Flock Yo Cornrows!

This flock stuff is just awesome! I can envision so many hair styles to try it with.  However, they all depend on my working the glue properly.  I'm using Mod Podge because that's what I have in stock but Elmer's with the pointy spout might work better for some applications.

I used to wear braids and cornrows a lot so I wanted to try a patterned cornrow style as I thought that would be the most difficult and time consuming and any other style would be easy breezy in comparison. 

I'm going to use the previous practice model so I removed her [green hairstyle] by running warm water over the flock.  After a minute of squishing her head I was able to peel it right off in a single layer.  I later found that I could have done the same without water actually.

Because this is just a test of glue application there are some steps I didn't do; 1) remove the mold seam with a utility knife, 2) cover the head with flexible modeling paste to fill in and make the rooting holes disappear and 3) mix paint to match the flesh tone of her face.

Instead, I used brown paint straight out the bottle and slapped 4 coats on her scalp with no other prep.  Then, using black paint and a brush, I drew on my cornrow pattern.  The third step is where a Elmer's bottle would have come in handy, but I don't have that.  So, using a pointed brush with all its bristles glued shut, I dotted on mod podge to form lines over the black stripes.

My point in this is to build up a line of glue without it flattening or drooping down.  I let the first layer of glue dry over the entire head completely to see if it would spread and it did a little bit.  Right on top of this layer I apply the second layer of glue, dump flock over it and shake off the excess.  Without pausing, I go back over it a 3rd time with another layer of glue and flock.

The second photo shows the glue completely dry which is why you should make your under color either white or the color of the flock you are using.  If you use white, you'll already have a general idea of how your finished product might look because the glue is white.  If you match the flock color, it won't look so sparse once it dries.

For the previous photos, I put down an entire row of glue and then flocked.  I always feel like I'm giving the glue too long to dry so for these blue rows I put down about 1/4 inch of glue, flocked, shook off the excess and then repeated until one row was done.  Because of this, it seemed like more flock was sticking to the glue, so I only did the one layer instead of adding one more. 

Here she is completely dry.  I really think that applying the glue/flock in small sections makes a big difference in the density of flock coverage and you can do less layers.  I rubbed my hand all over her head while inking a face on her and the flock didn't come off.  That doesn't mean, however, that this is a permanent hairdo like rooting.  Just poke it a bit with your fingernail and you can pry the glue right up and off.  Even knowing that, it's still fun to make different styles!

The only bad thing I can say about flock is that it gets everywhere!  So much so that I eventually had to put on a dust mask while using it because it was affecting my sinuses.  Shoot, I'm a delicate, freakin' flower. I can't be having stuff going all up in my nose and lungs and whatnots.  Safety first!  Protect yo-self before you rickety wreck yo-self.  Word to Big Bird.