I’ll be celebrating at home with sparking vine and donuts, as we do in Finland, would love to be in Helsinki with my friends though!
Orthodontics as an 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.”
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
After 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.
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. 😀
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!
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!
Thoughts about Tinder
I don’t take Tinder too seriously and use it mostly when bored, but since I’m interested in social media in all forms I wanted to write about Tinder as well. First, Tinder is mostly based on looks, you like it or not. However, with a good story, you might be able to compensate your looks. And you don’t need to be a model or anything, just a good picture that shows your face and preferably a bit more is good enough. I’ve ran into countless of people on Tinder who do the same mistakes with their pictures. I’ve had monologues about these on Snapchat, but I wanted to make a complete list here.
When living in Helsinki I instantly swiped left if the first picture didn’t please me or the person hadn’t written anything about him/herself. There would always be a better one out there. Here in Umeå Tinder is empty most of the time, so I might look deeper into their profiles, even if the first picture isn’t appealing. In bigger cities, however there’s more to choose from, so the first impression is essential. I wrote down the things I hate the most on men’s Tinder profiles, and behavior, enjoy!
1. Pictures with friends It’s usually difficult to guess which one you are. Avoid these kinds of pictures as your profile picture. It’s okay have pictures with friends in my opinion, as long as it’s not the first thing I see.
2. No picture No picture at all or pictures of cute animals are not attractive on Tinder, I want to see the person behind the profile.
3. Hunting pictures I don’t remember running into these in Helsinki, but here in Umeå it seems to be pretty common to pose with a gun next to a dead animal. Also pictures with a guy holding a dead fish are popular. I have nothing against hunting or fishing, but it’s not exactly Tinder material.
4. Gym poses Especially when taken of mirrors. Though I could imagine that it might appeal to girls who spend a lot of time at gym, I never find these attractive. Your muscles won’t compensate your personality. Also shirtless pictures are not for everyone. If you have a few extra kilos, it’s okay, but better to keep them hidden.
5. Drinking pictures Depends a bit of the context, but pictures taken at nightclubs with lots of alcohol are not cool, it’s telling others that you like to party or are an alcoholic. If I were looking for drinking partners on Tinder I’d may consider swiping right.
6. Bathroom selfies There are better places for taking pictures.
7. Sunglasses in every picture Trying to hide something?
8. Pictures of children It’s okay to have kids, but I’m looking for grown ups and I’am not interested in how my future step children might look like.
9. Two-hour rule Another one I didn’t notice until moving to Umeå. If someone starts a conversation with me and I won’t respond within two hours, the match will be gone. If I have something better to do and don’t respond right away, it’s often too late. A two-hour wait doesn’t necessarily mean a rejection. Although it feels like the pressure to find a partner is higher here than for instance in Helsinki, I still don’t think you’re in such a hurry.
10. No story Write something about yourself! In many cases a good story compensates not so good pictures. It’s okay to write how tall you are, but at least for me that’s not enough… Also, don’t try to be funny if you’re not.
It feels that the Finns in Helsinki weren’t too serious about Tinder, for instance, it was okay to write a few messages to someone and then leave it there if things didn’t work out, without deleting the match. I also had matches with my classmates, co-workers and even my cousin… Here in Sweden I almost never get a match with the people I know, although I always swipe right on them. The Swedes who delete their matches might, however, give you a second or third chance. Yesterday I had my third match with a Swede who had deleted our match twice before… So we’ll see how or when it ends this time.
Getting fit for the summer – NOT
Summer is coming and it feels like everyone is adjusting their diet in order to prepare for the bikinis. Unfortunately, here in the north that’s not the case. Swedes celebrate Fettisdagen by eating semlor for three weeks in January and February. Of course I did that too, in both, Finnish and Swedish ways… But I’ve had enough semlor now until next year.
Finns also celebrate the birthday of Runeberg on February 5th. Of course by baking runebergin torttu. I made some for the first time and they turned out pretty good!
