Duo Chrome Nails

F.U.N. Lacquer Blessing is just my type of shade: duochrome with teal and purple that shows gorgeous glitter in direct sunlight! I took a little video of how the polish changes depending on light, but couldn't be arsed to go through all the steps to get the video to show, so here's a flood of pictures instead ;D

This is three coats and Seche Vite top coat on natural nails.

Petrol.

Petrol and purple.

The light purple shows best in artificial light.

Lavender.

Direct sunlight brings out the green/petrol glitter!

More purple.

So versatile! You get like five polishes in one ;D Blessing wants to go on a bit streaky, but three coats pretty much hides the problem. With four I doubt it would show at all. The finish is so metallic and shiny you can't really see if the polish is a bit thinner in some spots. You can see slight streakiness on my nails, but mostly it's down to nail surface being a bit uneven, as I'm still growing out the last few millimeters of the filed surface after removing acrylic nails.

I have plenty of teal and purple nail polishes, as those are my favourite colours, but no other polish gives me the opportunity to wear both at the same time!

Current Favourites

Getting back into blogging big time! It's so great to find inspiration for writing after a while :) While I've been concentrating on other things, I have found some new favourites that I wanted to share.

Dark lipsticks in general are a phase I'm in right now! I used to mostly wear light shades because I felt my lips are quite small and would look weird with dark shades, but then I found liquid to matte lipsticks. They are fully matte, lining a bit outside of your natural lips is easy and unnoticeable, they stay on forever and don't bleed. The two I've been using often are in the picture: Kat von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Exorcism is a dark cool red that matches my roots. The red-brown one is by La Splash, it's called Untamed. A very 90's shade, but works well with my skin tone!

Unelma and Valo are from Mia Höytö Cosmetics. I had been using an eye cream by Louis Widmer for years when suddenly my skin decided to reject it. It was hard finding a new product that was as good, but after lots of searching, Valo is definitely the thing for me. Encouraged by Valo, I also tried moisturizer from the same company and found it equally impressive. Extra points for the pump bottle packaging! It's much more hygienic than a jar, easy to use and not prone to leaking.

The last thing is my new favourite tea! I was at friend's place and she brewed some tea, asking me if I'd like green tea or lapsang souchong. I had no idea what the last tea was, but wanted to try it. And good that I did, lapsang is excellent! It's a smoked black tea, which sounds weird, but tastes so, so good. Try some if you haven't you might be amazed! Also the packaging by Twinnings is awesome and they knew to use my favourite colours on it :>

Have you got any current favourites that world needs to know of?

An bonus picture of a very sleepy Paavo. He always looks hung over.

Bridal Jewellery by Lumissa's Purple Octopus

I had originally planned to use some old jewellery for the wedding, but when I got to thinking about what sort of a hairdo I'd like, I noticed that some kind of a hair accessory would be a very good addition since I don't have a veil. And naturally a nice hair accessory needs matching earrings. And a necklace.

So in the end I was looking for a whole set of jewellery ;D I immediately though of my friend Tiia, who runs Lumissa's Purple Octopus, and her lovely crystal tiaras and necklaces. I have a thing for tiaras, so it's no wonder I own two of her raw crystal creations, as well as a necklace and a pair of earrings. Luckily Tiia was immediately on board when I asked her if she would be interested in making me a few pieces for the wedding, and she's super fast! On Tuesday we met and discussed of what kind of pieces would work well with my dress, and today, on Thursday, I got the first pictures of the hair accessory and earrings. And they are perfect!

Photo by Lumissa's Purple Octopus

Tiia did an amazing job with these pieces, they are just right! The hair piece needs to have more bling that the other jewellery, as it's on the back of my head and my dress has a corset top so the top of my back is bare and without decoration. In the front the necklace and earrings need to be more toned down, as the lace decoration of the front of the dress needs some room. I really like the roughness of the crystals combined with the glass beads and silver details, everything seems to be in perfect balance. I'll post pictures of the complete set and of course of it worn, too, but wanted to give you a little peek into how things proceed! That and the fact that I'm super excited for this project :)

Working with Finnish Alternative Models Not Recommended / Huono Kokemus Finnish Alternative Models -ryhmästä

Greetings from the wild world of alternative models!

