Hair?

[Sugar]

Urgh, I'm feeling a bit glum.  I've been looking at photos of ponies on Strawberry Reef, and their manes and tails are so glossy and shiny, I don't know how it's done! 

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Seriously, I don't think my ponies looked that good when they were newly removed from their cards.   I know some of it is the lighting and such, but my goodness, those manes and tails look sleek.  Look at Bouquet, that's practically a waterfall of hair.  What am I missing to get my herd looking like this (or close to like this) in real life?

Thanks!

[Malancaiwen]

To get something close to this effect, your pony hair needs to be perfect to start with (obvious but I still have to find a Bouquet with such nice hair!). Then what I do is cover the hair in conditionner (I use conditionner for curly hair as it's what I need and have) ad let it dry in the hair (might take a full night) then rise off the hair with cold water. Style as you want and you should get some nice shiny hair.

[hathorcat]

I think you should also be careful to judge how touched up some images are and how really good lighting and a really good camera and a clever photographer can make a pony look amazing

Also as Malancaiwen says its always helpful to start out with great hair - I have in the past come across some ebay sellers who clearly spray pony hair and treat it in such a manner to get that great photograph and then when you meet the pony in person her hair is stiff with lacquer and shine treatments.

Personally I find as long as you condition [usually a good over night soak in a conditioner] and then rinse out and brush I get lovely shiny hair. Obviously every one does things a little differently as over night I actually wrap the hair in saran wrap to keep some moisture in the hair before I rinse it out the next morning. But whether this makes a certain difference rather than allowing it to dry in I couldnt 100% say.

[Sugar]

I guess in the same way that hamburgers in adverts look delish, but often fall far short of the mark in my McMeal... darn that photowizardry!

I'll keep fiddling around with conditioners till I find one that leaves hair more glossy, then.  While my bargain-basement Suave works like gangbusters on my hair (naturally curly but straightened to within an inch of its life), maybe my ponies could use a better grade for shine...

Thanks for the answers, everypony!

[FantasticFirefly]

Those ponies belonged to Spoosh, (tickle scape on ebay I think?) anything I've bought from him the hair has been in beautiful condition, the curls are soft, not crunchy.... etc. the hair is as nice as it looks (the extra shine is from lighting though)- I think he buys ponies with nice hair already, and is really good at styling. (his has been the only re-curled ponies I don't wash out and re-style completely)

I have a big thing for sleek silky hair.... sometimes you can fix frizz, I use a flat iron and sometimes I get amazing results with ponies one would think are hopeless. I wash pony hair with soap then condition. factory curls I wash carefully, move any stray bits back with my fingers and allow them to dry.... If I am curling a ponies hair myself I first remove frizz if there is any (flat iron), wash and style with foam curlers so curls are loose and soft, and don't come out stiff, too tight or crunchy.

[hathorcat]

Apologies...I should have mentioned that my reference to crunchy curls and treatment was not necessarily to the person who these pictures belong to but more a general comment on the fact that how a pony appears in an image is not necessarily how it is in reality. I do think its always worth remembering what good lighting and a touch up or 2 on a picture can do however.

[Ginger]

Ooooooh! I knew it was conditioner, but I didn't think about leaving it in for that long. Hhm, restyling my pony hair is really tempting now.

[FantasticFirefly]

Oh, hathorcat, I didn't think you were meant it to these specific ponies, just glamor shots in general, and never thought you intended to offend anyone. I agree 100% with you as well,  one should know that so many things can be improved with lighting, clever angles and some photo-editing- so being critical of an image is not a bad thing at all.

lol, I just happened to recognize them! As I do like the seller and bid on his items from time to time. And yes, the first time I bought one of his ponies I assumed in person they couldn't be as nice as the photos. Obviously, lighting will make them appear more angellic and glowy, but the hair really was devine. I know myself if a pony has gross hair I don't style and resell her, she goes into a bin to be sold as part of a fixer upper lot. From what I understand, he's working with ponies that are already nice, that needed a surface clean and styling at most...... On the flip side I have seen other sellers who do sell baitier ponies as something they are not, via hairstyling methods and camera tricks that hide or disguise damaged hair or bodies.

[hathorcat]

lol...you can never be too careful! When I read my post back it did sound like the implication was against those images so I better that I corrected myself!

I have bought from the seller myself - once spending far far far too much money on rosette and her accessories!

[reanna-mator]

I occasionally leave conditioner in pony hair for DAYS, until it actually dries into the hair. I think it definitely helps to some extent with frizz. At the moment, I'm working on a Star Glow that came to me with horrendously frizzy and matted hair and I think it's made a difference.

http://mlparena.com/mlp/index.php?topic=311040.0 I would refer to this thread. It's directed at treating ponies with VERY bad hair, but I think the techniques apply to any pony. As long as you're willing to put in the time and effort, generally hair is saveable to at least some extent.

[tulagirl]

Yes I prefer to redo my pony hair because the factory curl of G3's really bug me.  Its all frizzy and messy looking. I use conditioner and a heat element.

[HoustonCollector72]

I just bought some ponies from member HoneyBunches  all of them came with awesome hair, silky and great texture ,I do not know what she does  to get their hair  to be like that.
whatever she did totally works.

[Sanadaookami]

I don't think you really need to start with a perfect pony- I have had some really awesome results starting with some not so good girls. Hear are some before and afters of ponies I worked on just this last week. They are not re-touched in any way. I only have a small desk lamp and a cruddy low end Walmart camera for photos. With the exception of the last one all these photos were taken with the same light in the same spot and the same camera 

Before-
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

After-
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Before-
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

After-
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Before-
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

After-
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Before-
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

After-
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Before-
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

After- (this girl did receive a donor tail from another pony.
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Hear is the routine I use for pony hair care-
-Shampoo with cold water to remove any surface dirt
-conditioner- lots and lots of it, get the hair good a slimy with the stuff.
-Brush though the hair with the conditioner removing any tangles.
-Leave the ponies with the conditioner in over night
-Rinse most of it out with cold water
-apply a flat iron. I prefer ceramic ones with a temperature settings for even predictable heating.
-still look fizzy? condition and flat iron again
-looks straight? Use cold running water to guide the hair and wrap around the ponies leg then place her standing up on a towel to dry. Do not touch her till she is completely dry.
-enjoy your silky shinny pony locks

[Bow Tie]

I sincerely apologize for hijacking the thread, but I am new to cleaning ponies and I have a few ponies with super frizzy hair. I have pictures of the ponies and I would love advice on how to tame these manes or if I could get pointed in the right direction to some threads or websites that deal with it, that would be great. Something beginner friendly would be great. And maybe some on just general hair care for the rest of my ponies that have wild, but not frizzy, manes.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Beachball's mane is just as frizzy as her tail. Maybe even more. It's a rat's nest.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Thanks! And I once again apologize for hijacking the thread.

[Stormness_1]

Unfortunately beach ball has that infernal colour change thermal hair, which I personally have had next to no luck fixing really... all three of mine are bleh...!