Asian Cosmetics – YesStyle.com

korean cosmeticsHaving missed my favorite Asian cosmetics I decided to place an order! I’ve ordered a couple of times from Two Face Mall and was happy with it, until with my previous order there was a product that wasn’t in stock and instead of refunding it, I received a voucher with the same value. And next time I tried to order, it turned out that the voucher didn’t work and the site didn’t reply to my emails, so I decided to use other sites in the future. After browsing other websites selling Asian cosmetics, I decided to test YesStyle.com, site selling Asian fashion and cosmetics shipping worldwide. And I must say, I liked it.

As I’ve been trying to switch into more and more into a minimalistic lifestyle, I only ordered stuff I knew I’d use. And yes, there are some stores in Sweden that sell Korean cosmetics, however, not my favorite products. So here’s what I got!korean cosmetics-5The most important ones… I’ve been in love with the Angel Aqua CC cream for the past few years. And it’s still my favorite. And the Holi Pop BB cream seemed to be worth a try so I ordered it too. The shade is really light, so it might be better for winter than summer, but I liked the light consistency.korean cosmetics-2I’ve had dark circles since I was like 9 and one of my daily challenges is to hide them. So far I’ve been using liquid concealers, but for a while wanted to test a concealer with more pigment. So I ordered Kill Cover concealer from Clio. It definitely hides dark circles better than a liquid one, but spreading it evenly takes a bit more time and you really have to use powder on top of it. korean cosmetics-8 copy.jpgI use a lot of lip balm, so I ordered super sweet one! And my all time favorite mascara from Majolica Majorca!korean cosmetics-3For some reason, most liquid eyeliners have a brush that’s thick and hard. I usually buy it from Make Up Store or Rimmel, as they have a narrow and soft brush for making fine lines and also last pretty good. Oh m’eye line from Etude House is kind of watery, but felt like it held well even when sweating, will have to do some more experimenting to see if I actually like it. korean cosmetics-4I also bought some skin care: a night repair ampoule from Missha and a sheet mask I wanted to test. The collagen eye patches I got as a freebie, so I might not need that blepharoplasty after all…

Based on this, I’ll definitely order again from YesStyle. The shipping to Sweden took about three weeks, but was worth the wait. And of course I paid the taxes and Postnord-whatever-fee, so I didn’t save much money by ordering from abroad, but my favorites were of course worth it. 💞

I’m done with my orthodontics!

Some of the more unpleasant things in my life I’m now done with… Orthodontics! Also a three-year-process, though originally estimated to be 1,5 to 2 years. The first couple of months were definitely the worst. The braces were rubbing against my cheeks and from time to time it felt like my whole mouth was bleeding. Speaking was hard, though it only took a couple of weeks to get over the difficulties in pronunciation. One of the reasons why I waited until my adulthood was that I was scared how they would look like and would they make me less attractive. Would people take seriously an adult with braces? But as I got used to them I didn’t really think about them and people rarely commented on them. Probably most people wouldn’t even notice them. My teeth are pretty long and the brackets were glued so high up I had to smile really wide in order them to be visible. Also, having white brackets in my upper teeth made them slightly less visible. As I wrote on a post last spring, moving to Sweden made things a bit complicated. As Damon orthodontics aren’t really common in Finland and Sweden, finding a dentist here wasn’t easy. I had started in Oral in Helsinki and was really happy with the place from the beginning. Although it was a lot of pain, I could see a constant progress, which kept me motivated over time. There was no Damon dentist in Umeå, so I ended up in a place called Smajla in Stockholm. Smajla turned out to be a place I would not recommend to anyone and there was very little, if any progress after my visits there.So I returned to my dentist in Finland. As I couldn’t visit as often as earlier, the treatment took longer than expected, but finally It’s over. I have a wire behind my lower teeth to keep them in place and it’ll stay there until I die. I also have a retainer I wear at night and sometimes during the days. It makes speaking slightly difficult so if I know I have to do a lot of talking I just don’t wear it.At the end I’m happy that I finally have nice teeth. However, I was expecting the change to be bigger. Although I have straight teeth, my looks didn’t change that much. My teeth are still the same shape and one of my upper tooth is shorter than the one on the other side. They looked more symmetrical when they were twisted, but now the difference is more noticeable. Though, I’m planning to get a plastic extension on it in the future. I’m also whitening my teeth at the moment. So at the end, I’m happy that I did this. When getting started, two years felt like a long time and one of my friends thought I was insane for putting stuff in my mouth for such a “long” time. But time flies and hopefully, the results last for a lifetime. As I had a pretty bad overbite, sooner or later I most likely would have had to fix it anyway. One negative aspect I noticed after having braces for a few months was that I couldn’t whistle anymore. As my teeth had been changing positions, the airflow had also changed. So that’s something I have to learn again, I guess. 😗

After braces, pre-whitening.