I won the model of the year contest for Finnish Alternative Models site in January. Finnish Alternative Models is a Facebook community and a separate closed group, mostly run by one person. The community posts pictures of models and the group is used to offer pictures for posting on the community site. The admins seem to wish for the group to evolve into a real model agency, but so far it has been just a place for mostly models and some photographers to meet and share pictures. 2015 is to my knowledge the first year the community has had a Model of the Year contest.

I did a lot of work for the contest and got the community site plenty of views. The prize for the contest is listed as: "Winner will have free photoshoot with Leena Flinck and FAM crew (including make up and hair, sponsor clothing and of course; studio), big interview with pictures on TE Magazine and of course, the title of Model of the year 2015!" I was naturally stoked, what a great thing to happen to me! I worked so hard and now it pays off! (Please note that I have learned the TE Magazine was in no way involved in this. They had no idea of any interview being offered as a prize.)

So imagine my disappointment, when nine months later nothing has happened. I have asked after the photoshoot three times. One time I was promised a shoot without the hair, make-up and clothing, but after I realized this, I mentioned that I would like to have the full shoot, and then the whole thing was cancelled. Two times after that that I have contacted them and made room for the photoshoot in my calendar (I'm quite busy as you might know) and two times it has been cancelled on less than three days notice. They did not tell me of the cancellation on either time, I found out when I was dutifully making sure a few days before the shoot that I had the time and place correct. On either time the reason was not health issues, which I would have absolutely understood.

I waited for a month or so so after the last inquiry and then let the person responsible for the shoot know that I will not be suggesting dates any more, I'll wait for them to contact me. I also told them I feel disappointed that getting the shoot done has taken so long and it's cumbersome for me to actively ask after it just to have the whole thing called off with a short notice.

Yesterday I was kicked out of the group and being called rude for mentioning privately in another closed group that I have had problems with getting the shoot set up. So hello from the Model of The Year, kicked out for being too active and not settling for nine months of being brushed off ;D

Luckily it seems that the Finnish Alternative Models group doesn't have much that I'll miss, but I'm upset that the promised shoot has not been done. I promoted the page actively, offered my help where I could, participated in events and generally just like modeling and am quite good at it. I have been providing the group with translation services, offered to help out with organizing a live event, and have been working on getting the group to be a part of the gothic club events I organize on my free time.

Not once have I gotten a decent apology for having the shoot be postponed. Not once have I gotten notice of the cancellation without messaging them myself to check the schedule.

Sadly I have to say I cannot recommend working with the site. Things take a long time, you have to personally make sure you get what you are promised, and you might still be kicked out because of being active and holding your end of the bargain.

Oh and the magazine interview? You guessed it, not a word of that has been mentioned in nine months. I later learned that this was because FAM had not asked the magazine for this prize and had not even informed them that an interview should have been done. TE Magazine has had no part in this.

I hope anyone planning to join the group reads this, so they know how things can be. I wish all the best to FAM and hope the situation resolves and things start going smoother. I'll continue my modeling hobby somewhere else with people who deliver what they promise.

All FAM models are naturally still very welcome to be my friends, I'm just not interested in working with the site :)

PS. Apparently they are now saying that I'm giving up the title of the Model of the Year and leaving the group because of erratic behavior ;D Well, believe what you will, but I don't think it's erratic to ask after the photoshoot.

EDIT:

I would like everyone to know that the TE Magazine has not had any part in this whole thing. They previously worked with FAM, but the affiliation with TE magazine and FAM is ended over misleading information. There isn't a public post on this yet that I can share, but I'll add a link to the source once something is published.

TE Magazine has been very helpful with this issue and I have no quarrel with them. They were very upset to hear they have been dragged into this type of a situation. My problem is only with FAM admins, not TE Magazine.

EDIT 2: Here's the link to TE Magazine's and their publisher's official statement: https://www.facebook.com/TEMagazineByTAP/posts/939863846157132

EDIT 3: The problems did not end here, sadly. Read my follow up for ever more unbelievable events.


