolltress hair, then the matte-looking red TDP nylon.

Should I add more close up pics of the different types?  Let me know what you want to see!

[tailrustedtealeaf]

TDP is *not* nylon. It is polyurethane, but it is still my favorite for rehairing because you can hold up styles pretty easily. You just need to use heat.
Dolltress's supplier is Kiwi hair. There is a way to order a sample book from Kiwi but I've not actually done this myself. Perhaps if someone gets a hold of it, we can more easily color match.

[banditpony]

TDP is *not* nylon. It is polyurethane, but it is still my favorite for rehairing because you can hold up styles pretty easily. You just need to use heat.
Dolltress's supplier is Kiwi hair. There is a way to order a sample book from Kiwi but I've not actually done this myself. Perhaps if someone gets a hold of it, we can more easily color match.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGP_wo_jp3f/?igshid=1mo93j3fbe9b7

Here it is on instagram, with an email. I assume that's the way to get it. I don't think sample books are cheap though?


Oh, maybe this is a better email. See the comment section, since someone asked a pretty similar question.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCdOcy-jLDs/?igshid=nv8gkkr9i9qh

[SunPony]

TDP is *not* nylon. It is polyurethane, but it is still my favorite for rehairing because you can hold up styles pretty easily. You just need to use heat.
Dolltress's supplier is Kiwi hair. There is a way to order a sample book from Kiwi but I've not actually done this myself. Perhaps if someone gets a hold of it, we can more easily color match.

I suspected it wasn't nylon, but it's called nylon when you order it so I just stuck with that.

I'm interested in this color matching book, do you have a link?

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Check out the link Banditpony posted for the sample book would look like!

[banditpony]

TDP is *not* nylon. It is polyurethane, but it is still my favorite for rehairing because you can hold up styles pretty easily. You just need to use heat.
Dolltress's supplier is Kiwi hair. There is a way to order a sample book from Kiwi but I've not actually done this myself. Perhaps if someone gets a hold of it, we can more easily color match.

I suspected it wasn't nylon, but it's called nylon when you order it so I just stuck with that.

I'm interested in this color matching book, do you have a link?

I linked the company's instagram. One is a video of the book, and the other is an image of a page -- but the comments have the email of who to contact about information of the book. You should be able to view this on a computer browser without having instagram.

[SunPony]

Ah, thanks. I guess there isn't a website where you just go buy it. 

Hmm, then there is another issue - in the book the swatches are all labeled with a code...but I don't think I've seen codes on doll hair retailers' websites, so now I'm wondering if it would even be helpful. 

[banditpony]

Ah, thanks. I guess there isn't a website where you just go buy it. 

Hmm, then there is another issue - in the book the swatches are all labeled with a code...but I don't think I've seen codes on doll hair retailers' websites, so now I'm wondering if it would even be helpful. 

E-Mail the manufacturer if you want to purchase the book. It might be expensive though..

All sample books have internal codes like that, but they could also have names as well. If you watch the video, she called things by names.

If you get a book, you could just ask the company you are buying it from what the original swatch code was.

[BlackCurtains]

Interesting, thanks for the comparison.

Which hair did you like working with most?

[SunPony]

You're welcome!  Hmm, which did I like working with the best...its really tough to say!  Maybe the Dolltress?  But I would be happy to use any of them again.

I've just ordered three colors (coral reef, fading rose, spring showers) from CustomPony's ecrater site to do an additional comparison and color-matching. 

Regarding the video, I did watch it and none of the names she mentioned are on the Dolltress list.  Sure, it was just a subset, so maybe Dolltress doesn't have those, but she mentioned them as being the most popular...  And you can see in the book that there are no names, only codes.  I might email them anyway and ask if they provide a list of names, and if I can see the name list.  If there is no name list that coincides to actual retailers, its probably useless to us.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I have a feeling we should be able to email Dolltress and get a list of names she calls her colors.

[LadyAmalthea]

Thank you so much for starting this thread...this is such useful information! I'll continue to follow for updates, I'm interested to see how the hair from CustomPony compares as well. Their website looked promising!

Question: do you think the Dolltress mini-tress size hank would be enough to rehair a whole G1 pony? G4s are pretty small, and if there wasn't any left over after that, I wonder if I'd be better off ordering the half-tress size.

One more question: what were the shipping charges like on the CustomPony hair? Is it $5 for each color you order, or for your total order? I tried adding a couple colors to my cart to see if it would tell me before putting my payment info in, but it didn't. I noticed that Dolltress had a flat $5 shipping fee, which is nice!

[SunPony]

Thank you so much for starting this thread...this is such useful information! I'll continue to follow for updates, I'm interested to see how the hair from CustomPony compares as well. Their website looked promising!

Question: do you think the Dolltress mini-tress size hank would be enough to rehair a whole G1 pony? G4s are pretty small, and if there wasn't any left over after that, I wonder if I'd be better off ordering the half-tress size.

One more question: what were the shipping charges like on the CustomPony hair? Is it $5 for each color you order, or for your total order? I tried adding a couple colors to my cart to see if it would tell me before putting my payment info in, but it didn't. I noticed that Dolltress had a flat $5 shipping fee, which is nice!

Glad you find it useful!  Yes, I'm also looking forward to doing a comparison with the CustomPony hair!  And I'll get pictures with it next to original mlp hair as well.

For a G1 rehaired in all the same color I would definitely go for the Half Tress instead of the Mini Tress.  It will depend on how thick you make your plugs, though.

For my CustomPony order I had 3 hanks of hair plus shipping to Ohio and my order was $16 and some change.  Hope that helps.   

[LadyAmalthea]

It does help, thanks! Sounds like their fee is a flat $5 as well. I have such high hopes for their hair, especially since it is so reasonably priced. Keep us posted!

[BlackCurtains]

Somewhere I have a list of RetroDolls matches. I'll see if I can find it.