The Experimental Year of My Hair

I was browsing through my Instagram pictures and noticed how many times my hairstyle has changed within a year. It all started last year (2014) in August when after working for the whole summer I wanted to have some luxury in my life and decided on for a new hairstyle. I had had highlights many times before so I decided to try something totally new for me - the ombre hair color.

New haircut! Do you like it?

Kuva, jonka Minna (@howsminnadoing) julkaisi 26. 11ta 2014 klo 3.10 PST

I really loved my long hair with the red ombre color but last spring I got an urge to cut my hair short. I have always been the type of person to grow their hair and then cut it short again and then start the growing again and so on... the circle simply continues.

Fresh from the shower. I love my new haircut! Oh, how much I missed having short hair 💕 #hairstyle #shorthair

Kuva, jonka Minna (@howsminnadoing) julkaisi 29. 04ta 2015 klo 10.24 PDT

I loved my new short hair style but when the summer was coming to it's end I decided to do something I never had dared to do before though the thought had crossed my mind ever since I was a kid. How I would look like if I was blonde? And so I dyed my hair blonde and that probably has been the best decision in a while. It is hard to explain the feeling but I think everyone who has younger siblings with different hair color gets this. Though my younger siblings have had totally blonde hair the color nowadays is more like somewhere in between sandy blonde and brown. However, I have always been the only one with this dark, almost black, brown hair color.

I love my new blonde hair! My natural color has been dark brown ever since I was born so it's nice to try something completely different. #hairstyle #blonde

Kuva, jonka Minna (@howsminnadoing) julkaisi 5. 08ta 2015 klo 1.51 PDT

From the very start of my blonde experiment I knew I wouldn't be able to have that hair for a long time since it costs a lot of many to color the roots again and again. And naturally it damages the hair. So I decided I would keep it only few months. I had my roots fixed once and also my hairdresser suggested trying the red color underneath my bangs.

Off to the first (and probably the only one I can make it) pre-Christmas party of the year. Very happy with my make up today. #makeup #prechristmas #party

Kuva, jonka Minna (@howsminnadoing) julkaisi 14. 11ta 2015 klo 2.15 PST

Aaaand so I'm back to brown color now. My roots were starting to show too much so I decided dyeing my hair a bit darker to hide them. Well, the result was way more close to my own color than I expected. The color as supposed to be light brown and now I have clearly brown hair. I don't dislike the color but I would have liked to dry the lighter brown. That's what you get when you try to save money and dye the hair yourself.

So I dyed my hair yesterday. The color was much darker than I expected. Though I like this color too 😃 #hairdye #brunette

Kuva, jonka Minna (@howsminnadoing) julkaisi 26. 11ta 2015 klo 0.27 PST

This has been the year of hairstyle experiments. I am actually really curious. Which hairstyle suits me the best in your opinion? And are there any hairstyle experiment stories you would like to share in the comments.

   I was just about to write about my hair care routines and how I don't wear make up that often or do my hair. But then I thought I should save that for another post.

Well, thats all for this time. Should I really write more beauty and lifestyle posts? I don't know. Let me know if you are interested in those. 

xxx

October Highlights | Minna Blabbers

Oh my God! I can't even....

The October went by so fast I didn't even realize that we are already halfway through November. I have simply been so busy with school and work and then all the past time activities. Now I'm afraid tomorrow I'm going to wake up and realize it is already Christmas Day.

     Because I had so many things to do in October I thought I could write some of the best things that happened.

Cutting-down-the-sugar-diet

This started as a challenge on Facebook and I thought I might as well give it a try since I recently felt like I lived on sugar and carbohydrates. The point of the challenge was to avoid - for four weeks - any products with added sugar and eat products with only very little sugar. For example instead of eating normal yogurt I ate yogurt without added sugar or sweetened version.

     I recommend the diet for anyone because it made me realize how much sugar is added to food. Even dried fruits have added sugar. Though I still think they are much more healthier than sweets. And the yogurt with only the sugar from fruits it contained was actually really good once I got used to the taste since it didn't taste as sweet as I am used to when it is about yogurt.

