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Fashion and beauty for your Destination Wedding

2011-09-23T01:17:00.001-07:00

If you're getting married overseas, there are a few extra considerations when it comes to looking good. It's time to start planning your 'princess for the day' look!

Your wedding attire
there are two main considerations when planning your outfit for a wedding abroad. You need to find something that you will be comfortable wearing, especially if you're getting married in the sunshine, and you also need to choose something that you can transport relatively easily.

If the temperature on your wedding day is likely to be very cool, a 'floaty' beach dress probably isn't the perfect choice. Look for something that will suit the environment - more of a traditional ball gown-style wedding gown, for example. Equally, consider accessories such as shoes. Pretty beach sandals aren’t the thing for walking around the castle grounds. Instead consider a high heel shoe.

What you wear for your wedding is entirely up to you and there are no real dress rules if you are marrying in the grounds of your hotel. However, if you have arranged for a religious service in a chapel or church you will most likely be expected to respect local custom and cover your head and shoulders. Also in some Eastern countries, such as Thailand there is a specific dress code. Your wedding coordinator or the relevant embassy will advise you.

Transporting and caring for your outfits
when you choose your perfect dress, speak to the designer or store about how best to transport it. It may pack well with plenty of tissue paper, or could be better kept in a dress bag.

Check with your airline for advice on transporting your wedding outfits. Some recommend that they should be boxed or packed into separate suitcases. They will then be placed into the hold. Others suggest that you use suit carriers and, space permitting, they will be hung in the cabin of the aircraft. Outfits can always be carried as hand luggage but this will restrict you to keeping the rest of your hand luggage to a minimum.

As soon as you arrive at your hotel, unpack your wedding outfits and hang them up. A warm and humid tropical climate should allow creases to fall out naturally. However, your hotel or your wedding coordinator can normally arrange for your outfits to be steamed if necessary. Alternatively, hang clothes in a steam-filled bathroom which will help the creases drop out.

Hair and beauty
Hair and beauty treatments can be arranged when you arrive at your hotel, or you might even decide to book things before you arrive. If your hotel does not have these facilities, ask whether there is somewhere you can visit nearby. For total peace of mind, practice styling your own hair and make-up before setting off.

You're likely to want to have a healthy tan on your wedding day, but basking in the sun before the wedding isn't a good idea. As well as damaging your skin, you run the risk of looking more like a lobster than a sun-kissed bride. Pace your sunbathing on the run-up to your wedding or help nature along with a good quality fake tan. If you're doing your own fake tan, be sure to practise well in advance.

About the Author
Pamela Stevenson is founder and owner of www.AmberleyRose.co.uk which is a UK Wedding Coordination service, specialising in UK Destination Weddings. Their packages include ‘Fairytale Castle Weddings’ and London’s finest locations.

Cosmetics – the practical way to BEAUTY!

2011-09-23T01:16:00.004-07:00

Want that healthy, tanned look without that elusive Spanish holiday? Use cosmetics! For cosmetics is the easiest way to enhance your image. Image is what the cosmetic industry sells through its products. And although it's up to you to believe it or not, I’m sure you won’t complain. Definitely not when you can get "that look" without being much the poorer for it.
There are cosmetics for almost every need.
There are cosmetics for almost every need. Foundations, lipsticks, hair dyes, hair straighteners, hair sprays, skin conditioners, contact lenses, sunscreens, tanning products, glosses, shadows and what have you….. The list is seemingly endless. Branded cosmetics abound! Choose between MAC cosmetics or Mary Kay cosmetics if you will. And if you can’t afford it – well, there’s always discount cosmetics which give you famous brands at a fraction of their price! So despair not! Get rid of that patch of graying hair, mask that niggling pimple, and banish the ugliness of your nose albeit temporarily with some prudently used cosmetics. Do take care, of course, to check out the contents. Certain cosmetic additives are harmful for the skin. Don’t use so called "cosmeceuticals" unless their content, medicinal benefits and safety is verified. Having done that, go right ahead and indulge. And, if a lipstick is all that’s between you and that Marilyn Monroe look, go, get it!

Mike Yeager

Publisher

http://www.a1-beauty-4u.com/

mjy610@hotmail.com

Best Beauty Buys

2011-09-23T01:16:00.002-07:00

So many beauty products, which to buy? Each of us is different so our suggestions may not work for all but they are a good place to start. We’ve had 20 staff members test each product and then compiled their opinions to give you our 25 best beauty buys.

1. Sue Devitt Pencil Liner is nice and creamy with a velvety texture and is available in 10 shades

2. Mac Eye Shadow has a wide selection of colors. If the color is available from mother nature than Mac has it. Rich texture and blends easily

3. Revlon Eye Shadow is expensive and has a huge selection of shades. The colors are up todate and apply easily

4. Maybelline Great Lash Waterproof Mascara is dependable and affordable. Comes with a nice fine brush that grabs every eyelash and the formula is nice and rich and doesn’t flake

5. Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Filler has a great color selection and applies easily with a brush

6. Stila Convertible Color Blush creates natural looking rosy cheeks. Creamy formula blends well producing a very natural look.

7. Revlon Skinlights Bronzer is inexpensive. It’s rich and smooth texture is easy to apply and it is enriched with vitamins A, C, and E. Available in 6 shades and has a SPF15.

8. Tarte Cheek Stain is an oil free push up blush available in 5 natural tones.

9. Max Factor Erace Concealer is inexpensive with a sheer texture so it can be used around the eyes, but covers well enough to hide those more prominent imperfections.

10. Mac Pressed Powder is ultra translucent and you can be sure no shine will creep through.

11. Mac Lipstick is available in over 200 shades. They won’t bleed and have a good lasting power.

12. Mario Badescu Lip wax is soothing and not waxy. It is enriched with Vitamins C & E and has a SPF15.

13. Lancome Juicy Tubes Lip Gloss can be worn by itself or layered over your lipstick, resulting in luscious glistening lips

14. Cetaphil Facial Cleanser is highly recommended by dermatologists. No perfumes or irritants, powerful mild cleansing.

15. Kinara Lactic Acid facial Exfloiator is a light hydrating serum that easily absorbs into the skin. Non abrasive exfoliant that cleans deep

16. Olay Regnerist Anti Wrinkle Cream is enhanced with pentapeptides and amino acids that encourage production of collagen for firmer skin.

17. Lancome Heavy Duty Moisturizer is a nonsticky cream that contains glycerin, wild yam extract, sea algae, and soy restore moisture.

18. Dove Facial Cleanser is mild and easily rinses away makeup and oil leaving skin feeling fresh and clean

19. Aveeno Facial Moisturizer is an excellent emoillience but it is scented. Oil-free lotion enriched with skin softening soy extract

20. Murad Acne Kit consists of 4 steps – cleanser with triclosan and salicylic acid to fight bacteria, pore cleaning gel with glycolic and salicylic acids, exfoliating lotion with retinol, and spot treatment with sulphur

21. Kiehl’s Blue Herbal Pimple Healer Spot Treatement is a fast acting blemish fighting gel. Contains Salicylic acid, and glycolic acid as well as herbal incredients such as cinnamon bark and ginger root

22. Lancome Eye Makeup Remover will even remove waterproof mascara. Very gentle so perfect for sensitive skin

23. L’Oreal Home Microdermabrasion is a two part system. Smooth skin with aluminum oxide crystals and moisturize with vitamin E cream

24. Neutrogena T/Gel Dandruff Shampoo is soothing and calms the scalp eliminating flakes and relieving itchy scalp

25. Pantene Pro V Overall Conditioner is inexpensive and hairstylists say its great. Frizz fighting rich nourishing formula rich in vitamins is easily absorbed by the hair

These products are great choices to keep you looking great!

About the Author: Sher from Estate Jewelry International has been serving customers for over 20 years, providing fashion, jewelry, and wedding help. So stop by and visit us at http://www.estatejewelryinternational.com/ We'll help you make your fashion statement! Remember looking good doesn't have to cost a fortune!

Source: www.isnare.com

Sugary Sweet Beauty

2011-09-23T01:16:00.000-07:00

Sugary Sweet Beauty
In the self-care and beauty industry, the latest craze is including sugar in skin care products. If you search the internet you will find everything from sugar body scrubs to sugar hair removers. The prices can range from $8.00 to $35.00 for each product. How's that for a product in which the main ingredient can cost you a no more that $3.00 for a 5 pound bag!
To enjoy all of the benefits of a sugar based product without shelling out the big bucks, trys these recipes:
Orange Cream Sugar Body Scrub
This recipe is great to remove dead skin and give your skin a healthy glow. The sugar contains glycolic acid and the cream is a source for lactic acid. Avoid irritated or broken skin areas.
Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
2 TBSP cream or whole milk
5 drops orange oil
1 cup olive, jojoba, or almond oil
Mix sugar, oil and cream together. Add orange oil after main ingredients are completely mixed.
Apply to your body by starting at the feet and working your way up. Massage in a circular motion and leave it on for 10-15 minutes, then shower it off. This recipe is enough to make one full body treatment.
Lemon Head Sugar Body Scrub
This recipe is both cleansing and detoxifying. Lemon is very detoxifying to the body and will also help brighten the skin.
Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
10 drops lemon oil
or ½ a lemon freshly squeezed
1 cup olive, jojoba, or almond oil
Mix all ingredients together. Apply to your body by starting at the feet and working your way up. Massage in a circular motion, then shower it off. This recipe is enough to make one full body treatment.
Facial Cleanser
Ingredients:
White or brown sugar
Your favorite facial cleanser
Witch hazelWater
Using your favorite daily facial soap, an easy, inexpensive facial scrub can be made by adding sugar. Simply add a teaspoon of either white sugar or brown sugar and massage it gently on your facial skin. Rinse with cool water and spritz your face with a ½ witch hazel and ½ water mixture.
Sugar is a natural and inexpensive way to include alpha-hydroxy acids in your skincare program. It produces glycolic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid, which is included in many skincare product lines. Today's pricey beauty products that include sugar or alpha hydroxy acid, can be created inexpensively right at your kitchen table. You will experience all of the benefits without the inflated price.
Danielle Sims explored her library of alternative health, herbal books, and
aromatherapy books and created a blueprint for making her own body wrap formulas at
home. For more information vist Danielle's website http://www.wrapyourselfslim.com
This article is copyright (c) 2003 by Danielle Sims, and may be reprinted in
it's entirety as long as this byline and copyright statement is included.

The Most Common Myth Regarding Professional Beauty Products

2011-09-23T01:15:00.003-07:00

The biggest myth in the beauty retail industry is that people think the more it costs, the better it must be.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, many of the most common high priced and name brand beauty products have the exact same ingredients as the lower priced brands that you can buy in any discount store. The difference is, you are paying for a name brand.

As a stylist, I constantly shoot myself in the foot regarding retail sales. But I really can't stand to see good people spend hard earned money on products that they don't need or can pay less for and achieve the same results. Many think I'm crazy for telling people this, but selling my services are what pay the bills, NOT the sale of retail products. My honesty has gained me hundreds of repeat clients through the years and I'd much rather have a client coming in once a month for a trim or color than every other month to buy a bottle of shampoo. You get the drift.

When it comes to shampoo, conditioner and styling products - just because it comes from a salon doesn't make it any better than products you can buy in a discount retail store. Shampoo is a detergent no matter how you package it. Conditioner is just what it says and the same goes for styling products. The only difference is that salon products are more concentrated and will last longer. In the end, the costs really figure out to be the same for salon and regular retail products. So my advice is to use whatever works best for you and the products you like.

There is one area that I have to say that salon products are better and that is COLOR. The reason I say that is, professional products are formulated under strict guidelines in the industry to insure that salon professionals will achieve the same color results every time. The colors you can buy over the counter are not as regulated and can truly vary from bottle to bottle. How many times have you bought the same home color and gotten a different result almost every time?

If you have your hair colored professionally and would like to do it at home, you might consider talking to your stylist about it. They might be willing to send you home with your color and specific instructions on how to use it. I've done this for many of my clients and truly don't mind doing it. I would rather my clients have what they are used to and be satisfied with their result than have them buy a product off the shelf and call me the next day saying they have pink or bright orange hair.

Use your best judgement regarding your hair products and use what you like and what works best for you.

About the Author
Melissa is a professional cosmetologist who is constantly updating her education. For daily updates including tips, secrets and other information, please visit her blog at http://bizewomanbeautytips.blogspot.com/ Beauty doesn't have to cost a fortune!

Proven Beauty Tips For Women Who Can't Seem To Find Time To

2011-09-23T01:15:00.001-07:00

This page is dedicated to the busy woman who juggles professional and personal life so efficiently but seems to frequently forget to include herself in her timetable. Women superheroes look gorgeous on TV, magazines and comics. So can YOU -you're the daily superhero who comes unnoticed and most of the time, disregarded! It's time to come out.

Give yourself the rewards fit for royal ladies, princesses and queens- PAMPER yourself!

No, keep your wallets and step out of those walking shoes. You are not going anywhere. Stay glued right in front of your screens for a few minutes and you'll soon be on your way to that awaited luxury.

Tidying up is one of the most vital chores every woman accomplishes. Most of the time, she is the one who sees to the cleanliness of the home. Cleanliness protects the family from germs and eventually, sickness. She knows it and so, cleanliness has to start on herself.

It is typical for a woman to stay so long inside the bathroom. Many say it is her domain. Yes! And the other place where you see her reign is The Kitchen. These parts of the house are the certified zones for women. The kitchen and the bathroom are the areas you could get on with the treats and transformation processes.

When night finally comes, clear everybody out of your domains and start on with the program. Just make sure that the dishes are all done, the house is clean and the kids are all tucked up. You wouldn't want someone banging on the bathroom door after a few minutes.

It would be marvelous to wake up the next day already looking gorgeous without going to the hairdresser. Starting from the crowning glory - the hair, give it a boost, a life! A homemade shampoo of egg, hot water and an ounce of fresh rosemary would do the first trick. Rinse. Then follow up with deep conditioner of mayonnaise and avocado. Rinse. Then, finally, give your hair the energy it needs with olive oil and vitamin E liquid combined in boiling water. Cover with a hot towel and leave on for 30 minutes.

A hot bath would be one of the best ways to soothe the knots from the shoulders to the feet. Create a relaxing atmosphere by lighting little candles or lamps with your favorite aromatherapy oils. For more calming and relaxing bath, you could add milk and lemon juice to the water to achieve silky smooth skin right after. Or, you could give your skin the vitamins it needs without actually taking tablets or syrups orally. Instead of swallowing the vitamin E capsules, just poke them with a pin and squeeze out the oil to the tub along with regular sea salt and drops of your favorite essence oils for an invigorating soak. Once inside the tub, you might imagine that you are in an expensive spa instead of just in your own bathroom.

However, if you don't have that much time for a dip, you could always have an alternative. Have some invigorating body scrub in the shower. Exfoliate your skin with a combination of finely ground oatmeal and almond oil. Let the pour of water massage your body at the same time cleanse it.

Free your face of worry wrinkles. You wouldn't want to look older than your age, do you? Combine vodka, fennel seeds and honey (let sit for 3 days) and apply as toner with a cotton ball to do the trick. A mask made of mashed ripe banana and honey will give your face a new, vibrant feel. When going somewhere, you might want to highlight your eyes and cheeks for more stunning effect without really going through extensive alterations. You can bring out the natural beauty of your eyes and cheeks by putting the perfect shade of foundation, eye shadow, blush on and lipstick properly. The trick here is to know your skin type and skin color and to determine the colors that would compliment the shape and type of the face. And at the end of each day (or night) do not forget to remove make-up. One secret is to mix castor oil, light olive oil and canola oil. Then with a cotton ball, apply tenderly over the eyes to remove make up. Keep the shine off your face too, by using lemon juice mixed with cold-water toner. When a trace of pimple is showing on your face, prevent it by placing an ice cube wrapped in saran over the threatening pimple. Retain the freshness in your face.

Your feet deserve the total rest they badly need after carrying you anywhere you want to go. Give them a rest for a few moments by propping them on a chair. Then prepare a great footbath something you'd find in a posh spa. Treat them to a deodorizing bath with Epsom salts, white vinegar and warm water. Then exfoliate them with a mixture of strawberries, olive oil, kosher salt and finely chopped almonds. For smooth and soft feet overnight, smear on a mixture of banana, honey, lemon juice and natural margarine. Wear thick socks to bed and rinse the next day. Follow with a foot deodorizing powder made from baking powder and drops of your favorite essential oils. Your feet will love you.

And after doing everything, your hands need the last attention. Make sure that you have done the last of your chores so that your hands could get the treat they deserve. A hot oil hand treatment could leave your hands feeling soft and gentle. Heat olive oil in a dish and soak fingers to soften cuticles and strengthen nails. Combine cold cream, honey and slivered almonds to make a scrub then leave on for 10 minutes. Wrap hands in hot hand towels tightly for 10 minutes. Remove the rinse and apply leftover olive oil. Wrap hand again in towel or inexpensive cotton hand gloves. Then put plastic over gloves and seal with rubber bands and let stay for 10 minutes. You'll feel the moisture as it creates a terrarium effect.

After the program, you'd feel relaxed and almost lulled to sleep. Indulge! And tomorrow, do not be surprised to feel new and energized. Then check yourself out, feel your skin, your hands and your feet - still amazingly smooth and soft, right? It's not so difficult going through all your daily routines when you're especially in good mood - inspired! Did your family notice?

The flattery is quite addictive, right? You could say it's magic. You didn't have to go out of the house to feel great! You didn't even spend anything because, the oatmeal was just on the top cabinet, and the herbs just at the corner table. The hubby wouldn't probably notice that you took a little of his vodka from the bar.

And the best thing there is, you wake up feeling so good, you'd still be delighted enough to make a mouth-watering but un-sinfully delicious dessert! Again, indulge!

And while driving the kids to school or sitting on your desk at your office, have some easy and simple exercises that could trim and shape you up! No need to call on that gorgeous health instructor with enviously sexy body. Have it yourself - at home.

Start now!

About the Author
The writer, Caryl B. Grecia, works for Sphinx Cyberworld Ventures whose website, www.beautytips1001.com , features the e-book for natural beauty secrets entitled "1001 Beauty Tips - Bring Out Your Natural Beauty". This e-book provides comprehensive and proven natural treatment tips for acne, skin care, hair care, make-up guide, effective work out and weight loss program and scrumptious but totally healthy recipes. This is your total health guide.

THE BEAUTY OF DIFFERENCE

2011-09-23T01:14:00.003-07:00

Every morning I start my day with some quiet time in my office. I have
a nice comfy recliner I curl up in with my cup of coffee. My chair
faces the window to east, so every morning I get to watch the day dawn.

Some mornings I am there so early that the sun hasn't risen yet. I
enjoy watching the stars twinkle in the pre-dawn. Slowly the sun
begins to rise, and light begins to push back the darkness. The
process is fascinating.

Some mornings I am treated to a spectacular sunrise scene. The colors
bouncing off the nearby clouds give me a pleasing light show. I watch
the colors change from pink to purple to orange to yellow.

Other mornings it's stormy outside, and all I see are storm clouds
angrily racing across the sky. There's magnificence in the power of
the storm as it marches through affecting everything around.

And then there are the mornings where nothing particularly spectacular
is going on. The sky is clear, and as the sun rises, it quietly bursts
forth onto the scene lighting the earth.

I sat there in my quiet chair enjoying the view outside my window
recently and realized how blessed I am to look out the same window and
see so many different skies. Each sky, so very different, has its own
intrinsic beauty. The skies don't try to look like each other. They
don't try to be anything they are not. They are different, and they
are beautiful.

The dictionary defines difference as:

* The quality or condition of being unlike or dissimilar.
* A specific point or element that distinguishes one thing from
another.
* A noticeable change or effect.
* Discrimination in taste or choice; distinction.

Each one of us is different. Each of us has our own personality,
talents, gifts, and ideals. When we take what is uniquely us and use it
to build our businesses, we end up with products or services that are
noticeable, distinguished, and distinct. And there is tremendous
beauty in that.

Don't try to be like everyone else you see. Take time to find out what
your passion is and pursue it. Find that element in you that makes you
stand out from the crowd and develop it. Do not be afraid to be unique.
As you nurture your individuality, your business will be noticed
because no one can do it just like you.

There is beauty in difference.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sharon Dalton Williams is the author of "How to Succeed and Live a Full
Life." Learn how to reach the goals you have set for your life and
business. Surf to http://www.sdwassociates.com to order your copy.
Learn how to use what is uniquely you in building your business.
Subscribe to *Out From the Crowd.* mailto:oftc-subscribe@topica.com.

Dead Sea Beauty Products

2011-09-23T01:14:00.001-07:00

Without a doubt, one of the liveliest business and investment ventures rocking the health and beauty industries today is the ancient, venerable Dead Sea.

From mineral-rich black mud body masques to health treatments in thermo-mineral springs and the Dead Sea brine, the region's abundant cosmetological and therapeutic natural resources are truly legendary.

Cleopatra knew well the value of the naturally beautifying and restorative products that came from the Dead Sea region. She so coveted the bounty of the mineral-laden bath salts, the skin-revitalizing mud baths and the intoxicating balsamic perfumes extracted from the oases that her lover, Marc Anthony, led his troops into a fierce and bloody war to secure the region for his beautiful Queen.

And Cleopatra herself built the very first Dead Sea cosmetic facilities. Visitors to Ein Bokek and the Biblical, historic Ein Gedi can still see the bones of those factories today.

What makes Dead Sea products so clinically beneficial is their source -- a unique mix of solar radiation, an oxygen-rich atmosphere and geological features unlike any other on earth.

Flanked by mountains to its east and west, the heavily saline Dead Sea is cradled in a deep, sealed basin with hot, arid air above its surface. More than 400 meters below sea level, the Sea takes in water and mineralized run-off from mountain streams and alluvial springs, but loses the water rapidly to evaporation.

The resultant residue of leeched minerals and thick salts has long been used the world over to relieve the effects of muscle pains, psoriasis and other human ills.

The mineral cocktail produced in the Dead Sea waters and absorbed into the human body is believed to help skin to literally regenerate.

Today, the Dead Sea's reputation as a healer, revitalizer, replenisher and therapy treatment is thriving. Visitors travel to the Holy Land the year-round to bask on the sunny beaches and luxuriate or heal at one of the many top-quality day spas and treatment centers.

Today's Dead Sea products aficionados are finding that Cleopatra was right on the target about the value and effectiveness of the region's bounty!

Based on years of scientific testing, manufacturers report their products will smooth wrinkles, revitalize the skin's appearance, relieve muscle tension and cure acne.

There are also products to stimulate, cleanse and tighten skin, shrink large pores, rejuvenate hair luster, moisturize dry skin and give a healthy glow to whatever body part is enjoying treatment.

Among the many different types of Dead Sea beauty and pharmaceutical products marketed today are:

Therapeutic Black Mud masks, soaps, hair restorer, body cleansers, pain relievers, dry-skin treatments and scalp treatments. Many firms also market the mineral-rich mud as a topical application to relieve soreness caused by inflamed muscles.
Dead Sea mineral-based shampoos, conditioners and anti-dandruff treatments
Dead Sea bath gels, shower gels, foot spas, foot creams, sun screens, skin toners, and astringents for oily skin
Dead Sea chloride salts rich in potassium, calcium, magnesium, iodine and bromide
Balsam-based cosmetics, perfumes and medicines.

More than 50 different Dead Sea health and beauty products manufacturers have production facilities operating in the region today.
About the Author
Johann Erickson is the owner of Online Discount Mart and TV Products 4 Less. Please include an active link to our site if you'd like to reprint this article.

Olive Oil In Your Beauty Routine?

2011-09-23T01:13:00.002-07:00

We all know that olive oil is wonderful and healthy for us to cook with, but what about its other uses? Truthfully, olive oil is another main ingredient in several beauty products you can buy on the shelf. See for yourself how you can make your own skin cocktails and save a little money at the same time.
1. A mixture of 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup vinegar, & 1/4 cup water used as a night cream will make your skin glow. The olive oil softens and moisturizes and the vinegar lightens discolorations, kills bacteria and loosens dead skin cells. Splash water on your face before applying.
2. Olive oil can be used as cleansing cream if your skin is dry.
3. For a facial, wet face thoroughly, then massage olive oil into your skin. Use about a half teaspoon of sugar and scrub your face with that, then wipe off gently with a warm, wet cloth until the sugar is all gone.
4. Use olive oil on your feet with clean white cotton socks. Helps to soften up you feet and it absorbs better than baby oil.
5. It seems when you pour olive oil out there is always a drip, so wipe it up with your hand and rub it in to your elbows. Wonderful softening properties.
6. Use olive oil as bath oil. Two to three tablespoons will do the trick.
7. Use olive oil for your hair. Not only does it condition, but it also gets rid of the frizz. Put a small drop into your palm & then rub both hands together & apply it to dry hair.
Just a few of the many creative uses for olive oil in your skin care routine. Not only is it cheap, but it will go alot further than most products you can buy. Have fun and be creative.