Tattoo removals and cover-ups

So finally, after about 3 years, my “little” project is nearly finished! I’ve written about my tattoo removals earlier. As many others have said, I wouldn’t go through it again, but it was definitely worth it. I was never proud of this and for most of the time tried to hide my half-vanished tattoos, but as there are many others who are struggling with the same issue, I want to share my experience here.

tattoo_removal

Originally I had three gold fish tattooed on my arm. They were nicely done and everything, but felt too big and just didn’t suit my style. So I just felt that I had to do something about them, i.e. remove them. As I wrote on the previous post, I tried everything. YAG laser, Picosure laser and finally, Tatt2away. Most of the colors vanished quite fast, just some yellow was left, which would be easy to cover with new tattoo. Although black is supposed to be the easiest color to remove, it only came of partially with the lasers. Tatt2away took a lot of it out, however it did leave scars. As I’ve never had keloids or anything, I wasn’t too worried about it, they would most likely fade over time. And they did.

So I’ve now had most of the old picture covered with a new one. It’s a peacock, that matches better my colorful style and existing tattoos. I had it done at Kajaste art in Tallinn, Estonia. They’ve specialized in realistic tattoos and do really great work. I’ve previously had my feet tattooed there, so I knew what to expect. I’m going to do a one more session for adding some feathers to cover the rest of the old tattoo in June. But already now I’m really happy with the result.

tattoo-removal

The bigger and more painful project, yet, less visible was my rib piece. The picture above is after two sessions: the lines and some coloring. I had it done at LR tattoo in Helsinki, as I really like the style they do. And due to the painfulness of the spot I don’t want anything realistic that takes a long time. The picture below after three sessions with more color. I had my fourth session a bit over week ago and still waiting it to be fully healed. The next session should be the last one.

I’ve used a numbing cream called TKTX before the tattooing begins and a liquid called super juice during tattooing. It’s been a big help as the tattoo is on a really sensitive area and after all the lasering just the idea of needles on the area feels horrible. But with the right numbing stuff the pain is tolerable.

These might be my last larger tattoos. I’ve done a few smaller ones during the removals, including the jigsaw puzzle and the text you can see on my forearms. So I still like tattoos, and feel that they’re a part of who I am, a way to express myself and things I like. But with about 15 of them, I think I now have all the ones I’ve wanted. I’ll post another update after my cover-ups are complete to show the final result.

Tattoo Removal / Tatuoinninpoisto Update

The video is in Finnish, but I write in English as usually. So finally, I’m done with all my tattoo removals! They couldn’t be removed completely, but the colors faded enough, so I can get nice cover-ups on them. The tattoos were rather big, one on my arm and one on my ribs/belly so it was a lot of ink. I started this process about two and a half years ago, so it’s been a long and painful journey, but I’m happy I did it. I never took proper before and after pictures, as this was something I wanted just to be done with and push it out of my head. But as many of us are today dealing with unwanted tattoos, I wanted to share my experience here.

Plastic Surgery Center – Helsinki

I had moved back to Finland from Asia a couple of months before I started the removals. I looked into the options in Helsinki, and ended up at a place called Plastic Surgery Center in Helsinki. I went there about eight times and my tattoos did fade almost as planned. The colors from the one on my arm disappeared almost completely just after a couple of sessions, except for the yellow color, which is hard to remove, but on the other hand, easy to cover with a new tattoo. The black outlines also didn’t disappear.

My arm with the fresh tattoo, it was nicely done, but just wasn't my style after all.
My arm with the fresh tattoo, it was nicely done, but just wasn’t my style after all.
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After all the sessions at Plastic Surgery Center, colors almost gone, just outlines left.
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My belly after a few sessions… Can’t remember how many, but definitely faded, though there was still a lot of ink left.

