The My Little Pony Scrapbook: Grooming Parlour with Kiss Curl

Kiss Curl: Yellow earth pony with fading pink mane and tail, aqua and pink bows and curls (only included in UK/Europe)

Pony Data
Set	Grooming Parlour (1988-1990) Brush Me Beautiful Boutique (1988)
Asst. Number	4875 (UK)
Accessories	White saddle, harness and reins, neon pink basket with white strap, long hanging brush (neon pink or regular pink), yellow round hat, white floral hat, pink (UK) or neon pink (North America) regular comb, pink blanket, green and pink ribbons, tag reading Grooming Parlour (Europe/UK) or Brush me Beautiful Boutique (North America)
Pose	Posey
Distribution	UK and some parts of Europe (as Grooming Parlour with Kiss Curl) North America and some other countries (as Brush me Beautiful Boutique, no pony)
Other Versions	Peachy's Grooming Parlour (Worldwide) Snuzzle's Grooming Parlour (UK only) Kiss Curl has various symbol colour variations and can be made in Hong Kong or China.

Snowball the Cat: White with green stripes
(Called Catnip in the Brush me Beautiful Boutique)

The Grooming Parlour...again

"I'm like a My Little Pony Mummy to my pony family
It's fun at the Grooming Parlour, and Snowball's here with me."
~Grooming Parlour commercial
(1988, Hasbro UK)

If it wasn't enough that 1988 saw the release of the Crimp and Curl Hair Salon, with all the styling accessories a kid could want, it also saw the third and final iteration of the Grooming Parlour. Unlike the previous reissue, which had just changed ponies from Peachy to Snuzzle, this version was recoloured to purple and teal, although the basic accessory complement was largely the same. The playset was sold with a pony called Kiss Curl, who was very much in the style of earlier pony characters. This pony was sold in the UK and in Europe, but not in North America.

Over the Atlantic, the playset was called the Brush Me Beautiful Boutique. The box featured Brush and Grow Ponies, and the commercial promoted it with Princess Ponies, but no ponies were sold with it.

Brush Me Beautiful Boutique
North America, 1988

Loose playsets can be told apart by the label on the back - UK ones have Grooming Parlour (and European ones a suitable translation of this) and Brush Me Beautiful Boutiques have a different label altogether.

Kiss Curl's Parlour advert
UK comic, 1988

Both releases came with a small white kitten, called Snowball in the UK and Catnip in North America. Although the name Snowball was used for a different pet in North America, the UK name is not an error - she is consistently promoted as Snowball not only in the television commercial, in the comic advert, in Hasbro's promotional catalogue and on the playset box itself.

Kiss Curl's Grooming Parlour
Box (UK 1988-90)

Snowball and Kiss Curl also both appeared in the My Little Pony comic from 1988. Kiss Curl is often is found with faded hair - although some symbol versions are more common than others

The parlour continued to be sold into at least 1990, as it appears in the 1990 Hasbro promotional catalogue.

Kiss Curl's Grooming Parlour
UK Hasbro Catalogue, 1990

According to this entry, sets were sent to stores in boxes of six, so we can imagine that the earlier distribution was probably similar. The popularity of the Grooming Parlour as a budget playset can easily be seen when you consider that between Peachy, Snuzzle and Kiss Curl, there was a Grooming Parlour on sale in the UK from late 1983 though until the turn of the decade. It also explains why these are some of the most common sets to find second-hand. Kiss Curl is a little less common than Peachy because she was not sold in all countries, but in the places she was sold, she is one of the easiest ponies to find.

Kiss Curl and Parlour -variations

There are a number of variations associated with both playset and pony, probably because of how long the set was available. Some versions of the parlour can be made in Spain, which is denoted on the box.

Kiss Curl the pony can be found made in China and made in Hong Kong. There are also two distinct versions of the symbol - pink bows and aqua curls, or aqua bows and pink curls. The latter is more common. The image below demonstrates that the shade of the symbols can also vary between manufactures.

Kiss Curl Symbol Comparison.

It is not clear whether there is any consistency of release with the symbol design and pony, but it is thought that Hong Kong versions were sold in the earlier part of the release, and China made ones towards the end.
ed.

Kiss Curl and Snowball - Characters

Kiss Curl was introduced first in one of the My Little Pony & Friends comics. Although she technically replaced Snuzzle's Parlour in stores, the comic shows her meeting Peachy, who is overwhelmed by orders for easter bonnets, and offering to help out. Kiss Curl later moved her parlour to stand next to Peachy's, and the two were depicted in a few stories together, suggesting they were friendly neighbours and co-workers rather than rivals.

Twinkles meets Snowball and Kiss Curl
My Little Pony & Friends Comic

Kiss Curl was also elected as the 'May Queen' in one comic story, and featured on the comic cover.

1988

Grooming Parlour with Kiss Curl/Brush Me Beautiful Boutique

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The Grooming Parlour...again

Kiss Curl and Parlour -variations

Kiss Curl and Snowball - Characters

Playset Ponies Sold in the UK in 1988