About The Author

Melissa is a professional cosmetologist who is constantly updating her education. For daily updates including tips, secrets and other information, please visit her blog at http://bizewomanbeautytips.blogspot.com/. Beauty doesn't have to cost a fortune!

Simple Beauty - 10 Tips that are Free and Easy

2011-09-23T01:13:00.000-07:00

It is simple to look and feel more beautiful starting today. You can even put away your pocketbook because these tips are free.

1. Smile... it will brighten your day and others around you will feel your energy.

2. Stretch... cats know that total body stretch does wonders. Follow their example and roll up slowly out of bed and stretch gently. (For more tips on stretching here is a great book: AM/ PM Stretch for Health.)

3. Exercise... at least 20 mins of any continuous activity will boost your energy level and reduce bad stressors. You don't even to pay a membership fee. The key is continuous like a 20min walk or even mopping your floors. You will look and feel better.

4. Drink water. No other liquid is quite like it. Clear your system. 8 glasses are recommended daily. Your skin will radiate.

5. Rest... you need to take breaks during the day and sleep at night. Takes breaks away from work space to keep fresh and focused. Make sure you are getting sufficient sleep at night since your body regenerates while you are sleeping. If you are constantly letting your mind wonder make a conscious decision to put away thoughts till morning. It is amazing how good your subconscious mind listens to your conscious mind (so be careful what you tell yourself)

6. Do good. When you do something for someone else without expecting anything in return you benefit in ways unimaginable. (the key is don't expect anything in return)

7. Exchange... the money you spend on junk food for food that will enrich your body and soul. Start with a simple plan of exchange. Because some think healthy foods cost more, find out your spending pattern by making 2 lists:

. foods you like that are healthy that you normally don't buy

. foods you like that are "junk food" that you normally buy

calculate the cost of the 2nd list then use this amount to fund your "healthy" purchase. (of course you have to say bye-bye to the "junk food")

8. "Stop and smell the roses". Look for good in everything. This is a toughie because most of us are "trained" to look for faults, errors, shortcomings, defects, etc. Begin with yourself. List all your assets (not just physical). Then realize all the good in being you. Move on to other things around you. Work on this consciously every day till it becomes a habit. There is something good about everything and everyone. Once you realize this you will be finding good everywhere without even trying.

9. Learn... something new every day. Pick up a book. or search online. Learn to do something you have always wanted to do. You can even start for free by researching online. Search the subject and start stimulating and enriching your mind today.

10. Reward yourself. Set financial and personal goals and tag them with rewards for accomplishing them. (this one may be something special you have always wanted to do. and not necessarily a purchase.. But if you have done all the above maybe go ahead and splurge a little. You deserve it!
About the Author
Marie Gervacio is founder and editor of SimpleBeautyTips.com , ShineYourStar.com and WhoisMarieGervacio.com/index.html Get free info and downloads on beauty at http://simplebeautytips.com

Body Jewelry: An Unusual Way Of Enhancing The Beauty Of Your

2011-09-23T01:12:00.002-07:00

Since ancient times body jewelry has been a part of the culture and heritage of different religions. It has been known to be an essential part of the clothing and appearance of the people in many regions of the world. At different parts of time through the centuries it was also used to signify the class demarcations prevalent in society at that point of time.

How ever in recent times it has acquired a new dimension. Body jewelry has never been in such high demand. The human body is not merely a body, it is a piece of art which has its own innate beauty and body jewelry is the perfect way to enhance the beauty of your body. Not only can you decorate your body with it, but you can also use it to bring into focus certain parts of your body or to enhance the beauty of certain parts.

Body jewelry items are usually for particular places on the human body. These more common places for body jewelry include the nose, eyebrow, nipple, ear lobes and naval, along with ear plugs (both curved and straight barbells). As fashion trends keep changing, the various parts where you can use body jewelry and the manner in which you can use it also keeps changing.

Nose body jewelry comes either in the classic captive circular barbell, or in the form of a nose screw. The nose screw can either be jeweled or plain, depending upon your preference. Eyebrow body jewelry is similar to that of the nose, in the sense that the eyebrow body jewelry also has the small captive barbell. This is now being made with a dangling, sparkling charm to hang from the upper most part of your eyebrow barbell. The eyebrow body jewelry can be either curved or straight with a charm of any style or color dangling from the top.

Nipple and naval body jewelry is one of the more popular types of body jewelry, it sis especially popular amongst the youth or the more adventurous in spirit. Nipple body jewelry includes the nipple barbells and the nipple shields. Naval body jewelry designs are also endless.

Whatever kind of body jewelry you use or wear it is important to keep some pointers in mind. Such as what kind of material is that specific body jewelry made off, is your skin allergic to it and is the piercing for the body jewelry done in a sterile and antiseptic environment.

This kind of jewelry is available for almost every conceivable part of your body. There are endless styles, designs, colors and textures in which body jewelry is made. What ever your budget, whether it is low end or high end; body jewelry is available in every range to suit your pocket as well as your tastes.

Body jewelry is not merely a decorative fixture; it is also a personal style statement. You can use it to bring attention or to take away attention from a specific part of your body. It is quite in vogue these days and has been in existence since time immemorial. If you have the attitude and the panache you can carry of any kind of body jewelry.

About the Author: Looking for information about Jewelry? Go to: http://www.merryjewelry.com 'Merry Jewelry' is published by Angela Davis - The Complete Jewelry Resource Directory Check out more Jewelry articles at: http://www.merryjewelry.com/archive

Source: www.isnare.com

Sugar Sweet Beauty

2011-09-23T01:12:00.000-07:00

Create inexpensive beauty products using the main ingredient, sugar.
In the self-care and beauty industry, the latest craze is to include sugar in skin care products. If you search the internet you will find everything from sugar body scrubs to sugar hair removers. The prices can range from $8.00 to $35.00 for each product. How’s that for a product in which the main ingredient can cost you a no more that $3.00 for a 5 pound bag!
To enjoy all of the benefits of a sugar based product without shelling out the big bucks, trys these recipes:
Orange Cream Sugar Body Scrub
This recipe is great to remove dead skin and give your skin a healthy glow. The sugar contains glycolic acid and the cream is a source for lactic acid. Avoid irritated or broken skin areas.
Ingredients: ½ cup sugar, 2 TBSP cream or whole milk, 5 drops orange oil, and 1 cup olive, jojoba, or almond oil
Mix sugar, oil and cream together. Add orange oil after main ingredients are completely mixed.
Apply to your body by starting at the feet and working your way up. Massage in a circular motion and leave it on for 10-15 minutes, then shower it off. This recipe is enough to make one full body treatment.
Lemon Head Sugar Body Scrub
This recipe is both cleansing and detoxifying. Lemon is very detoxifying to the body and will also help brighten the skin.
Ingredients: ½ cup sugar, 10 drops lemon oil, or ½ a lemon freshly squeezed, and 1 cup olive, jojoba, or almond oil
Mix all ingredients together. Apply to your body by starting at the feet and working your way up. Massage in a circular motion, then shower it off. This recipe is enough to make one full body treatment.
Facial Cleanser
Ingredients:
white or brown sugar, your favorite facial cleanser, witch hazel, and water
Using your favorite daily facial soap, an easy, inexpensive facial scrub can be made by adding sugar. Simply add a teaspoon of either white sugar or brown sugar and massage it gently on your facial skin. Rinse with cool water and spritz your face with a ½ witch hazel and ½ water mixture.
Sugar is a natural and inexpensive way to include alpha-hydroxy acids in your skincare program. It produces glycolic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid, which is included in many skincare product lines. Today’s pricey beauty products that include sugar or alpha hydroxy acid, can be created inexpensively right at your kitchen table. You can experience all of the benefits without the inflated price.
About the Author
Danielle Sims explored her library of alternative health, herbal books, and aromatherapy books and created a blueprint for making her own body wrap formulas at home. Now she offers this information in an e-book entitled Wrap Yourself Slim: Body Wrap Exposed. Monthly newsletter is also available at her web site. For more information go to http://www.wrapyourselfslim.com

A Thing of Beauty is a Joy with Photoshop

2011-09-23T01:11:00.001-07:00

Human nature always seems to have this predilection with beauty and what society believes is beautiful. When we are fat, we want to be slim or thin. When we have the so-called “love handles”, we decide we do not love them anymore, so we go to the gym and exercise until our tongues fall out from fatigue. We are blessed with dark colored skin, so we try all the new bleaching products available in the market to lighten our color. We have white skin so we go to tanning salons to get olive skin, and the out-in-the-sun color to your skin. We are naturally brunette but we go to the nearest salon to get our hair done and died to blonde because they said “blondes always have such fun”.
And digital technology is also banking on the partiality of people to not have fun with what the Lord has blessed them with originally.
I have been in the digital business for quite some time now, and what I regularly encounter are numerous questions on how to remove blemishes from photos so that their faces would look great and give that “fashion-magazine look” that the media is glamorizing so much nowadays. Here are a few suggestions then from a photographer on beauty retouching.
(Now, if I could just do it in real life, I would be a millionaire by now.)
Beauty Retouching with Photoshop
1 – Try to improve the colors on the face in your photo as far as you can go. To edit, it is better to do it in RGB rather than CMYK. With RGB, editing is more flexible and easy. And explore all the selections in the various feathers. Do not be afraid to experiment. After all, being creative is all about using all the choices available.
2 – After editing your color, it’s now time to create a new layer. This is also a tool for you to be able to control your work. Begin your retouch using a heeling brush and cloning stamp to remove the things you want removed. Start with the bigger imperfections and move your way to the littlest blemish. You could also use the heeling brush to remove the lines under the eyes to create that young look to the face.
3 - To adjust the size of any part of the face (e.g. big nose), adjust to your liking with the Liquify filter. Click the Filters menu and choose Liquify. This tool allows you to smudge, move, squish, and even distort your image according to your satisfaction. For best results and easy navigation, turn the grid on. This will let you view the changes you’ve made.
For increasing or reducing the size of the area, you can also use the Warp, although the Pucker and Bloat are most effective with this type of retouch. Remember to be careful and again, do not be afraid to experiment. Use the appropriate brush size and go slowly, moving bits at a time.
4 –To smoothen the skin, use the cloning stamp and carefully apply to the skin. The best would be to use multiple clicks rather than strokes to even out the skin tone. This is the part where you need to be patient. Be careful with your patterns and do not repeat. Also, try to be creative. Don’t worry if you make mistakes along the way. Just go back to the history palette everytime you create something you don’t like and start again.
5 – For overdoing the smoothing process, just use the history palette to restore the specific area. If this does not work, try to select and add the noise filter to simulate the texture of the skin.
Finally, after a little adjustments and a little nip and tuck here and there, you are ready to view your final image.
According to the photographer, beauty retouching needs patience and a lot of perseverance. Many methods are available, but there are only a few tricks to help others retouch their photos. Even for professionals, this job takes time to finish. However, with time, one can get faster.

About The Author

Granny's Mettle is a 30-something, professional web content writer. She has created various web content on a diverse range of topics, which includes digital printing topics, medical news, as well as legal issues. Her articles are composed of reviews, suggestions, tips and more for the printing and designing industry.
Her thoughts on writing: "Writing gives me pleasure… pleasure and excitement that you have created something to share with others. And with the wide world of the Internet, it gives me great satisfaction that my articles reach more people in the quickest time you could imagine."
On her spare time, she loves to stay at home, reading books on just about any topic she fancies, cooking a great meal, and taking care of her husband and kids.
For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.losangelesprintingservice.com
acapili@losangelesprintingservice.com

Handmade Beauty Business . . . Virtually!

2011-09-23T01:10:00.003-07:00

The business of Handmade Beauty has grown exponentially in the past ten years. I have personally observed and been an integral part of enormous growth and innovation as the industry has become more well-known, and even mainstream.
As an instructor in the arts of cold-process soap-making and toiletry-making, it is amazing to talk with student after student about their newfound knowledge of creating handmade beauty products and their desire to start a business. The range runs the gamut from selling a few weeks annually during the pre-holiday craft fair season to starting a full-time business with a very sophisticated long-term business plan. I am always amazed at the passion this craft elicits and the endless possibilities, variations, and directions in which such a business could go!
I know. From personal experience, I know it very well.
What I like to share in my consultations is that anything is possible. With enough commitment, endurance, a well-thought plan, and enough cash to carry you through until you are generating the income sufficient to get by and thrive, it can be done.
That said, in my experience, from the moment you decide you are serious about being in business, it is imperative to adopt a mindset of maximizing your time and energy. One way of doing that is to hire a professional Virtual Assistant, also known as a “VA.”
Depending on the experience and expertise of your VA, s/he caters to your administrative, technical, creative, and financial needs. Delegating these time-consuming tasks to the capable hands of your VA frees you to focus on what’s most important: growing your business and generating revenue!
A virtual assistant is your partner in business. Aside from you, they care as much about the success of your business as anyone! They are equipped with the most updated equipment and systems. They are savvy and industrious when it comes to finding innovative ways to implement new programs or introduce new products. As you mature in business, it is not uncommon to depend heavily on the services of a VA for the superior behind-the-scenes contribution they make to your success.
Partnering with a professional Virtual Assistant will:
1. Increase your revenue.
2. Increase your productivity.
3. Save you money.
4. Save you time.
5. Save you frustration.
How does that sound? The handmade beauty business of your dreams awaits!

by Charlon Bobo, Muse works™ © 2005
You have permission to freely distribute this article provided all the text contained herein remains intact.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charlon Bobo is the Founder and Creative Director of Muse works™, a dynamic trend-setting Virtual Assistant enterprise in Southern California that caters to the niche needs of entrepreneurs in the handmade beauty industry. For more information, visit Muse works™ and Muse works™ Blog. Feel free to contact us at 805.405.4944 or info@museworks.org.

Holiday Beauty Do's and Don'ts

2011-09-23T01:10:00.001-07:00

Why is it that whenever you go to a holiday party, you can always find someone who doesn't look how you would expect? Is it because you think they overdid their fashion or make-up, or is it a touch of envy?
Beauty queen or fashion disaster, it's up to you. If you want to shine for the holidays, take note of these do's and don'ts to spruce up your look and receive raves from your friends and family.
Beauty Do's
Do Experiment.
Check out the latest in make-up and fashion trends and give them a try. This will update your look and chances are, you'll find something that enhances your skin tone and flatters your figure.
Do accentuate your finer features.
Play up your best features while drawing attention away from your problem areas. For example, do you have sleek shoulders but think your hips are too wide? Wear a sexy off-the-shoulder dress to show off your finer assets.
Do consult professionals.
If you're the do-it-yourself kind of gal, you can benefit from professional opinions now & then. Why not get a makeover for the holidays? Keep in mind, salons are booked tightly for the holiday season, so call well in advance for your appointment and use your time in the waiting room looking through magazines for updated hairstyles and fashion that best suit you.
Do simplify your beauty routine.
Unless you're headed out to a holiday party, forgo unnecessary extras that take up valuable time. Keep your hairstyle simple and make-up to natural colors that will look good with anything you wear.
Beauty Don'ts
Don't be afraid of change.
Dazzle your friends with a new look. Whether it's a new hairstyle, hair color, or just a dress, you'll get attention! Think of it this way, models look different for every shoot and are very versatile. Don't they always look great?
Don't wear too much make-up.
There's a fine line between a little extra holiday pizzazz or downright heavy makeup. Choose colors that compliment your face and blend it in well. Double check your face in bright lights before heading out the door.
Don't forget accessories.
Add the finishing touch to your overall appearance. The holidays are festive, so glam it up with accessories and jewelry. Splurge on that handbag you've been wanting and don't feel the least big guilty.
Don't let stress get the better of you.
It's no secret that the holidays can be most stressful time of the year. Use your time wisely and learn to say "no." Your face can easily reveal stress and lack of sleep, so designate some of your duties to family members and be sure to get your beauty rest.

Lorene Radenz is a freelance writer and the founder of http://www.beautytipsonline.com - Your All-In-One Beauty Guide.

The Beauty and Meaning of Birthstones

2011-09-23T01:09:00.003-07:00

Birthstones have been around since ancient times, and in those days were believed to possess some magical force that could protect the owner or wearer of the stone. These birthstones were traditionally linked to the Zodiac.

However, modern birthstones are linked to calendar months, and each month has its own unique birthstone, with its own fabled properties. Many people love to wear jewellery set with their birthstone, as the ancient meanings and associations with these stones still intrigue them.

You can get many types of jewellery containing birthstones, such as birthstone rings, a birthstone pendant and birthstone earrings. Giving someone an item of jewellery set with their birthstone is a touching and wonderful gift, and whether you give them a birthstone ring, a birthstone pendant or a birthstone brooch, it is something that they are likely to treasure forever because it has real meaning and significance.

Below you will find a listing of each of the birthstones used today.

January

The birthstone for this month is the garnet, which was once thought to be connected with the blood. This stone is supposed to protect the wearer from nightmares and offer guidance through the dark.

Garnets are long lasting and durable gems, with a fiery, ravishing beauty. This is type of gem that the wearer will treasure forever, no matter what item of jewellery it is set into. Garnets are traditionally thought of as deep red, but actually come in a wide range of colours, so there is something to suit every taste for this month.

February

The birthstone for this month is the amethyst, and the folklore attached to this gem associates it with sobriety, tranquillity, protection and peace. This birthstone as also been linked to improving the skin and preventing baldness, as well as protection from deceit, so it has a lot to live up to!

The amethyst birthstone comes in varying shades of purple, and can be a pale lilac in colour. On the other end of the scale, you can also get deep violet amethysts, which means that you can enjoy a birthstone that is as subtle or as rich as you like. This birthstone is very hardwearing, and its strength and durability will ensure that it lasts for a very long time.

March

This month's birthstone is aquamarine, which has been linked to the making of new friends as well as affection and love, hope and health. This stone was once also thought to protect those at sea.

As the name of this birthstone suggests, it is a green-blue in colour and has a rich, sparkling look. You can get aquamarine birthstones in a variety of shapes and sizes, and you can also get this stone in varying shades of green-blue.

April

One of the most popular gems throughout history, diamonds are the birthstone for this month, and these stones are linked to love, eternity and strength. This has contributed towards diamonds being the most popular gems of all time when it comes to romance, such as engagement rings and wedding bands.

Diamonds are very strong and hardwearing, making them the perfect birthstone to wear on a daily basis. You can enjoy many different cuts of this stone, and the fiery, glamorous sparkle given off by diamonds is positively captivating.

May

This month's birthstone is the beautiful emerald, once linked to health and the curing of ailments, as well as being associated with the ability to see in to the future, giving them an almost bewitching, magical reputation.

These fiery green gems are amazing to look at, and can be found in a variety of shapes and cuts. The beauty and richness of this stone makes it the perfect gem for birthstone jewellery, and is something that the wearer can show off and take pride in for a long time.

June

The elegant pearl is the birthstone for the month of June, and this gem has been linked with chastity and modesty, making it something of an angelic, pure birthstone. They are also linked to successful and happy marriages.

These round, stunning birthstones come in a variety of colours, and a range of sizes. Pearls can look spectacular yet modest in all manner of jewellery from birthstone rings, to earrings and necklaces, making them a perfect gift.

July

The birthstone for this month is the ravishing ruby, a stone traditionally linked with protection and harmony. This birthstone has been mined since ancient times, and boasts a spectacular beauty.

Deep red in colour, rubies are stunning birthstones that will liven up and enhance any piece of jewellery. These gems have a unique, vivid and fiery appearance that would delight anyone.

August

The birthstone for the month of August is peridot, which was commonly linked with protection against evil and night terrors, as well as a gem that enhanced the properties of healing drugs.

Lime green in colour, this birthstone is a by-product of volcanic action, and comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. This birthstone gives off its own unique energy, and is strong and durable.

September

Sumptuous sapphire is the birthstone associated with September, and this gem has been linked with faith and purity, as well as foresight. It was thought that the stronger the sparkle of the gem, the more faithful and honest the wearer.

These birthstones look stunning in all types of jewellery, especially in white gold and platinum metal. However, sapphires can come in other colours as well as blue. These are strong and durable gems that will last for years to come, and can be passed down to future generations.

October

The birthstone of October is the opal, a stone that has been linked to purity, hope and innocence. This gem has also been linked to healing forces, friendship and emotion, so it has experienced its fair share of folklore over the years.

This type of birthstone comes in white or black, and both variations have remnants of other colours within them. Opals have a unique look and beauty, making them a very interesting birthstone with a strangely exquisite appearance.

November

The birthstone for this month is topaz, once linked with sanity, healing, and life, as well as being connected to strength by the ancient Greeks. This stone has even been linked to an ability to make the wearer invisible in dangerous situations.

This birthstone comes in a range of colours, all of which will enhance any jewel with a fiery sparkle. Colours include golden, blue, pale green, pink and red, as well as some other rare colours. A stunning gem, topaz boasts both beauty and strength.

December

The given birthstone for December is turquoise, and this precious stone was once linked to happiness, fortune and luck, making it a very popular gem in centuries gone by.

Turquoise can range in colour from mid-blue to a green-blue or light green colour, and this birthstone is unusual and beautiful, making it a very distinctive and unusual addition to any jewellery collection.

Summary

Giving a birthstone to someone special as a gift means giving so much more than just a piece of jewellery. The ancient meanings associated with each of these birthstones make them extra-special, giving them a quality that is impossible to achieve with any other gem.

Whether you decide to give a birthstone ring, necklace earrings or any other piece of jewellery, you will always find stunning pieces where the precious metal and the birthstone complement one another perfectly. Birthstone jewellery makes a unique, beautiful, and affordable gift with real sentiment behind it.
About the Author
Antigone Arthur is an award-winning author and freelance writer providing consumer information on such topics as birthstones and gemstones, promise rings, and celtic wedding rings.

Make Time For Beauty

2011-09-23T01:09:00.001-07:00

In today’s hectic World many of us women have little or no time at all to take care of ourselves. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a couple of hours just for yourself? Or simply have a more put together look? Here are some tips that will allow you to make time for your own beauty routine!

Schedule the beauty routine in your weekly schedule beforehand; even if you are going to do it at home.
Make it a routine and stick to it, for example: I will do my hair and nails every Thursday night.
Do you have dry skin and no time for daily moisturizing? Try buying soap for dry skin.
Delegate at least one of your chores to your partner or a family member.
Cut off your cooking time, and order out or prepare microwave dinner. You can also cook for two days and take the next day for your beauty routine.
If you can afford it pay someone to do a portion of your chores.
Have all the necessary items for your beauty routine in one place, to avoid wasting time looking for them.
Do not take phone calls during your beauty time.
Cut off or limit time wasting habits such as TV.

About The Author

Kenia Morales is the publisher of online magazine http://kpatra.com "For Every Aspect of Today's Woman. Visit her site to find a variety of women related issues and topics" click here http://www.kpatra.com/keniascolumn.htm to find Kenia's little piece of heaven her inspirational column
keniamorales@kpatra.com

Seeking Ideal Beauty

2011-09-23T01:08:00.000-07:00

There seems to me to be definite parallels between this era, and the Elizabethan Age, when it comes to women, and their desperate struggle to either halt the natural aging of their appearance, or, to discover a miracle age-reversal method. During the sixteenth century, well-born women were obsessed with achieving, and maintaining, 'ideal' beauty, as they perceived it, to the point of what we would call 'madness'. What was this ideal they so longed to possess? Youthful unlined alabaster skin, overly bright eyes, red cheeks and lips, and the fairest of hair colors. Add to these attributes, a high, arched, pale eyebrow, and high brow line. To achieve the 'look' of perfection, these women made use of the period’s highly respected skin care techniques, and the finest cosmetics available to them, at the time.

First, the hairline was plucked back, an inch or more. Next, the eyebrows had to be plucked and arched, and the hair of the head and eyebrows was then bleached out using a variety of the most up-to-date bleaching agents, including urine, and sulfuric acid. Women, who could afford the high cost, purchased the top of the line skin whitener, 'ceruse', a mixture of white lead, and vinegar. This was used on the face, neck, bosom, and often the hands and arms as well. This concoction was used in conjunction with the 'skin firmer' of choice, uncooked egg white. This noxious mess was then spread on the face, neck and bosom, and allowed to dry, to tighten, and hide wrinkles, and give the face a white, unlined, mask-like finish. To imitate a blush and pout of youthful beauty, vermilion (mercuric sulfide) was THE choice for lips and cheeks. Faintly traced veins were then added to the skin surface of the bosom, for that 'natural' look. Drops of belladonna were then administered to the eyes, to achieve that desired 'sparkle', and the eyes were outlined in kohl. To care for their complexions, the ladies made use of what was highly touted as the best cleanser. Mercury mixed with alum, and honey. Of course, a common practice was the 'facial peel', and the most widely used, and highly regarded peel agent, was mercury.

These were the commonly accepted 'beauty' practices, of women over four hundred years ago, and yet, how 'in the moment', it all seems! We may not use mercury for chemical peels, but glycolic acid, salicylic acid, or lactic acid; trichloroacetic acid (TCA), or carbolic acid (phenol) - are used. We don't spread raw egg white on our complexions as a temporary skin firmer, but modern women may be surprised to learn, they could very well have used 'skin firmers' containing formaldehyde. We may gasp in horror over sixteenth century women applying poison to their faces; yet, Botox injections seem perfectly mundane, and safe, to us.
What were the long-term results of the use of their miracle beauty and facial products, for the classy Elizabethan lady? Complexions more rapidly aged, gray, shriveled, and mummified.

