Silly Sunshine's journey to silky locks again (also a defrizzing guide!)

[ailurella]

Hello all! I saved my Rainbow Flash's hair the other day and was pretty pleased with the result so I thought I'd make a guide for people who others who want to rescue their ponies but might be a bit scared to bring their ponies that close to heat. I know I was!
This post will probably get a bit long, but I'll try my best to keep it as short as possible
What you'll need
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Okay so I use the hair straightening method. I did try the boiling water one but I accidentally burnt off some of my pony's hair, so that's not happening again From left to right:
1. Hair straighteners that I bought off eBay for a few ££. I have GHDs but I don't trust them for my ponies, also they don't have a temperature setting.
2. A plastic hairbrush from my box of many ponies. I don't think it's a usual MLP brush but it does the job. I think it's better as it's more soft I guess.
3. A comb for wet hair. Smaller teeth would probably do better but any will be fine. **From hathorcat: wide tooth metal combs are better for the pony's hair as it won't stretch**
4. Conditioner. It doesn't have to be expensive, anything cheap will do. This is just a free one my mum had from her hair dye.

Step 1
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Here is my Silly Sunshine before anything has been done to her. You can see my Rainbow Flash and others drying in the background
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Okay now brush out your pony's hair just to get rid of all the knots. If you find little lumps are coming out, don't panic! It's only natural.
Step 2
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Wash your pony's hair and let it 'deep condition' for about 10 minutes. As I was doing this, I was treating my pony's hair like my own, I don't know if this made a difference  Make sure you wash out the conditioner as much as you can or else her hair will feel a bit icky and won't look as smooth. Pat her hair and leave it slightly wet, but not dripping. Comb it through and set your straighteners up and you're ready to go!
Step 3
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Make sure your straighteners are at the lowest setting! You don't want to burn off your pony's hair, In this case, mine was 140 degrees, 200 being the highest.
Okay now section your pony's hair just like you would with your own hair. Straightening in big sections just doesn't work! It takes longer but it'll be worth it  . Now for the scary bit...
Step 3
Take your straighteners and start at the top of the pony's head and begin straightening. You're going to hear a sizzling sound when you start, don't freak out! This is just the water + heat. It might begin to like - smoke - don't worry about this either. Just continue slowly to the end of the piece you're straightening; make sure you're not melting the hair, though. Once you're done it should look something like this:
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It's a bit scruffy looking at the end, so brush that out and run the straightener through it a few more times and it should look like:
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I put it on the table for comparison as it was a bit hard to see. A lot better than before, right? Carry on with this method for the whole mane and tail. Make sure you don't clip your pony's ear whilst doing this, you don't wanna melt her!
Step 3b
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Once I had done another section, I thought they looked a bit 'separate' so I straightened them together quickly. It just gives them a more blended look. You don't have to do this, it's optional.
Step 4
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Quick update on what it looks like after half of the hair done. Not bad, right?
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Now do the same thing for the tail and you should end up with something like this...
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Now while that looks a lot better than before, it's not good enough for me!
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Second time round..
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Third time round. Now I'm happy with this You might not see a difference between the first and third go, I'm just a perfectionist
Step 5
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Optional again. No offence, although her hair is nice enough, it's a bit flat. Style it how you want and wait until morning!
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Enjoy your new pony!

I hope this was helpful to new people who are just starting out with customising their ponies or just want to save their old ones. All my ponies are from when I was about 6 (10 years ago!) and didn't really pay attention to the care of my ponies Just a note though, your pony won't go back to its factory shiny and silky locks again but this sure looks a lot better than before.
I know most here are 'experts' in this area but I just wanted to make something reassuring for newbies. (nobody told me the sizzling was normal! )
_{Not sure if this is in the right area to post}

[Mirnyj]

What a great tutorial, photos are always a big help! Thank you for sharing.

[Leave a Whisper]

Your Silly Sunshine is gorgeous! I've never seen her before. Great tutorial too.

[ailurella]

Your Silly Sunshine is gorgeous! I've never seen her before. Great tutorial too.

What a great tutorial, photos are always a big help! Thank you for sharing.

thanks both, i had fun making this while doing her hair

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Great job!

[hathorcat]

Fantastic - she looks amazing

As a little tip - you should try wide tooth metal combs rather than plastic (ideally having baby oil or something on them) - plastic on plastic stretches hair, metal is much more gentle.

[Freeindeed]

Nice job on fixing up Silly Sunshine! That must have been quite the project to do all that hair. She looks much happier now.

[ailurella]

Fantastic - she looks amazing

As a little tip - you should try wide tooth metal combs rather than plastic (ideally having baby oil or something on them) - plastic on plastic stretches hair, metal is much more gentle.

oh wow, i wouldnt have guessed that. thanks for the tip

[Goanna]

She looks beautiful, great work, and thanks for the guide !

[ghouldilocks]

Fantastic - she looks amazing

As a little tip - you should try wide tooth metal combs rather than plastic (ideally having baby oil or something on them) - plastic on plastic stretches hair, metal is much more gentle.

oh wow, i wouldnt have guessed that. thanks for the tip

So glad I came across this thread! I wouldn't have thought of this either; will have to keep an eye out for an inexpensive comb to add to my pony spa kit.

And thanks for the little tutorial! I love seeing the before and after pics especially ^_^

[NigheanRuadh]

I referred to this tutorial the other day to deal with my Snow'El I (my only G3) and her very frizzed hair.    Worked wonderfully!!

Before/After
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[BuckinghamAlice]

Thanks for the tutorial, ailurella!  Silly Sunshine is beautiful (there are so many G3s I've never even heard of!) and you did a great job with her!  I'll have to try this method on my frizzy Baby Romperooni.

NigheanRuadh, your Snow'El looks fantastic too!  She's one of my favorite winter ponies. 

[ailurella]

I referred to this tutorial the other day to deal with my Snow'El I (my only G3) and her very frizzed hair.    Worked wonderfully!!

Before/After
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wow she looks great now! it always makes me happy to see ponies' hair being saved 

[NigheanRuadh]

wow she looks great now! it always makes me happy to see ponies' hair being saved 

Thanks.    First time in my life that I've used a hair straightener.  I just let my own natural curls do their thing.