Fashioned in Finland

Midsummer fest is the most celebrated holiday in Finland with Christmas, of course. This time of year we celebrate the longest day, summer solstice. If you are planning to visit Finland at Midsummer, the cities will be empty and all shops closed. Really :D If you want to see lovely pictures, here are some: www.iltalehti.fi Nea's Midsummer 2012 @Merimasku Photo: Esko Keski-Oja http://www.turku2011.fi/tapahtuma/juhannus-naantalissa_fi This info is from Wikipedia : Before 1316, the summer solstice was called  Ukon juhla,  after the Finnish god Ukko. After the celebrations were Christianized, the holiday became known as  juhannus  after John the Baptist (Finnish:  Johannes Kastaja ).  Since 1955, the holiday has always been on a Saturday (between June 20 and June 26). Earlier it was always on June 24. Many of the celebrations of midsummer take place on midsummer eve, when many workplaces are closed and shops must close their doors at...

Merry Christmas! I posted a bit about our celebration last year, you can find the post from here . Here is a metal version of my favorite Christmas song, Varpunen jouluaamuna: Lyrics: Lumi on jo peittänyt kukat laaksosessa, Järven aalto jäätynyt talvipakkasessa. Varpunen pienoinen, syönyt kesäeinehen, Järven aalto jäätynyt talvi pakkasessa. Pienen pirtin portailla oli tyttökulta: Tule, varpu, riemulla, ota siemen multa! Joulu on, koditon varpuseni onneton, Tule tänne riemulla, ota siemen multa! Tytön luo nyt riemuiten lensi varpukulta: Kiitollisna siemenen otan kyllä sulta. Palkita Jumala tahtoo kerran sinua. Kiitollisna siemenen otan kyllä sulta! En mä ole, lapseni, lintu tästä maasta, Olen pieni veljesi, tulin taivahasta. Siemenen pienoisen, jonka annoit köyhällen, Pieni sai sun veljesi enkeleitten maasta. Siemenen pienoisen, jonka annoit köyhällen, Pieni sai sun veljesi enkeleitten maasta.

We had our halloween party again this year and I was a witch, as usual ;D I bought some new makeup stuff yesterday for this look. Well, better late than never. LOL It's not very traditional to celebrate Halloween in Finland this way  but kids of course love it :) When I was a kid, we never celebrated Halloween. Kaveri järjesti eilen Halloween-juhlat, johon osallistuimme koko perheen voimin. Minä oli tietenkin taas noita, joka vuosi sama juttu. *heh* Nyt päätin ostaa hieman lisää Halloween-meikkejäkin, tosi ajoissa olinkin asialla ja eilen kiiressä juoksin kaupasta toiseen ;)  I needed darker lipliner, I was planning of buying black lipliner from Inglot but it was sold out... I took this cool red intead and it worked well! I just applied black lipstick (MAC Black Knight) & black lipgloss (Inglot Sleeks no 99) over it. Ajattelin  ostaa Inglotin mustan  huultenrajauksen mutta se oli loppuunmyyty  ja omat kaapit pullollaan vain nudesävyjä. Päädyin sitten...

Walpurgis day (Vappu) is one of the biggest Carnival-style festivals held in the streets of Finland's towns and cities. The celebration, which begins on the evening of April 30 and continues to May 1, typically centres on copious consumption of sparkling wine (& alcohol in general :P). Student traditions, particularly those of the engineering students, are one of the main characteristics of Vappu. Since the end of the 19th century, this traditional upper-class feast has been appropriated by university students. Many graduates from lukio (gymnasium) and university students wear a cap. The cap of the engineering students is distinguished by a pom-pom hanging from it. One tradition is to drink sima, a home-made mead, along with freshly cooked doughnuts. Information & Vappu picnic picture are from Wikipedia . Mini's Hello Kitty balloon, 2 bottles of sima, tippaleipä & small doughnuts. Links to some recipes: - Sima - Tippaleipä Thank you blogger for rotating ...

TPS from my hometown Turku is now champion of Finland in ice hockey! So of course had to do this black , white & GOLD look, as I promised to Serafia :D The blending was far from good... Sorry. I have to do some kind of TPS makeup tomorrow too. LOL face -Sassy minerals cool light foundation -AL Nectarine powder -Alima Mauna Loa bronzer -Icon apricot blush lips -Chanel lip laquer 77 Santal (very lightly) eyes -Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy -Evil Shades white, Limited edition 2010 (inner lid, browbone) -Sugarpill Goldilux (lid) -MAC Gilt by Association (crease, lower lashline) -MAC Blitz&Glitz fluidline -Lash Stiletto wp Picture is from Iltalehti. Logo is from Wikipedia. Some famous ice hockey players who played in TPS are Saku Koivu, Sami Salo, Aki-Petteri Berg & Miikka Kiprusoff. We have a great goalie coach here too, Urpo Ylönen :D Nea

*vain englanniksi* Valentine's day is really " a friendship day" here in Finland and I really like it that way! When I was younger, the popular girls got a huge pile of Valentine's Day cards and the rest (like me, who looked like a boy :D) a few. I think some teachers, like mine, made sure that everybody got at least one card. And yes, I REALLY did look like a boy as a kid. LOL We are also celebrating "Laskiainen", according to Wikipedia, it's like Mardi Gras... Did know that and the celebration is VERY different here. Well, so is the weather ;) (Picture: Wikipedia Mardi Gras ) Vs. Laskiainen in Finland (yes, that's my lovely Mini on a sled) : Laskiainen is just sledging (or skiing/ skating) with family or friends... ...and eating "Laskiaispulla", a mildly-sweet Finnish dessert bread with whipped cream. Nom nom, I've eaten 4 of those today. I'm feeling a bit sick now ;) LOL It's also known in other Nordic countries, like in ...

I promised to Aqua Sunday's Lyndsey to write something about Finnish Christmas. So here it comes :D This will still be a make up blog, I'll just make a few post like this per year. Aqua Sundayn Lyndseylle lupasin kirjoitella joulun vietosta. En tätä käännä mutta jos jaksat lukea, olisi kiva kuulla miten sinä vietät joulua :) Toivottavasti ei tullut kamalasti asiavirheitä, kirjoitusvirheitä kun tuli takuuvarmasti :D Our Christmas decorations: Straw goat (but this is not made of wheat sheaves, as usual ;) and Christmas rose. We believe that real Santa lives here in Finland and his name is "Joulupukki" (Yule Goat) or just Goat :D The Workshop where Santa makes all the gifts is on the Arctic Circle, at Korvatunturi Fell in Finnish Lapland. We call Christmas "Joulu". I just read that the name comes from Yule, I didn't know that! Yule is the Winter Solstice and it was a pagan celebration of the light that comes back. It was very important (well, still is) s...

Hyvää itsenäisyyspäivää! Alla muutamia suomalaisia perinteitä/suosikkejani, en niitä sen enempää käännä :) Lopussa arvonnan voittajat! Seuraava (isompi) arvonta tulee viim. keväällä, ehkä Hong Kongin reissun jälkeen. 6th of December is a inportant day here in Finland: it's our independence day, 92nd this year! It is traditional for many Finnish families to light two candles in each window of their home in the evening. See here our candles: Another tradition is that our president is having a huge ball in President's Castle :) Here is picture our president, mrs. Tarja Halonen, & her husband: Picture is from here. Funny thing is that our summer house is quite close to president's summer castle and I've seen president's husband jogging there, with handsome bodyguards of course :D I also want to show a few Finnish thing I especially like: Apocalyptica: If you like finnish rock/metal music, one interesting new band is called Doom Unit ! Kalevala Jewellery: Picture is ...