When I read of young women still in their twenties, opting for ‘beauty treatments’ that require they have their complexions chemically treated, or otherwise ravaged, I am appalled. I can only wonder at the long-term effects of such drastic measures. Mature women, obsessed with seeking some elusive anti-aging/age-reversal miracle, become nothing more than willing test-subjects for any new facial product/procedure that hits the market. Often, they have no idea as to the ingredients in the products they are smearing on their faces. Nor, do they take into consideration future effects of certain procedures. Perhaps, we modern women should consider the lessons of the past, and proceed with caution, and common sense, when choosing our ‘beauty’ regimens.

Author-Jeannine Schenewerk
http://www.intouchwithjeannine.com

About the Author
Jeannine Schenewerk is a freelance writer residing in Atlanta, Georgia. Her recent article, 'Self Image and the Mature Woman', has been published on numerous sites. She maintains an informative, inspirational, website, 'In Touch With Jeannine', for mature women.
http://www.intouchwithjeannine.com
intouchwithjeannine@yahoo.com

The Hottest Beauty Trend Isn’t for Women: It’s Skin Care for

2011-09-23T01:07:00.003-07:00

Not too long ago, it used to be that when a woman brought home her facial scrub, cleanser and toner, she could be sure that the closest her man got to them was reaching over those fancy jars for his can of shaving cream.
Not any more. In recent years, men have been secretly dipping into their wives and girlfriends skin care products and liking the results that they see. So much so that many companies are developing skincare lines just for men.
And men are flocking to these skin care products in droves. Statistics reveal that men in the United States are spending over $4 billion a year on grooming products.
Skin care for men is growing in popularity among ethnic men as well. Ethnic men spend $88 million on skincare products. There is no sign of this trend slowing down.
One main difference between skin care for men and women is ease of use. While women may be willing to go through several steps in their beauty regimen, men like their regimen to be quick and easy. One, two, three and they’re out the door.
Keeping it simple doesn’t mean skimping on quality. Men are looking for high quality skin care products just like their female counterparts. MaleFace is a good example of high quality men’s skincare.
For more information on male skin care visit: http://www.1-minute-beauty-diva.com/FaceAMansSecret.html

Copyright 2004
Donna Monday writes beauty related articles for http://www.1-minute-beauty-diva.com

Lord Byron's Poem, She Walks in Beauty

2011-09-23T01:07:00.001-07:00

Lord Byron’s opening couplet to “She Walks In Beauty” is among the most memorable and most quoted lines in romantic poetry. The opening lines are effortless, graceful, and beautiful, a fitting match for his poem about a woman who possesses effortless grace and beauty.

Life in England

Lord Byron was born George Gordon Noel Byron in London in 1788. He became a Lord in 1798 when he inherited the title and the estate of his great-uncle. Byron’s mother had taken him to Scotland for treatment for his club foot, but she brought him back to England to claim the title and the estate.

Byron was privately tutored in Nottingham for a short period. He then studied in Harrow, Southwell, and Newstead, and finally at Trinity College. Byron discovered a talent for writing poetry and published some early poems in 1806 and his first collection, called Hours of Idleness, in 1897 at the age of 19. When he turned age 21 he was able to take his seat in the House of Lords.

However, Lord Byron left England for two years with his friend, John Hobhouse, to travel through Europe. They toured Spain, Malta, Greece, and Constantinople. Greece especially impressed Byron and would create a recurring theme in his life.

After returning to England Lord Byron made his first speech to the House of Lords. Later that year he published a “poetic travelogue” titled, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, a respectable collection of verses about his recent travels in Europe. The collection earned Lord Byron lasting fame and admiration. Lord Byron had become a ladies’ man and the newly earned celebrity brought him a series of affairs and courtships.

Lord Byron married Anna Isabella Milbanke in 1815 and his daughter, Augusta, was born later that year. However, the marriage did not last long. In early 1816 Anna and Augusta left Lord Byron and later that year he filed for legal separation and left England for Switzerland, a self-imposed exile.

Life in Europe

While in Switzerland Lord Byron stayed with Percy Bysshe Shelley, a prominent metaphysical and romantic poet, and had an illegitimate daughter, Allegra, with Claire Clairmont. After that affair ended, Lord Byron and his friend, John Hobhouse traveled through Italy, settling first in Venice, where he had a couple more affairs, including an affair with the nineteen year old Countess Teresa Guicciolo. Here Lord Byron began his most famous and most acclaimed work, the epic poem Don Juan.

Lord Byron and Teresa moved to Ravenna, then to Pisa, and then to Leghorn, near Shelley’s house, in 1821. The poet Leigh Hunt moved in with Lord Byron later that year after Shelley drowned off the coast near Leghorn in a storm. Lord Byron contributed poetry to Hunt’s periodical, The Liberal, until 1823 when he took the opportunity to travel to Greece to act as an agent for the Greeks in their war against Turkey.

Lord Byron used his personal finances to help fund some of the battles by the Greeks against the Turks. He even commanded a force of three thousand men in an attack on the Turkish-held fortress of Lepanto. The siege was unsuccessful and the forces withdrew. At this time Lord Byron suffered one or two epileptic fits. The remedy of the day, blood-letting, weakened him.

Six weeks later, during a particularly chilly rainstorm, Lord Byron contracted a severe cold. The accompanying fever was treated by repeated bleeding by trusted physicians, but his condition worsened until he eventually slipped into a coma and died on April 19, 1924.

Lord Byron was a hero in Greece and was deeply mourned there. His heart was buried in Greece and his body was sent to England where it was buried in the family vault near Newstead. He was denied burial in Westminster Abbey because of the perceived immorality of his life and numerous controversies. Finally in 1969, 145 years after his death, a memorial was placed in the Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey, commemorating his poetry and accomplishments.

Shortly after his arrival in Greece, Lord Byron had written these appropriate lines.

"Seek out—less often sought than found—

A soldier's grave—for thee the best

Then look around, and choose thy ground,

And take thy rest."

An interesting and exceptional biography of Lord Byron’s life was written in 1830 by a contemporary and friend, John Galt, titled, The Life of Lord Byron. The 49 chapters give a good measure of Lord Byron’s complexity.

“She Walks in Beauty”

In June, 1814, several months before he met and married his first wife, Anna Milbanke, Lord Byron attended a party at Lady Sitwell’s. While at the party, Lord Byron was inspired by the sight of his cousin, the beautiful Mrs. Wilmot, who was wearing a black spangled mourning dress. Lord Byron was struck by his cousin’s dark hair and fair face, the mingling of various lights and shades. This became the essence of his poem about her.

According to his friend, James W. Webster, “I did take him to Lady Sitwell’s party in Seymour Road. He there for the first time saw his cousin, the beautiful Mrs. Wilmot. When we returned to his rooms in Albany, he said little, but desired Fletcher to give him a tumbler of brandy, which he drank at one to Mrs. Wilmot’s health, then retired to rest, and was, I heard afterwards, in a sad state all night. The next day he wrote those charming lines upon her—She walks in Beauty like the Night…”

The poem was published in 1815. Also in that year Lord Byron wrote a number of songs to be set to traditional Jewish tunes by Isaac Nathan. Lord Byron included “She Walks in Beauty” with those poems.

She Walks in Beauty

1

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that's best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes:

Thus mellow'd to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

2

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impair'd the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o'er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express

How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

3

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

Discussion of the Poem

The first couple of lines can be confusing if not read properly. Too often readers stop at the end of the first line where there is no punctuation. This is an enjambed line, meaning that it continues without pause onto the second line. That she walks in beauty like the night may not make sense as night represents darkness. However, as the line continues, the night is a cloudless one with bright stars to create a beautiful mellow glow. The first two lines bring together the opposing qualities of darkness and light that are at play throughout the three verses.

The remaining lines of the first verse employ another set of enjambed lines that tell us that her face and eyes combine all that’s best of dark and bright. No mention is made here or elsewhere in the poem of any other physical features of the lady. The focus of the vision is upon the details of the lady’s face and eyes which reflect the mellowed and tender light. She has a remarkable quality of being able to contain the opposites of dark and bright.

The third and fourth lines are not only enjambed, but the fourth line begins with an irregularity in the meter called a metrical substitution. The fourth line starts with an accented syllable followed by an unaccented one, rather than the iambic meter of the other lines, an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one. The result is that the word “Meet” receives attention, an emphasis. The lady’s unique feature is that opposites “meet” in her in a wonderful way.

The second verse tells us that the glow of the lady’s face is nearly perfect. The shades and rays are in just the right proportion, and because they are, the lady possesses a nameless grace. This conveys the romantic idea that her inner beauty is mirrored by her outer beauty. Her thoughts are serene and sweet. She is pure and dear.

The last verse is split between three lines of physical description and three lines that describe the lady’s moral character. Here soft, calm glow reflects a life of peace and goodness. This is a repetition, an emphasis, of the theme that the lady’s physical beauty is a reflection of her inner beauty.

Lord Byron greatly admired his cousin’s serene qualities on that particular night and he has left us with an inspired poem.

The poem was written shortly before Lord Byron’s marriage to Anna Milbanke and published shortly after the marriage.
About the Author
Garry Gamber is a public school teacher and entrepreneur. He writes articles about real estate, politics, health and nutrition, and internet dating services. He is the owner of http://www.Anchorage-Homes.com and http://www.TheDatingAdvisor.com.

Lord Byron's "She Walks in Beauty"

2011-09-23T01:06:00.003-07:00

Lord Byron’s opening couplet to “She Walks In Beauty” is among the most memorable and most quoted lines in romantic poetry. The opening lines are effortless, graceful, and beautiful, a fitting match for his poem about a woman who possesses effortless grace and beauty.

Life in England

Lord Byron was born George Gordon Noel Byron in London in 1788. He became a Lord in 1798 when he inherited the title and the estate of his great-uncle. Byron’s mother had taken him to Scotland for treatment for his club foot, but she brought him back to England to claim the title and the estate.

Byron was privately tutored in Nottingham for a short period. He then studied in Harrow, Southwell, and Newstead, and finally at Trinity College. Byron discovered a talent for writing poetry and published some early poems in 1806 and his first collection, called Hours of Idleness, in 1897 at the age of 19. When he turned age 21 he was able to take his seat in the House of Lords.

However, Lord Byron left England for two years with his friend, John Hobhouse, to travel through Europe. They toured Spain, Malta, Greece, and Constantinople. Greece especially impressed Byron and would create a recurring theme in his life.

After returning to England Lord Byron made his first speech to the House of Lords. Later that year he published a “poetic travelogue” titled, "Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage," a respectable collection of verses about his recent travels in Europe. The collection earned Lord Byron lasting fame and admiration. Lord Byron had become a ladies’ man and the newly earned celebrity brought him a series of affairs and courtships.

Lord Byron married Anna Isabella Milbanke in 1815 and his daughter, Augusta, was born later that year. However, the marriage did not last long. In early 1816 Anna and Augusta left Lord Byron and later that year he filed for legal separation and left England for Switzerland, a self-imposed exile.

Life in Europe

While in Switzerland Lord Byron stayed with Percy Bysshe Shelley, a prominent metaphysical and romantic poet, and had an illegitimate daughter, Allegra, with Claire Clairmont. After that affair ended, Lord Byron and his friend, John Hobhouse traveled through Italy, settling first in Venice, where he had a couple more affairs, including an affair with the nineteen year old Countess Teresa Guicciolo. Here Lord Byron began his most famous and most acclaimed work, the epic poem "Don Juan."

Lord Byron and Teresa moved to Ravenna, then to Pisa, and then to Leghorn, near Shelley’s house, in 1821. The poet Leigh Hunt moved in with Lord Byron later that year after Shelley drowned off the coast near Leghorn in a storm. Lord Byron contributed poetry to Hunt’s periodical, "The Liberal", until 1823 when he took the opportunity to travel to Greece to act as an agent for the Greeks in their war against Turkey.

Lord Byron used his personal finances to help fund some of the battles by the Greeks against the Turks. He even commanded a force of three thousand men in an attack on the Turkish-held fortress of Lepanto. The siege was unsuccessful and the forces withdrew. At this time Lord Byron suffered one or two epileptic fits. The remedy of the day, blood-letting, weakened him.

Six weeks later, during a particularly chilly rainstorm, Lord Byron contracted a severe cold. The accompanying fever was treated by repeated bleeding by trusted physicians, but his condition worsened until he eventually slipped into a coma and died on April 19, 1924.

Lord Byron was a hero in Greece and was deeply mourned there. His heart was buried in Greece and his body was sent to England where it was buried in the family vault near Newstead. He was denied burial in Westminster Abbey because of the perceived immorality of his life and numerous controversies. Finally in 1969, 145 years after his death, a memorial was placed in the Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey, commemorating his poetry and accomplishments.

Shortly after his arrival in Greece, Lord Byron had written these appropriate lines.
"Seek out—less often sought than found—
A soldier's grave—for thee the best
Then look around, and choose thy ground,
And take thy rest."

An interesting and exceptional biography of Lord Byron’s life was written in 1830 by a contemporary and friend, John Galt, titled, "The Life of Lord Byron." The 49 chapters give a good measure of Lord Byron’s complexity.

“She Walks in Beauty”

In June, 1814, several months before he met and married his first wife, Anna Milbanke, Lord Byron attended a party at Lady Sitwell’s. While at the party, Lord Byron was inspired by the sight of his cousin, the beautiful Mrs. Wilmot, who was wearing a black spangled mourning dress. Lord Byron was struck by his cousin’s dark hair and fair face, the mingling of various lights and shades. This became the essence of his poem about her.

According to his friend, James W. Webster, “I did take him to Lady Sitwell’s party in Seymour Road. He there for the first time saw his cousin, the beautiful Mrs. Wilmot. When we returned to his rooms in Albany, he said little, but desired Fletcher to give him a tumbler of brandy, which he drank at one to Mrs. Wilmot’s health, then retired to rest, and was, I heard afterwards, in a sad state all night. The next day he wrote those charming lines upon her—She walks in Beauty like the Night…”

The poem was published in 1815. Also in that year Lord Byron wrote a number of songs to be set to traditional Jewish tunes by Isaac Nathan. Lord Byron included “She Walks in Beauty” with those poems.

She Walks in Beauty

1
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

2
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

3
And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

Discussion of the Poem

The first couple of lines can be confusing if not read properly. Too often readers stop at the end of the first line where there is no punctuation. This is an enjambed line, meaning that it continues without pause onto the second line. That she walks in beauty like the night may not make sense as night represents darkness. However, as the line continues, the night is a cloudless one with bright stars to create a beautiful mellow glow. The first two lines bring together the opposing qualities of darkness and light that are at play throughout the three verses.

The remaining lines of the first verse employ another set of enjambed lines that tell us that her face and eyes combine all that’s best of dark and bright. No mention is made here or elsewhere in the poem of any other physical features of the lady. The focus of the vision is upon the details of the lady’s face and eyes which reflect the mellowed and tender light. She has a remarkable quality of being able to contain the opposites of dark and bright.

The third and fourth lines are not only enjambed, but the fourth line begins with an irregularity in the meter called a metrical substitution. The fourth line starts with an accented syllable followed by an unaccented one, rather than the iambic meter of the other lines, an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one. The result is that the word “Meet” receives attention, an emphasis. The lady’s unique feature is that opposites “meet” in her in a wonderful way.

The second verse tells us that the glow of the lady’s face is nearly perfect. The shades and rays are in just the right proportion, and because they are, the lady possesses a nameless grace. This conveys the romantic idea that her inner beauty is mirrored by her outer beauty. Her thoughts are serene and sweet. She is pure and dear.

The last verse is split between three lines of physical description and three lines that describe the lady’s moral character. Here soft, calm glow reflects a life of peace and goodness. This is a repetition, an emphasis, of the theme that the lady’s physical beauty is a reflection of her inner beauty.

Lord Byron greatly admired his cousin’s serene qualities on that particular night and he has left us with an inspired poem.

The poem was written shortly before Lord Byron’s marriage to Anna Milbanke and published shortly after the marriage.

About the author:
Garry Gamber is a public school teacher and entrepreneur. He writes articles about real estate, politics, health and nutrition, and internet dating services. He is the owner of and

The Pure Truth About 'All Natural' Products and Other Beauty

2011-09-23T01:06:00.001-07:00

Myth: "All Natural" Beauty Products Are Best
Pure Truth: First of all, there are not really any 'all natural' products available for commercial sale. Unless you make them yourself, and are prepared to refrigerate them & use them within a few days, you really can't find any. This is because, just as in food products, the ingredients are perishable.
Just think what would happen to a jar of 'natural' ingredients sitting on your vanity... The smell alone would keep me from opening the lid, let alone touching it! So beauty products, like foods, use preservatives to give them added shelf time. When you buy products, they have to last through storage with the company, shipping and still have some time left for you to use them. As for the term 'natural' it is not even regulated. This means any company can call their product natural, no matter what it contains.
Myth: Chemicals Are Bad For Your Skin
Pure Truth: Not all chemicals are bad for your skin. Just as medicines are chemical or synthetic versions of medicinal plants, so the science of chemistry brings us beauty products. Many natural ingredients have been re-created in synthetic form for ease of use & distribution, which can also make them cheaper to supply.
Myth: Product Packaging Does Nothing But Add To The Price
Pure Truth: Many people believe there is no importance to the packaging of beauty products, that the bottles and jars are just made 'neat looking' in order to make us buy the products. This can be true, but with some of the 'new' beauty ingredients, packaging has a much larger, more important role. Some ingredients are considered unstable, meaning they are affected by sunlight and air exposure. For those ingredients, like retinol and some antioxidants, the packaging is a big deal. If you want to get some use of what you paid for, look for packaging that limits the products exposure. This may mean a dark colored container, or those similar to pharmaceutical products.
Myth: Buying Beauty Products Is a Gamble
Pure Truth: If you want to avoid buying products that simply don't work, being an educated consumer is your best bet. For the best information on cosmetics ingredients in the US, go to the FDA site. This site also has information on labeling & label claims.
There are also several websites with product reviews, done by independent consumers, just like you. The best sites will post the reviewers' information, so you can get an idea if the reviewer's skin type, age etc. is similar to your own. Two review sites are www.cosmeticconnection.com and emakeup.com reviews. You may also try the various message boards devoted to beauty. These boards are a great place to get information on new products or companies before you buy. And reputable companies will allow exchanges and refunds. If the company you are considering doesn't, look for another... In the competitive beauty game, you can always find a company that is more like to cover your bet.
Deanna Ferber is President of GlamKitty, a cosmetics and skin care company dedicated to helping Busy Women with 9 Lives find their own Tabby Chic (tm). Take a 'paws' in your day at http://glamkitty-beauty.com

Pure Truth About ‘All Natural’ Products & Other Beauty Myths

2011-09-23T01:05:00.001-07:00

Myth: "All Natural" Beauty Products Are Best
Pure Truth: First of all, there are not really any ‘all natural’ products available for commercial sale. Unless you make them yourself, and are prepared to refrigerate them & use them within a few days, you really can’t find any. This is because, just as in food products, the ingredients are perishable.
Just think what would happen to a jar of ’natural’ ingredients sitting on your vanity... The smell alone would keep me from opening the lid, let alone touching it! So beauty products, like foods, use preservatives to give them added shelf time. When you buy products, they have to last through storage with the company, shipping and still have some time left for you to use them. As for the term ‘natural’ it is not even regulated. This means any company can call their product natural, no matter what it contains.
Myth: Chemicals Are Bad For Your Skin
Pure Truth: Not all chemicals are bad for your skin. Just as medicines are chemical or synthetic versions of medicinal plants, so the science of chemistry brings us beauty products. Many natural ingredients have been re-created in synthetic form for ease of use & distribution, which can also make them cheaper to supply.
Myth: Product Packaging Does Nothing But Add To The Price
Pure Truth: Many people believe there is no importance to the packaging of beauty products, that the bottles and jars are just made ’neat looking’ in order to make us buy the products. This can be true, but with some of the ’new’ beauty ingredients, packaging has a much larger, more important role. Some ingredients are considered unstable, meaning they are affected by sunlight and air exposure. For those ingredients, like retinol and some antioxidants, the packaging is a big deal. If you want to get some use of what you paid for, look for packaging that limits the products exposure. This may mean a dark colored container, or those similar to pharmaceutical products.
Myth: Buying Beauty Products Is a Gamble
Pure Truth: If you want to avoid buying products that simply don’t work, being an educated consumer is your best bet. For the best information on cosmetics ingredients in the US, go to the http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-prd.html, the FDA site. This site also has information on labeling & label claims.
There are also several websites with product reviews, done by independent consumers, just like you. The best sites will post the reviewers’ information, so you can get an idea if the reviewer’s skin type, age etc. is similar to your own. Two review sites are http://www.cosmeticconnection.com and http://www.emakemeup.com/reviewboard/cgi-bin/main.cgi. You may also try the various message boards devoted to beauty. These boards are a great place to get information on new products or companies before you buy. And reputable companies will allow exchanges and refunds. If the company you are considering doesn’t, look for another... In the competitive beauty game, you can always find a company that is more like to cover your bet.
Deanna Ferber is President of GlamKitty, a cosmetics and skin care company dedicated to helping Busy Women with 9 Lives find their own Tabby Chic (tm). Take a ’paws’ in your day at http://glamkitty-beauty.com

Beauty doesn’t have to be Expensive

2011-09-22T03:22:00.001-07:00

Where do you buy your beauty supplies? If you buy them from a department store- you are paying way too much! I was a department store buyer for many years. I was hooked on a particular brand, and I thought that the products were only available at the department store. I was wrong. With a little bit of time and research, I was able to shave off 50% of my beauty supply bill. Imagine what you could do with the extra money. The process is actually really simple. All you have to do is find the right websites.
Many of us are hooked on a particular brand of beauty supplies. We have used them for years, and love the way that they make us look and feel. The price tag however isn’t very pretty. Try doing a search online for your favorite beauty products. You may find that auction sites such as EBay.com have really good deals. Make sure to find out about shipping and return policies. I am a sucker for a free shipping deal, so try to find them whenever possible. You may also be able to purchase the product directly from the manufacturer’s website. Look for online promotions that will give you discounts on the items you buy most. Coupon sites can give you even better discounts, so shop around.
If you are feeling adventurous and want to try a new cheaper brand, have no fear. Most websites will include a list of ingredients for all of their products. You can then compare this list with products that you have tried before. Look for products that have natural ingredients. If you can’t produce anything on the label, chances are its not a good deal. There are many companies that focus on creating cheap designer knock-offs, so you may get a fragrance or cologne for much less than the name brand.
Buying beauty supplies online can be a lot of fun. You will be amazed at the level of savings, and pleased with the final product. Try getting together with friends and family members to compare beauty regimens. You may find a new product or item that you cannot live without. Always remember- beauty doesn’t have to be expensive!
Melanie Breeze, avid online shopper and user of CouponChief, is always shopping around for the best deals. You can find beauty supply bargains and savings available around the web at CouponChief, all in one location. Always find an online coupon 1st before making ANY purchase!

Beauty Divine

2011-09-22T03:21:00.002-07:00

The quest for beauty, age defiance and physical enhancement are at an all time high. The beauty industry, comprised of simple salons to mega-corporate giants, pulls in billions of dollars annually. People are obsessed with making themselves beautiful and more attractive for their own personal satisfaction and so others can see them they want to be seen. Not only do people search for ways to enhance themselves, but they also seek beauty and attraction in other things, most notably a dating partner.

Some people might conclude that canvassing the importance of beauty in the dating world is a bit gratuitous. We all know its out there and it can even be considered nature's cruelest form of sexual selection. You either have it or you don't. However, I think it is a poignant topic of consideration whether you are just now entering the dating realm or you have been in it for years and whether you are male or female. Today's society places heavy weight on good looks in the work place and in social scenes. You can't escape it and you can not deny it. Amidst growing liberties, democracy, the abolition of racial and religious oppression and the rising demand for an open mind one would naturally assume that our advanced culture would not treat certain individuals better simply because of advantageous genetic facial features. But we all know that this is the furthest from the truth. We see it every day.

Doctor Nancy Etcoff, a faculty member of Harvard University and a psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, has beautifully illustrated the ageless hunt for beauty in her book Survival of the Prettiest. I was enthralled with the hundreds of references throughout history Dr. Etcoff found and adapted to the importance of beauty. One of the most interesting ones involved Eleanor Roosevelt. When asked if she had any regrets she remarked that she only wished she had been prettier. To hear a statement such as this coming from a heroine to women everywhere, it makes one want to examine why and how being beautiful or handsome plays such a dubious role in our every day lives. As Dr. Etcoff examines this very thought further in her book, I think it would be best if we just accept our idealistic qualities and move on to facing them.

