Where to get hair these days?

[Bekuno]

Heyo! It's been a few years since I've been around, even longer since I tried to make a custom. I've seen from a facebook that a new store or two may have popped up in the past few years. I believe the owner of Dollyhair passed also??  (mods delete anything you need to, I'm behind on the drama!)

I just wanted to know where you lovely custom makers prefer to get your nylon hanks these days! Color matching to G1's or otherwise. Totally open to multiple opinions and stores.

As another aside, turns out I have misplaced my extra re-rooting needles. The re-rooting tool I have is a dollyhair one, I'm not sure if I need specific needles for it or if most places offer interchangeable ones. Totally open to just getting a new re-rooting tool as well though.

[LadyAmalthea]

I've been using Shimmerlocks hair, and also HQG1C sells a limited selection of nylon hair as well; those are the 2 I've buying from lately.

[Heelys]

I use TheDollPlanet on etsy. Nice hair and some handy tools.

[BlackCurtains]

Shimmerlocks and TheDollPlanet definitely. I know DollPlanet sells tools and Shimmerlocks is great for G1 matches and has a really nice selection of hair

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I had no clue TDP had actual, normal nylon until I ordered some hair for my Pipp petals custom. TDP has such a large selection and is good for a really particular shade that doesn't seem to match other ponies, otherwise Shimmerlocks makes it so easy to get G1 matches.

[Snapdragon]

Oh boy, times really have changed! Lemme see if I can catch you up!

I won't comment on the Dollyhair situation (aside from saying I think the excuse we got was farfetched), but the site has a long and storied history of bad feedback, ranging from 'poor shipping time' to 'never shipped at all/required a chargeback' to 'harassment', so while I will say that I never had anything but very positive interactions, I no longer feel comfortable recommending that site to anyone. Which is a shame, because I loved that hair for many years!

Within the past year or so, many new hair shops have sprung into being, and some old shops have opened and closed! I'll list them in no particular order - I think they're all fab, and I've ordered from all of the folks I list next!

One of the new shops include Shimmerlocks (shimmerlocks.com ) which has super-fast shipping, and great contact if you have questions or concerns on the colors! She's very active and responsive on Facebook and Instagram! She also offers tinsel, which is a novelty among hair suppliers, and although her color range isn't very wide yet, she's still very new, and so more hair colors will be coming I'm sure. She also offers fun packs, like 'G1 first year rainbow' packs, and offers color matches for many popular ponies!

Another lovely shop (new to me!) is TheDollyVerse (https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheDollyverse ) which has a lot of lovely nylon colors much like you'd get from Dollyhair or Shimmerlocks, with fast shipping, and lovely to chat to! When I ordered a color, she told me she'd found out suddenly that it had the tendency to stain, so she refunded me and still sent me the hanks anyway to see if I could fix the staining issue! She doesn't have any pony matches listed, but her hair is lovely and soft, and I'm excited to work with it!

Like everyone here mentioned, there's also TheDollPlanet (https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheDollPlanetHair ) which is an awesome shop, also very responsive to messages and the like, and offers lots of great hair types you can't get anywhere else, like fluffy, microbraids, S-curl, GITD and ringlets! However, a lot of her hair is known as 'high temperature nylon', aka it won't take a cold curl, and it is very stiff. If you want pony-identical nylon, you will probably need to find another store. She also sells lots of cool items, like a model stand, rehairing tools, and a craft saw!!

A cool returnee is CustomPony.com (now located at https://custompony.ecrater.com/ ), she was active during the earliest days I remember in the fandom, and she's recently returned! She sold off her old stock, and now she's listing new stuff! She ships fast, lovely to chat with, and her hair is also the same kind of nylon you'd find in MLPs. I haven't worked with the hair I bought from her yet, but I have heard some folks mentioning it's a little stiffer, and has more of a 'matte' finish than the average MLP does. I'll have to confirm that for myself once I start rehairing with it!

Since you're in the US I wouldn't recommend DHEmporium (formerly RetroDollsUK) only because shipping can be pretty pricey abroad! But it was worth paying the $20 shipping fee to get some of the awesome GITD colors she carries! She has the widest variety of colors in GITD AFAIK, as well as the typical lovely nylon shades! Here's her site! https://www.thedollhairemporium.co.uk/

There's also a lovely Australian hair supplier, CustomDollHairAU (https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/CustomDollHairAu ) who I haven't ordered from, but I've heard glowing reviews from my Aussie friends, and she is very active on Instagram!