Search terms: FAM, Finnish Alternative Models, fraud, bad practices, Model of the Year 2015, scam
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Sama suomeksi!

Voitin tammikuussa Finnish Alternative Models -sivuston vuoden malli -kisan. Finnish Alternative Models on Facebook "community" eli yhteisö, sekä "group" eli ryhmä. Yhteisö jakaa kuvia erilaisilta malleilta ja monilta eri sivustoilta. Ryhmässä mallit ja valokuvaajat tarjoavat kuvia jaettavaksi yhteisössä. Ylläpito haaveilee siitä, että ryhmästä tulisi oikea mallitoimisto, mutta toistaiseksi se on ollut kohtaamispaikka malleille ja valokuvaajille, sekä mahdollisuus saada kuvalleen lisänäkyvyyttä tarjoamalla sitä yhteisön jaettavaksi. Tietääkseni 2015 oli ensimmäinen vuosi kun Finnish Alternative Models järjesti vuoden malli -kilpailun.

Olin kilpailussa aktiivinen ja hankin sivustolle näkyvyyttä, mikä toki oli yksi koko kisan tarkoituksista. Voittajalle luvattiin palkinnoksi ilmaiset kuvaukset Leena Flinckin ja FAM-tiimin kanssa, sisältäen meikin, kampauksen, sponsoroidut asut ja studion. Voittopakettiin kuului myös kuvallinen haastattelu TE-lehden kanssa. Olin ns. melko pähkinöinä tällaisesta voitosta, kerrankin kova työ palkitaan, bileet pystyyn! (Huom! Sain myöhemmin selville, että TE Magazine ei ollut koskaan kuullutkaan tällaisesta kisasta, saati että siinä olisi palkintona haastattelu heidän lehteensä!)

No, yli yhdeksän kuukautta myöhemmin mikään luvatuista palkinnoista ei ole toteutunut. Olen kolmesti kysellyt itse kuvausten perään ja tarjonnut ajankohtia, jotka sopisivat minulle. Kerran kuvaukset oli sovittu, mutta kun kysyin meikistä ja kampauksesta, kävi ilmi että kuvaukset olisivatkin ilman mitään lisäpalveluja, niin että teen itse meikkini ja kampaukseni ja tuon vaatteet. Kerroin että erityisesti haluan päästä tekemään ammattimaiset kuvaukset tiimin kanssa, kuten palkintoon kuului, jolloin kuvaukset peruttiin saman tien. Kahdesti sen jälkeen olen kysellyt milloin kuvaajalle sopisi, ja olemme sopineet ajan ja paikan. Molemmilla kerroilla kuvaukset on peruttu alle kolmen päivän varoitusajalla. Kummallakaan kerralla syyksi ei kerrottu sairastapausta, minkä olisin toki ymmärtänyt hyvin, eikä minulle ilmoitettu peruuntumisesta, vaan se kävi ilmi kun tarkistin että paikka ja aika eivät ole muuttuneet.

Odottelin rauhassa suunnilleen kuukauden viimeisimmän epäonnistuneen kuvausajan jälkeen (tässä vaiheessa mentiin suunnilleen elokuun loppupuolta), kunnes otin yhteyttä ja kerroin että tilanne alkaa käydä minulle epämukavaksi ja etten enää halua itse ehdottaa aikoja kun ne eivät tunnu kuitenkaan sopivan. Toivoin että minuun otetaan yhteyttä kun sopiva aika löytyy, etten joudu enää turhaan säätämään aikataulujani. Kerroin että olen pettynyt, koska tein paljon töitä kisan eteen, ja mielestäni lähemmäs yhdeksän kuukautta on liian pitkä aika odottaa, kun sivuston puolelta ei ole oltu aktiivisia.

Kertaakaan sivuston puolesta ei ole tarjottu oma-aloitteisesti kuvausaikaa tai edes ilmoitettu peruuntumisista, ne ovat aina käyneet ilmi kun tunnollisena ihmisenä olen paria päivää ennen kuvauksia varmistanut että missä ja milloin tavataan. Minulle ei ole pahoiteltu viivästymistä eikä mitään yhteyttä ole otettu, olen aina ollut se joka lähestyy viestillä kysellen milloin kuvaukset sopisivat tai että ovathan suunnitelmat edelleen voimassa.