When it comes down to selecting new single men and women we choose to date, our very first assessment of the potential mate is based on looks. Most people will say that they are looking for more profound qualities such as character, motivation, sensitivity, a commonality in activities, beliefs and a sense of humor and that looks, although important, are not at the top of the list. Of course everyone wants to feel as if he or she had more noble intents in mind. And although this may be true, nature tends to sway our first choice. Psychological tests upon tests show that we all gravitate towards the more attractive person at first. This is not something that we can readily help, nor can we consider it malevolent behavior. It is simply programmed into us from commercials, magazine ads, celebrities and more. It is a learned responsive behavior. While not everyone looks like Naomi Campbell or Brad Pitt and there are only a few genetic anomalies in this world who apparently represent what we all should look like, we can all take steps and measures to improve the way we look and how we appear to others. It is the very first rule in dating!

The first person you need to impress is yourself. When you look good you feel good. Take advantage of what modern science has created in the field of beauty. From getting the basic proper shampoo and conditioner for you hair to hair regrowth products and surgery, from makeup to enhance your features to elective surgery for more dramatic effects. Your wardrobe should be a priority issue as well. If you are still showing up at the door to pick up your date in those same ripped jeans you have had since the 1980's, think about a complete wardrobe overhaul. Getting in shape is an absolute must. Not only does it show that you care about your body, it is essential for your health and it will help you to feel great physically and emotionally. The better you feel about yourself, the more confident you will appear. And confidence is a very sexy and appealing part of your overall appearance.

In her book Dr. Etcoff assumes that people, mostly men, are more attracted to beautiful people for short term relationships while beauty is less important when seeking a committed relationship. However, it is that attractive quality of sex appeal which will get you in the door. When you are just getting to know people for dating purposes such as with the use of online dating resources, your appearance is going to be one of the most compelling forces in attracting dates. Everyone wants someone to fall in love with them for the right reasons, but you can't change basic human instinct and the natural affinity for beauty. You don't have to be the most beautiful or most handsome person in the room, but you can take the time and effort to look the best you possibly can.
About the Author
The Advice Diva has written four self-help guides on relationships and dating which can be found at http://www.advicediva.com She also hosts an online advice column which is completely free of charge. The Diva does not claim to be an expert in any field. However, she has the ability to understand relationships through past experience and her incredible insight.

Beauty Comes From Within

2011-09-22T03:21:00.000-07:00

Since real beauty comes from within, it's important that your beauty products bring out your best natural qualities. Natural beauty product reviews can help you choose which products are best suited to your own individual needs.

One popular type of natural beauty product is stretch mark removal cream. Since stretch marks are pretty common--their causes range from pregnancy to body building--a lot of people can be helped by a natural, effective treatment for them. While reading natural beauty product reviews, I noticed that the best stretch mark remedies contain high amounts of Emu Oil, Aloe Vera Gel, Collagen, Elastin and Vitamin E. When these key ingredients are combined in a highly concentrated cream, they can not only help reduce stretch marks you already have, but actually help prevent new ones from forming!

One of the most helpful things about natural beauty product reviews is that they tell you about the ingredients in the best beauty products out there. Whenever you're looking for skin treatments--whether it's cellulite cream, spider vein therapy, sunless tanning or stretch mark removal--you want to make sure that the ingredients are safe and actually make your skin look better, not worse. What's the point of diminishing stretch marks if the skin around them becomes red and irritated? Natural beauty products tend to be safer, because they don't include a lot of harsh chemicals in their ingredients.

If you're fair skinned like I am, you know how hard it can be to enjoy the great outdoors. There's nothing unusual about stretch marks or cellulite or spider veins. They are the natural effects of having bodies that grow and change. Using natural, high quality products to safely improve your skin's appearance can help you feel less self-conscious at the beach or in the bedroom.

Then your natural, individual beauty can shine through!

About the Author
Dermaglow provide natural and organic skin care products to help stretch marks, cellulite and spider viens. http://www.dermaglow.co.uk/index.html

Beauty Foods That Will Keep You Young and Healthy

2011-09-22T03:20:00.001-07:00

You’ve heard that old saying: True beauty comes from within. Well, now nutritional experts have confirmed that you really are what you eat.
Forget French fries and fatty hamburgers. If you want to look beautiful and feel young and healthy, you’ll eat a generous variety of super foods that have been proven to work wonders on the human body.
For a list of vitamin rich foods see: http://www.1-minute-beauty-diva.com/ArticlesVitaminsandBeauty.html
Whether you’re on a low fat diet, low carb diet, or no diet, adding these super foods to your plate should become as second nature to you as putting your lipstick on in the morning.
Healthy Skin – Eat: blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, currants, purple grapes, pumpkin, carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes
Healthy Eyes – Eat: broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, bok choy, kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, mustard greens, turnip greens
Strong Bones – Eat: yogurt, kefir, soy, tofu, Drink: skim milk
Reduce Stress – Eat: beans (navy, pinto, red, black, etc.), green beans, sugar snap peas, green peas, chick peas
Boost Immune System – Eat: turkey, skinless chicken breast, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, spinach, Drink: black or green tea
Sun Protection for Skin – tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit
For more information on beauty and health visit: http://www.1-minute-beauty-diva.com/ArticlesVitaminsandBeauty.html

About The Author
Copyright 2004
Donna Monday writes beauty related articles for http://www.1-minute-beauty-diva.com.

Real Beauty Fitness

2011-09-22T03:19:00.003-07:00

Fitness and beauty can be one and the same. Being fit and healthy
will automatically make you look better. A healthy inside creates
a healthy outside.

Fitness through exercise can help you to maintain a healthy
body weight and improve muscle tone.

Our looks reflect the sum total of who we are and how we live,
and the best we can do in life is to make the best of what
nature has given is, without excuse, apology, or pretense.
If we try to live otherwise, we find ourselves acting on a stage
with other actors and actresses--great pretenders without real
friends, without real lovers, without real relationships.

While we realize that there is such a thing as "natural beauty,"
which is beyond all standards of culture and history in some
sense, there are also "relative" standards of beauty.

We all know about fads, styles, and adornments that are "in" one
season and "out" the next. This includes cosmetics, hair styles,
clothing, and even body weight and size.

These standards may vary from country to country, year to year,
or even among different age groups in the same country and year.

For example, full figures are considered the ideal in some
historical periods, but slender figures are valued now--at
least in Western countries.

The point is that cultural standards change--and we may choose
to follow or ignore them--because the cultivation of natural
beauty is not dependent upon fads.

In order to get along harmoniously, whether at the level of
dating, courtship, or marriage, men and women have to get past
physical looks and into the more important qualities that make
up human relationships, such as kindness, friendship, and areas
of mutual interest.

There is such a thing as a beautiful personality. There can be
beauty in the way a person thinks. An attitude or smile can be
beautiful. Love is certainly beautiful, and all of life is
beautiful when we are in love.

A person is truly beautiful when he or she is healthy. Any
disease or illness affects all parts of the body, sometimes
for many years before the symptoms are manifested. If the body
and mind are not healthy, then a person cannot feel or be truly
attractive.

Good health brings a glow to the skin, a ring to the voice, a
twinkle to the eye, and a spring to the step that no beauty
school can teach.

Learn more at Beauty Fitness.

www.a1-natural-health-and-beauty.com
About the Author
Ruby Boyd is the owner of

Beauty of Nature Talent of Man, a New Ancient Art Form

2011-09-22T03:19:00.001-07:00

Beauty of Nature Talent of Man, a New Ancient Art Form

Since Mankind first stood erect and developed a consciousness of the world in which he lived; Nature has been a place of many dangers. Violence and death, the need to survive, and the biological urge to reproduce, and to nurture ourselves and our offspring has always been a prime motivational factor.

Being alert to our surroundings has profound implications, and is as pertinent today as it was in the distant primitive past.

"He's street smart", Is one way that we designate and congratulate the modern man, who has learned to be aware of his basic world and how to survive.

All living things, share this "aware of surroundings, street smart" necessity for survival.

There are many things which separate us as Humans, from other living things. Most are obvious, and have been studied, examined, dissected, and extrapolated ad nauseum.

However, the Human Spirit, has special abilities and insights which help to define the Soul inherent in Human existence, and is actually a definitive proof of its existence.

Recognition of beauty. Not the beauty necessary for reproduction and the sexual urges which enable its success, but a more abstract and intellectual beauty. The "BEAUTY OF NATURE".

An animal will stop and survey his surroundings, sniff the air, look at flowers, rocks, majestic mountains, but his motivation is survival. They are searching for a hidden enemy, or a source of necessary food.

Man is different. He can look at a beautiful sunset or a majestic peak, or a natural wonder like the Grand Canyon, an out cropping of rocks or any one of a million gifts of Natures Bounty and beauty, and feel our Soul vibrate and soar in sync with the abundant largess which Mother Nature, and God, has provided.

Of course we have a Soul, feel it beat in rhythm with the beauty of Nature.

Humanity has always been attracted to these dramatic gifts and we create parks, and national monuments, and fight to preserve these special areas of natural beauty.

The beauty of nature does not exist exclusively on this type of macro scale. There is a unique beauty of nature that exists on a very real, yet micro scale.

A new Art Form. An original way to capture and worship that which "God has wrought." There are certain natural stones which have captured the originality and overwhelming beauty which is inherent on a macro scale by a Grand Canyon. Imagine, the dramatic originality of Nature, "one of a kind works of art”, available to enjoy and display in your home or office.

This new art form has several methodologies. The nature of the stone makes it a work of art naturally. This can be further enhanced using certain treatments, applied to the stone strategically, to enhance the effects already within it. Stone is also fast becoming a medium of choice for the innovative artist, as this material soaks up paint and gives a depth to color that isn’t achieved on traditional mediums. Sculpture is the most ancient form of stone art; however stacked sculpture is a new form that involves adding stone to a piece to achieve a desired effect.

A gift of Nature, the majesty of the Earth, to cherish and uplift your spirit, and beautify your environment. Bask in the reflective beauty of your World. Stone art provides a true Cornacopia of originality and creativity.

A great place to get inspired is the museum of stone art at http://art.pebblez.com

About the Author
Peter Lewitin is an author and artist whose works are on display at http://art.pebblez.com

Peter Lewitin is an author, a designer, and an artist. Check his website to see some of his creations of Decorative stone art

Beauty as a Sexual Object

2011-09-22T03:18:00.001-07:00

To fall in love -- considered by some as the ultimate quest in life, and prepared by others with a constant and unending flow of fantasies, dreams, and enchanting ideas. And what we find sometimes to be so uniquely freakish of a fetish of our own, so personally vaulted and denied at every conscious inquiry -- we find, in fact, that it is a secrecy of our own sexuality and our own fantasies, that disallows us from discovering that, what we find to be deviant is actually commonplace in the minds of all individuals. There is no person whose sexual ideas are unique, no fantasy of anyone that is not based on the same roots of the fantasies of others. This is sexuality, a social and emotional facet of every human. So, it must be granted as truth, that it is the repression of sexuality in our society, that convinces us that our own sexuality is a freak, a deviancy, an intolerably disgusting and improper attitude. Despite the fact that sexuality has been an intrinsic part of the lives of the hundreds and hundreds of millions of people, or the hundreds of billions of animals, there are still some puritanical ideas of people to oppose it. And, even if sexuality weren't commonplace, one would think that the argument of "so long as none are harmed, let it be," would be enough to justify it. I think that it was not a matter of argument, but one of shame and repression, that granted the puritan-minded people to believe and preach as they do.
If, in fact, those of the puritanical ideas had no conception of sexuality, I do not believe they could have the will to rally against sex. If it is just a fact of life, nothing that personally effected them, then it would not be something they could muster so much unforgiving hate for. Alas, I do not think these puritanical ideas have done much of anything to uplift the personality of goodness or the character of charity. The idea that sex is an evil is not a friend of the ideals of kindness, intelligence, or truth. These puritanical soldiers have done nothing but bog down the structure of civilization, waging a war against our own animal nature. By seeing their own feelings of sexuality, experiencing the desires and urges, the thoughts and inhibitions, puritans find themselves villified with their own character, ashamed and mortified. I think that people manage to put anger, passion, and strong, powerful emotions into vengeance, when it is their own personal nature that they are attacking. The puritans have allowed themselves to be cruel, brutal, and absolutely cold blooded in their war against sex. As the blood running through civilization warmed, the extent to which they were allowed to fight has been limited and limited. Tortures and murders were an intrinsic part of the original Puritan culture, when it came to their attitude about punishing sex.
It is a rather popular statement, that beaty is in the eye of the beholder. Yet everyone seems to interpret this statement differently. The fact that someone or something is beuatiful is only true because there is a critic to call it that. No artwork exemplified beauty without an onlooker, no song brought forward melody without a listener, no poem created peacefulness or rage without a reader. There can be no argument to this. We find, also, that just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is ugliness in the eye of the beholder. The same artwork that was called beautiful by one may be called ugly, disgusting, or otherwise unappealing by another. It is here that the true meaning of the phrase may be captured. The only reason why something is appealing or unappealing, attractive or unattractive, is because there is a mind in the sensory organs there to judge. The ideas of what is or is not gorgeous, enchanting, homely, or wretched are all dependent upon the viewer. Then we apply these ideas to a person. One's voice is seen as glorious in tone or rancid in quality. The face and body become a considerable work of art or a defaced panting, or something in between or to a more extreme. Judging a body and a face, though, as beautiful or ugly, is a much different action than judging a painting as either beautiful or ugly.
A person, unlike a painting or a poem, is conscious, capable of emotion and happiness. All of a sudden, their physical attributes become subject to criticism and judgment. What is the purpose, though, of finding someone attractive or unattractive? The simple and obvious answer is for thepurpose of mating and procreation. Now that the reason for appeal or unappeal, in a person's beauty anyway, has been uncovered, another question remains open. If a person's outter shell can be judged as ugly or beautiful, by one person or another, and since this judgment does not help us to determine their character, should we disregard beauty and ugliness as a deterent to a person's true self?
Of those individuals who call themselves Freethinkers, artists, independent minds, lovers of intelligence and friends of liberty, it is the typical attitude that a person's emotions and way of thinking is in fact a part of their intrinsic self. There can be no greater proof of this than experience: beautiful people may be cruel and heartless, as the ugly people can be intelligent and meaningful, and vice versa. A person's beauty does not determine the way they think. It does not make them more kind or charitable, nor does it instill in them attributes of vice or cruelty. This fact, I imagine will meet with no argument from those whom have experienced the world. The Freethinkers, though, have further advanced this position, by incorporating this philosophy int their personal lives. They do not judge people on their image, and accept friendship and affection from someone regardless of theri looks, and they are not less scornful of a brutal person no matter their beauty. They have taken a rational position and they must be commended for that. In another way, some of them have incorporated their philosophy into their sexuality, either consciously or unconsciously. For example, they find someone attractive based on their ideas, their character, their way of thinking and personality. One's physical body becomes esxually arrousing once they are identified with ideas of justice and goodness. They have not warded off human sexuality, so they have much more mindfulness and personal awareness than the puritans. In some cases, a Freethinker who fell in love with someone for their ideas, after the berakup, individuals they see resembling their initial love, even if socially considered unattractive, are considered attractive by the Freethinker.
So it happens, that the phrase comes to us, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," and we find that beautiful and ugly are relative terms, subjective in that they are exsiting only in the mind. Our natural response to this is that a person cannot wholly be judged by their physical, since they are conscious. they are capable of thoughts, ideas, emotions. Thus we find every Freethinker and independent individual falling in love with a personality of a person, irregardless of physical appeal.
There is one fact that must be treated, though. An individual cannot have sex with a personality. As much as the idea is desired, physical affection cannot be given to a thought, an idea, or a character. It is necessary that a body is there. Admiration of an individual and their thoughts is never so pure or heart-warming as when there is a face for that individual, by which emotions and even ideas can be expressed. The look of ease, of a person laying down at the end of a long day, or a look of interest and intrigue, fascinated by the current occurrences, or a look of boldness and strength, defending what we believe in and what we fight for. The analytical expression, unsatisfied with what we know, delving through thoughts, facts, memories, to develope a more just theory -- the expression of deep thought, it allows us a a greater admiration of the deep thought itself. Nothing can greater express sadness than a story one wished to levie by retelling, accompanied by tears.
This is just the face alone: eyes compliment diw th brows, a mouth given a tongue, and a nose, the rest covered with skin enveloping ten thousand muscle strands, all of which can combine to tell us thoughts and emotions. Anger and aggression, sadness and solemnness, pleasure and euphoria, exhaustion and rest -- all feelings by which we can purely communicate to another by the contraction or relaxation of our face muscles. The blessing of the voice adds to whatever feeling we are comunicating, even if we are not speaking actual words. In fact, the emotion or facial expression delivers is dramatically heightened and empathically understood those vocal sounds which transcend all human language, particularly when we express a sudden pain, joy, or understanding.
Then, we are to consider the rest of the body. There are few words so reassuring, as a gentle, affectionate, and understanding touch. The idea of love can be written in a million poems and a thousand essays, which help us understand it in a reflective manner, but few things are so realistically understood as love when through the physical act of it; it is so logical to believe that experience is necessary to knowledge in this situation, just as it is impossible to know the true nature of terror without going through war, or other experiences. Lips, eyelashes, and other facial features, gently caressing, touching, or nuzzling the intimate or even common parts of the body: love-making, never so real or pure as can be demonstrated through experience. Those gentle parts, the neck, the stomach, the inner arms, find themselves also to be the most intimately felt. Perhaps it is the nature of evolution: ourselves becoming most protective of our most vulnerable parts, that they can also be the most intimate parts, because we feel that we want our lovers to feel those parts which we are most aware of. The other parts, the spinal column, the inner fore arms, the hands, though we are not only protective of them, we regard them during sex as gentle and intimate.
Understand, though, that up to this point, of the necessity of a body for physical expression and physcial love, I have said nothing of beauty, spoken no words on one's complection as it is concerned to sex. I have only demonstrated the purity of expression when physical, when either in body and through the face. Yet there may be something rather unsettling, or otherwise seemingly contradictory about these thoughts. Those who have based their opinion on Freethought and independence, have argued that the physical complection, of beautiful or ugly, is not accurately indicative of a person's inner character. But, on the other hand, the body allows us the most pure and affectionate method of expressing our desires.
I suppose that it must be admitted that one's body and face is an important part of love and sexuality. Whether we find one's body to be beautiful or not, the existence of such a body is important. But, beauty can even play a positive role in this. A body may in fact be considered indefferent, perhaps somewhat ugly or holmely. But, once that body has a personality, an opinion, an ideal, a character, these things alone may be enough for us to find them attractive physically. The same can be said of a body we initially find attractive, but then we hear a rather unintelligent, thoughtless mind speak, a rather cocky personality, and an otherwise unattractive character, and we find them ugly physically. It is not always the case, but it happens to be true often. Thus, beauty, no matter what it comes from, a physical complection, is necessary to a meaningful relationship.
Before ending this dissertation, there are still some thoughts on beauty that will not rest in my heart until I have fully explained them. As I stated before, there are many people who would find it immature or thoughtless to love or deeply care about someone just by their physical complection. But, it is almost a thing of serenity, when a young boy's passions are enveloped around just the image of a girl. Granted, he may not be thoughtful in his quest, but he is listening to his desires. The thoughts and ideas that are spurning in his mind may be misguided, but they are gorgeous, wonderful, and even comforting. Fantasies may be pplayed out where just a kindly personality is placed in the boy's fictionaly apparition of her. He will feel joy when he imagines her impressed with every aspect of him, and very loving and caring of him. The same can be said of a girl and her affection for any handsome man.
With this, I end. I can only hope that I have enlightened some minds.
www.punkerslut.com
For Life,
Punkerslut
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Punkerslut (or Andy Carloff) has been writing essays and poetry on social issues which have caught his attention for several years. His website www.punkerslut.com provides a complete list of all of these writings. His life experience includes homelessness, squating in New Orleans and LA, dropping out of high school, getting expelled from college for "subversive activities," and a myriad of other revolutionary actions.

Beauty and Ecumenicism

2011-09-22T03:17:00.003-07:00

There are many vantage points from which to find beauty. The side of the mountains overlooking Lake Louise on the grass of the hotel sipping champagne with your most cherished friend is a memory of beauty that will always overcome my consciousness. The purr of my friend and companion as he welcomed me home from a hard days work or the smile on the face of most any person who 'sees' what little part of life we can partake in to help each other. There are many beauties and no real evil. This will be dealt with in greater detail under Abraxas in the concept segment. In the whole of the 'brotherhood' there are many religions and in each one; I have found the essence of beauty expressed by wise and metaphysical or soulful people. In Islam my favorite is Sufism. They make a good point about the poison of negativity and any form of thought that does personal energized harm to other life in this quote:
“The soul who had to sympathize with the whole world was thus prepared that the drop of that poison which always produces contempt, resentment and ill feeling against another was destroyed first. So many talk about purification of the heart, and so few really know what it is. Some say to be pure means to be free from all evil thought, but there is no evil thought. Call it evil or call it devil, if there is any such thought it is the thought of bitterness against another. No one with sense and understanding would like to retain a single drop of poison in his body. And how ignorant it is on the part of man when he keeps and cherishes a bitter thought against another in his heart. If a drop of poison can cause death of the body, it is equal to a thousand deaths when the heart retains the smallest thought of bitterness." (56)
The fear of nature or one's inner uncertainties has caused many to find evil in places where beauty exists. Once one no longer has to control nature, there is no place where beauty will not be found. It may be a bittersweet beauty such as seeing your lover find a person she wants to marry; when you are an older man with all the love in the world for a person you love in every way. It may be the joy you feel when you know you aren't going to have to schlep or drudge for money in the socially structured gambit to gain material things. The fears that create the opposite of harmony and brotherhood are the 'poisons' which no true Kelt would know as he/she spoke to Alexander about their creed and their honest appreciation for the soul in everything. Nature has no evil and the crooked bristlecone pine that dormantly awaits the desert rain has lived longer than the rash fast-growing ash that sprouts quickly skyward. In the soul that knows it is immortal the idea of change is welcome and thus the warrior’s death is too.
Thus one who truly loves will let all things and thoughts go free and hope to share the beauty of 'what is'. The Cathars had great 'brothers' in the Sufis who few people in the world are ready to accept the wisdom of in that war-torn realm of misogyny we call the Middle East. In my limited appreciation for the beauty of Jesus I see him being the kind of person who learned and changed throughout each day and therefore all the time he spent on earth. Each moment is a 'Zen' opportunity for the 'greater good'. But how many of our ways of organizing social behavior really wish good for each individual? There is no beauty in more of any THING; rather beauty exists in the fullness of each and EVERY thing. Oh yes, the turn of phrases and eloquence that waxes and wanes poetic can be a joy which in the crevices of thought are beauty-full but are they really beauty when they seek to arrange MORE for the politician and his cronies or platform? Alexander is said the first to have declared himself Divine while alive. We are in truth, all Divine. It is a divine comedy to be sure, this thing we call life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Author of Diverse Druids
Columnist for The ES Press Magazine
World-Mysteries.com guest 'expert'

Should you make your own beauty products?

2011-09-22T03:17:00.001-07:00

With the huge range of beauty products on the shelves, why do some people still make their own beauty products?
I started making my own skin care products years ago. I got a book about natural skin care. You can actually make masks out of mashed fruit. They are really messy though, but back then, I was really broke. Could not afford to spend on good skin care so I made do with what I could get.
I mashed watermelon and put in on my face. My face felt really clean, but there was a bit of a rash after that. I also read that papaya was used in spas for back exfoliating masks. In fact, the enzymes in papayas and pineapples are often used to exfoliate the skin. These can be rather harsh though, so I never tried that on my face.
One thing led to another. I moved on to make my own creams. I went through a period of time where every body lotion I tried from the stores, from the cheap ones to the $20 ones, made my skin itch. That prompted me to make my own body cream.
The cream recipes I found were mainly for cold cream. These were really heavy, oil based stuff. I wanted something lighter. A water based lotion.
A cream is basically droplets of water suspended in oil, kept in that state by an emulsifier. For my creams, I used beeswax as an emulsifier.
I experimented in the kitchen. After plenty of failed experiments. I finally came up with lotion in a texture I simply loved.
A lotion is made of droplets of oil suspended in water, kept together by an emulsifier. I used lecithin for my lotion. Here are some of the lotions I made.
By varying the water based part, using rosewater or tea instead of plain water, you can make all sorts of lotions. Likewise, you can play around with the oil part of the formula, with various infused oils, or a few drops of different essential oils, to change the lotion or cream. You can make tailor your beauty products to your personal tastes, and needs.
I had lots of fun with that. My skin loved these home made creams when they were fresh.
I even made a batch tailored specially for a cousin, using ingredients that she loves.

Yet, I have since stopped making them.
Why?
Laziness is the main reason. Lack of time is another reason.
So much care must go into making the lotions which don't keep. For me, even if I keep the lotions refrigerated, 2 days after making the lotion, if I use it on my face, my skin breaks out. 3 days later, if I use it on my body, my skin itches.
Preservatives are put in commercial skin care products to prevent these from spoiling. Without preservatives, bacteria, mould and all these nasty things multiply rapidly, spoiling the entire batch, causing nasty reactions on the skin. These home made beauty products don't have preservatives. That meant that I had to make new batches of skincare almost everyday.

