Wigs Styling a wig

I use an American Girl brush to detangle and a very soft toothbrush to calm down those fly aways.

Not sure about hair products safe for BJDs or which type of doll wigs can handle heat, though.

Oh, its not perfect but athletic tape works okayish to keep wigs on and not leave sticky residue. Moleskin is also used by some here on DoA I think?

 

A lot of wig styleability is dependent on which direction the wefts are sewn or glued in. This is why it's exceptionally difficult to do a ponytail in a wig that's originally styled differently, you'll get that weird ballooning that you described.
Your best bet is to buy or make a wig where the wefts are in the correct direction for a ponytail. There's plenty of tutorials on how to make a wig using nothing more than saran wrap, pantyhose (the free ones you get at the shoe store for trying on shoes are perfect), your choice of glue, and your choice of fiber.
You can even dm me and I'll help you with how to lay out the wefts for the specific style you're looking for.

 

I agree with the commenter above. The wigs you tend to purchase for these dolls are mostly not meant to be styled, or are too densely made that any actual styling won't hold up for long. You can add accessories on most, but due to how much hair is on most, re-styling is not easy. It has a lot to do with the wefts, as once again the above commenter mentioned. Unlike with rooted hair dolls, that are meant to be played with, and re-styled over and over -- the hair on most of the "commercially" made doll wigs, is not meant to be styled drastically differently, from the style they already come with. Due to the way the wefts are sewn in mostly, like in which direction the wefts were attached or sewn to the wig, and also how dense the hair is. You are better off purchasing wigs in the hair style you want, or making your own wigs. Which is why making wigs is probably so popular now; doll wigs in general are just not meant to be re-styled. Probably not helpful, but that is a fact that doesn't come up much, because most people just buy the hair style they want already styled on the wig, or make their own. (:

 

Do you have pics of the promo pics vs the wig in your hands? It would help us to help you make it work

 

Wigs are the bane of my dolly existence. They can be so hard to style! I finally bought an electric hair trimmer to angle and thin down the super puffy stuff, but I've also found that products like Volks water wax can help a lot in taming the ridiculous fullness of some wigs.

 

Well, they're definitely not the same wig, I'm afraid. The parting is different and your seems to be a lot bulkier.

Maybe you could try thinning out the ends of your wigs? The one in the promo pic seems to be layered too, I'm guessing the ends don't end in a straigh line like yours.

 

The way the wig is sitting on the alice collection site makes me think they just sat it crooked on the doll. The fibers are all angled/leaning like that's the case. It also appears that the part you have in front of your dolls shoulder is actually tucked 'back' in the stock photo, and the angled part they have in the front is further back.... I could draw it on your picture if you'd like.

-I make and style wigs so hopefully spotted something

 

That photo looks like it has more contrast for sure--the whites are really blown out and it looks like it was taken in really bright direct sunlight--or something emulating that effect. And while your doll's faceup is lovely, ones in promo pics can be very misleading. For the intense look, I'd also look at changing out his eyes--smaller pupil and high contrast eyes, like in the promo, may help get a similar effect.

A lot of wig styling is figuring out how to cheat. My favorite setup for simple styling or trimming is on the doll's head (affixed with eye putty on the inside of the wig to really hold), and T-pinned to a styrofoam ball on a stick for more advanced styles that require a lot of pulling or manipulation.

For thinning the fibers, there's a couple of possibilities--You can use thinning shears, point cut with regular shears, or use a razor to thin the hair and wisp it out. There are youtube videos on these techniques that are helpful, but they do require practice. However, since it's a wig, you can also go in with a seam ripper and just remove some wefts. I'd recommend removing non-consecutive wefts from the middle of the wig, depending on how you want to style it. However, if you go down this route, you're pretty much committing a wig to a specific style or family of styles. The excess fiber can also be saves and woven in to the wig cap to help hide bald spots or add poof. If the wig is too thick at the point where it gathers, you're probably looking at weft-removal or pretty aggressive layering. Thicker synthetic fibers tend to be rather pointy and noticeable at doll-scale, though, so layering can be tricky. You could also manually thin each weft by pulling out some of the hair, but that's pretty laborious work and has the side effect of weakening the weft's overall structure.

Wigs that have a skin-top on their part are generally easier to restyle into updos because you don't have to worry about covering the wefts at the crown of the head. I'd also strongly recommend having poly hair bands, alligator clips, and the cheapest, strongest hold hair spray and hair gel you can get. Trimmed down bobby or hair pins can also help, but you'd have to dip or sand the ends.

A lot of weft hiding can be done by separating the hair into core/middle/outer sections. The core sections are used to build up the style in the place you want it. The middle sections are sprayed or gelled into ribbons and are strategically pasted, criss-crossed, and wrapped into place to cover wefts, bald spots, or suspicious areas. The outer sections are gently fluffed and pinned into place to hide the gelling and sometimes add volume. Again, though, this is kind of a semi-permanent setup. There's no brushing or reshaping without taking out the entire style and all of the product. In cosplay circles, complex wigs are even often glued in place, with a common technique for mid-high ponytails being pulling the hair into the pony tail and tying it tightly, then hacking off the fiber that is below the elastic, gluing or melting the remains into a stub, and then reattaching the fiber/wefts to the stub. Sometimes with a foam structural piece.

However, low pony tails, like what's in the promo, are much easier to do since it's gathering the hair and tucking it back, so I apologize for the previous tangent.