Eilen minut heitettiinkin ulos sivustolta, koska olin maininnut luottamuksellisesti suljetussa ryhmässä, että kuvausten sopiminen on ollut hankalaa. Tämä on kuulemma asiatonta ja epäkohteliasta, enkä siksi voi olla enää osa ryhmää. Terkkuja siis täältä vuoden mallilta, jolla on kengänkuva ahterissa koska olin liian aktiivinen kyselemään kuvausten perään, enkä tyytynyt yhdeksän kuukauden jälkeen hiljaisesti hyväksymään hommien kusemista ;D

Onnekasta on toki se, etten jää kaipaamaan kovin paljon sivustoa, joka ei pysty pitämään lupauksiaan edes vuoden mallilleen, mutta on tosi harmillista että se työ jota olen yhteisön hyväksi tehnyt, valuu hukkaan. Olen ollut aktiivinen, järjestänyt tiimille käännöspalveluita, tarjonnut apuani tapahtumien järjestämisessä ja pitänyt sivustoa esillä.

Ja se palkinnoksi luvattu lehtihaastattelu? No, yllättäen siitäkään ei ole kuulunut mitään. Tosin paljastui, että tämä johtui siitä, ettei lehdessä ollut hajuakaan siitä että mitään haastattelua edes pitäisi tehdä, koska FAM ei ollut edes vaivautunut kysymään sopisiko sellainen laittaa palkinnoksi. TE Magazinella ei siis ole tämän sotkun kanssa osaa eikä arpaa!

Toivon, että jokainen joka harkitsee yhteistyötä Finnish Alternative Modelsin kanssa, lukee tämän tekstin ja päättää vasta sitten, onko sivusto, jolla on tällainen tapa toimia, hyvä yhteistyökumppani. Toivon toki sivustolle kaikkea hyvää ja toivon että asiat järjestyvät, mutta en voi enää suositella ryhmää.

Kaikki FAMin mallit ovat ehdottoman tervetulleita ystävikseni, mulla ei ole mitään ketään vastaan, en vaan enää halua työskennellä sivuston kanssa joka ei pidä lupauksiaan!

PS. Nyt ilmeisesti ryhmän ylläpito väittää että olen luopunut tittelistä koska mulla on "toistuvia käytösongelmia" ;D Jos on käytösongelma että kyselee luvatun palkintokuvauksen perään niin olen mieluusti ongelmainen.

EDIT:

Tekstin julkaisun jälkeen olen saanut selville, että TE Magazine ei ole ollut millään tavalla osallisena kilpailuun. Siellä oltiin hyvin yllättyneitä, kun otin yhteyttä ja kysyin asiasta. Tällaisesta palkinnosta ei ilmeisesti ollut koskaan sovittu FAMin kanssa.

TE Magazine on ollut hyvin halukas selvittämään asiaa ja olivat hyvin pahoillaan kun kuulivat, että heidän nimensä on liitetty tällaiseen fiaskoon. Mulla ei siis ole mitään heitä vastaan ja he hoitavat asiansa hyvin, ongelma on ollut vain FAMin ylläpidon kanssa!

FAM ja TE Magazine ovat aiemmin tehneet yhteistyötä, mutta kysyessäni tiedottivat, että yhteistyö on nyt loppunut vääristellyn tiedon jakamisen takia. Tästä ei ole vielä julkista lausuntoa, mutta lisään tähän linkin kun sellainen on saatavilla.

EDIT 2: Tässä vielä linkki TE Magazinen ja julkaisijansa viralliseen tiedotteeseen yhteistyön lopettamisesta: https://www.facebook.com/TEMagazineByTAP/posts/939863846157132

EDIT 3: Hommahan ei sittenkään vielä loppunut tähän, lue myöhemmät uskomattomat käänteet täältä.

Hakusanat: FAM, Finnish Alternative Models, alternativemalli, alternativemallit, huijaus, Model of the Year kilpailu

Screen capture of the Model of the Year contest with a clear mention of the winner's prize.