Also, care must be taken to ensure all the equipment is sterile so the final product is safe to use. Carelessness could introduce lots of nasty germs into the beauty products you make. The water and oil component must be heated to the same temperature and drops of one are added to the other while mixing thoroughly or the batch might separate.
It is so much more convenient to buy beauty products from brands that agree with my skin condition, than to make them from scratch. That is what I have been doing lately. Plus the reknown skincare lines are way better than what I can make. I mean, with their R & D budgets, they can afford to do plenty of research on creating the most effective beauty products for virtually any beauty need.
At the end of the day, whether you make your beauty products or buy them off the shelf, it is a matter of your personal preference.
About the Author
The writer is the writer of the articles in Beauty from A Woman's Heart.

Health Is Internal Beauty

2011-09-22T03:16:00.003-07:00

Excerpted from the book "Your Right to Be Beautiful: How to Halt the Train of Aging and Meet the Most Beautiful You" by Tonya Zavasta. The book is available at: http://www.beautifulonraw.com

Jean Kerr, American author and playwright wrote: “I’m tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That’s deep enough. What do you want an adorable pancreas?”—

Jean Kerr was closer to the truth than she might have realized. Every outside organ of the human body is eligible to be called beautiful, but because internal organs are ordinarily seen only by surgeons, they get excluded from the beauty contest. If our internal organs were observed, we would describe them in terms of attractiveness, and normal color and shape would be considered beautiful. You need only compare pictures of normal healthy internal organs with pictures of their infected and diseased counterparts in the medical books to convince yourself that health and beauty are synonymous.

A healthy colon looks like evenly braided muscles. On the other hand, unhealthy colons are deformed: twisted and looped in some parts, ballooned and engorged in others, as revealed by barium X-rays. Visit a colon therapist, if only to observe the pictures of unhealthy colons and see for yourself how ugly one can be on the inside.

The blood of a healthy person is also beautiful. The red blood cells are uniformly round. The blood of a body full of toxins is contaminated with pathological bacteria, abnormal proteins, and parasites. When red blood corpuscles clump together, the condition is called Rouleau or “sticky” blood. Rouleau, this clumpy, unattractive blood, appears 5 to 20 years before symptoms of illness present themselves. It is an early messenger of hundreds of degenerative diseases. Conglomerates of red blood cells cannot access the fine capillaries of the body. Rouleau is particularly damaging to the organs of the head, in particular the eyes, ears, and scalp. A diet high in meat and dairy products increases the stickiness of your platelets. Blood that becomes sticky is a sure precursor of blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks.

The arterial pipelines in a healthy circulatory system are clean and clear from obstructions. In healthy arteries, the inner lining, called the intima, is smooth, supple, and without cracks. A cross-section of a normal coronary artery shows no arterial thickening or blood-blocking plaque deposits.

An unhealthy circulatory system paints an entirely different picture. The middle muscular layer of the artery can no longer fully recoil after a pulse wave has expanded the vessel. Elasticity of the artery walls is reduced, and cracks and hollows appear. They catch calcium, cholesterol deposits, fat accumulations, and clusters of platelets. Cholesterol deposits roughen the inner surfaces and damage the walls of the arteries. At first, plaque build-up does not cause discomfort--it is just ugly. But later, thick, clogged bloodstream results in coronary arteries becoming occluded with fatty buildup, which effects circulation and causes deterioration of the connective tissues. Deterioration and abnormal hardening of the arteries result in a process called arteriosclerosis and may cause heart disease, stroke, and hypertension.

The body often displays real ingenuity faced with substances it cannot metabolize or eliminate. It breaks them down and distributes them to remote areas of the body away from vital organs to minimize harm. The body takes the poisons out-of-the-way but not necessarily out of sight. The toxic wastes are pushed towards the peripheral organs, which happen to be the skin and every other organ that we can see on the outside.

External deformities are direct manifestations of internal pathologies. Ugly ropes of varicose veins, puffy faces, and cellulite are telling tales about your inside condition. Every pimple, psoriasis, or pigment change on your skin is in fact a reflection of some organ struggling to do its job. Every bulge, boil, or swelling is a sign that the body is pushing out some toxins in its effort to protect itself.

The term “natural beauty” has been misused and abused beyond restoration. Because there is no natural beauty without 100% natural food, the beauty that will emerge on the raw food diet I call Rawsome Beauty. Our external beauty is at its best when our internal organs are in the best possible shape, form, and color. Beautiful is not something extra the body needs: to be beautiful both inside and out is the natural state of one’s body.

The vitality of internal organs, working properly, transcends your skin and brings a radiance to your face. This is when beauty does penetrate the skin. So when we admire sparkling eyes, fabulous skin, and lustrous hair, in a way we are admiring the teamwork of a healthy liver, colon, kidneys, etc. How profound the direct meaning of the phrase "beauty comes from within" really is.

Health and beauty are considered to be chronological losses. In my books I will convince you they don’t have to be. It is biologically possible to look beautiful at any age. I intend to prove that beauty is not an accident; beauty is your birthright, it can be yours through the right daily choices, food you put in your mouth being the most important one. You can dramatically improve your appearance and do it 100 percent on your own without expensive products, plastic surgery or costly cosmetics.

"This article may be freely reprinted as long as the entire article and byline are included."
About the Author
Tonya Zavasta is the raw food lifestyle expert, the author of the books Beautiful On Raw: UnCooked Creations and Your Right to Be Beautiful: How to Halt the Train of Aging and Meet the Most Beautiful You, named a 2004 Health Book of the Year Award finalist by ForeWord Magazine. For more information on how to reveal your Rawsome beauty visit her web-site at: http://www.beautifulonraw.com

The right Beauty Supplies Will make you look Great!

2011-09-22T03:16:00.001-07:00

Use beauty supplies the right way and yours could well be the face that launched a thousand ships! Growing old may be mandatory, but looking it certainly isn’t. It’s just that one has to do it right. But that’s exactly what’s difficult. The mind boggles with the onslaught of unending types of beauty supplies, countless makeup and enticing brands. Am I using the right beauty supplies? Am I doing it correctly? What about side effects? Thankfully, makeup tips are not very difficult to find.
Trust the beauty supply expert.
Generally, you can always trust a beauty supply expert. And thankfully, one is almost always available without much trouble. The media abounds with beauty supply tips. And then there are brands that you can trust your skin with. Or use exotic mineral beauty supplies that are a great alternative to chemical beauty supplies. They use natural ingredients and causes less damage to the skin. Over a period of time, the presence of wrinkled skin could make that vital difference between skin that used regular beauty supplies and skin that used natural beauty supplies.
Beauty supplies today not only means enhancing beauty that is skin-deep, it also means preservation of skin nutrition. After all, our skin is the largest organ of our body and needs adequate nutrition like any other organ. Consistent, healthy skin care is the best way to avoid wrinkles, sunspots and premature aging. It will pay off in the end. We spend our hard-earned cash on beauty and skincare. Lets make sure that its main beneficiary is our skin, not skin care product manufacturers.

Mike Yeager

Publisher

http://www.a1-beauty-4u.com/

mjy610@hotmail.com

A thing of beauty is a joy forever! And that can be You!

2011-09-22T03:15:00.002-07:00

It is said that a thing of beauty is a joy forever. That probably explains why possessing beauty and being beautiful is one of the foremost preoccupations of human beings. Over the years, consumerism has transformed such preoccupations into frank obsession. Inner beauty is no longer in – skin-deep beauty certainly is! But what is wrong with that? Cosmetology and the beauty industry have come of age, aided steadily by advances in cosmetic surgery. Daily workouts, gym sessions, visits to beauty parlors and keeping in sync with beauty and fashion tips has certainly become trendy.
Enhancing your beauty.
Beauty is in the eye of its beholder. Perfect beauty is but an illusion, but if you can feel good about yourself by enhancing your looks, you may find more joy in your life. And it is not too difficult to achieve. The media is full of beauty tips and beauty products. Beauty supplies are always at hand – be it at the Shopping Mall or on the Net. However, it is beautiful to be simple and yet simple to be beautiful. One can surely start from ones home itself. Maintain a regulated lifestyle. Six to eight hours of sleep with fixed times for fixed quantity meals, avoidance of "junk" food and high calorie stuff, lots of fluid intake, high priority for vitamin-rich fruits and a rigid regime of self-discipline, would certainly make a good start in ones quest for beauty.

Mike Yeager

Publisher

http://www.a1-beauty-4u.com/

mjy610@hotmail.com

A Beauty Salon Will Help You Look Your Best!

2011-09-22T03:15:00.000-07:00

A beauty salon will help you look your very best with a price that will fit in almost any budget. A beauty salon will be able to make your hair, skin, toes, and fingernails look marvelous. In addition, most beauty salons offer their services for a fairly reasonable price. However, sometimes it may be difficult to choose what service you want. If that is the case, simply be on the lookout for any fashion style that you like. Look through magazines and cut out photos of styles and colors that you find pleasing. Take notes so that when you do go to a beauty salon, you will know exactly what you want. However, be aware that some beauty salons are better than others. To make sure that you are in high-quality beauty salon, check to see if it has clean beauty salon equipment and a clean work area. Also, be aware that in most states, beauty salons are required to publicly display their establishment license. If the salon or barbershop won’t show you an establishment license, you don’t know whether the shop’s health and safety procedures have been approved by the state.
Time saving Beauty Salon Tips.
A beauty salon visit can be time consuming. To get the most from your visit and still have time left in your day, try these time-trimming tips. Before you leave your beauty salon, schedule your next appointment. Call ahead on your appointment day to see if your stylist is running on time. If not, you won’t have to waste time sitting at the beauty salon when you could be home. If you want to be quickly in and out for your beauty salon appointment, try to schedule the first appointment for the day.

Mike Yeager

Publisher

http://www.a1-beauty-4u.com/

TAKE CARE OF YOUR INNER BEAUTY

2011-09-22T03:14:00.001-07:00

Let us talk about beauty from a different angle!
We have our own criteria for judging the beauty of a woman. We look the beauty of a lady from a certain angle and then pass the remarks whether she is beautiful or not. It’s not fair. Let me tell every woman that she is unique and beautiful.
The business of beauty is thriving everywhere. Women are spending much of their time and money on buying beauty products. Even in the third world countries, women living below the poverty line, buy cheap and substandard beauty products, which give more harm to their skin than good.
It’s the fundamental right of every woman to look beautiful. Every woman wants to listen the sweet words “you are beautiful”. But the beauty of a woman is far from her looks or figure. Physical beauty is only one aspect while a beautiful charming personality is a complete blend of many fine characteristics such as good manners, etiquette, behavior, smile, intelligence, sense of humor, social and family values etc., all make a woman look beautiful and attractive.
Didn’t you know that there is a marked difference between a carefully hand woven expensive Persian carpet and a cheap machine made carpet. Both of these cannot be equated. A beautiful woman is like an elegant hand-knotted Persian carpet. Each and every silky, colorful thread of her character, nicely woven into her personality, gives a woman an everlasting beauty and attraction.
Looks are very important indeed but the characteristics of a person are much more important. Besides taking care of your physical beauty, why not think of improving your inner beauty. The beauty which everyone admires is becoming a rare commodity these days. While on your way to a beauty parlor keep on thinking ways of improving your inner beauty.
Take care of yourself and take care of your inner beauty. No doubt you are a beautiful person!
Hifzur Reman is the author of popular articles on self improvement. He is also the editor of his website: http://www.selfimprovement.ch which is a great source of self-improvement related information on various aspects of life. A visit to his site will open the doors of success for you!
Hifzur Rehman (c) - All Rights Reserved

The Maharishi Ayurveda Approach to Beauty and Skin Care

2011-09-22T03:13:00.001-07:00

The Three Pillars of Beauty

Maharishi Ayurveda (MAV), the modern, consciousness-based revival of the ancient Ayurvedic medicine tradition, considers true beauty to be supported by three pillars; Outer Beauty, Inner Beauty and Lasting Beauty. Only by enhancing all three can we attain the balanced state of radiant health that makes each of us the most fulfilled and beautiful person we can be.

Outer Beauty: Roopam

The outer signs of beauty - your skin, hair and nails - are more than just superficial measures of beauty. They are direct reflections of your overall health. These outer tissues are created by the inner physiological processes involved in digestion, metabolism and proper tissue development. Outer beauty depends more on the strength of your digestion and metabolism, the quality of your diet, and the purity of your blood, than on external cleansers and conditioners you may apply.

General Recommendations for Outer Beauty

As we will discuss, the key to skin care is matching your diet and skin care routine to the specific skin type you have. Meanwhile, there are some valuable recommendations for lustrous skin, hair and nails that will be helpful to everyone, regardless of skin type.

1. Diet: Without adequate nourishment, your collagen layer thins and a kind of wasting takes place. Over time, your skin can shrivel up like a plant without water from lack of nourishment. To keep your skin plump and glowing:

A. Eat fresh, whole organic foods that are freshly prepared.
Avoid packaged, canned, frozen, processed foods and leftovers. These foods have little nutritional value and also they are often poorly digested which creates impurities that localize in the skin. The resulting buildup of toxins causes irritation and blocks circulation depriving the skin of further nourishment and natural cleansing processes.

B. Favor skin nourishing foods.
1. Leafy green vegetables contain vitamins, minerals (especially iron and calcium) and are high in antioxidant properties. They nourish the skin and protect it from premature aging.
2. Sweet juicy fruits like grapes, melons, pears, plums and stewed apples at breakfast are excellent for the skin in almost everyone.
3. Eat a wide variety of grains over different meals and try mixed grain servings at breakfast and lunch. Add amaranth, quinoa, cous cous, millet and barley to the wheat and rice you already eat.
4. Favor light, easy to digest proteins like legume soups (especially yellow split mung dhal), whole milk, paneer (cheese made from boiling milk, adding lemon and straining solids) and lassi (diluted yogurt and spice drinks).
5. Oils like ghee (clarified butter) and organic, extra virgin olive oil should be included in the diet as they lubricate, nourish and create lustre in the skin.
6. Use spices like turmeric, cumin, coriander, and black pepper to improve digestion, nourish the skin and cleanse it of impurities.
7. Avoid microwaving and boiling your vegetables. They lose as much as 85% of their antioxidant content when cooked in this way. Steaming and sautéing are best.

Caring for outer beauty through knowledge of skin type

Besides these general recommendations the key to Outer Beauty is to understand the difference in skin types so you can gain the maximum benefit from your individualized skin care regimen. MAV identifies three different skin types based on which of the three main metabolic principles (doshas)- present in everyone, but to different degrees- is most dominant in your body.

Vata Skin

* Description: Vata is composed of the elements of air and space. If you have a vata skin type, your skin will be dry, thin, fine pored, delicate and cool to the touch. When balanced, it glows with a delicate lightness and refinement that is elegant and attractive. When vata skin is imbalanced, it will be prone to excessive dryness and may even be rough and flaky.

* Potential problems: The greatest beauty challenge for vata skin is its predisposition to symptoms of early aging. Your skin may tend to develop wrinkles earlier than most due to its tendency to dryness and thinness. If your digestion is not in balance, your skin can begin to look dull and grayish, even in your 20’s and 30’s. In addition, your skin may have a tendency for disorders such as dry eczema and skin fungus. Mental stress, such as worry, fear and lack of sleep, has a powerful debilitating effect on vata skin leaving it looking tired and lifeless.

* Recommendations for care
With a little knowledge, you can preserve and protect the delicate beauty of your vata type skin. Since your skin does not contain much moisture, preventing it from drying is the major consideration. Eat a warm, unctuous diet (ghee and olive oil are best) and favor sour, salty and sweet tastes (naturally sweet like fruits, not refined sugar) as they balance vata. Avoid drying foods like crackers. Drink 6-8 glasses of warm (not cold for vata types!) water throughout the day and eat plenty of sweet, juicy fruits. Going to bed early (before 10 PM) is very soothing to vata and will have a tremendously positive influence on your skin. Avoid cleansing products that dry the skin (like alcohol-based cleansers) and perform Ayurvedic oil massage to your whole body (abhyanga) in the morning before you shower.
Pitta Skin.
* Description: Pitta dosha is composed of the elements of fire and water. If you have a pitta skin type your skin is fair, soft, warm and of medium thickness. When balanced, your skin has a beautiful, slightly rosy or golden glow, as if illuminated from within. Your hair typically is fine and straight, and is usually red, sandy or blonde in color. Your complexion tends toward the pink or reddish, and there is often a copious amount of freckles or moles.

* Potential problems: Among the many beauty challenges of pitta skin types is your tendency to develop rashes, rosacea, acne, liver spots or pigment disorders. Because of the large proportion of the fire element in your constitution, your skin does not tolerate heat or sun very well. Of all the three skin types, pitta skin has the least tolerance for the sun, is photosensitive, and most likely to accumulate sun damage over the years. Pitta skin is aggravated by emotional stress, especially suppressed anger, frustration, or resentment.

* Recommendations for care
Avoid excessive sunlight, tanning treatments and highly heating therapies like facial or whole body steams. Avoid hot, spicy foods and favor astringent, bitter and sweet foods which balance pitta. (Again, naturally sweet, not chocolate and refined sugar!) Sweet juicy fruits (especially melons and pears), cooked greens and rose petal preserves are especially good. Drinking plenty of water helps wash impurities from sensitive pitta skin. Reduce external or internal contact with synthetic chemicals, to which your skin is especially prone to react, even in a delayed fashion after years of seemingly uneventful use. Avoid skin products that are abrasive, heating or contain artificial colors or preservatives. Most commercial make-up brands should be avoided in favor of strictly 100% natural ingredient cosmetics. And be sure to get your emotional stress under control through plenty of outdoor exercise, yoga and meditation.

Kapha Skin.
* Description: Kapha dosha is composed of the elements of earth and water. If you have a kapha skin type your skin is thick, oily, soft and cool to the touch. Your complexion is a glowing porcelain whitish color, like the moon, and hair characteristically thick, wavy, oily and dark. Kapha skin types, with their more generous collagen and connective tissue, are fortunate to develop wrinkles much later in life than vata or pitta types.

*Potential problems If your skin becomes imbalanced, it can show up as enlarged pores, excessively oily skin, moist types of eczema, blackheads, acne or pimples, and water retention. Kapha skin is also more prone to fungal infections.

* Recommendations for care
Kapha skin is more prone to clogging and needs more cleansing than other skin types. Be careful to avoid greasy, clogging creams. Likewise, avoid heavy, hard to digest foods like fried foods, fatty meats, cheeses and rich desserts. Eat more light, easy to digest, astringent, bitter and pungent (well-spiced) foods as they balance kapha. Olive oil is the best cooking oil and a little ginger and lime juice can be taken before meals to increase your characteristically sluggish digestive fire. Take warm baths often and use gentle cleansers to open the skin pores. Avoid getting constipated and try to get some exercise every day to increase circulation and help purify the skin through the sweating process.

Inner Beauty: Gunam.

Happy, positive, loving, caring individuals have a special beauty that is far more than skin deep. Conversely we all experience the quick and deleterious effect on our skin from fatigue and stress.

Inner beauty is authentic beauty, not the kind that shows on a made-up face, but the kind that shines through from your soul, your consciousness or inner state of being. Inner beauty comes from a mind and heart that are in harmony, not at odds with each other, causing emotional confusion, loss of confidence, stress and worry. Inner peace is the foundation of outer beauty.

Maintain your self-confidence and a warm, loving personality by paying attention to your lifestyle and daily routine and effective management of stress (I highly recommend the TM technique for its scientifically-verified benefits on mental and physical health and reduced aging.) You will also be healthier and feel better through the day if you eat your main meal at midday and make a habit of going to bed early (by 10 PM is ideal.)

Remember, kindness, friendliness and sincerity naturally attract people to you. On the other hand, being uptight or tense makes people want to walk the other way, regardless of your facial structure, body weight, or other outer signs we associate with attractiveness.

Lasting Beauty: Yayastyag

In order to slow the aging process and gain lasting beauty there are two additional key considerations beyond those already discussed,

1. Eliminate toxins and free radicals in the body: The main deteriorating effects of aging come as toxins and impurities (called ama in Ayurveda) accumulate throughout the body. These toxins may begin as free radicals in the body, or over time may become oxidized into free radicals, all of which contribute to premature aging in the body. For lasting health and beauty it is essential to avoid and neutralize free radicals, to prevent impurities of all kinds from accumulating and to remove those that have already become lodged in the body.

The most powerful cleansing therapy in Maharishi Ayurveda is "panchakarma" therapy, a series of natural treatments ideally performed twice yearly, that involves 5-7 days in a row of massage, heat treatments and mild herbal enemas. Ayurveda emphasizes the importance of undergoing this cleansing program once or twice a year to prevent impurities from accumulating, localizing and hardening in the tissues. Just as we change the oil in our cars regularly for optimal performance and lifespan, Ayurveda recommends that we cleanse the “sludge” from our tissues on a regular basis through panchakarma treatments.

Best of all, panchakarma treatments are luxurious, blissful, and make you feel (and look) completely rejuvenated in just a few days time. I have had many a patient who told me that friends asked them afterwards if they had gotten a facelift, they looked so fresh and youthful!

Other free radical busters include: reducing mental stress, eating antioxidant foods like leafy green vegetables, sweet, juicy fruits and cooking on a daily basis with antioxidant, detoxifying spices like turmeric and coriander.

2. Add rejuvenative techniques to daily living:

The daily activities of life in the modern world systematically wear us down and speed up the aging process. Ayurveda maintains it is crucial to practice daily rejuvenative regimens to counteract the stressful wear and tear of everyday life. According to Ayurveda the most important rejuvenative routines for your life are:

a) Going to bed by 10:00 PM. This simple habit is one of the most powerful techniques for health and longevity, according to MAV.
b) Meditate daily. Any meditation that does not involve concentration (which has been shown to increase anxiety) can be very helpful. I highly recommend the twice-daily deep rest and enlivenment of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique, whose benefits have been verified by over 700 published research studies.
c) Eat organic, whole fresh food that is freshly prepared. There is an Ayurvedic saying: "Without proper diet. medicine is of no use. With proper diet, medicine is of no need." Be sure to avoid those leftovers, processed and microwaved foods for better nutrition and vitality.
d) Perform Ayurvedic oil massage in the morning (abhyanga). Morning oil massage purifies the entire body, reduces anxiety and stress, helps prevent and heal injuries and supports circulation. It is especially helpful in creating a radiant complexion and keeping your skin youthful. Research shows it may also help prevent skin cancers.
e) Practice yoga asanas. Maintaining flexibility and circulation is key to health.
f) Practice pranayama (yoga breathing) techniques. Pranayama enlivens the mind and body. Ideally practice the following sequence twice a day. Asanas, pranayama and meditation.

Summary

Everyone's unique beauty shines forth when they have radiant health and personal happiness. Beauty is a side effect of a balanced, fulfilled life. Supreme personal beauty is accessible to everyone who is willing to take more control of their health in their day-to-day life through time-tested principles of natural living.

For most of us, beauty is not a gift but a choice. Every woman can be radiantly beautiful simply by beginning to lead a healthier life. You will be rewarded by the glowing effects you will see in your mirror each day and the powerful, bliss-producing effect your special beauty has on everyone in your life.