Eraze – Stockholm

I moved to Umeå Sweden in August 2015 and wasn’t sure how and when I would continue the process. As I was also having my orthodontics done, I ended up going to Stockholm for both, getting my braces adjusted and my tattoos removed. As there’s no Picosure laser available in Finland, but there’s one in Stockholm I decided to try that. At this point, it was quite obvious that the tattoos wouldn’t fade completely, so I only got the black parts lasered, as there was very little color left and that would be easy to cover. Also, getting lasered hurts quite a bit, so I rather had it lasered less than more. I went to Eraze twice and I think there was some fading, but it wasn’t that clear. Before and after photos, again would have helped, but I didn’t take any. As the fading happens slowly, and when there’s less ink it becomes less obvious so at this point, I couldn’t really see it. But when looking at the pictures below, taken about eight months apart from each other, there’s some fading at least.

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Estetic Walk-in Umeå

I had been in Finland for the holidays and wasn’t planning to have trip to Stockholm anytime soon, so I decided to give a try for a local plastic surgery place. I only had my arm lasered, as I was tired of all the pain, which was far worse on the ribs than on the arm, so I went. After the session my arm was very, very burned… It healed quite fast, as always with lasering, but it looked so ridiculous I decided to stop having it lasered. I guess the colors faded a little bit, as always, but at this point the change wasn’t as evident as after the first sessions so my motivation was gone.

Morning after. I was so scared the blisters would explode.
Morning after. I was so scared the blisters would explode.

Tatt2away

This was also something not available in Finland, but in Stockholm. Since Swedes are the most tattooed people in the world after some tribal populations, there’s for sure a demand for removal methods as well. So as I didn’t see much difference after my Picosure sessions, I wanted to try the third, and last option available. Though my tattoos had faded enough for pretty good cover ups already, I still wanted to see if I could do more. So I went to a tatt2away consultation. I was told that as my tattoos had been lasered, the risk for scarring would be much higher, as laser does damage your skin and after my latests lasering session the lines on my arm were already swollen and the skin was damaged. I’ve never gotten cheloids or anything and all the scars I had gotten in the past had healed well, so I wasn’t too worried about it. But if you consider tatt2away, you definitely should be aware of the risks involved, we’re all different and I’ve seen some pretty horrible pictures of the results.

Tatt2away hurts. It hurts a bit less than getting tattooed, and is faster than tattooing, but it takes longer than lasering and how your skin looks afterwards is nothing pretty. I do pole dancing and was trying to hide my arms and ribs until the scabs were gone, but it was difficult. The healing process also takes much longer than with laser, about 14 days for the scabs to form and fall off and then a few months for your skin to get back to normal, if it goes back to normal in  the first place. Tatt2away worked pretty well on my arm, and some of the black lines were gone completely, in some parts they just faded a bit, but it definitely did something. On my belly it didn’t work that well, but the tattoo was already faded enough for a cover up anyway. I got two sessions done on my arm and after the second one I got two small scars, but I’m sure they’ll fade away with time. I’m planning to get a cover up on my arm next spring. You can see the current state of my arm on the video.

What I’ve learned?

My tattoos were tough, they faded but none of the methods removed them completely. However, I’m happy with the results. It was more of an issue for me at the beginning, but I guess at some point I just stopped caring. It might be because I’m a couple of years older now and looks just don’t matter that much anymore. At the end it’s just skin, it’s not that big of a deal and at least I’ve been well besides this mess. As many others have said, I wouldn’t go through this again, but it’s definitely been worth it and I might like my picture a little bit more when looking in the mirror. The thing that’s been bugging me sometimes is people asking me about my tattoos. No one has judged me, but it’s been kind of boring to explain over and over what I’ve done and why. Though I understand their curiosity, especially if they’re considering tattoo removals themselves. And that’s why I wanted to share this here.

 

Orthodontics as an Adult

Orthodontics_adult

I wasn’t one of the few lucky ones to be born with nice, straight teeth. In Finland the public dental care is free for everyone until you turn 18, and if you need braces they’ll give you braces. They don’t fix cosmetic problems, but if you have a bad bite, as I had they will take care of it. And when I was 10 they did give me braces.