Screen capture of the post revealing the winner of the contest.

(I put the screen caps here just in case these posts mysteriously vanish from the site)

Weddings and Plans

I love weddings! But mostly as a guest, planning our wedding is a pain in the ass ;D We have secured food, venue and drinks, so I'm not too worried. Then again my dress is missing straps, my other half's vest is still in the making and I'm not sure where can we get glasses for drinks or will guests be forced to drink Pina Coladas out of plastic cups. Well, they'll have flamingo cocktail sticks to comfort them anyway!

I consider myself to be quite experienced in organizing events, but still there's a surprising amount of things to do. We have two weeks and a couple of days until the wedding. It's a good thing I'm quite resistant when it comes to stress, but still, I want my dress already! Luckily I have three awesome maids of honor who are helping me make the party of a lifetime happen. Naturally my other half and his bestmen are also a big part of all of this!

Bridal jewelry idea meet with Lumissa's Purple Octopus was a candy shop of gorgeous shiny things!

In other news our kitchen is finally done. As if the wedding stress wasn't enough, I had to handle getting the counters switched for new ones, as Ikea had accidentally given us wrong instructions on how to finish the wooden surface.

The lovely dark oak countertops, finally!

I also went to Germany for a business trip and bough the best. Pants. Ever! Sylvanas Windrunner leggings from Blizzard's gear shop, stretchy, soft, gorgeous and fit me like a glove! I used to play World of Warcraft way more than is healthy, and now the new expansion looks very tempting. But after the wedding, otherwise I'll be late for my own party ;D

Behold my not-so-tidy setup at the office! And yes, grandpa slippers. They are warm.

Obligatory cat picture.

Last weekend we went to my old friend's wedding, and it was such a fun event! Old friends, new friends, wedding bingo, sparkling wine, candy buffet... I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

The wedding candy was trying to tell me something, but I'll have none of this nonsense! There's no such thing as too much make-up! Says the lady who owns a couple of hundred eyeshadows...

I don't have a picture of the healed tattoo yet, (it's in the shedding-dry-skin-like-theres-no-tomorrow phase) but I had the top part of my sleeve fixed so it would look nice for the wedding. Now the lace is less dense and the top comes a bit higher. The shape is also different. I'm very happy with the look, Tomppa from Halo Tattoo is a magician when it comes to touching up and covering tattoos!

The summer has been busy, as my other half is still recovering from the broken ankle. I'm finally finding new energy for blogging and am looking forward to taking lots of new nice pictures and telling you of my current favourite cosmetics!

Steamy And Punky

I felt super lucky to get in when Rogue by Tiina Ulkuniemi was looking for models for a steampunk themed photoshoot. I love Tiina's creations and got to wear a gorgeous dress and corset! We had a big group of models, more than I've previously worked with, but it was fun to see how other people work and get useful hints and tips, as well as just have a good time when waiting for your turn :)

Here are the photos, I hope you like them! For more pictures, take a look at the photo album on Rogue's Facebook page. All of the outfits are made by Tiina and absolutely gorgeous. The photographer and make up artist is Maano Meikkaa and the lovely Suvi was our assistant.

Glittery Latex Photoshoot!

I promised pictures of my awesome glitter latex dress, and here they are! The photos are by Kari Vuorio Photo and I think he captured the glittery latex and the look and feel of the dress perfectly. I had the dress custom made by Latex by Tiina Rikala who was an absolute dear and found me this material when I asked for something glittery and purple or petrol. The latex shifts from purple to petrol and is glittery on top of that. Perfect! I've fallen in love with latex, as it's surprisingly easy and comfy to wear. Plus it looks gorgeous!

The location for the shoot was the Lielahden kartano mansion. It's an old building, originally built for a wealthy factory owner, and it's only recently been opened to the public. The building is gorgeous, and there's lots of great spots for photos in the mansion park. It was a very hot day, and while usually direct sunlight is not good for photos, with this dress it brought out the glitter nicely!

This one is my personal favourite! The pair on old doors is the perfect backdrop.

ColourPop Ultra Matte Lips in Dr. M is the perfect match for the dress :)