About the Author
Nancy Lonsdorf M.D. received her M.D. from Johns Hopkins and did her postgraduate training at Stanford. She is currently the Medical Director of The Raj Ayurveda Health Center in Vedic City Iowa

http://www.ayurveda-ayurvedic.com

The Maharishi Ayurveda Approach to Beauty and Skin Care with

2011-09-22T03:12:00.001-07:00

“Every person is born perfect. Inferiority is a mistake of the mind, a cloud covering the light. Dissolve the clouds by observing a balanced life with healthy habits. Nourish your mind and body. Connect with your own inner self. Celebrate your own magnificence and your beauty will always shine through.”---- Dr. Rama Kant Mishra, renowned Ayurvedic physician and dermatologist
The Three Pillars of Beauty
Maharishi Ayurveda (MAV), the modern, consciousness-based revival of the ancient Ayurvedic medicine tradition, considers true beauty to be supported by three pillars; Outer Beauty, Inner Beauty and Lasting Beauty. Only by enhancing all three can we attain the balanced state of radiant health that makes each of us the most fulfilled and beautiful person we can be.
Outer Beauty: Roopam
The outer signs of beauty - your skin, hair and nails - are more than just superficial measures of beauty. They are direct reflections of your overall health. These outer tissues are created by the inner physiological processes involved in digestion, metabolism and proper tissue development. Outer beauty depends more on the strength of your digestion and metabolism, the quality of your diet, and the purity of your blood, than on external cleansers and conditioners you may apply.
General Recommendations for Outer Beauty
As we will discuss, the key to skin care is matching your diet and skin care routine to the specific skin type you have. Meanwhile, there are some valuable recommendations for lustrous skin, hair and nails that will be helpful to everyone, regardless of skin type.
1. Diet: Without adequate nourishment, your collagen layer thins and a kind of wasting takes place. Over time, your skin can shrivel up like a plant without water from lack of nourishment. To keep your skin plump and glowing:
A. Eat fresh, whole organic foods that are freshly prepared.
Avoid packaged, canned, frozen, processed foods and leftovers. These foods have little nutritional value and also they are often poorly digested which creates impurities that localize in the skin. The resulting buildup of toxins causes irritation and blocks circulation depriving the skin of further nourishment and natural cleansing processes.
B. Favor skin nourishing foods. Leafy green vegetables contain vitamins, minerals (especially iron and calcium) and are high in antioxidant properties. They nourish the skin and protect it from premature aging. Sweet juicy fruits like grapes, melons, pears, plums and stewed apples at breakfast are excellent for the skin in almost everyone. Eat a wide variety of grains over different meals and try mixed grain servings at breakfast and lunch. Add amaranth, quinoa, cous cous, millet and barley to the wheat and rice you already eat. Favor light, easy to digest proteins like legume soups (especially yellow split mung dhal), whole milk, paneer (cheese made from boiling milk, adding lemon and straining solids) and lassi (diluted yogurt and spice drinks). Oils like ghee (clarified butter) and organic, extra virgin olive oil should be included in the diet as they lubricate, nourish and create lustre in the skin. Use spices like turmeric, cumin, coriander, and black pepper to improve digestion, nourish the skin and cleanse it of impurities. Avoid microwaving and boiling your vegetables. They lose as much as 85% of their antioxidant content when cooked in this way. Steaming and sautéing are best.
Caring for outer beauty through knowledge of skin type
Besides these general recommendations the key to Outer Beauty is to understand the difference in skin types so you can gain the maximum benefit from your individualized skin care regimen. MAV identifies three different skin types based on which of the three main metabolic principles (doshas)- present in everyone, but to different degrees- is most dominant in your body.
Vata Skin
* Description: Vata is composed of the elements of air and space. If you have a vata skin type, your skin will be dry, thin, fine pored, delicate and cool to the touch. When balanced, it glows with a delicate lightness and refinement that is elegant and attractive. When vata skin is imbalanced, it will be prone to excessive dryness and may even be rough and flaky.
* Potential problems: The greatest beauty challenge for vata skin is its predisposition to symptoms of early aging. Your skin may tend to develop wrinkles earlier than most due to its tendency to dryness and thinness. If your digestion is not in balance, your skin can begin to look dull and grayish, even in your 20’s and 30’s. In addition, your skin may have a tendency for disorders such as dry eczema and skin fungus. Mental stress, such as worry, fear and lack of sleep, has a powerful debilitating effect on vata skin leaving it looking tired and lifeless.
* Recommendations for care
With a little knowledge, you can preserve and protect the delicate beauty of your vata type skin. Since your skin does not contain much moisture, preventing it from drying is the major consideration. Eat a warm, unctuous diet (ghee and olive oil are best) and favor sour, salty and sweet tastes (naturally sweet like fruits, not refined sugar) as they balance vata. Avoid drying foods like crackers. Drink 6-8 glasses of warm (not cold for vata types!) water throughout the day and eat plenty of sweet, juicy fruits. Going to bed early (before 10 PM) is very soothing to vata and will have a tremendously positive influence on your skin. Avoid cleansing products that dry the skin (like alcohol-based cleansers) and perform Ayurvedic oil massage to your whole body (abhyanga) in the morning before you shower.
Pitta Skin.
* Description: Pitta dosha is composed of the elements of fire and water. If you have a pitta skin type your skin is fair, soft, warm and of medium thickness. When balanced, your skin has a beautiful, slightly rosy or golden glow, as if illuminated from within. Your hair typically is fine and straight, and is usually red, sandy or blonde in color. Your complexion tends toward the pink or reddish, and there is often a copious amount of freckles or moles.
* Potential problems: Among the many beauty challenges of pitta skin types is your tendency to develop rashes, rosacea, acne, liver spots or pigment disorders. Because of the large proportion of the fire element in your constitution, your skin does not tolerate heat or sun very well. Of all the three skin types, pitta skin has the least tolerance for the sun, is photosensitive, and most likely to accumulate sun damage over the years. Pitta skin is aggravated by emotional stress, especially suppressed anger, frustration, or resentment.
* Recommendations for care
Avoid excessive sunlight, tanning treatments and highly heating therapies like facial or whole body steams. Avoid hot, spicy foods and favor astringent, bitter and sweet foods which balance pitta. (Again, naturally sweet, not chocolate and refined sugar!) Sweet juicy fruits (especially melons and pears), cooked greens and rose petal preserves are especially good. Drinking plenty of water helps wash impurities from sensitive pitta skin. Reduce external or internal contact with synthetic chemicals, to which your skin is especially prone to react, even in a delayed fashion after years of seemingly uneventful use. Avoid skin products that are abrasive, heating or contain artificial colors or preservatives. Most commercial make-up brands should be avoided in favor of strictly 100% natural ingredient cosmetics. And be sure to get your emotional stress under control through plenty of outdoor exercise, yoga and meditation.
Kapha Skin.
* Description: Kapha dosha is composed of the elements of earth and water. If you have a kapha skin type your skin is thick, oily, soft and cool to the touch. Your complexion is a glowing porcelain whitish color, like the moon, and hair characteristically thick, wavy, oily and dark. Kapha skin types, with their more generous collagen and connective tissue, are fortunate to develop wrinkles much later in life than vata or pitta types.
*Potential problems If your skin becomes imbalanced, it can show up as enlarged pores, excessively oily skin, moist types of eczema, blackheads, acne or pimples, and water retention. Kapha skin is also more prone to fungal infections.
* Recommendations for care
Kapha skin is more prone to clogging and needs more cleansing than other skin types. Be careful to avoid greasy, clogging creams. Likewise, avoid heavy, hard to digest foods like fried foods, fatty meats, cheeses and rich desserts. Eat more light, easy to digest, astringent, bitter and pungent (well-spiced) foods as they balance kapha. Olive oil is the best cooking oil and a little ginger and lime juice can be taken before meals to increase your characteristically sluggish digestive fire. Take warm baths often and use gentle cleansers to open the skin pores. Avoid getting constipated and try to get some exercise every day to increase circulation and help purify the skin through the sweating process.
Inner Beauty: Gunam.
Happy, positive, loving, caring individuals have a special beauty that is far more than skin deep. Conversely we all experience the quick and deleterious effect on our skin from fatigue and stress.
Inner beauty is authentic beauty, not the kind that shows on a made-up face, but the kind that shines through from your soul, your consciousness or inner state of being. Inner beauty comes from a mind and heart that are in harmony, not at odds with each other, causing emotional confusion, loss of confidence, stress and worry. Inner peace is the foundation of outer beauty.
Maintain your self-confidence and a warm, loving personality by paying attention to your lifestyle and daily routine and effective management of stress (I highly recommend the TM technique for its scientifically-verified benefits on mental and physical health and reduced aging.) You will also be healthier and feel better through the day if you eat your main meal at midday and make a habit of going to bed early (by 10 PM is ideal.)
Remember, kindness, friendliness and sincerity naturally attract people to you. On the other hand, being uptight or tense makes people want to walk the other way, regardless of your facial structure, body weight, or other outer signs we associate with attractiveness.
Lasting Beauty: Yayastyag
In order to slow the aging process and gain lasting beauty there are two additional key considerations beyond those already discussed,
1. Eliminate toxins and free radicals in the body: The main deteriorating effects of aging come as toxins and impurities (called ama in Ayurveda) accumulate throughout the body. These toxins may begin as free radicals in the body, or over time may become oxidized into free radicals, all of which contribute to premature aging in the body. For lasting health and beauty it is essential to avoid and neutralize free radicals, to prevent impurities of all kinds from accumulating and to remove those that have already become lodged in the body.
The most powerful cleansing therapy in Maharishi Ayurveda is "panchakarma" therapy, a series of natural treatments ideally performed twice yearly, that involves 5-7 days in a row of massage, heat treatments and mild herbal enemas. Ayurveda emphasizes the importance of undergoing this cleansing program once or twice a year to prevent impurities from accumulating, localizing and hardening in the tissues. Just as we change the oil in our cars regularly for optimal performance and lifespan, Ayurveda recommends that we cleanse the “sludge” from our tissues on a regular basis through panchakarma treatments.
Best of all, panchakarma treatments are luxurious, blissful, and make you feel (and look) completely rejuvenated in just a few days time. I have had many a patient who told me that friends asked them afterwards if they had gotten a facelift, they looked so fresh and youthful!
Other free radical busters include: reducing mental stress, eating antioxidant foods like leafy green vegetables, sweet, juicy fruits and cooking on a daily basis with antioxidant, detoxifying spices like turmeric and coriander.
2. Add rejuvenative techniques to daily living:
The daily activities of life in the modern world systematically wear us down and speed up the aging process. Ayurveda maintains it is crucial to practice daily rejuvenative regimens to counteract the stressful wear and tear of everyday life. According to Ayurveda the most important rejuvenative routines for your life are: Going to bed by 10:00 PM. This simple habit is one of the most powerful techniques for health and longevity, according to MAV. Meditate daily. Any meditation that does not involve concentration (which has been shown to increase anxiety) can be very helpful. I highly recommend the twice-daily deep rest and enlivenment of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique, whose benefits have been verified by over 700 published research studies. Eat organic, whole fresh food that is freshly prepared. There is an Ayurvedic saying: "Without proper diet. medicine is of no use. With proper diet, medicine is of no need." Be sure to avoid those leftovers, processed and microwaved foods for better nutrition and vitality. Perform Ayurvedic oil massage in the morning (abhyanga). Morning oil massage purifies the entire body, reduces anxiety and stress, helps prevent and heal injuries and supports circulation. It is especially helpful in creating a radiant complexion and keeping your skin youthful. Research shows it may also help prevent skin cancers. Practice yoga asanas. Maintaining flexibility and circulation is key to health. Practice pranayama (yoga breathing) techniques. Pranayama enlivens the mind and body. Ideally practice the following sequence twice a day. Asanas, pranayama and meditation.
Summary
Everyone's unique beauty shines forth when they have radiant health and personal happiness. Beauty is a side effect of a balanced, fulfilled life. Supreme personal beauty is accessible to everyone who is willing to take more control of their health in their day-to-day life through time-tested principles of natural living.
For most of us, beauty is not a gift but a choice. Every woman can be radiantly beautiful simply by beginning to lead a healthier life. You will be rewarded by the glowing effects you will see in your mirror each day and the powerful, bliss-producing effect your special beauty has on everyone in your life.
About the Author
Nancy Lonsdorf M.D. received her M.D. from Johns Hopkins and did her postgraduate training at Stanford. She has studied Ayurveda with some of the world's most renowned Ayurvedic physicians in India, Europe and the U.S. Dr. Lonsdorf has 17 years of clinical experience with Ayurveda and is currently the Medical Director of The Raj Ayurveda Health Center in Vedic City Iowa.
Dr. Lonsdorf has authored two books on Ayurveda and women's health: A Woman's Best Medicine (Penguin/Putnam 1995 ; ISBN 0-87477-785-2) describing the Ayurvedic approach to the major issues in women's health A Woman's Best Medicine for Menopause (Contemporary/McGraw Hill 2002; ISBN 0-8092-9335-8) describing the Ayurvedic approach to menopause
Doctor Lonsdorf's contact information is:
Nancy Lonsdorf M.D.
1734 Jasmine Avenue
Vedic City, IA 52556
641-472-8246
web site url: http://www.ayurveda-ayurvedic.com/
info@ayurveda-ayurvedic.com

The Truth About Beauty

2011-09-22T03:11:00.002-07:00

What's with this fascination with beauty?

The demand for beauty services in spite of the economy?
Even when there is a recession, beauty parlours still flourish. Beauty products still fly off the shelves.

There is this saying that beauty is skin deep.

Then again, first impressions count.

Put it this way. Beauty is power. That was true centuries ago. That is true today.

When a beautiful woman walks into a bar, men flock to her and offer to buy her drinks. When an unattractive woman walks into the same bar, chances are, she would have to buy her own drinks.

A beautiful salesperson, man or woman is more likely to win the sale. Between a beautiful job seeker and an unattractive one, all other things being equal, the employer is likely to choose the good looker.

Like it or not, looks do count.

In the past, when women were dependent on men to support them, beauty was everything to a woman. A beautiful woman would have more suitors. She would be able to marry up. To marry a rich man who could take care of all her financial needs and that of her children. Long before commercial cosmetics existed, mothers would instruct their daughters on traditional beauty remedies. Simple beauty remedies like using mayonnaise as a moisturizer, or egg white as a firming mask were often used by women in the days before commercial cosmetics.

Then along came women entrepreneurs like Estee Lauder and other women from around the world. They converted traditional beauty recipes which worked for themselves into beauty creams that they sold to other women. Every woman has a right to look her most beautiful and these women were selling others their beauty secrets.

Women all over the world are willing to suffer for the sake of beauty. Long ago, in China, women in wealthy families would bind their feet. The Chinese back then view tiny feet as beautiful, so little girls have their feet bound, to prevent them from growing big and ugly. Now that long legs are considered beautiful, some women go through a very painful medical procedure that breaks their legs, and stretches their legs by a few millimeters a day through a painful device until they attain the height they want. With their newfound height, these girls can look forward to a wealthy, glamorous future as an international model.

In Europe, centuries ago, wasp waists and curvy bodies were considered beautiful, so corsets were worn to make the waist look much smaller. These were tied so tightly that women faint easily. All for the sake of beauty. Now, corsets are in again. These days, women and men subject themselves to surgery to attain the beauty they desire. Liposuction to remove the excess fat to contour the body. Breast augmentation for bigger breasts that are considered beautiful. Nose jobs, face lifts, the works.

Both men and women even have poison (botox) injected into their faces to paralyze their facial muscles in order to erase the expression lines we know as wrinkles.

There is also a return to natural beauty remedies. This time, commercial cosmetics use natural ingredients that women have used in centuries in the home beauty preparations.

With modern advances, beauty preparations are more effective than ever. Even doctors have developed their own skin care ranges. Acne can be a thing of the past with some of the latest acne treatments. Some doctors, both dermatologists and general practitioners offer facials which treat most of today's skin problems very effectively. After all, beauty is skin deep. Healthy skin is beautiful.

There is wisdom in the old ways women took care of their looks. Fresh food, exercise, plenty of water, plenty of sleep, soap and water. That's all the women in the olden days had in their beauty routine. These days, add a good sunscreen worn every day to protect your skin from the sun. A good toner, cleanser and moisturizer, a regular scrub and mask and you are done.
About the Author
The writer is the webmaster of Cosmetics Online , where you can find cosmetics, skincare, makeup and all the beauty products from your favourite beauty brand.

Beauty, Gratitude and the Open Heart

2011-09-22T03:11:00.000-07:00

"…beauty on your earth is a shadow of the beauty of our heaven, and it’s a bitter thing to have a blindness for beauty on earth, for it makes a longer teaching to see the beauties of heaven." Spoken by an Irish spirit in the book The Boy who Saw True (anonymous author).

I have been counseling individuals, couples, families and business partners for the last 35 years, and am the author of eight published books. Since my work is spiritually based, I have developed many ways of helping people open their hearts to love. Opening to beauty is one of those way.

I have always appreciated beauty. Since I’ve been a small child, I’ve collect beautiful things - shells, rocks, wood, as well as works of art, and there are always lots of plants around. There is nowhere in my environment where there is not something beautiful to look at, both inside and outside in nature. When I walk through my home and the land around it, my heart fills with awe and love as I appreciate the beauty around me. I’ve done this so automatically throughout my life that it never occurred to me that many people do not open to beauty nor create beauty around them.

In working with some of my clients struggling to keep their heart open, I’ve mentioned focusing on an object of beauty, and have been surprised to find that many of them have no beauty around them - no plants, flowers, works of art or objects of nature. When they look around they see walls, appliances, computers and other buildings. Their left brain functions just fine in this environment, but what about the right - the creative, intuitive, spiritually-connected aspect?

I want to encourage everyone who reads this to consider feeding your soul with beauty. There is nothing like awe and gratitude for something beautiful to open the heart to gratitude in general. If you can love the intricate design in the bark of a tree, or the vibrancy of a flower, or the balance of a beautifully thrown piece of pottery - that might lead you into loving and appreciating the beauty of you and your own soul. It might open you to feeling gratitude for your life and the sacred privilege of experiencing your journey on this planet.

How much of your thinking time is spent being upset or unhappy about something? What if all that time was spent in gratitude for what you have and for the beauty around you? What if you were present enough in this moment to revel in the fact that you can turn on a faucet and have hot water come out? That you have food to eat and a bed to sleep on? If you are reading this, it is likely that you have a computer, which means you have more than most of the people on this planet.

Try this little experiment: find something of beauty - it can be as simple as a leaf, a flower, a photograph, a small work of art or the top of a tree out your window. Now let yourself completely open to the thing of beauty. Let yourself feel the beauty in your body - in your heart, your solar plexus, in your stomach, arms and legs, in your forehead. Let the beauty enliven your body and fill it with vitality. Breathe in the beauty and feel your body’s reaction to it. Open to gratitude, thanking God for this experience of beauty.

Notice the peace and joy it gives you to be in this moment with this simple object of beauty. What would life be like if you spent more moments like this, in the present with beauty and with all you have? How much of your waking time is spent in this way?

Beauty and gratitude are soul foods. When you choose to open to them, you extend an invitation to love, peace and joy. This raises your frequency and opens the door to your spiritual Guidance. Your Guidance is always here for you, helping you on your soul’s journey. Opening to beauty and gratitude, with a deep intent to learn about what is loving to you and others, will open you to your spiritual Guidance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?", "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By My Kids?", "Healing Your Aloneness","Inner Bonding", and "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By God?" Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com
The following article is offered for free use in your ezine,
print publication or on your web site, so long as the author resource box at the end is included. Notification of publication would be appreciated.

Title: Beauty, Gratitude and the Open Heart
Author: Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
E-mail: mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com
Copyright: © 2003 by Margaret Paul
Web Address: http://www.innerbonding.com
Word Count: 721
Category: Spiritual Growth

Beauty, Gratitude and the Open Heart
Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

Divine Food for Divine Beauty

2011-09-22T03:09:00.001-07:00

Excerpted from the book “Your Right to Be Beautiful: How to Halt the Train of Aging and Meet the Most Beautiful You” by Tonya Zavasta. The book is available at: http://www.beautifulonraw.com/html/righttobe.html
The phrase "natural beauty" has been abused and misused beyond restoration. The modern use is almost never associated with its true meaning. Someone said there should be a portrait of a healthy person in a museum so people would know what they are talking about. If we don’t know what a healthy person looks like, how do we know what natural beauty is?
In our unnatural world, the word "natural" no longer means without effort, at least not in the realm of obtaining your best look. One thing is a must in defining natural beauty: its achievement must not involve any sacrifice of health. None, period. If health is compromised in any way beauty is not natural.
Our body was created in the image of God, the Supreme Beauty. When our actions are in opposition to nature, the results are different types of bodily ills, deformities, and ugliness. Since there can be no natural beauty without eating 100 percent natural food, most of you have never seen the natural you.
There is an urgent need for another word. The contemporary meaning of natural is too far from the divine. I suggest filling this void with "rawsome", a new word circulating in the raw food community. It is a combination of two words:" raw" and "awesome" with the meaning being something between natural and divine. The diet of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds also needs to be renamed. I have often been told that the phrase “the raw food diet”, sounds like eating raw meat, particularly sushi, which is misleading. The raw food diet is so awesome that it should be called the very name it inspired- the Rawsome Diet.
Most of us feel our appearance lacks something. In reality, ugliness is more about excess. Toxic accumulations in our bodies are responsible for stealing our health and attractiveness. Beauty lies latent under cushions of retained fluids, deposits of fat, and sick tissues. Your beauty is buried alive, but in most cases it can be revived in a version that will be satisfactory to you. You must take immediate action to revitalize it. When you do, your uncovered beauty will surprise and delight you.
Eating cooked food will leave residues the body cannot utilize, and they will be deposited in places our Creator never intended. Everything not fully digested and properly eliminated, the body will treat as an abnormal substance. It will pocket these toxins as far away from the vital organs as possible--on the peripheries of the body--where it will invariably be reflected in our outward appearance. If the body cannot use it inside, it will deposit it on the outside. Nutrients from the food you eat spiral upward to the epidermis, and their quality will determine whether you will have a glowing clear complexion or skin spotted with growths, such as moles and skin sores.
Some physical characteristics of our face and body we cannot change--they were determined prior to our birth. But the consumption of the raw plant diet as an adult will make a difference in the texture of skin and hair, the health of nails, weight and complexion. All of these traits and more are determined by daily choices, with food being one of the most important and, luckily, the one we can fully control.
The Rawsome diet is the most suitable one for human physiology. It is salubrious to the body’s health and salutary to its beauty. The ability to renew cells is built into your body, and the body itself is capable of making you look more attractive. After all, we were designed to bloom continuously as old cells get replaced by new ones. The Rawsome diet makes the most of this rejuvenating ability of our bodies.
Rawsome beauty is not manufactured from the outside but cultivated from the inside by nutritionally charged food. Whole raw food restores the integrity of every cell and facilitates the optimal operation of every organ inside and out. The body, having been awakened by the improved diet, in its wisdom, will reach out to the places where health was lacking, and you will gradually see your beauty surfacing. The Rawsome diet will eliminate all the toxins on a deeper level and bring amazing changes to your appearance.
Only the body sustained on raw food will host natural beauty, or should we say Rawsome beauty. The landscape of the body will change. The surface of the skin will become soft and smooth but still firm and supple. Visible pores will diminish. A sallow skin with a yellow pallor will turn into a porcelain-like complexion. The whites of eyes, once red, will become bright with a bluish tinge. As natural collagen production improves, it will fill in the places where it is needed as in hollow cheeks. Raw food eating will clarify and refine your features and bring delicacy to your face.
On the Rawsome Diet, you will marvel at how the Master Artist will make the most of your individual features and bring balance to the entire face. Texture, hues, and shape will be harmoniously arranged into a genteel whole. Perfection and imperfection will be tied together into a unique original version of beauty.
Each time I see a woman, I study her appearance, and I see not just the way she looks but the way she could look. What I see is how far her image falls short of her potential beauty. I perceive her beauty as it would stand out after the body has cleansed itself from toxins and excesses.
From age 15 until recently, I wore my hair permed, only to discover at 45 that straight hair in my natural color was the best possible frame for my face. Did my preference change? Not at all. My face did. So let me give you a hint, if you need a camouflaging hairdo, you are not looking your best. The changes in your face brought about by raw foods will bring the freedom to arrange your hair in any way you want. When your peer group is thinking: “I am losing my looks”, you will be finding yours. At 45, I enjoy looking in the mirror while before I detested my reflection.
As the cleansing initiated by this diet is completed, you will be very pleased to see how you were meant to look. Your body will exhibit beauty and dignity. You will become satisfied, even fascinated, with your appearance. When you look your very best, you look perfect, in a sense that you are as close to the divine image for yourself as you could ever be. You accept yourself completely. Natural beauty is above conformity; it doesn’t demand to be accepted by the dictates of the beauty norm.
People who have been on the raw food lifestyle for several years begin to have a glow, the kind not often seen in middle-aged people. Optimal health is recognized by an emerging radiance. Glow is hard to fake because it is internal. It comes from an abundance of clear, pink, almost transparent cells that light up the face. Only superior blood circulation can bring this transfiguring glow. Several years on the raw food diet will make you look as though you just stepped out of a painting by Renoir--the impressionist best known for his preoccupation with light.
I have come to believe if you do not embrace the 100 percent raw food diet, you will never meet The Most Beautiful You. The best proof that the Rawsome diet is optimal for the body is it makes you beautiful. Slim face, slender waist, and clear skin with smooth coloration-these subtle changes will convince you the raw plant diet is the best for good health and graceful beauty. No woman knows her true beauty until she cleanses her body completely of all waste.
You can say there are people who are beautiful, and they are not on this diet. That is true. It is hard to believe, but even they haven't seen the best of themselves. Dissatisfaction with one’s appearance arises not from perceiving our bodies inaccurately but because subconsciously we are aware we haven’t achieved our optimal look. The Rawsome diet gives a feeling of authenticity, an assurance we have become what we were meant to be.
Raw food not only corrects beauty’s shortcomings but also lifts the limitations of one’s spirit and releases strains and tensions in both your mind and body. People on the raw food diet have an aura about them, a transcendent nobility and complacent dignity. Sickness is goodness lost, and our unhappiness is a longing for goodness. One takes in the goodness in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables and feels its purifying process on the inside. Goodness in one’s food summons up goodness in one’s appearance and character.
Do you think it is hard to follow this life style? Women have done so many outrageous and dangerous things to themselves in the pursuit of beauty, I believe they should at least try the Rawsome lifestyle, which promises to transform them into beautiful people. What a woman won’t do for health, she will do for beauty. This is the first time beauty asks no sacrifice from health.
©2003Tonya Zavasta
This article may be freely reprinted in its entirety as long as the entire article, byline and URL are included.