However, I was a rather stubborn kid and was pissed because they never asked if I wanted braces or not, they just gave me a headgear and told me to wear it every night. I tried it on a couple of times, but didn’t like it and refused to wear it. So eventually they gave up and asked if they should take it away. I said:”Yes”.

I was sometimes bothered by my teeth, but didn’t really pay attention to them. My upper teeth were almost straight, so they didn’t look too bad. Just the bottom ones were a complete mess, but luckily, they’re less visible. However, I always knew, that one day I’d go and get them fixed, but I knew it would take time and was afraid that the brackets would look worse than my teeth. When I moved back to Finland from Asia I thought: “I’m 25, I’m old and ugly, so why not now.”

Orthodontics_adult-2
I never took a “before picture” but these are my teeth before orthodontics.

I did some online research, read reviews and ended up in Oral in Helsinki, since I couldn’t find anything negative written about them and their website seemed reliable (I hate companies with bad websites, and it really can affect their image). I booked an appointment by phone and a couple of weeks later went there. I didn’t know much about the techniques used in orthodontics and it happened to be a specialist who offered me two alternatives: Damon and Invisalign. I chose Damon braces, as they were a bit cheaper and easier, since they don’t have to be removed while eating, etc. My teeth were moving on a decent pace and I was told it would take about two years to finish the treatment.

But then… I moved to Sweden

I had told my dentist in Finland that I’d be moving abroad at some point, probably before the treatment would be finished. He said the Damon braces are pretty common now throughout the Northern Europe and I could continue somewhere else. However, that turned out not to be the case in Sweden and in Umeå there was no one specialized on Damon braces. The nearest options were Luleå and Stockholm. I emailed the place in Luleå first, but they weren’t sure, if they could continue orthodontics started by someone else. So I called to a place called “Smajla” in Stockholm. They said they could continue what I had started if I agreed to their terms of payment.

To me it didn’t really matter whether it was Luleå or Stockholm, as traveling takes equal amount of time and I wasn’t supposed to have too many visits left to do anyway. I could have continued in Finland, but traveling there would have cost more and take more time. So I chose Smajla in Stockholm, as they had promised they could help, they spoke English and their website seemed legit (But you shouldn’t trust companies too much based their websites).

Smajla in Stockholm

I visited Smajla twice during the fall 2015 and twice more in early 2016. In total 4 times during 6 months, which is about twice as often as I did in Finland. The last two times I went there really sucked, as the dentist wasn’t even there, only her assistant! I’m sure she was good at was she was doing but hated it for the fact, that I was paying a lot of money for having a specialist fixing my teeth, and she wasn’t even at work. The last time I went there, the assistant only gave me more rubber bands and told me to come again next month. I asked how much longer should I wear the braces, as the two years had almost passed already and my teeth still weren’t straight. She said I would have to ask the dentist when she would come back.

I hadn’t noticed any change in my teeth after moving to Sweden, and started to have a big distrust towards Smajla and what they were doing. So I called to Oral and asked if I could get it finished in Finland instead, they said: “of course”. So I traveled back and told my dentist how it had been in Sweden. He took out the wire I had in my braces in order to adjust them, and told me that it was traditional  archwire, not a memory wire, used with Damon braces. I asked again how much longer I’d have to wear them and was told it would be less than a year. It’s probably a lot less than it would have taken at Smajla, but still, more than six months extra, because the Swedes weren’t doing their job right.

It was disappointing to hear that it wouldn’t be over in two years, as it was supposed to, but at least I know I’m in good hands now. If you’re considering orthodontics in southern Finland, I can recommend Oral, they really know what they’re doing. In contrast, I cannot recommend Smajla to anyone. I have tried to search, but haven’t found others’ experiences on them, this was only mine. In the end, wearing braces isn’t that bad. They did hurt at the beginning but after a month or so everything felt okay. The most annoying thing is having to clean them after every time I have eaten, but it’ll be for less than a year now.

 

Korean cosmetics online

Cosmetics_online-2After moving to Umeå I’ve done more and more shopping online, since the options to shop here are rather limited. First it was just clothes from Zalando, but I continued with home decoration and recently, cosmetics. There is a  Kicks store at the center but I didn’t feel like taking the time to go there, so I bought stuff online instead. The thing about buying cosmetics online is that you cannot test them before you buy and once you have opened the package you can’t return them.