     As for snacks I ate mostly fruits or nuts instead of various snack bars or protein bars. Yep, I also left out all the protein bars and actually the nuts and fruits kept my hunger away for far more longer than the protein bars. Even now I'm trying to eat fresh fruits instead going for the advertised healthy rich in protein snack bars. Of course, I need protein also but those are not a magic food to make me loose weight.

     Anyhow, I was so surprised how quickly the four weeks went by and I actually followed the diet for the whole time with only one exception which was the food expo. And in fact, I lost 2 kg by only reducing the sugar which proves how many extra calories I have been eating before the diet. Very happy! :)

It is said that peeling the apple without breaking the peel
brings you good luck 

The Book/Food Expo in Helsinki

My sister came in town and wanted to go to the annual book expo in Helsinki. Going there has been our little tradition for few years now but this year we weren't sure if we were going to make it. However, we did. :)

     I'm not sure if it's because we have been there so many times now that it isn't that exciting to go there anymore. Or is that last couple years the theme of the expo hasn't been so appealing to us but yeah... Of course there are some special offers and so on but I felt like there was nothing out of the ordinary this year. Lots of books - that's all I can say.

    They arrange the food expo alongside the book expo and you can visit both with the same ticket. The best thing in the food expo is that you get the chance to try various dishes around the world and lots of new products of the Finnish companies. Last year we tried German dishes currywurst and bratwurst so this year we decided to go for fish and chips.

Found a stormtrooper patroling xD

Spotted also Peter-No-Tail! Sweet childhood mem

Guilty face... But I love gelato <3

Home Made Food and Friends

Though I was busy all the time I had time to cook my own food in a long long time. Though cooking doesn't take much time the problem was not having time to manage my fridge well so I basically lived on easy and ready to eat meals or ate back at my grandparents'/parents' place.

     I love to cook and try new things but sometimes I'm simply lazy. Here I have presented couple of my easy dishes. Simple flavors and the most work you need to do is to peel the veggies and cut them into small pieces. The chicken meat I buy is usually already seasoned/marinated so I just need put in preheated oven and let it cook there for about 15 minutes. Easy, right?

     What also made me happy was the coffee break with my friend. She is an exchange student and leaving Finland in December so I won't have too many opportunities to spend time with her. Having international friends is one of the greatest joys in my life but it can be sad sometimes because meeting them isn't easy.

Marinated chicken cooked in the oven with some broccoli
and salad with cottage cheese

Easy creamy vegetable soup with an boiled egg

Long chat with a friend in a cafe <3

Anyhow, this has been a small peak into my October. Hope you haven't been as busy, tired and stressed as I have been - though I have tried to make the most of the extra time I have had in hands.

Till next time!
xxx

Project Draw EXO: Baekhyun | Sketchbook

Hi y'all!

Finally I got the portrait of Baekhyun finished. Or rather my attempt to draw him since in the end the portrait doesn't look too much like him. If I ever have time and enthusiasm I'll try to draw him again rather than spending too much time on it now. It's just because I feel like for now this was the best I could do.

Here you can see the picture I used as a model for this portrait

My sister's comment on this drawing was that he looks like the mature version of Baekhyun. Well, most of the K-pop stars look so young. And I look so old.... Everyone is always surprised about my age. When I was in upper secondary school (similar to high school) some people thought that I was close to 30 years old. But anyway... let's leave it to that because otherwise I could write a whole another post about looking much much older than I actually am.

When I first started drawing Baekhyun I thought it was going well till I had finished sketching. Then I realized that my picture didn't look that much like him but didn't want to start all over again.

First of all my portrait looks like it could be drawing of an actual person. So I decided to keep on going and see if colors would fix some issues but in the end it doesn't look like Baekhyun. Well, I tried my best and here we are. No one's perfect.

Or of course you guys might think this is good drawing of Baekhyun. I simply cannot pass all the things that should be fixed to make it look more like him.

Anyhow, I have a question for all of you:
Do you like the picture in between the process or should I leave them out?
I am not sure whether they are a good thing to have in these posts or not so I thought I should ask for your opinion.

This is all for now! I'll try to write an update about what I've been up to recently since I've been way too busy to even think about writing new posts.
Till next time!
xxx