I love my GHD straightening irons. Actually, I haven't ever specifically straightened my naturally straight hair with them, but I love the soft or raunchy hippie curls that can be miraculously created with them. With my GHDs, I can create the curls I only dreamed of before but couldn't achieve. The irons are praised by hair professionals and customers alike and I can definitely see why. It only takes a second for the GHDs to warm up, and my hair never gets caught between the smooth plates. Also, the irons do their straightening or curling task always with one sweep, which saves both your time and your hair. There are three different sizes of GHD irons: mini, classic and max. I have the classic size, which has worked great as a curler on my chin to midback level length hair.

Ok, enough with the marketing talk. Yes, the GHDs definitely aren't the cheapest straightening irons out there, but I have never regretted buying them. And considering the many party occasions (including two weddings) to which I've curled my hair myself with the GHDs instead of using the services of hairdressers, I've actually already saved the money I used buying them! But that doesn’t mean I’d recommend anybody to buy their own pair from Finland’s local shops and this is the point where the online shops come to the picture. In Finland (I don’t know about the local prices in other European countries) the classic GHDs cost about 200€. In British online shops, the price is about £85. Yes, you read that one right.

I bought my own GHD IV classic styler from a UK based web shop called Lookfantastic in fall 2009. At that time, the shop didn't have the absolute lowest price available for the GHDs but since it was (and still is) quite pricy, I wanted to use the most trustworthy web shop I knew. And they delivered! After that, they have delivered also to my three friends, who have bought their own GHDs from the same shop after my recommendation. Lookfantastic also proved their trustworthiness when they sent my friend a new styler after the first one disappeared on it’s way from UK to Finland. I call that good service.

Nowadays I would recommend future GHD users to buy their own stylers from Lookfantastic’s special GHD shop Beautysleuth. The basic GHD irons have the same price in both shops but the great set (consisting of the actual irons, very useful and handy heat mat and the necessary thermal protection for your hair) is about £2 cheaper in Beautysleuth. Of course if you don’t buy your irons right after reading this, you should probably check the prices yourself. Both shops are especially good options for GHD purchases now, since they both offer free delivery at the moment.

And lastly, one technical note on the GHDs. If you buy your irons from a UK based webshop like Lookfantastic, the irons will have a power plug suited for use in the UK naturally, and that doesn’t work e.g. in Finland. But do not worry! The UK plug has one screw on it and if you open it and remove the shell parts, below you will find a power plug used in Finland! So all you need for the power plug modification is one screwdriver. I’m not a specialist on power plugs in different countries but in my experience the power plug found inside the UK plug will work also in Italy on top of Finland.

Images: Beautysleuth & GHD

I have to say that I have been a fan of Puma for years now. They have done a fantastic job with branding as Puma is full of colours and even the product labels are full of little jokes. As one might expect, I was pretty excited when I first found out that Puma also has their own online shop few years ago.

Puma's online shop is well structured with clear sections and you can easily filter products by color, size and price. As this is their official shop, the lines are the same as what you get from physical shops. Also, the prices match but you'll have a better selection of products available as this is the "biggest Puma store in the world" (their words, not mine).

Puma runs discount campaigns quite often, but they are usually tied to specific product groups. As they change these campaigns often, expect to get one newsletter per week from them. For better deals there's also Sales section which is usually filled with older lines for both men and women with 30-50% discounts. During and outside sales seasons it's worth taking a look at.

What makes Puma's shop a winner in my books, are the delivery terms: free shipping for orders over 30€ and free returns. In fact you can return items free of charge within 40 days which in my books is a big bonus. If you're into smaller orders, the delivery is still very affordable (4.90€).

What can I say... Puma might not be for everyone but if you like the brand you're in luck as Puma's shop is one of the best sport's brand shops out there. For comments, questions and more information remember to see their Shobble profile.

Images: Puma

I love prints. Being scandinavian, I have a natural inclination to wearing black and decorating with white, but there seems to be some small, possibly South-European person living inside me (no I'm not pregnant) - I adore flowery prints, graphic prints, African prints... name it, I adore it. I believe Mrs. Estrid Ericson, the founder of Swedish design house Svenskt Tenn, must have suffered from the same condition, since her view on interior design doesn't quite follow the scandinavian model, either - Check out the Svenskt Tenn webshop to see what I mean.

Svenskt tenn isn't just about interiors, however. The first thing I'm going to get myself as soon as these erm, financial constraints ease up a little, is one of their beautiful canvas and leather handbags that are just big enough to fit a laptop. My favourite is the one with the Manhattan - print, pictured on the right.

Another fellow Scandinavian (Fenno-Scandinavian to be quite accurate) that I have diagnosed with the small South European person syndrome is Armi Ratia, the legendary founder of the Finnish Marimekko. Marimekko will soon be launching a webshop, but while you wait for that to happen you can satisfy your cravings with the Marimekko x Converse shoes that Jori blogged about last week or reupholster your Ikea-furniture with the very reasonably priced Marimekko-covers by Bemz, the company that struck gold with their concept of easy updates for old Ikea sofas and chairs.

My favourite prints are the iconic ones, the ones that last from decade to decade without fading away or ever looking out-of date. Both Svenskt Tenn and Marimekko certainly stock these, but a more British example are the Liberty of London prints, which are now experiencing a rebirth through the, equally iconic, clothes manufacturer Barbour.

Best known for their waxed jackets, Barbour has produced a range of jackets lined with the beautiful Liberty print, available at the Liberty of London webshop. I advise you to keep your eyes open when it comes to Liberty, since they often do pretty neat collaborations with brands ranging from Apple to Manolo Blahnik - all usually available online!

Actually, nevermind. We'll keep our eyes open for you.

Shops are running some really interesting sales at the moment. Here are our selections for you to browse during this weekend:

GAP (EU): Spring Sale - Up to 50% off
Banana Republic (EU): Spring Sale - Up to 50% off
Warehouse: Mid Season Sale - Up to 50% off
Shopbop: Spring Fever Sale - Up to 70% off
Miss Selfridge: Miss Selfridge Sale
Lookfantastic: Spring Sale
La Senza: Sale - Up to 50% off
Coast: Mid Season Sale
Whistles: Sale
Oasis: Spring Sale - Up to 50% off
thecorner.com: Autumn/Winter 2010-11 Collections Sale

See more discounts and offers.

Image: GAP