Geisha hairstyles

[Loviatar]

I've been re-reading some of my favourite books - Mineko Iwasaki's Geisha of Gion, Liza Dalby's Geisha, Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha - and I was wondering if there was a way to manage geisha/geiko hairstyles without resorting to the method used in the books.

In the books they use camellia oil all over the hair and a bar of wax which was melted into/onto the hair (eek) with a hot iron (double eek). Obviously I dont want to do this. In Liza's book (she is the only American woman to have become a geisha) also they use wigs and rats instead of using her real hair. I'm not talking about Chinese buns as done on LHC, I mean real momoware (split-peach) hairstyles and the like.

I just love the huge pompadours filled with blossoms and ornaments that you see in pictures of geisha and I was wondering if anyone had any tips for making those styles. I guess it might not be possible for a non-Asian-haired finey like me, but I can hope

[Pegasus Marsters]

If you google you can find pages about the geisha hair styles.

But be warned, those gorgeous ornaments they wear in their hair can be insanely expensive.

[Loviatar]

I've done a bit of googling Pegs, but I cant seem to find useful 'non-damaging' advice, IYSWIM. I dont want to coat my hair in icky spray and wax, but I dont think aloe gel alone would hold that kind of style.

(I dont know why I'm fussing, my hair isnt even long enough for a chinese bun yet.)

[mira-chan]

I've done somewhat similar styles for fun but then my hair is coarse. With finer hair you'd need to use rats/forms to have any semblance of the momoware style. To keep the hairs together, just oil the hair well. The wax was used to keep the style for a week and I don't think you'd want yours to last that long.

[Isilme]

hat about doing a good old sock bun with a bright red sock and then separate the hair so you can see the red? You can then add ornaments, and you could even do a little puff on the top of your head to add some height.

[Akiko]

You would like to do it yourself? That is difficult. I think your hair type is fine. But we need a trained hairdresser specialized in traditional Japanese hairstyles.

This is how OFUKU (hairstyle worn by Maiko after 2-3 yrs of apperentice) is done.

It is extremely complex and actually needs 4 hands to complete the updo.

All the women in my family (except myself) wore Takashimada for wedding. That's a nice picture from the back on Wiki. You can really see how it's sectioned and held by hair sticks.

I did lots of google search on how to do Japanese traditional styles myself before. This is the site I found. It's not authentic, but has a look to it. It's all in Japanese, though. Maybe I can help...

[mira-chan]

A lady in my dance group does the hairstyles herself with lots of hairspray. So it can be done but takes lots of practice.

[kwaniesiam]

Nothing constructive to add but those styles are gorgeous! I think I'd need about 10x more hair to even THINK about pulling that off

[Celticfreefall]

Here's my tutorial of my version of faking a momoware on my blog. Complete with pictures, descriptions, and the tutorial that I cannibalized for my cosplay. I don't use the wax, personally, but it can be purchased here through the e-bay seller Hannari-Ya. There is also a ton of information available through the forum Immortal Geisha; for maiko, kimono and geisha enthusiasts.

[Akiko]

O! It does look like momoware! Great job, celticfreefall.