This what the Universe does when a hoarder says, “I have a small collection. . .”

Went back to Dollar Tree, for an unusual weekday visit, but I decided against buying fabric softener. In essence, my research showed that many used human hair conditioner to good results, others swore by Downy, so it was really up to me. I had some budgetary constraints, and several dusty conditioner samples sitting around, and it got down to Elsa figurine and washcloth I’ve wanted since I discovered I missed the first round > laundry product I only need for one small project. Or maybe it was cheese popcorn > knockoff Downy, could have been either.

Needless to say, Elsa won. I also found this awesome empty box in the stock wagon, and the stock clerk told me to take it with her best wishes – one less box she hasta deal with. It’ll probably become backdrop (i.e., scrapbook paper) storage, but it’d also work for books or magazines. 

After consuming half the cheese popcorn, and encouraging Dearest Son to ‘party’ with his popcorn and cookies in the living room, I got to work with Little Aurora in the kitchen. Oh, and after seeing images of animated Aurora (and a few Pocket Princess cartoons by Amy Mebberson) , I understand the bangs curl now. It’s actually reproduced pretty well, especially given the limits of doll hair – funny how most playline versions of the Sleeping Beauty just give her curled-under bangs without the side-swirl. I still think these dolls weren’t really meant to come out of the box, although they weren’t much more expensive than the mass-market toddler princess dolls. 

To give you an example of how bad her hair was – and still is, really – I had it soaked in the sink, but the underside was still dry. The mats were thick with this one. Heck, we were beyond mats and into rugs ! It matted up again even in the braid. After a good sink shampoo and conditioner, the dry, frizzy parts were still frizzy. So I grabbed an old butter tub (one of the square ones no one likes to reuse) and made a conditioner rinse out of the rest of the sample bottle, then found a tool box to use as a booster and lowered her hair into it. She’s soaking in it ! (sigh) Once again, I assumed collector = higher quality than playline, incorrectly. I had the same issue with Playmates’ LDP Belle, the one that became LPDorrie. Her hair was so frizzed, I had no problems customizing her. If I’d have restored her hair, I would have culled her as just another Belle years ago, with the rest of the collection. 

Anyway, she’s soaked all day, and those frizzy spots are still frizzy when I check, so I’ll probably pull her out of the conditioner soup after dinner, rinse her hair for 10 – 15 minutes, and let it air dry overnight, see if I’ve finished wrecking it or actually did some good. Wish her luck – she’s gonna need it !