A shop that I'm sad to say I can't recommend is Dolltress.com, because while I had one excellent purchase with them (fast shipping etc.), after I recommended them to BlackCurtains, she had to file a chargeback after the seller dropped all contact. :/ The seller may be going through a move right now, but that's when you close the shop temporarily, not just stop returning emails. (I had a friend also tell me, they ordered tinsel from both DollTress.com and Shimmerlocks, and DollTress charged more money for smaller packages of tinsel! :/ No bueno!) The same warning sadly goes for RetroDollsUS, they're having a lot of shipping delays recently (the shop is closed on their Etsy), with a flood of bad feedback to boot. I also unfortunately heard about some negative feedback they received in the past (more on the dolly side of things - slow shipping/didn't ship until the buyer complained, swap issues, etc.), so I wouldn't feel comfortable shopping from or recommending them either.

Phew! I think that's everyone! Let me know if there's anything else I can help clear up, it's been really cool seeing all of the new hair shops spring into being! Best of luck with your customizing!

[Bekuno]

Within the past year or so, many new hair shops have sprung into being, and some old shops have opened and closed! I'll list them in no particular order - I think they're all fab, and I've ordered from all of the folks I list next!

One of the new shops include Shimmerlocks (shimmerlocks.com ) which has super-fast shipping, and great contact if you have questions or concerns on the colors! She's very active and responsive on Facebook and Instagram! She also offers tinsel, which is a novelty among hair suppliers, and although her color range isn't very wide yet, she's still very new, and so more hair colors will be coming I'm sure. She also offers fun packs, like 'G1 first year rainbow' packs, and offers color matches for many popular ponies!

OMG!!! Thank you Snapdragon! Dollyhair was actually the only place I ordered from as a newbie customizer which is also why I came asking 

Shimmerlocks is actually the one I was looking for / hoping to hear about, but I couldn't remember the name! I had seen it mentioned on a facebook group and really loved the site. I really appreciate you giving me such a strong rundown!

[SunPony]

I've been mostly using The Doll Planet but I did have a successful order with DollyHair recently as well.  Somewhere around here I did a comparison of a few hair types from different brands.  I need to add CustomPony hair to it (It DOES have an interesting texture), and Shimmerlocks (I have yet to order from them).  Here it is: http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,399945.0.html  My main struggle was finding a place that accurately matches their hair colors to G1 ponies.  DollyHair, Shimmerlocks, and CustomPony offer matches, so if you are wanting to do that kind of matching I would check them out.  Also worth mentioning that although I loved the hair I got from Dolltress, the names were confusing because they reuse lots of the same names as DollyHair but the colors do not match!  So keep that in mind if you order from them.

For rehairing I don't believe needles are specific to the tool.  Possibly the length would need to be adjusted for different tools?  I always have used an old X-acto blade handle.  It works great but I do recall trimming needle lengths sometimes...

[Snapdragon]

You're very welcome Bekuno, I'm happy to help! I feel like if you took a break this year specifically, you missed a loooot of sudden updates in the hair game! I also exclusively ordered from DollyHair for many years, and put in a huuuuge order like 6 months before all of the drama broke out ... so I'm still working through my backlog. And still trying to figure out what colors I like are called in other stores!

There's also another 'oldie' still going strong; they're more of a doll hair supplier, so I don't see them mentioned here a lot. I haven't bought from them, but they might be worth exploring! https://www.restoredoll.com/ I haven't heard anything bad, and I generally hear 'yeah, they're good!' from folks when they're mentioned. They seem to be a big supplier of Saran, if I'm not mistaken? Which is more commonly used on dolls, not ponies, so understandable why they wouldn't pop up here. I remembered them suddenly and thought they bore mentioning! Happy hunting, Bekuno! I think you're in good hands with Shimmerlocks, she'll help you find matches if you get stuck!

The only downside to most of these companies is almost no one seems to carry that true red 'Cherry Pie' that DH used to carry, and I loved it a lot. And now I'm out! :/ I suspect DollTress has a match, but after the chargeback situation I'm nervous to order from them again. Maybe I'll give her a few months to get her act together and give it a try ...

[pandabear_chan]

I've been mostly using The Doll Planet but I did have a successful order with DollyHair recently as well.  Somewhere around here I did a comparison of a few hair types from different brands.  I need to add CustomPony hair to it (It DOES have an interesting texture), and Shimmerlocks (I have yet to order from them).  Here it is: http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,399945.0.html  My main struggle was finding a place that accurately matches their hair colors to G1 ponies.

I am in the process of creating a universal matching guide (currently with US/ EU G1 only) of each pony against the colors listed in MylittleWiki (http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/G1_Hair_Colors) but there're a lot of mistakes/ missings. The goal is to give each pony a match with these colors and once you know the right color, you switch to another sheet (it's created in excel) and see which supplier has a match for this wiki color and how it is called.
I just need to find somebody who's able to correct/ supplement wiki with my findings. Sadly the FB page dedicated to Missing Entries was a total flop and absol is not reachable here or via e-mail either.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Hey PBC, I have a Wiki account. I can try to adjust it.