Tonya Zavasta is the author of the book “Your Right to Be Beautiful: How to Halt the Train of Aging and Meet the Most Beautiful You” and of the soon to be published its sequel “Beautiful on Raw”. In these books Tonya comes across as an ambassador for plain looking women in their quest for physical beauty. Tonya knows firsthand what it is to be humiliated, face adversity and meet the complex obstacles of daily living with a congenital disability. Facing several reconstructive hip surgeries to enable her to walk, she sought a way to offset the devastating effects of anesthetics on her health and appearance. She became more and more convinced that the solution to her quest for health and beauty was to be found in the raw food lifestyle or the Rawsome Diet as she calls it. The Rawsome Diet not only helped her to sail courageously through troublesome times, brought her general health and appearance to an all time best, but also opened a new chapter of her life. Firmly believing that the roots of under-performing and under-achieving lie in feeling and looking less than your personal best, she is on a mission: she wants every woman to look and feel beautiful. Tonya is convinced that by eating as God intended everyone can look uniquely beautiful as God envisioned. To learn more about how you can uncover your Rawsome beauty, visit: www.beautifulonraw.com

4 Ways to Improve Your Twitter Strategy

2011-01-31T02:36:00.000-08:00

A few months ago my friend Dr. Ben Hanna led an extensive statistical study to discover the optimal tweeting strategy by running matched tests of tweets over a period of weeks. He uncovered some very interesting ideas that will help you get more out of every tweet!

Tweet quality versus tweet quantity – The study looked at the relevant importance of tweeting only when you had something really interesting to pass along (quality focus) versus a strategy of tweeting with frequency to make sure your content was always in front of your audience (quantity focus). The study showed tweet quality is MUCH more important than quantity. Tweets that provided a higher average number of clicks per tweet with a track-able link correlated to higher follower growth.

I guess this finding verifies my hunch. People who tweet on a schedule just strike me as unapproachable and disconnected. While the study definitely verified the “quality” strategy, you still have to be in the game – average tweets/day during their testing ranged from 2.9 to 11.0.

The first words are critical – At 140 characters, tweets are like headlines and people scan them quickly. If you want to catch someone’s eye, think like an advertising copy writer and make sure that either the main topic keywords or a number/statistic are found in the first 3-5 words.

The results also recommended against using the standard retweet style (i.e. “RT @markwschaefer: …” to start the tweet), instead shift attribution to the end of the tweet (i.e. “… via @markwschaefer”) so people can concentrate on the first words.

Quality tweets live four days – If you measure the lifespan of a tweet by the number of days on which it receives at least one click, then tweets don’t live very long. On average, tweets with a clickable link received at least one click on four separate days with a range of one day (not a very popular tweet) to 23 days (very popular content).

Optimal time between tweets – In a study examining the number of clicks on business-related tweets, the optimal space between business tweets to attract the most clicks is either 31-60 minutes or 2-3 hours. Tightly packed tweets just don’t appear to attract as much attention as tweets with more space between them. The study really couldn’t explain the bi-modal distribution. The cause of the dip in click activity for tweets between 61 and 120 minutes is uncertain.

I found this research interesting and hope it will help you hit your tweet-spot on Twitter! Any surprises? What do you think makes a tweet work?

Source: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2011/01/24/4-ways-to-improve-your-twitter-strategy
About the author:Executive Director Mark Schaefer has 28 years of global sales and marketing experience and advanced degrees in business and applied behavioral sciences.

Facebook Gives Businesses More Security for Their Apps

2011-01-31T02:33:00.001-08:00

Earlier this week, Facebook launched some new security features for user accounts. Now, they've followed that up with new security feature for applications.

"As companies building on Platform grow, they develop the need to give people different levels of access, depending on individuals' roles," says Facebook engineer Harshdeep Singh.

Apps now have roles for: administrator, developer, tester, and insights user. An administrator of course has complete access to everything. A developer can modify technical settings and access Insights, but they can't reset secret keys, delete apps, or add users. Testers can simply test the app in sandbox mode, but can't modify it. Insights users can access insights, but can't modify the app.

To start, all users listed as developers will become administrators, and Facebook is encouraging them to update their settings.
They've also added more ways to monitor and control application changes. "To help businesses track changes, administrators can now specify an email address to receive notifications when their application's settings are modified," says Singh. "We've also introduced an advanced security feature, which lets administrators require that changes are made from specific IP addresses."

As more and more businesses rely on Facebook applications (a number that is bound to increase significantly as Facebook Credits continue to pick up steam), it's going to be increasingly important that businesses have all the control possible for their applications, so these changes would appear to be much needed.

Source: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2011/01/28/facebook-gives-businesses-more-security-for-their-apps

About the author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter. Twitter: @CCrum237

Now You Can Monetize Your Facebook Fans By Promoting Their Likes

2011-01-31T02:31:00.001-08:00

Facebook has a new ad product that may be its most promising ad unit yet - the sponsored story. These ads are simply brand-related stories that users have already shared, but then paid for by the brand mentioned to appear in the ad space, as to attract more attention and engagement.

Will you be promoting your fans' engagement with your brand? Let us know.

For example, if one of our Facebook fans likes an article that we posted or likes our Facebook page in general, we could pay Facebook to promote that, and that story from that fan would appear in the column to people who would have already seen it in the first place.

"So, my friend Joe goes, and he checks into Starbucks," explains Phil, a Facebook engineer. "That will appear on my news feed, and I may or may not see it, and what we've seen is that a lot of impressions do get lost because there's so much content coming through. Starbucks can come in and say, 'I want to promote check-ins to our locations', so when I come to the site, I see a story that my friend checked into Starbucks. Now, I can click through. I can like the Starbucks page from that story, and when I like that page, it creates more organic content."
"When we make decisions about the products we want to buy or places we want to go, we're basically looking for cues from our friends about what those things should be, and all us aren't out there trying to market ourselves or try to influence people to go somewhere or do something, but the reality is when we make a decision, we're looking for information, and we want that information to come from people we trust," says product manager Kent.

If you're worried about how Facebook is using your content, the company says it will never show it to somebody who's not your friend. The only people who will see it are the people who would've seen it in the first place via the newsfeed.
According to AdAge, there is no opting out of the feature (that could change if enough people complain about it). The publication also says, "The way that the product is today, a check-in post will show up in the ad feed exactly as the user wrote it. So if a user checks into Starbucks with a 'I hate this place, but it's the only coffee around' then that's exactly what the 'ad' turns out to be." Advertisers can limit their sponsored stories to likes though, if they want.
According to recent estimates, Facebook took in about $1.86 billion in ad revenue in 2010. I expect that will increase significantly this year.

These ads could prove to be extremely effective, as they're not really ads at all. They're real stories from friends - at least that's how they start out. Like Phil says, "It's your friend saying, 'Look, I did this, and I want to tell you about it.'"

Ning, a Facebook engineer, says that in the pilot cases, sponsored stories increased brand lift and the likeliness to recommend the product to another friend.

Source: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2011/01/25/now-you-can-monetize-your-facebook-fans-by-promoting-their-likes

About the author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter. Twitter: @CCrum237

If nothing else, it's a clear cut way to monetize Facebook fans. More in this video from Facebook.

Add Sponsored Stories to Facebook's already powerful ad platform, targeting users based on their profile information, and Facebook is becoming a more and more attractive place to spend online advertising dollars. I still haven't ruled out the possibility that they'll eventually launch an AdSense-like network that will send targeted Facebook ads out across the web, but they've still given no indication that they're going that direction. It still seems like an obvious choice though.

Establishing A Sustainable Social Media Marketing Strategy

2011-01-31T02:29:00.001-08:00

For companies trying to make sense of social media and online marketing, it’s important to take a step back from all the “TwitFaceBlogTubeIn” mania for a second and look at the nature of how these things are going to work for the overall business.
There are many questions that need answers: ”Should we develop a strategy first before engaging?”, ”Should we experiment and develop a strategy as we go?”, “Will it ever be OK to ask customers if they want to buy directly within social channels or will we always have to tiptoe around the subject?”
Here are a few considerations to help answer those questions and establish the framework for a sustainable and successful social media marketing program.
Social Media Strategy: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pond of cure”. Having some idea of what measurable goals and business outcomes you’re after is essential for planning resources and forecasting outcomes. This is true with any kind of marketing and is certainly the case with social media.
I polled a number of industry smarties on social media strategy vs. tactics and while there was some distance between the approach Guy Kawasaki preferred and that of people like Chris Brogan, the consensus was that developing an approach is essential for planning, implementation, accountability and measurement of success.
The formation of a social media strategy is a ripe opportunity for creativity and certainly shouldn’t get in the way of getting started. Gaining consensus about social strategy within a corporation could easily create a bottleneck. A strategy that calls for experimentation with iterative improvement in the context of overall goals, approach, tactics, audience and an effort to measure success is more likely to be implemented and gain support.
Social Media Marketing Tactics: The best mix of tactics needs to tie into the plan for reaching business goals. Whether it’s “Better engage with our customers” to “Filling the top of the sales funnel”, an understanding of audience preferences and behaviors will lead to the right tactical mix.
A lot of companies take the path of least resistance and go for what I like to call, “The Social 5-Pack” of: Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, YouTube and LinkedIn without thinking through tactics. For example, one common question often I hear is, “Is a LinkedIn group a better use of time and resources or a Facebook Fan Page?”
What the marketer might want to ask is, “Where do social networking vs. blogging vs. microcontent vs. media sharing fit in the context of our social media goals?” Then do the research and implement a listening program to discover which social networks, media sharing sites or blogging communities the target audience is present and participating in. That homework will answer the question about Facebook vs. LinkedIn and any other social communities where customers spend time.
Social Media Process: “Companies who start with implementation are at risk”, is a great quote from Jeremiah Owyang in his recent post, “A Pragmatic Approach to Social Business“. There he lists a checklist of 8 steps that form a process for approaching social media. Jumping into tactics can send a company in a very unproductive direction. Working through a strategy, tactics and developing processes leads to efficiencies, scalability and social engagement that is true to the business goals.
We’ve published a social media checklist that can serve as a prompt for companies to gather the information necessary to make smarter decisions about how their organizations can incorporate social media in their marketing and communications mix.
Process with social media marketing is important for a variety of reasons ranging from quality assurance to accountability. How can an organization scale its social media efforts without some kind of processes in place? Redundant processes can often be automated by software. Processes also outlive internal social media subject matter experts who move on to other opportunities.
From a personal process perspective, take a look at Tac Anderson’s daily routine as a social media strategist, which he calls a “workout”. In addition to planned activities and tactics, there’s room for putting out fires or handing spontaneous situations. In the end, a routine or process helps keep social media marketing tactics on track over time.
Social Commerce: Social Media that Leads to Sales: Question - What’s the ROI of Social Media? Answer – What’s the ROI of having a phone system in your office? That phone systems facilitates communications for a wide variety of reasons that are important to the functioning of the business from product/service inquiries to hiring new employees to customer service.
Social media in a business sense, is technology that facilitates communications, sharing and connecting brands with customers. For the most part, people buy from those they like and social media helps build, maintain and improve those relationships.
So how does social media influence or result in sales? A helpful post on BarnRaisers summarizes several studies that show exactly that. Click on the link to see the post (How Social Media Drives Sales Relationships). I’ll also summarize them here:
Facebook - “The top reasons people press the “Like” button on Facebook is to have a sales relationship with a brand - either to receive promotions & coupons (40%), get updates on upcoming sales (30%) and show their support for companies (39%).” – ExactTarget 2010.
Twitter - “For over 40% of the time people are on Twitter, we spend it learning about products and services, listening to what others have to say and giving opinions. That explains why over 20% of the time we’re on Twitter, we’re ready and willing to buy directly off Twitter.” – Edison Research 2010.
Social Networks – “For every hour we spend on online, we spend the most amount of time on social networks, almost 15 minutes of every hour. Roughly half of the time (approx 6+ mins), we are seeking out products and services and looking to have a sales relationship with brands.” Nielsen 2010.
As more brands include commercial offers in the social experience they provide for customers, those customers will become increasingly comfortable with the notion of social commerce. At the same time, more social features are being added to ecommerce websites. In the way that blogs and Twitter accounts are expected features of brand websites, so will social commerce functionality.
Building a flexible strategy that considers business goals and the people to engage will help marketers identify the best mix of tactics for their social media marketing program. Developing processes from a corporate and an individual standpoint will help sustain, not stifle, social engagement activities in the long run. Start by building community and relationships. Listen, respond and create value. Monitor and analyze for opportunities to implement social commerce features, but don’t rush it.
How have you incorporated social media into your business processes? What are you doing to create more sustainable social participation within your organization?

Source: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2011/01/26/lee-odden-social-media-marketing-strategy-to-commerce

About the author:Lee Odden is CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, a digital marketing and public relations firm in Minnesota that specializes in search, social and online PR consulting and training for companies worldwide.

New Twitter Feature Shows Mutual Connections for Users

2011-01-27T20:39:00.000-08:00

Twitter has launched a new feature accessible at Twitter.com that shows connections you may have with other Twitter users.

If you go to someone's Twitter profile, it will display a section in the right-hand pane (of the new Twitter design), just under the account info (tweets, following, followers, listed) that says "Connections", and displays people that are following that person and people that both you and that person mutually follow.
It's a simple and subtle feature, but one that could help build relationships on Twitter. As others have pointed out, its' similar to what Facebook does when it displays mutual friends.

The feature could actually help people use Twitter in a more social manner, as opposed to (or at least in addition to) as a news reader.

Hat tip to Carolyn Penner with Twitter Communications for pointing the feature out (as there has not been an official announcement).

Source: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2011/01/26/new-twitter-feature-shows-mutual-connections-for-users

About the author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003.

Republicans And Democrats “Like” Twitter And Facebook

2011-01-27T20:37:00.000-08:00

Nearly a quarter of Americans used Twitter or social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace in the months leading up to the November, 2010 elections to connect to the campaign or election, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

In contrast to the 2008 race—in which Democratic voters led the way in their use of online social networks for political purposes—Republican voters and supporters of the “Tea Party” movement caught up with Democrats in their use of social media in 2010.

*The “political social media user” group represented by these 22% of internet users voted for Republican congressional candidates over Democratic candidates by a 45%-41% margin.

*Among social networking site users, 40% of Republican voters and 38% of Democratic voters used these sites to get involved politically.

*Tea Party supporters were especially likely to friend a candidate or political group on a social networking site during the 2010 election—22% of such users did this, significantly higher than all other groups.

“The social networking population as a whole has grown larger and demographically more diverse in recent years, and the same is true when it comes to political activity on social networking sites.” said Aaron Smith, a Senior Researcher Specialist at the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and author of the report.

“These platforms are now utilized by politically active individuals of all ages and ideologies to get news, connect with others, and offer their thoughts on the issues that are important to them.”

The main reason Americans follow political groups on social networking sites or Twitter is that it helps them feel more personally connected to the candidates or groups they follow-36 percent say this “major” reason they follow these groups or candidates, and an additional 35% say it is a “minor” reason.

Two-thirds (67%) of those who follow politicians or other political groups on social networking sites or Twitter say that the information posted by those they follow is interesting and relevant, and a similar number say that they pay attention to most (26%) or some (40%) of the material posted by the politicians or groups they follow.

Source: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2011/01/27/republicans-and-democrats-%E2%80%9Clike%E2%80%9D-twitter-and-facebook

About the author:
Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews.

Facebook Shuts Down Facebook Phone Rumors...Again

2011-01-27T20:36:00.000-08:00

Every now and then, rumors will start about a mythical Facebook phone. Eventually, Facebook will shoot them down, as is the case this week.

The rumor, this time, was that HTC was going to launch a Facebook branded phone at Mobile World Congress next month. Details of the phone were made available as well, and rumors began to spiral into "Facebook's going to compete with Apple and Android" territory.

Not so much. From Reuters:

"This is really just another example of a manufacturer who has taken our public APIs (application programming interfaces) and integrated them into their device in an interesting way," said Dan Rose, head of business development at Facebook...

"The rumors around there being something more to this HTC device are overblown," Rose told journalists at a company event in London. Asked whether the device would be Facebook-branded, he answered: "No."

You may recall when such rumors went around last year. Facebook gave WebProNews the following statement in the comments of an article we did about it:

“The story, which originated in Techcrunch, is not accurate. Facebook is not building a phone. Our approach has always been to make phones and apps more social. Current projects include everything from an HTML5 version of the site to apps on major platforms to full Connect support with SDKs to deeper integrations with some manufacturers. Our view is that almost all experiences would be better if they were social, so integrating deeply into existing platforms and operating systems is a good way to enable this. For an example, check out Connect for iPhone and the integration we have with contact syncing through our iPhone app. Another example is the INQ1 phone with Facebook integration (the first so-called “Facebook Phone”). The people mentioned in the story are working on these projects. The bottom line is that whenever we work on a deep integration, people want to call it a "Facebook Phone" because that's such an attractive soundbite, but building phones is just not what we do.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself then did an interview with TechCrunch to set the record straight, in which he detailed the company's mobile strategy. Essentially, Facebook wants to be everywhere - on all phones. Given the new app for feature phones, just announced last week, they've got to be pretty close.

Source: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2011/01/27/facebook-shuts-down-facebook-phone-rumorsagain

About the author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003.

Facebook Will Never Let You See Who's Viewed Your Profile

2011-01-27T20:34:00.000-08:00

If you use Facebook, there's a good chance you've encountered some app or some friend claiming they've found a way for you to see who has been viewing your profile. Chances are, it was a scam.

In fact, a few months ago, there were reports circulating about such scams. One in particular, security firm Sophos said attracted 60,000 clicks in just a few hours. Such scams still pop up from time to time. Your best bet is to ignore them, no matter how curious you are.

Facebook has acknowledged in the past that there is no way to view this information, but a post on Quora makes it pretty clear that there never will be a way either.

When someone asked the question: "Will Facebook ever offer a feature like LinkedIn's, where you can see who has viewed your profile, Facebook Director of Engineering Andrew 'Boz' Bosworth simply says:

"No."
From the sound of it, you probably have a better chance of seeing a Facebook-branded phone.

My advice to you is to only let people you want to see your profile be your friend on Facebook.

source: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2011/01/27/facebook-will-never-let-you-see-whos-viewed-your-profile

By Chris Crum

How will you generate traffic on your site by SMO (Social Media Optimization)?

2011-01-18T04:14:00.000-08:00

SMO, abbreviated for Social Media Optimization, an integral part of search engine marketing or search engine optimization is very helpful in pushing your message out into different social media sites and portals to make users aware about your products and services. No doubt, there are innumerable users who really rely on different social media optimization sites and also express their views and experiences. In this highly competitive era social media optimization or SMO is really very helpful in persuading a huge amount of users to your website.
Social media optimization is not just limited to post a few comments or company profile in different social networking sites, but it has expanded to the level beyond your expectations. According to social media optimization or SMO experts, this innovative way of web promotion:

Works as a mediator between your product and targeted audiences through different social networking websites and portals
Gives a platform of conversation in the world of internet about your brand or products
Provides a much improved as well as more comprehensive brand visibility

Showing your visibility to different sites like facebook, MySpace, Orkut, Twitter, and also YouTube through various mediums like:

Blog posting and commenting
Facebook account and commenting
Uploading product videos in YouTube
Submitting forums and articles

Increasing your linkability, making tagging as well as bookmarking simple and easy, rewarding inbound links, helping your content or comments travel and above all encouraging the mashups, are some of the other benefits of perfect social medial optimization or SMO that is now essential for effective search engine marketing.
It goes without saying that for small business, SMO or social media optimization is essential in a number of ways for its effective and durable online presence with firm Google search engine ranking. No doubt, after getting the benefits of these services, you will understand the real value of perfect and cost-effective social media optimization or SMO. No doubt, it really helps in leveling up the link ability for optimizing the website. Apart from this, through social media optimization you can promote your services, products and website name more instantly without wasting so much time.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/smo-articles/how-will-you-generate-traffic-on-your-site-by-smo-social-media-optimization-4058012.html

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule and Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures:

2011-01-06T00:03:00.000-08:00

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule and Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures: ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule and Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures are given below on our website.

Match	Date	Teams	Venue
1	19 Feb	India vs Bangladesh	Dhaka
2	20 Feb	New Zealand vs Kenya	Chennai
3	20 Feb	Sri Lanka vs Canada	Hambantota
4	21 Feb	Australia vs Zimbabwe	Ahmedabad
5	22 Feb	England vs Netherlands	Nagpur
6	23 Feb	Pakistan vs Kenya	Hambantota
7	24 Feb	South Africa vs West Indies	New Delhi
8	25 Feb	Australia vs New Zealand	Nagpur
9	25 Feb	Bangladesh vs Ireland	Dhaka
10	26 Feb	Sri Lanka vs Pakistan	Colombo
11	27 Feb	India vs England	Kolkata
12	28 Feb	West Indies vs Netherlands	New Delhi
13	28 Feb	Zimbabwe vs Canada	Nagpur
14	1 Mar	Sri Lanka vs Kenya	Colombo
15	2 Mar	England vs Ireland	Bangalore
16	3 Mar	South Africa vs Netherlands	Mohali
17	3 Mar	Pakistan vs Canada	Colombo
18	4 Mar	New Zealand vs Zimbabwe	Ahmedabad
19	4 Mar	Bangladesh vs West Indies	Dhaka
20	5 Mar	Sri Lanka vs Australia	Colombo
21	6 Mar	India vs Ireland	Bangalore
22	6 Mar	England vs South Africa	Chennai
23	7 Mar	Kenya vs Canada	New Delhi
24	8 Mar	Pakistan vs New Zealand	Pallekelle
25	9 Mar	India vs Netherlands	New Delhi
26	10 Mar	Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe	Pallekelle
27	11 Mar	West Indies vs Ireland	Mohali
28	11 Mar	Bangladesh vs England	Chittagong
29	12 Mar	India vs South Africa	Nagpur
30	13 Mar	New Zealand vs Canada	Mumbai
31	13 Mar	Australia vs Kenya	Bangalore
32	14 Mar	Pakistan vs Zimbabwe	Pallekelle
33	14 Mar	Bangladesh vs Netherlands	Chittagong
34	15 Mar	South Africa vs Ireland	Kolkata
35	16 Mar	Australia vs Canada	Bangalore
36	17 Mar	England vs West Indies	Chennai
37	18 Mar	Sri Lanka vs New Zealand	Mumbai
38	18 Mar	Ireland vs Netherlands	Kolkata
39	19 Mar	Australia vs Pakistan	Colombo
40	19 Mar	Bangladesh vs South Africa	Dhaka
41	20 Mar	Zimbabwe vs Kenya	Kolkata
42	20 Mar	India vs West Indies	Chennai
43	23 Mar	First Quarterfinal	Dhaka
44	24 Mar	Second Quarterfinal	Colombo
45	25 Mar	Third Quarterfinal	Dhaka
46	26 Mar	Fourth Quarterfinal	Ahmedabad
47	29 Mar	First Semifinal	Colombo
48	30 Mar	Second Semifinal	Mohali
49	02 Apr	FINAL	Mumbai

Once you bookmark this page you can view ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule and Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures anytime you like.
Cricket World Cup 2011 venue: With India as the main host of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Cricket World Cup 2011 venue includes stadiums of cities like Dhaka, Mumbai, Kolkata, Mohali, Colombo, Chennai, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, chittagong and Bangalore. Cricket World Cup 2011 venue also includes new venues like Pallekelle and Hambantota – both being in Sri Lanka.
Cricket World Cup 2011 teams: Cricket World Cup 2011 teams include 4 times winner Australia, 2 times winners West Indies, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Netherlands, Canada, Ireland, England and Kenya. Groups in which Cricket World Cup 2011 teams are divided:
Group A – Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya.
Group B – India, South Africa, England, Bangladesh, West Indies, Netherlands and Ireland.

4 Features of an Effective Business Website

2010-12-04T02:21:00.000-08:00

4 Focuses
Business owners and web designers
alike undergo common pitfalls when designing a website, by ignoring one or more of the features that makes a website effective. Overall, there are 4 key qualities that will make or break your site. They must be used in congruence - focusing too much on one while slightly ignoring another can sabotage your website. These 4 focuses for an effective website are:

1. Business Objectives - Does it solve your business goals?
2. Usability - How easy is it for your customers to use? (Google and Craigslist are great examples of this)
3. Functionality of code - Does the code do what it is supposed to?
4. Design aesthetics - How does it look?
Let's take a further look into each of these elements.

1. Business Objectives

This is your priority above all others. A great-looking site that doesn't fit your business objectives is like creating a pretty magnet that doesn't attract metal.

