TheBdoll

When was the last time you found an old second hand Barbie, that you thought was a lost cause? Personally, these are excatly the dolls I'm looking for, dolls, that other girls think nothing of. Bringing an old doll to life is rewarding to say at least.

This doll was the one who really surprised me. When I first found her, her hair was a complete mess, she was dirty and smelled bad. I didn't really believe I could do much for her, but I felt so bad about the way she'd been treated, that I paid the 4,50 euros the owner asked for her to give her a better home. The least I could do, would be giving her a bath, and try to comb the hair - and get rid of the awful dress she was wearing.

I also wanted to know which doll she had been. I surfed the net for hours to find the ear rings she was wearing, the best indication of her origins. Finally I found the right doll; Totally Hair Barbie, manufactured in 1991. (If anyone has a picture of the original doll that I could add on the ID guide, I'd be very happy.)

I took the doll home, scrubbed her clean (after taking this picture) and removed some markings of her legs with nail polish remover. I was glad to see it worked. Then I detangled the hair first carefully with fingers, then little by little with a hair brush.

I had done a few boil perm treatments, and thought the water might work the other way too - straightening the hair. As you might already know, heat sets the Barbie hair again, as the hair is made of plastic fibre. I poured some boiling water on her hair and I brushed the heated hair untill it was straight enough to use a comb with. When the comb went through it without no problems, I let the hair dry. I also cut the ends of the hair to tidy them up. After a while I had another idea. The hair wasn't set the way I wanted it, so I decided to lay her on a deep plate to comb the hair with an eyelash comb. I did this, and thought the doll looked absolutely beautiful in the water she lay in, hair floating around her. "Would make a great picture" I thought to myself and continued brushing the hair, untill it became so straight, nobody believed her to be the same doll!

The same week Barbie Collector's fan club members decided to have a June Bride photo contest. I love photographing dolls, so of course I wanted to take part. I remembered the way this doll looked underneath the water, and decided to photograph her under water, wearing white, and set like a bride. The picture was rated second best in it's own category, to be honest I was disapointed, but who would care, the pictures live on! The bride pictures were taken only a few days after I got the doll, and nobody could say anymore, that she was a lost cause.

Few months later I took the doll again, and thought she needed curles instead the straight hair she had. I bought some human size curlers, the smallest I could find, and poil permed the hair with them instead of using straws. Then I went through the Barbie warderobe and from the limited collection of up-to-date clothings I have fitted for the TNT body, I found something she could go out for a walk in.

I don't know what you think of her, but I'm very glad I got her from the flea market and brought her home. There's something very special about finding a doll and bringing her back to life. :)