I still enjoy my fruit and vegetable smoothies about five days a week, but I eat a lot of sweet stuff too. I probably won’t be wearing bikinis next summer, as my tattoo removal is still in progress, so I’ll just keep eating. 🙂
Alice in Wonderland Dress
Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, I had been looking for a light blue dress with buttons on the front for a couple of years. I finally found the perfect one by coincidence when browsing Zalando last summer. The dress was longer than I wanted it to be, but I bought it anyway, hoping I’d be able to shorten it.
I had studied dress making years ago at a vocational school in Finland, but dropped out after the first semester, so I thought I’d be able to shorten the dress myself. However, the hem was double layered and pleated, made from thin chiffon fabric and I didn’t want to ruin it, so I decided to get it shortened by a professional. I first took it to a shop in Helsinki, the woman working there said she wouldn’t be able to do it. Too hard. So I tried another one in Vantaa, near where I lived at that time. They said they’d do it. I was moving to Sweden within a few days and knew I probably wouldn’t get it back in time, although I really wanted to. I had my dad pick it up for me and when I visited home around Christmas I finally got it back!
I knew from the beginning I wanted to change the buttons. The blue ones were okay, but I wanted some contrast to it. So I bought black buttons to replace the blue ones with.
This part I could manage myself.
It feels really short, but on the other hand it looks cute. In the original form the hem looked really heavy, since it was not only wide and pleated, but it covered my knees. It probably would have suited a taller person, but not me.
Long story short, I finally found the dress I had wanted for so long. 💙
Favorite Smoothies
I bought my first blender about a year ago and fell in love immediately. I’ve been making smoothies everyday since then. Smoothies are a convenient way to eat more or less healthy and I usually have mine for breakfast. I wanted to share two of my favorites here!
Rasberry-Banana-Coconut
- 1 Banana
- 100 g frozen rasberries
- Coconut flakes
I sometimes add honey for sweetness, but since I’m still struggling with my sugar addiction I haven’t used it in a while.
Apple-Spinach-Avocado
- 1 Apple
- 1 Avocado
- 75 g (frozen) spinach
- Apple juice
This one tends to turn out rather thick because of the apple and avocado, so I often add also water in order to reduce the amount of sugar. I often bring my smoothies to school and work and this is the one people are most curious about what’s in it.
More Jigsaw Puzzles
I visited Finland for the holidays and took the advantage of my old room at my parents’ being empty. Most of my puzzles are at my dad’s storage room in Helsinki and I was too lazy to go there and get some more interesting ones, so I did this colorful one once again (it was probably the third time).
I wanted to make more time-lapse videos of my puzzles since here in Sweden I haven’t been able to do so. I left my Canon EOS 6D here since I had my 550D at my parents and that’s good enough for making simple videos. However, when I started I realized I had forgotten the quick release plate of my tripod on my 6D. I had brought my tripod to Finland just for this purpose and now I’d have to buy a new quick release plate, which I didn’t really need. They also cost like 20 € in Finland, which is 10 times more than it costs on Ebay. The same day my mom told me she had won some competition and had gotten a tripod and a bunch of other phone accessories and asked if I wanted to have them. I gladly accepted her offer! The tripod was designed for smartphones, it was made of plastic and was really light, so I wouldn’t put my 6D on that, but for the 550D it was fine.
The film turned out pretty well, though it has a different angle than the other films I have done, since the tripod was about 40 cm tall I couldn’t shoot from above as I normally would do. Check it out from below!
Before heading home I visited a really cool store here in Umeå that sells board games and jigsaw puzzles. To be honest I have never seen such a selection of puzzles anywhere else! I’ve lived abroad and traveled a lot and mostly in cities that are way bigger than Umeå, but always bought most of my puzzles from www.puzzle-portal.com because of lack of variety in retail stores. But now I know where to go when I feel like puzzling. Though my roommate just returned from his one-month trip and I won’t be able to spread my puzzles allover the living room anymore…
I buy my puzzles based on the number of pieces, as well the design. 1000 pieces is usually not enough. I prefer puzzles that have between 1500 and 4000 pieces, since it won’t be over in four hours, but it won’t take several months either. Unfortunately 1000 pieces is the most common number.
