My last doll purchase for 2013 was
Totally Coolness Lizette. I had been salivating over this doll since November when Wilde Imagination began sending emails of special sales, discounts, and free shipping. I finally gave in and purchased Lizette during the Wilde Imagination Black Friday Redux when all items, including sale items, were discounted 20% with free shipping. Lizette's price was already reduced from original retail, so I felt great about the purchase. Free shipping is always an added plus.
Lizette's delivery was initially scheduled for December 24th (Christmas Eve), but due to UPS's delivery backlog, she did not arrive until the 26th. I still consider her my Christmas present from me to me.
After removing her from the box, the state of her hair, with its uneven ends and bumpiness in the midsection of her head, was very disappointing. Sale price or not, I was not a happy camper. I expected her straight hair to be straight with even ends, so I contacted the Wilde Imagination folks.
I was asked a series of irritating questions (could it be the way she was tied down in the box?), which I answered. This person requested photos of the hair, which I took and sent by email (see the actual email and photos below). During our conversation and prior to my sending the photos, I was told that Lizette was still in stock and they would work with me to be certain I was happy. I was also referred to someone at the Wilde Imagination store to compare the condition of my doll's hair with remaining stock.
I phoned the store. The person there informed me that Lizette was sold out but she had four remaining heads that she kindly examined and described the condition of the hair. They all sounded in worse condition than my doll's hair. After asking ways to straight out the bumpiness, the store woman suggested that I wet the hair with warm-to-touch water (not boiled because it might melt the fibers); then smooth the hair as much as possible and place a towel between the hair and clothing and lie the doll flat to dry. (Had I done this, I would have removed the doll's clothing.)
Below is the email I sent to the first person with whom I spoke along with the requested photos:
Hi _____,
Per our phone conversation about the Totally Cool[ness] Lizette
I received and your need to see photos, I took several from different angles to
illustrate the uneven ends and puffiness of the back midsection of Totally Cool[ness]
Lizette's hair. I spoke with ___ who did
check the hair of four Totally Cool[ness] Lizette Dionne heads and said all ends were
jagged but not in any particular pattern.
One was longer on the right, one longer on the left, one was longer on
both sides (shorter in the middle), etc.
I am surprised no one else noticed/complained about
this. From the picture and description
at the Wilde Imagination web site, I was expecting the doll to have straight
(smooth) evenly cut ends. Since all
remaining heads are different, it appears that the rooting process was done
haphazardly without regard to achieving even ends and an overall sleek
look.
According to your web site, the doll is still
available. According to ___, the doll is
sold out.
These are the photos that were attached to the email:
 |
| Note the bumpiness in the top midsection and the jagged ends |
 |
| More of the bumpiness is illustrated in this photo. |
 |
| Bumpiness and angled-edge ends |
 |
| One last photo of the back -- very unsightly! |
She replied as follows:
Hi Debbie,
Thanks for your pics, yes, well when we have our samples
our hair stylist goes over the hair, you know, she uses gels, and sprays and
redoes a bit or touches them, brush, you know, so that when they do go to
photography they look their best, dolls should be beautiful out of the box, but
hair can be a bit tricky sometimes you do have to play with it a bit.
She mentioned you would try to warm it or see if you
could get the bump out by using the warm water, so do let me know how it goes,
we can replace if necessary...
Even though ___ could be sold out at the store, we do
have her online so it's not a problem should it not work out...
Thanks!
_____
Instead of using the suggested warm water method to relax the fibers of Lizette's hair, I opted to actually flat iron it with an iron on the lowest setting, which had to be turned up a few notches in order to achieve the desired effect. See photos below:
 |
| Lizette was very compliant, but became a little apprehensive when she saw the actual iron. |
 |
| With Lizette lying on a T-shirt on the kitchen counter, several passes of the iron were made in a top-to-bottom motion on the lowest setting. |
 |
| I turned the heat setting up a few notches to warm the iron more and continued with the top-to-bottom motion ironing, getting as close to the top of Lizette's head as possible. The bump in the midsection of her head was still noticeable. |
 |
| I passed the tip of the warmer iron directly across the midsection of Lizette's head to smooth out the hair bumpiness. This worked well. |
 |
| After flat ironing, the bumpiness is barely visible and what initially appeared to be jagged ends are now even. It was the midsection bumpiness that caused the appearance of uneven ends! |
 |
| Side view after flat ironing |
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| View of the opposite side, post-flat ironing |
 |
| Close-up of lovely face post flat ironing |
 |
| Lizette strikes a final pose wearing her totally cool hat. |
While the use of a clothing iron worked in the case of Lizette's hair, fibers used for dolls vary. Please do not try flat ironing your doll's hair unless you test a few strands using the lowest setting of your iron. The test strands should also be hair that is in a concealed area, such as at the nape of the neck.
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