Tuesday 6 October 2015

Meet My Kenner

A few months ago I took the plunge and bought myself a Kenner Blythe doll! I'd say they're the grail girls for many collectors. Personally I'd love to own one of each hair colour but if that ever happens it will be a long way in the future.


I'd originally seen this lovely lady on Ebay and when she popped up on my screen again a few months later after joining the Blythe Doll Lovers UK Facebook group I knew I had to find out some more information and try and make her mine. While she wasn't cheap by any means, I got her for a price I could live with and then just had to pray I would be in to sign for her, rather than having her get sent back to the depot.

So here's the low down:
  •  she's a restored Kenner head on a Takara body
  • her hair is brunette/auburn, centre part, coarse with chunky bangs
  •  her eye mech works though I have only changed through her eye colours once (they are now set at blue)
  • she has all her lashes, barely any lipstick, no blush and most of her eyeshadow
  • her eyes are pretty white with bright eye chips
  • she has a few missing hair plugs though everything seems secure
  • she has had scalp melt removed by her previous owner

Her only real issue was the state of her hair. Her previous owner had given it a wash and conditioning treatment (so at least I knew it was clean!) but it was still a full on Kenner frizz party when she arrived.

 

So that night I set to, giving her an intensive conditioning treatment and carefully combing through with a fine toothed comb, before setting the hair in foam rollers in small sections and leaving for 24 hours.

There's that Hillyrags dress again! It was actually purchased specially for my Kenner before her arrival and came with a beautiful cream cotton underskirt. The craftmanship is simply exquisite.

Since I'm by no means an expert when it comes to the restoration of Kenner Blythe hair I took to Google and the Kenner Blythe Facebook group for some conditioning tips. In the end I soaked her hair in a wide, shallow dish filled with a mixture of dye free fabric conditioner and boiled water at a ratio of 2:1. Once it had cooled I removed her on to a clean towel and reheated the mixture in the microwave and soaked her hair some more. I think I reheated the mixture twice and left her for several hours. Then I rinsed, rinsed, rinsed to make sure every last bit was gone. She has a very coarse hair texture so I found it dried really quickly and before I'd had chance to put it in rollers. After carefully combing I sprayed small sections with some baby leave in conditioner detangling spray (which is silicone and soap free) before rolling it up. This is something I had personally used on another blythe when setting her hair in curlers so I felt confident in doing it with my Kenner but please remember I am not a professional.


This was after that one treatment with a slight trim to her bangs. I couldn't believe how smooth her hair was (though it still felt rough on the bottom third of the length) and how much longer it had gotten once the frizz was reduced. Once I had removed the sponge rollers I just carefully smoothed it out with my hands. And doesn't she look even lovelier with her sparkly blue chips?


Then Lorelai (for me it had to be an American name plus I love Gilmore Girls) was ready for her first photo shoot so I could post a picture of her in the Kenner Blythe Facebook group and show her off.

Do you own a Kenner? Or is she just waiting on your wishlist?

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