Platinum blonde and pastel pink hair

Finally I have super blonde platinum hair. And a new, "longer in the front, supershort in the back" edgy haircut as well. A while back here in my hometown Turku, a local hair salon called Avantgarde decided to organize a happening where they would give free haircuts/colouring for about 80 people. However, there was a condition: the hairstylist would have totally free hands. This wasn't a problem for me because I've had supershort hair and I've tried literally every possible colour. You can imagine that people went crazy when they heard about the happening. Why is it that when it comes to getting something for free, people freak out?

Normally a haircut and colour would cost about 100euros. Me and my two cousins decided to be crazy and try our luck. Lucky enough, I live next to the hairsalon so we were looking from my balcony when people would start gathering in front of the salon. All in all we waited 12 hours before we were finished,crazy huh? 5hours waiting outside...In the middle of winter...in Finland. It was a freezing cold evening and I still shiver when I think of those 5 hours in minus degrees :)

 Even if it got very cold, I have no regrets. The people waiting with us were super nice, and we were all making jokes and cheering each other. I got a fabulous hair colour and cut. In addition my hair was shiny and felt super soft. My colour was very blonde in the beginning so the the stylist decided she would "alter" it just a "bit". I was a bit surprised when she started putting baby pink goo in my hair :D I was actually happy when the stylist said that the colour would be "icy strawberry platinum". I love Nicki Minaj's cotton candy hair! In the end the colour doesn't really look like pink, only in a certain light.

Hair in process

Paul Mitchell: Platinum Blonde shampoo

L'oréal Preferance pastel toning conditioner in Soft Rose

  I've maintained the platinum and "pink" hair with two products, Paul Mitchell's Platinum Blonde shampoo and L'oreal Preferance pastel toning conditioner. The shampoo is actually a violet shampoo which takes any brassiness away. I use it once a week for 5 minutes. There are many good violet shampoos on the market,but right now I prefer the PM. Good alternatives are Fudge's Clean Blonde Violet shampoo and L'oréal Professionnel Silver shampoo. The PM shampoo costs about 15euros, but it will last for long. The smell reminds me of cucumber :) 

As you can see from the picture, the L'oreal pastel toning conditioner is pretty pink. In order for the colour to show properly, you HAVE TO have blonde hair.  I've tested and come to the conclusion that if you want a truly light baby-pink shade of pink, it's best to mix the pastel conditioner into your normal conditioner. I use a quarter size amount of the pastel conditioner, and same amount of regular conditioner. But IF you want a pinker shade, use the toner conditioner only and leave for longer than 5 minutes. The colour will fade away in a few washs so you have to reapply pretty soon.

The next picture will show you how light of a pink shade I have, you can barely call it pink. But I assure in bright daylight it looks baby-strawberry pink :) I put a white paper in front of my face for the colour  to show better.

-Anne

Coffee with my Boyfriend's Parents

My boyfriend's parents stopped by for coffee a few days ago to catch up after out America trip. We had a nice visit and  we looked through some of our pictures from NYC. Here is a photo of the table. I made a simple Greek Pasta Salad and I had brought some pastries home from the cafe where I work. I served them on this three tiered serving dish from Ikea, i think it cost about 14euros. These types of serving dishes are great for a little "wow" factor and also save a lot of space at the table.

I also put together a simple cheese plate with brie, blue cheese and gouda. They were served with water crackers and sliced french bread. I added some red grapes to fill up the plate. I though we could use the left over blue cheese to make a chicken recipe for dinner (I will post that recipe soon) and the gouda and french bread we could use for sandwiches and any left over brie is a yummy snack. Cheese plates can get pricey but since we only got three super market cheeses and planned to use them for future meals I thought it was really affordable. And of course since we're in Finland we served coffee as well. Needless to say everyone was stuffed by the end of the visit. Below is the recipe for the Greek Pasta Salad.

Greek Pasta Salad

1 bag of al dente cooked spiral pasta

2-4 tablespoons olive oil (add more oil if the pasta salad seems sticky)

1 1/2 dl cubed Feta (I normally just buy a package of Feta in oil with herbs that are normally used for salads. Use the entire package in the pasta. If you do this then you don't have to add any extra oil or herbs other than salt and pepper)

1 small jar of black olives

Half a red bell pepper finely chopped

1 dl chopped pepperoni

1 dl chopped cherry tomatoes

Sprinkle of oregano

Sprinkle of basil

Salt and pepper to taste

1.) Cook the pasta as instructed until al dente. Drain and rinse. Pour into a large bowl.

2.) Add olive oil and feta. If you're using a feta in oil salad package add the entire package.Mix well.

3.) Add olives, red bell pepper, chopped pepperoni, chopper cherry tomatoes, oregano, basil, salt and pepper and mix well. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve chilled. Enjoy!

- Tina

It's summer in Finland!

It's finally summer here in Finland! I'm visiting my parents in Porvoo. Yesterday I was in Helsinki, I went to see a great Belgian DJ named Netsky. I was perhaps a bit too tired to dance, but the music was alright and I got to hang out with one of my best friends.

Today I was at the beach with my childhood's best friend. It was a really sunny weather so we didn't have to freeze :) The beach is a bit different because you actually have to go there by rowing boat :) My friend was nice enough to do the rowing.

I have to admit, there's just something special about Finland in the summertime. All the green, the beautiful flowers, the sun that doesn't really set... I  came home last night at 3 in the morning and the sun was coming up. It was absolutely beautiful, a pink sky over the fields...( Yes, my parents kind of do live in the countryside, hah, but hey, Finland is mostly forest and lakes) Too bad I didn't have my camera with me.

One of the downsides of Finland in the summertime is the mosquitos. They are everywhere in huge swarms! Even yesterday when I was waiting for the bus I got bitten at least three times. Oh well, I'll just have to deal witht the mosquitos.

Some random summer pictures

Smoked salmon with wasabi-sourcream-dill dressing=heaven