However, I wanted to take the risk and was happy with what I got.

Two face mall

I studied in South Korea for six months in 2013 and one of the things I’ve really been missing are the cosmetics. In Korea you get so much more with the money you have, compared to the nordic countries. Koreas are also extremely good at designing cute packaging, which for myself is part of the buying experience.

I wanted to order just a CC cream by Beyond, as I had had it before and it was the best CC cream ever. But just out of curiosity I ended up buying a lip tint as well, as they were very popular in Korea, but I had never tried one myself.

The shipping took a couple of weeks, which in my opinion is pretty much an average time it takes to get stuff up here to the north. I was very pleased for all the free samples I got with the only two things I had ordered. I like to try new things and free samples are probably the best way to do that. 😀

Lip_tint_Etude_house

The CC cream wasn’t that interesting, as I knew what to expect from it, but the Etude House lip tint seemed rather weird at first. It was green! When putting it on, the color started to change and became a nice pink tone. Though I still have no idea why it should be green at first, someone, please tell me!

Lip_tint_Etude_house2Lip_tint

The Angel Aqua CC cream was as good as always, it doesn’t make my skin feel dry and the tone is nice and light. I rarely wear any lip make up, but really like the lip tint, as it doesn’t smudge like lip stick and lasts for hours. I use way too much lip balm and was able to add it after putting on the lip tint, which is great.

I will definitely buy more stuff from Korea as soon as I run out of these. I haven’t tried other online stores, but based on my experience, can recommend Two Face Mall. Though one idea for next summer would be to visit and come back with a bunch of cosmetics!

Tatuoinninpoisto

Tasan kaksi vuotta takaperin otin käsivarteen suht ison kultakalatatskan. Siitä ei tullut ihan sitä, mitä olin halunnut, mutta yritin parin kuukauden ajan uskotella itselleni, etä pidän siitä. Sitten eräänä päivänä sain tarpeekseni ja päätin poistattaa sen. En ole aktiivisesti dokumentoinut prosessia, koska en ole tästä erityisen ylpeä. Halusin nyt kuitenkin jakaa kokemukseni, koska tää asia koskettaa nykyisin valitettavan monia ja olen itsekin etsinyt aktiivisesti muiden jakamia kokemuksia tatuoinninpoistosta. Tatuointi oli ihan siististi tehty, mutta isompi ja ei ihan sen tyylinen, kuin mitä olin halunnut. Mulla on kyljessä toinen tatuointi, jota on myös laseroitu, mutta siitä lisää mahdollisesti myöhemmin. Yhteensä tatskoja mulla on noin kymmenen. Tähän asti sekä käsi, että kylki on laseroitu aina samalla kertaa, tänään kävin laseroimassa vain käden, koska haluan sen nyt ensin pois. Keskityn kylkeen sitten myöhemmin.

Tatuointi ennen poistoa
Tatuointi ennen poistamisen aloitusta.

Kävin Suomessa Plastic Surgery Centerissä noin kahdeksan kertaa, värit lähti melkein kokonaan, mutta ääriviivat jäi selvästi näkyviin. Tarkoituksena on ottaa peitekuva kunhan viivat haalistuu vähän lisää.

Muutin Ruotsiin viime syksynä ja pidin parin kuukauden tauon laseroinnista. Kävin sen jälkeen kaksi kertaa Tukholmassa Eraze- nimisessä paikassa. Niillä on käytössä Picosure-merkkinen laseri, joka on ainakin tarinan mukaan edistyneempi, kuin muut laitteet. Sattui ainakin huomattavasti vähemmän, eikä jättänyt ihoa yhtä pahan näköiseksi, kuin muut laserit. Vaikea sanoa, paljonko väriä lähti, koska en ottanut ennen / jälkeen kuvia. Mustat viivat näkyi kuitenkin edelleen. Olen laseroitaessa käyttänyt aina puudutusrasvaa paitsi Picosuren kanssa, enkä usko että siitä olisi ollut erityisemmin apua, se sattuu joka tapauksessa, mutta rasva saattaa vähän helpottaa kipua.

