Lesson 68: Barbie Mermaid Merliah Hairstyle

Belle loves Barbie.  She likes to play with the dolls, but really loves the movies.  If you haven't seen them, most of them really are pretty good (not that I have seen them ALL).  Belle's absolute favorite is "Barbie in a Mermaid Tale."  She is nuts over mermaids, especially Merliah Summers.  Check out the Barbie Gallery and scroll down to number 21 to see a movie pose.  Here is Merliah's mermaid do.

First, to achieve the beachy waves, I used the blow dryer after her bath (the night before) until her hair was just a little damp.  Then I made three hawser twists with all her hair (no parts, just grab three random sections of hair).  Twist all the way down and wrap the hairband around the ends to keep them tucked in.  One hairband can cover an inch and a half of length if you leave gaps.  It's not nice an neat how you do it during the day, but doesn't matter.  Does that make sense?  I didn't get pictures since I just wanted to get the little people to bed.  By morning, the hair is all dry.  Undo the twists and comb through the hair.  You can skip this step if you don't need to add the texture.

Start the style by  making a piggy out of the top section of hair like so:

Next, part out the side sections above the ears, brush upward as if to join it into the piggy, but cross them over like how you start to tie your shoe.

Pull it tight to cover the hairband, then clip the tail that is going up toward the forehead to hold it in place.  Tie down the other tail to the piggy.  Clear elastics are best.  It should be hidden, but just in case, you don't want any florescent green sticking out.

Take out the clip, pull the tail tight, and bring it down to cover up the knot and put in another hairband.

To wrap the ponytail, pick up a small section of hair from the back side of the tail.  Wrap it around the front and then around again above the first wrap so it covers the hairband.  Now get your trusty topsy tail tool and tuck the end back in through the hairband at the back.

This style tends to go a little crooked and can show a little of the parts back from the temples, but hey, we can't all be CGI animation, right?  Some of those mermaid hairstyles look impossible, really.  This is a pretty good facsimile, I think.