I bought a 3000-pieces Star Wars puzzle from the store here, the dark parts were a bit too hard, or at least in the light we have here. But otherwise it was perfect! 
Puzzles are too much of fun to be shared with Finns only, so I wrote this one in English.
Ruotsissa ärsyttää top 10
Asiathan on sinänsä täällä varsin hyvin, muttei kaikki oikeesti ole aina paremmin.
1. Pinnallisuus. En Suomessa pahemmin välittänyt siitä, mitä salilla oli päällä, mutta täällä erottuu joukosta, jos legginsit ja kengät ei ole Niken tai jonkun vastaavan. Tänne muuttaessa omat Niket jäi vahingossa Suomeen ja ostin tilalle Lidlistä lenkkarit hintaan n. 20 e. Hävetti. Onneksi kävin lomailemassa Suomessa ja nyt kehtaa taas käydä salilla.
2. Parisuhdekeskeisyys. Ehkä tää on vain Umeå-juttuja, mutta välillä tuntuu siltä että on jotenkin outoa olla sinkku. Usein tuntuu myös siltä, ettei ihmisillä ole täällä muuta tekemistä, kuin lisääntyä naapurin kanssa.
3. Tinder on aina tyhjä. Helsingissä matchit ei loppuneet koskaan ja täällä joutuu miettimään kävisikö kaikki ehdokkaat läpi tänään, vai pitäisikö säästää myös huomiseksi muutama. Myös kynnys painaa vihreää on matalammalla, koska jos on liian tiukat kriteerit jää luultavasti tyhjin käsin.
4. Kahvi on pahaa. Asuin vuoden jenkeissä ja totuin litkimään Starbucksin cappuccinoja. Palasin Suomeen ja kahvi maistui ihan myrkyltä. Olen hyvin pitkälti siitä asti ollut teenjuoja, mutta jossain vaiheessa suomalainen kahvi alkoi taas menettelemään. Ruotsalainen kahvi taas on valehtelematta maailman hirveintä. Tulee mieleen nuuskan ja tiskiveden seos aina kun erehtyy juomaan sitä. 
5. Feminismi. Heitin mielestäni hyvän läpän naistenpäivän vietosta. Heitin sen myös Twitteriin. Englanniksi. Umeå University lakkas seuraamasta mua. Vakavilla asioilla ei sovi leikkiä, vaikka mulle tasa-arvo on itsestäänselvyys ja hauskaa on ainoastaan se, miten vahvasti naisten oikeudet Ruotsissa puhuttaa.
6. Nuuska on paitsi Ruotsin lahja maailmalle, myös aika ällöä, kun niihin pusseihin törmää mitä erikoisemmissa paikoissa.
7. Pimeys. Luulin, ettei tänne sopeutuminen olisi vaikeaa, mutta kun vertaa Helsinkiin, valoisaa aikaa on oikeesti vähän. Päivällä on hämärää ja aurinko laskee klo 14.00. Eikä katuvaloja ole ihan yhtä tiheässä.
8. Kaupasta ei saa ruisleipää. Vaihtoehtoina on yleensä pullamössö tai näkkäri.
9. Kuivaa siideriä ei saa mistään. No okei, systemissä on PUOLIkuivaa päärynä Crowmooria.
10. Avoimuus, on sinänsä hyvä asia, mutta joka paikassa on juttua, kusesta, p*skasta, v*tuista ja kikkeleistä. Välillä ällöttää lukea esim. Metro Sverigeä.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
Kuvat saa suuremmiksi klikkaamalla, älä klikkaa jos tekee pahaa.
Pink Horrors 