[Leave a Whisper]

I had no clue TDP had actual, normal nylon until I ordered some hair for my Pipp petals custom. TDP has such a large selection and is good for a really particular shade that doesn't seem to match other ponies, otherwise Shimmerlocks makes it so easy to get G1 matches.

Can't wait to see

[pandabear_chan]

Hey PBC, I have a Wiki account. I can try to adjust it.

Awh that is sweet, I sent you a PM

[Leave a Whisper]

Anyway,  I'm adding another vote to Shimmerlocks, nice hair,  decent price and got it to me in a timely fashion.

[pandabear_chan]

One of the new shops include Shimmerlocks (shimmerlocks.com ) which has super-fast shipping, and great contact if you have questions or concerns on the colors! She's very active and responsive on Facebook and Instagram! She also offers tinsel, which is a novelty among hair suppliers, and although her color range isn't very wide yet, she's still very new, and so more hair colors will be coming I'm sure. She also offers fun packs, like 'G1 first year rainbow' packs, and offers color matches for many popular ponies!

Another lovely shop (new to me!) is TheDollyVerse (https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheDollyverse ) which has a lot of lovely nylon colors much like you'd get from Dollyhair or Shimmerlocks, with fast shipping, and lovely to chat to! When I ordered a color, she told me she'd found out suddenly that it had the tendency to stain, so she refunded me and still sent me the hanks anyway to see if I could fix the staining issue! She doesn't have any pony matches listed, but her hair is lovely and soft, and I'm excited to work with it!

Like everyone here mentioned, there's also TheDollPlanet (https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheDollPlanetHair ) which is an awesome shop, also very responsive to messages and the like, and offers lots of great hair types you can't get anywhere else, like fluffy, microbraids, S-curl, GITD and ringlets! However, a lot of her hair is known as 'high temperature nylon', aka it won't take a cold curl, and it is very stiff. If you want pony-identical nylon, you will probably need to find another store. She also sells lots of cool items, like a model stand, rehairing tools, and a craft saw!!

A cool returnee is CustomPony.com (now located at https://custompony.ecrater.com/ ), she was active during the earliest days I remember in the fandom, and she's recently returned! She sold off her old stock, and now she's listing new stuff! She ships fast, lovely to chat with, and her hair is also the same kind of nylon you'd find in MLPs. I haven't worked with the hair I bought from her yet, but I have heard some folks mentioning it's a little stiffer, and has more of a 'matte' finish than the average MLP does. I'll have to confirm that for myself once I start rehairing with it!

Since you're in the US I wouldn't recommend DHEmporium (formerly RetroDollsUK) only because shipping can be pretty pricey abroad! But it was worth paying the $20 shipping fee to get some of the awesome GITD colors she carries! She has the widest variety of colors in GITD AFAIK, as well as the typical lovely nylon shades! Here's her site! https://www.thedollhairemporium.co.uk/

There's also a lovely Australian hair supplier, CustomDollHairAU (https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/CustomDollHairAu ) who I haven't ordered from, but I've heard glowing reviews from my Aussie friends, and she is very active on Instagram!

A shop that I'm sad to say I can't recommend is Dolltress.com, because while I had one excellent purchase with them (fast shipping etc.), after I recommended them to BlackCurtains, she had to file a chargeback after the seller dropped all contact. :/ The seller may be going through a move right now, but that's when you close the shop temporarily, not just stop returning emails. (I had a friend also tell me, they ordered tinsel from both DollTress.com and Shimmerlocks, and DollTress charged more money for smaller packages of tinsel! :/ No bueno!) The same warning sadly goes for RetroDollsUS, they're having a lot of shipping delays recently (the shop is closed on their Etsy), with a flood of bad feedback to boot. I also unfortunately heard about some negative feedback they received in the past (more on the dolly side of things - slow shipping/didn't ship until the buyer complained, swap issues, etc.), so I wouldn't feel comfortable shopping from or recommending them either.

Phew! I think that's everyone! Let me know if there's anything else I can help clear up, it's been really cool seeing all of the new hair shops spring into being! Best of luck with your customizing!

That is a very good compilation of the suppliers. Please do not forget https://mylittlecustom.com/, a UK based seller with all the dollyhair colors available and additional Kiwi colors which are cheaper than regular nylon but still great to work with (Kiwi' falls in between Saran and Nylon - it's a finer fibre but doesn't have the same weight and slightly 'oily' feel of Saran). She has Saran too as well as special hair like glow in the dark, UV color change, etc. There's a new owner which is very active on FB and she's a sweetheart to talk to.