Sorry to hear about the shady eBay seller. I wonder what his feedback rating is (although sometimes one can never tell, even with a high rating). I hope he comes through and sends you your item. If not, I'd leave him negative feedback. *evil grin*

What kind of Japanese hairstyles are you tring to do? I kind of remember that you wanted to try Koyuki's hairstyle from "The Last Samurai." Are you trying to make that style?

Yesh, I can't believe you got ripped off twice. I'm glad your husband was able to get his money back. I'd be super PO'd if I lost $300.

WOO, thanks for posting that link, Lisabelle! I've been to Rasya before to look at the hairstyle gallaries, but I didn't know it had instructions on how to make "traditional" hairstyles. Yeah, using a rat is a good idea. I wouldn't want to be those hair models and have to untangle my hair afterward. >_<  I wish I could help you on the instructions, but I can't get the encoding feature on my browser to work so the Japanese text looks like this: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

That's a good try, Lisabelle! But, yeah, I think the rat might be a little too big. Since you're using a rat and not teasing your hair, there's going to be added bulk in the back so a smaller rat would work better. Did that make sense?

Anyway, I tried looking at the page with Babelfish and all I can say is WTF? Some of the instructions sort of make sense, but the others...-_- I'll look at the page again and see if I can write clearer instructions for the hairstyle.

Ebay has some antique combs up for auction right now. If you type "kanzashi", there's about 3 or 4 auctions for those combs, but they're not colorful like the one on Rasysa's site. If I come across some on the internet, I'll send you a PM.

Okay, I looked at the Rasysa page again last night and tried to figure out whay they were doing. I think I understand most of it and wrote "instructions" that correspond to the pictures on the site. I have no idea how helpful they're going to be (probably not very), but hopefully at least one tip will be useful. Disclaimer: I've never done this sort of hairstyle before so I have no idea if this will work.

Tip: It might be easier to understand if the "instructions" are printed and read while looking at the Rasysa site.

1) Make a top knot (the small ponytail in the pic)

2) Put curlers in, rolling them in towards the top knot. The one exception is one curler for the front of the top knot; that one should be rolled towards your face.
-Use larger curlers along the hair line and smaller ones for the inside. One exception: for the area where the bangs would be, use a small curler (yellow one) along the hairline and the larger curler (pink one) behind it.

3) Starting from behind the ears, take off the curlers

4 &5) Clip on rats and remove curlers from the top knot.

6) Comb/brush the hair up so the rats are hidden. Use styling wax (not sure how it would be applied) so the hair keeps it's shape.

7) Tie the hair to the top knot

8 ) Not entirely sure how to get the side poof.
*One possibility would be to roll up the inside curl and pin it to the scalp hair, pulling the outside curl to the top knot
*Another possibility is to use a very small rat--a mouse, haha--and covering it with hair
-Use wax or hairspray to shape the hair

9) Remove curlers at the front. Wax/spray and tie it to the top knot. Maybe a mouse would work?

10) Arrange hair so that the front poof looks smooth

11) Arrange the front top knot curl so that the front of the knot is covered. Do the same for the back curl.
*Not too sure what to do with the center curl. It looks like it would be paired with either the front or back curl.

12) Add assorted hairtoys.

Sorry if the steps were unclear. I'm not that good at writing instructions. ;;

You're welcome, Lisabelle!    Hehe, last night I was asking myself, "Do these instructions make sense? Should I even be writing instructions for a hairdo I've never tried?" etc. Anyway, pics would be very nice! I'm rather curious to know if those instructions actually work. Good luck trying to master that style!

I'm glad Taka is reopening! It's always a bummer when a favorite restaurant or store closes.

Khrome--You're welcome! Erm, I wouldn't exactly call that a translation. It's more like me reading the "translation" provide by Bablefish and trying to figure out what's going on in the photos.

Lisabelle--Sorry for hijacking your journal! Gomen!

With the exception of a funky shoulder, it sounds like things are going pretty well right now! Hurray for the eBay guy finally getting back to you!

Juri Thanks! I'll find out this week about my shoulder....eeeek  doctor wants me to have my pap test then too, I know it's important but I don't have to like

Cynde Thanks! What type hello kitty thing do you have?  I'm afraid the hand mirror I got from e-bay will arrive damaged.   Still, that seller has some really neat food for sale, wish he wasn't such a twit or I would order some from him.