Tatuoinnin poisto

Tukholman reissua ei ole hetkeen tiedossa, joten kävin tänään Uumajassa Estetic Walk-in-nimisessä paikassa. Vain käsi laseroitiin, hinta oli 1000 kruunua, eli vähän päälle 100 euroa, paljon edullisempi, kuin aiemmissa paikoissa. Sattui, mutta ei mitenkään sietämättömän paljon. Toimenpiteen jälkeen en tiennyt olisko pitänyt itkeä vai nauraa, tatuointi on aiemminkin ollut punainen, turvonnut ja verestävä laseroinnin jälkeen, mutta ei koskaan tässä mittakaavassa. Haluaisin pitää paitaa, koska toi käsi on niin kaameen näkönen että voin itsekin pahoin, mutta sattuu niin paljon, ettei pysty. Näyttää ihan siltä kuin käsi olisi valeltu ketsupilla. Huomenna näkee miten isot rakkulat tulee. Ja nyt kun katsoo tota ensimmäistä kuvaa, se on tosi kaunis tähän verrattuna, mutta ehkä jonain päivänä mulla on tässäkin käsivarressa jotain, mistä oikeasti pidän.

Tatuoinnin poisto

Seuraavan aamun tunnelmat alla… Se on kipeä, mutta pystyy jo rasvaamaan ihan hyvin. Eniten pelottaa se, että noi rakkulat puhkeaa. Ehkä viikon päästä pystyy pitämään taas T-paitaa ja käymään salilla normaalisti. Oon aiemminkin peitellyt kättä laseroinnin jälkeen, mutta näin kamalalta se ei koskaan ennen ole näyttänyt. Päivitän kuulumisia, kunhan se paranee. (Ja ehkä myös laadukkaampia kuvia.)

Tatuoinnin poisto

Kuvat saa suuremmiksi klikkaamalla, älä klikkaa jos tekee pahaa.

Hiustenvärjäyksestä

Olin 17 kun värjäsin tukan ekan kerran mustaksi. Se on ollut viimeiset 10 vuotta enemmän tai vähemmän musta, vaikka olen useaan otteeseen yrittänyt lopettaa värjäämisen. Vajaa vuosi sitten ostoslistassani luki “hiusväri”, lykkäsin värin ostamista viikosta toiseen ja kolme kuukautta myöhemmin katsottuani peiliin, totesin pitäväni uudesta lookistani. Hiustenvärjäys on aina ollut ikävää puuhaa, väri sotkee naaman, kädet ja pahimmassa tapauksessa koko kylppärin. Normaalisti värjään noin 5-6 viikon välein, mutta pidempiäkin taukoja on ollut. Aina olen kuitenkin päätynyt taas mustaan väriin.

Olin ilman hiusväriä yhteensä noin 10 kuukautta. En edes yrittänyt vaalentaa mustia latvoja, vaan annoin kaiken vain olla. En myöskään leikannut hiuksiani. Tyvikasvu on aika järkyttävä, kun katsoo alla olevaa kuvaa. Pidän hiuksia usein ponnarilla tai nutturalla, joka tuohon aikaan oli musta ja loppu tukasta maantienvärinen.

tyvikasvu2Mietin hiustenvärjäystä myös muuten kuin ulkonäön kannalta. Väri ei varmaan ole erityisen hyödyllistä terveyden kannalta ja aivan varmasti kuormittaa ympäristöä, loppupeleissä kuitenkin tyyli voitti ja oli pakko käydä ostamassa väripurkki. Myös Ruotsiin muuttaminen sai mut lykkäämään värjäystä, koska täällä ei ole kovin yleistä värjätä tummaksi. Kaikki on blondeja. Melkein. Pidän tukan mustana nyt ainakin toistaiseksi, kunnes keksin jotain parempaa.

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Half & half hair no more.

Aasiassa asuessa musta tukka oli mielestäni kiva, koska sulauduin paremmin valtaväestöön, vaikka naamasta toki näki etten ole aasialainen. Kiinalaiset tuijottaa joka tapauksessa, mutta en kertaakaan päätynyt paikallisten valokuviin, koska tumma tukka ei kiinnosta. Jos on blondi niin pääsee taatusti poseeraamaan. Mulla oli Koreassa haalistunut tummanruskea tukka tyvikasvulla ja paikallinen kampaaja ei millään olisi halunnut värjätä sitä mustaksi, sain kuitenkin sen ylipuhuttua.