You first must decide "what is the goal of my website?" Is it just to give your company a professional image on the web? Is it to provide a potential customer with enough information to want to contact you? Or is it to directly sell your products with a shopping cart? What is your marketing plan to get customers to your site? If it's SEO (like attracting customers from Google), then your site should be content-heavy. If it's referring them to your site from flyers and business cards, they already have interest and this is your opportunity to close the deal. Who is your target customer? What will they like about your business that they won't like about your competitor's? How will your site convey this? In your industry, what will they make their final decision to buy or contact you from - credibility? Product information? Ease of website use? Everything else will revolve around these business objectives.

2. Usability
Is your website easy for your target customer to use. Let me highlight this again - not easy for you to use, but easy for your target customer to use. If your customer is typically in a low-income level, they may use an outdated browser, a slower connection speed, and an older, smaller computer monitor, so large, flashy web pages with high-resolution images is a bad idea, no matter how nice it looks to you.

Make sure your website follows these general rules for usability:
Navigation bar is consolidated, easy to find, and easy to use
The most important content is visible without scrolling
Contact page link is easily visible from every page
Quick load time, meaning limited image file size and limited flash
Footer with contact information and navigation links
Important information stands out from the rest, either by size, color, placement, or other ways of emphasis
Text is scannable - Highlighted keywords, short paragraphs, bulleted lists, images in between text

3. Functionality of Code
Whether you're having the site coded from scratch or using code-generating software like Dreamweaver, it is critical to make sure the code correctly achieves what it's created for. This does not mean that it just shows the way you intend on your computer browser, but that it displays correctly across all internet browsers, the most popular being Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome. If you're hiring web designers, ensure that each aspect of the site displays and functions properly in each of these browsers, including the site's navigation, table rows and columns, flash, images, and forms. If you have executed everything else correctly, you may sacrifice it all and lose sales simply because an Order link or contact form function works incorrectly in one browser.

4. Design Aesthetics
Because of the amount of detail involved, we've dedicated another article to design aesthetics. Following these specific details will help you create a beautiful website. See the bottom of the article, in the signature box, for more details.

"Don't Judge a Book by its Cover" - A Message Ignored by Website Visitors
Your website visitors have no choice but to judge your business immediately by the look, usability and functionality of your website. Let's be honest - the average customer has little patience, energy and trust when purchasing a product or service from an unknown company, especially when they're comparing it to 5 other companies. What does this mean for your business and its website? You have little time and opportunity to impress them. Gain their trust with a professional, well-designed website, save them time with effective navigation and layout, and save them energy by providing them the exact content they need to make a decision to buy your product or service. Do this and meet all 4 focuses - design aesthetics, usability, functionality, and business objectives.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1746917_4.html

A Multimedia Design Degree

2010-12-04T02:20:00.001-08:00

Multimedia design
is when we communicate a concept or information in an interactive way, such as through a website, CD-ROM or a kiosk. Multimedia can also be used in a non-interactive way for mediums like television. There are many different types of media and techniques that can be used in production, and as a multimedia professional you will need to know and understand how to use each of these techniques. You will need to know how to manipulate images and information from a variety of sources including audio, video, still images, animation, physical objects, text, soundtracks and digital data using computer applications and related visual and sound techniques.

An interactive multimedia designer will create work for kiosks, interactive CDs or DVDs, and websites. The overall design output can include things like audio, video, animation and photos, while projects for any type of website will include custom web design. What sets interactive designers apart from non-interactive is that there needs to be a graphical user interface that gives the user the choice of which content they want to access. It is your job to make sure all the media gets tied in together effectively, and to make sure the user is able to navigate through the application and find the information they need.

Non-interactive designers will create work for non-interactive applications such as television and the Internet. Movies, commercials, and websites using Flash intros are all good examples.

As a multimedia designer you will be expected to know how to use a variety of different programs such Adobe Premiere, Macromedia Director, Adobe Photoshop, and sometimes Microsoft PowerPoint for business presentations. On the Internet, it has become popular to use Macromedia Flash to present a multimedia experience in a quick downloading format.

There are a number of jobs available for the graduate of a multimedia program, such as scriptwriter for multimedia, web designer, multimedia producer, computer-based training designer, web script language developer, and more. The types of companies that hire multimedia professionals include corporations, organizations, educational institutions, government agencies, entertainment, and advertising industries. More industries are looking to hire multimedia professionals because multimedia software and hardware is falling in price, and multimedia communications using the web are becoming mainstream.

No matter what specific field you choose, multimedia professionals are expected to be incredibly accurate in their work, leaving little room for error. Being able to see the big picture when working on a project, and being able to get a feel for how a finished piece of work will appear and be used, it a huge asset to most companies. Multimedia professionals are creative and able to communicate with a team, expressing ideas both verbally and visually. Working in teams is not uncommon, but you should also be prepared to work on your own. The multimedia industry is based on deadlines, so you may be expected to work late hours or weekends to finish a project on time.

In order to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the Arts, you might also want to think about getting a degree in an art or graphic design program as well. As mentioned above, there are a number of programs that you will be expected to know. The more programs you know how to use, the more marketable you will be. If your focus is in graphic and web design, you should be able to custom design all of your websites. Using custom web design in your portfolio will also make your more marketable and impress potential employers.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1746794_4.html

Web Design Ideas For The Business World

2010-12-04T02:19:00.003-08:00

We now live in a web-based world, which has its pros and cons. The positive is that we are now more easily connected with the world than ever before. The negative is that unless a website offers something unique, it can easily be over-looked. To ensure any site maximizes exposure, some basic web design ideas will help keep individual sites in front of the masses.

It's important to try out different options to see which rises to the top. Ensuring one has a couple of design options available, even if it appears the first one is perfect, will prevent the likelihood that others will generate a similar design which would reduce traffic. Additionally, by practicing one can often come up with new ideas that can be merged with existing concepts.

Trends have a tendency to come and go very quickly especially when it comes to web design. The style and look selected for the individual website should speak not only to the product and services offered, but should also reflect the vision presented to the public. For instance, if one is contemporary or has a punk vibe, a clean look should be reflected in the website design for the first company, but this would be totally inappropriate for those targeting a younger generation. This can be achieved by accessing libraries which contain styles that can be drawn on to achieve the perfect look.

For many, when designing their site they have a tendency to be reluctant to move things around, change colors, or rotate objects. Often the most creative minds work best when they're turned loose. Reducing the desire to "be in control" all the time often serves designers well in that, eventually, they learn that whatever was done can be undone. Additionally, by accessing the deepest recesses of the mind, creativity is born.

It's important to remember that the eye is drawn to visuals first so including photos and designs that draw the viewer "in" increases traffic. For instance, the simple logo on a corporate site may not say "welcome" to those visiting. Utilizing visuals to keep viewers in the site until the eye reads the most important information, however, is easier than one might think. Even dotted lines and horizontal separators invite those visiting to stay and look around.

Any design must be clean. That means every pixel needs to be reviewed to ensure sharp images appropriately spaced text, content without errors, and the like. This is called "polishing the web design". Text should be spaced and of a size to be easily readable even for those who are viewing it with tired eyes and pages must be structured with unstructured elements thrown in to enhance interest. The web is the key to success in today's business world and to access it incorporating web design ideas that best reflect individual needs will ensure one's site is accessed again and again.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1748615_4.html

Importance of Learning Management Systems Training Solutions programs

2010-12-04T02:19:00.001-08:00

Training for business training
and elsewhere is a major issue today. Funding reductions in our schools combined with the substantial turn over in the office along with the need to tighten our belts and refine business processes are all waking folks up to the value or improved and quality training resources. It is proven that education in the workplace will improve efficiency and productivity and help your company or remain competitive in a global economy. These key factors are all opening the door for the Joomla Content Management System with Learning Management capabilities.

There are a lot of choices for Learning Management but a couple of top contenders in the open source world are Moodle as well as Joomla using the various third party learning management system lms extensions. There's even a "bridge" between the two solutions which enables you to utilize both Moodle and Joomla for the same member list. CNP Integrations is one of the early adopters for this connection on our http://www.givetoed.org project where we incorporated quite a few tools for K-12 school teachers, parents and community leaders to collaborate and participate in discussions about the future of education and related subjects.

There are a lot of tried and tested products used for traditional learning
establishments and larger organizations but these are often very expensive solutions to put into action. Until recently this has made them far out of reach for the small and mid size business or non-profit organization. What we are finding is that by using Joomla CMS (http://www.joomla.org) along with LMS capabilities or Moodle (http://www.moodle.org) or even combinations of each we are able to help deliver an affordable scale of functions and student tracking capability that puts the strength of Learning Management Systems at the disposal of small and mid-size companies and non-profit organizations. Not only is this technology platform much more affordable but all of the curriculum and training resources that we develop can be designed to be SCORM compliant and as a result may be integrated with just about any other SCORM compliant Learning Management System should your requirements ever outgrow the platform. However, because the systems continue to improve and scale with new features you may never need to look elsewhere.

If you are a small business training can help you deliver your products more consistently and position your company to be able to scale up or down to meet the needs in the marketplace and protect you from risk in employee turnover. If you are a School or educational institution it is important to segment your user types and track student progress. If you are launching complex business tools on the web you need to empower your users to get the most out of your technology investments. What this means is that utilizing the capabilities of Learning Management can offer benefits to businesses and organizations of many types and range in size. It also means that this may be a wise investment that can have short term and long term payoffs.

Since most of our team has backgrounds in education
and training there is a lot of passion in our company for incorporating professional development and training as part of the value in our service offerings. We will be dedicating the Month of September as "Training Month" at CNP and moving forward you will see a lot more from us in training and curriculum development for educational products and services. We hope the articles and information that we present will generate conversation and help us find creative ways to help you engage your customers and better train your workforce using many of the cost effective solutions that we support.

If you would like to have a demonstration or more information of any of the Joomla LMS solutions or training we can offer, feel free to contact us so we can help you assess if what we offer will fit your needs.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1748519_4.html

Notice the Proper Globe Brand For Your Online Betterment Assignment

2010-12-04T02:18:00.001-08:00

Your world-wide-web designer label might have undertaken a six month course which has obtained them a certificate of some kind but that does not make them a high-quality custom made. Credentials just necessarily mean they have had some formal recognition of their skills. Getting a net creator is the quick component, all you have to have to do is carry out a speedy investigation internet and bingo, you're introduced with pages and pages of them in the search engine outcomes. If they don't, you can scratch them off the list. Artistic imaginative and prescient. Groundwork the net creative designers websites and web based portfolio.Just about every net custom ought to have a functioning web site and an on the internet portfolio of their labor. Having said that, it is continuously beneficial to get a handful of quotes and see which designer label can offer you the very best package, for a reasonable price tag. Various word wide web tasks need to have varied technologies behind them. It's essentially up to your judgment Ä±f you want to use a net brand with no enjoy but you do not ever know, they may well be a youthful gun with tons of talent and is just waiting for that initial endeavor to unleash their knowledge on to. If you have a incredibly tiny price range but want to construct the up coming Facebook, any sane globe fashionable will reveal you they can't facilitate you. There is so a lot details internet and tactics to hone your layout talents now, that needing anyone to teach you is not necessary.

A beneficial web creator should really be capable to reveal the explanation why they have quoted a specific price tag, and focus on what they can do inside your funds - Just as a result of you have obtained an preliminary quote that will probably be larger than you initially anticipated, speak to your custom made about it. The really difficult section is deciding on the precise word wide web fashion designer for your specific endeavor. The proper know-how. If some of the globe designer's recent samples are not operating, there is a superior possibility that, if you use them, your blog could possibly have the exact difficulties. If they are serious, eager and converse effectively you are additional probably to have a effective ongoing expert relationship.

Even if you choose your word wide web custom to have skills or not is also up to you. My desire would be practical experience beats credentials any day. Look and feel at the design and style model of their portfolio samples. A number of web developers have a tendency to stick to a certain type. Particularly regularly, there could be options or elements of the quote than can be removed, or modified, to get the undertaking back again within your price range - If you don't ask, you'll not ever know.

This is a superior indication of if they realize the challenge and are passionate about it.

Select notice on no matter whether the globe designer presents any tips or options when you're talking to them. For instance you will probably ought a full information management method with database driven material and advanced quest engine optimisation. A sensible expenditure.The cost of the cyberspace
challenge is usually the crucial factor in how persons choose their web site fashion designer. If they are less expensive, do a bit further investigation prior to committing - Cost-effective word wide web website design
could possibly finish up costing you way more in the lengthy run, as it in all likelihood won't serve its function pretty properly and you will demand to get it rebuilt. Qualification and feel.Skills and enjoy are not normally important but they do give you some security that the world-wide-web beautiful understands what they are undertaking and has the abilities to undertake your assignment. Every single online structure assignment has a particular set of necessities and each website custom has a exclusive arranged of competencies that could quite possibly, or might not, be appropriate for your requirements. Viewing completed online pages and samples of the net designer's get the job done is also vital to get a excellent idea of the style and design type and skillset they have.
The expenses of net style is usually open ended... If you like the glimpse of their web-sites, and their internet site text sounds appealing, you're onto a winner. In this article, I'll checklist some essential aspects that will allow you uncover the best globe designer label and how you establish if they have the vital proficiency to undertake your web production task.

This is a thing not all net creative designers can deliver. To build a webpage that honestly serves a intent and corporation goal, the custom ought to have an understanding of the nature of the Ä±nternet site and relate to your total imaginative and prescient. It is particularly essential the internet custom you converse to understands your inspiring imaginative and prescient. Most designer's will enlighten you straight away if they are unable to entire the venture, due to technical limitations. If you call to connect with your selected search engines layout provider and you are set on the telephone to a rude or uninterested man or women - in my books, that would not be any person you would want to deal with on an ongoing foundation. The scope of your challenge and what budget you have can limit what custom made you select. It is up to you as a client to inform the custom of all the feature's you anticipate your web site to have so they can notify you regardless if they can complete it.

Make positive the website pages operate accurately. You will demand to describe your eyesight to the brand and they may want to be in a position to respond with suggestions and strategies for your venture. Distinct web creative designers require various methods to their give good results and use a selection of technologies. If they're too highly-priced, it may perhaps be given that they are a greater small business with further overheads, or they are simply quite superior at what they do. Speaking to a probable internet designer also gives you a very good understanding Ä±f you are going to get on with them or not. Right after you have observed some web developers in your region, or anywhere else for that matter, you really should research every of their websites and examine out samples of their deliver the results. Not all cyberspace creative designers have all the necessary knowledge for some kinds of world wide web enhancement. You really should learn up on their ability and method to web site plan, to make positive they go well with your specifications. Chat to Your selected search engines creative designers.A further major level to decide which online brand is ideal for you, is selecting out regardless if you can talk with them. 'how extensive is a piece of string?'...

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1744351_4.html

Social networking websites in business. Twitter, LinkedIn, Squidoo, Hubpages

2010-12-04T02:17:00.003-08:00

In this article we will discuss how social networking sites
can help your small business and why it is a good idea to get your business involved in these popular sites.
First we need to establish what a social networking site is. If you have not heard of at least one of these sites I would be very surprised. Social sites have leapt into everyday life for many people throughout the world, keeping them connected with their friends, relatives and more. These sites include Facebook, Twitter, Squidoo, Hubpages and LinkedIn. The main idea of these sites is that you have your own profile, letting anyone who is interested find out more about you. There are many more of these sites and taking advantage of this free web space is always a good idea. You will find that even with a quick five minutes to create an account may lead to a good few people checking in on your website and hopefully being converted to paying customers.

Let's get started! This basic guide will get you on these sites but with a little more time you can create a great set of 'mini websites' to drive new potential customers to you business.
1) Facebook is one of the best of the social web. First you will want to create an account for yourself or your business. Personally would create one in your real name as Facebook likes to crack down on free advertising
due to a rise in spam accounts. Once you have created your personal account you will likely already have a few of your friends automatically added from your email contacts and you can if you wish search for more of your old friends and work colleagues.
Once you have done this you should make sure you fill in all of the profile information making sure to mention your company, what you do and include links to your website.

The next step is to create a group page. You should be able to find the small icon for this on the left hand side of your new profile page. These pages are mini websites which people can join to show their support. There are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of these pages already due to how simple it is to create them.
First name your new group with your company name and a slogan. Getting a good descriptive name will help people find you and help. Next Facebook will walk you through the steps in creating your group. Have some fun and add images and the description of your company and your products and services. Try to not make this a sales page as something considered too much like a sale page could get removed from Facebook, try instead to just describe your company and encourage readers to check out your website. Once you're happy invite all of your friends. Once people join you can send them all PM's with your new services and post updates on your main profile to ensure your get some more leads.

2) Twitter is one of the newest and most useful and popular social networking sites now gracing the World Wide Web. Its popularity is in part due to the huge amount of celebrities who use it to keep their fans up to date with what they are up to. Twitter is basically online text messaging. You can 'tweet' a short message which will be sent updated to all the twitter users who have chosen to follow you. It's quick to sign up and though can be slow at the start is a great way to keep your customers updated without spamming them. Sign up a twitter account with company name and you are ready to start tweeting. Yes, it's that simple! Now is where most people miss the true value of twitter. Creating a brand is important and twitter allows you to upload your own background to really personalise and brand your company to your new twitter feed. This can be difficult to do without programs such as Photoshop. However you can get a professional one created free of charge by Unicora a company that specialises in small businesses web design. This is totally free with no catch so make sure you have a look.
The next step once you are happy with your branded twitter profile is to get some followers and the best way is to follow others, most people will follow you back as an unspoken rule. The other way is to place a link to your Twitter page on your website and on your Facebook account.

3) Squidoo is another social website however its focus is not on its profiles but on articles its users submit. After creating an article about your service, website, company or industry, (with links back to your website), you can post these articles online for people to read and benefit from. The more helpful the article the more people will view it and check out your other articles. These articles called Squidoo lenses also get added to google's search
so your article and the link to your site will also get found by people searching google.

4) Hubpages is very similar to Squidoo and is another article site. Submit your articles to both these sites.

5) LinkedIn is the final social website that we will look at in this article and is a less well know site then the others mentioned previously. LinkedIn is a networking site aimed at businesses and professionals. It's a great place to find contacts that you may need and also advertise your company to thousands of business professionals. By adding just a few off your own contacts puts you in contacts with thousands of other LinkedIn members. Its works in levels, people in your network are the first level, then the second level is all the other contacts that your first contacts have and then it goes to the third level. It's a type of a friend of a friend network with every member being a motivated professional. It is the dark horse of the networking world with many more users then you might think.

There are many social sites for you to explore and use, hopefully this short article has sparked your interest in the social web and you will gain allot of new business. This article was created by Unicora.com the specialist web designers for the small UK business.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1755474_4.html

Rules for Designing 3D Logos

2010-12-04T02:17:00.001-08:00

Design of logos has the power, power to make or break the company’s image. Hence, it becomes all the more important to get your custom logos design done only by professional graphics design designers. The logo must be unique, innovative & should reflect your brand and also enhance it to become the extension of your company’s image. The designers on the other hand must also work towards understanding the client’s requirements, its values and what their company stands for before embarking on a journey of logo creation.

These days with improvement in technology and the popularity of job 3d animation, 3D logos have become enormously fashionable and are considered stylish. In the midst of all this 3-D hullabaloo there is renewed heebie-jeebies among purists but as the realists have observed, 3D design of logos can more accurately provide a realistic touch to the brand image of the company, its products or services.

But with all the talk about technology giving third dimension to custom logos design, one must not forget that the basic rules of logo designing remain unchanged. Graphic design
designers must keep in mind the following pointers while designing your 3D brand mark.

• Simplicity - Simplicity still remains the key. The logos goal is to be recognizable. A clean and uncomplicated image that also has a recall value must be tailored.

• Color only as Decoration - Use of colors is permitted but a good logo must also look good in simple black. Color should not become a major design element and the designer must never overdo the use of colors.

• Don’t forget the reason why you want a 3D logo - The objective must never be forgotten. The point of having a 3D logo is achieving brand recognition. So never forget that size, style, color, typography, and originality matters in the end to achieve the goal.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1753948_4.html

Earn Lucrative Returns with an Attractive Website

2010-12-04T02:16:00.001-08:00

Are you in search of lucrative returns, on an expansion spree or vying for that larger market share
? The key to each of these lies in innovation and adapting to best strategies. An effective way to achieve your objectives would be to float a website immediately and benefit from the vast reach of the internet. There are many professionally managed web design companies

An online presence speaks volumes in the competitive era of today. A website adds to the credibility of your organization and goes a long way in developing a better brand image. Your website is the doorway for your potential customers and a service point to retain the existing ones.

Branding activities carried out through a website are more advantageous in comparison to other popular mediums such as T.V., Radio, Billboards, etc. As per some estimates over 1,802,330,457 people worldwide have access to internet.

A website provides 24/7/365 access to its existing and potential customer base. Considering the fact that customers have the option of comparing the services across different websites, it becomes all the more important to have relevant and well presented information on your website.

The homepage of your website must be very appealing and must have a user friendly interface. At the same time ensuring it is convincing enough for the user to go for your products or services. Conceptualize your website from the perspective of a user and how the flow of information is to be presented for an enriching experience.

Therefore, it is a given that a website plays a crucial role in increasing sales, creating brand awareness and providing an excellent ROI, some of the most common goals set by an organization. A huge market of untapped customer awaits you if the website is planned out carefully. Engaging an expert web development company

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1753691_4.html

Ecommerce Website Developers Experienced Professionals Serving Efficient Solutions

2010-12-04T02:15:00.001-08:00

Flash website design technique is an indispensable part of a successful website today and is accepted by people all across the globe. These days, individuals around the world are espousing online shopping for every single item required in their day-to-day life. Many different types of websites are present on internet but not all of them are making good fortune out of it. This happens because such sites are decipherable by their customers and thus make gigantic profits. Thus, one thing required is a good designing technique along with professional features. Other than Flash technique, one can use many more techniques for designing a website. In addition to type of technique, features included in a site are likewise important and should be well taken care of.

Individuals due to dearth of knowledge regarding designing cannot gauge the optimality of their website and not able to comment on the work done by hired website designing company. However, there is no matter of worry and looking for three characteristics viz. quick installation, affordability and customizable will solve purpose. Existence of these basic features along with few advanced ones give rise to a website based on corporate graphic design. These websites can prove highly beneficial for business purposes and grab the attention of large numbers of online customers. Some features that one should chiefly include in ecommerce website include security of customer information and their transaction details, management of catalog, inventory control, advanced search features and many more.

Generally, companies do not try to invest their time to design a website on their own and prefer to hire professional web designing companies. One can easily find plethora of web designing companies on internet offering multipurpose services related to designing of sites and their promotion. Services such companies are offering to their customers from different industries are SEO services, website promotion, ecommerce software development and many more. One problem that distresses most of the people hiring services of these companies is which company to choose out of all the ones available. This is a hard-hitting question and needs research before coming to any particular decision.

While taking the decision regarding choosing ecommerce website designing company one should always look for the experience gained by the company. One can also ask for their sample works in order to get insight into their work quality.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1753475_4.html

Determining quality web development services - Refer the Portfolio

2010-12-01T21:52:00.001-08:00

Whether you are in the business of selling products, delivering services, or building your client allegiance, you cannot deny the need of well organized web based applications. A website built with these applications can help you get enormous returns on your investment in terms of time and money. However, since many people and companies are offering web development services these days, it often becomes an uphill task to find the right company that matches your goals and budget. You should be careful while choosing a web development company as the right choice can not only change the way visitors comprehend your brand and offerings, but even bring exponential traffic to your website. So, if you are wondering how to select the right company, here is an easy way out – check the portfolio of your short listed service providers
to take your pick.

While checking the portfolio of web development service providers, see if they are familiar with HTML, CSS or XHTML. Since these are some of the basic criteria for web development, they would not be able to create your website if they do not understand or are not proficient in them. If you need some other advanced features like Flash, interactive elements or shopping carts with secured online payment options, check if the company has done a similar job before. Coming across something that matches your vision or is close to what you want to accomplish may help you chose the right company.

Check the portfolio to judge how the sites developed by the company fare in terms of cross browser compatibility. Remember that your visitors may use different browsers to access your website. In order to cater to all of them, your website should function well on all the major browsers like IE, Mozilla Firefox, Netscape, Safari, Opera etc. If your website looks great on Firefox but is a mess on IE, you will end up losing all your IE visitors. So, checking how your short listed provider offering web development services copes with this factor is an important point in decision making.

Slow loading time is another big turn-off for Internet users. If your website makes people wait for long the first time, they are unlikely to visit it again. So, while checking the portfolio, test how fast the sites built by the service provider load as this would give you some idea about how good the company is at making websites. Remember -you will be able to have high visitor retention rates only if you have websites that load fast.

Though many SEO tactics come into play after the site gets designed, there are some SEO considerations that should be taken care of during the development phase itself. So, check if the websites featured on the portfolio are search engine friendly or not.

Taking a look at what type of databases and server side programming languages are used are some other aspects that you should consider while going through the portfolio. So, determine the quality of Web Development Services by testing the portfolio based on the factors as mentioned above.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1765620_4.html

Should Authors Use YouTube For Book Marketing?

2010-12-01T21:51:00.003-08:00

In the historical past of advertising the hottest advertising spots are the places exactly where the most folks can be discovered, whether or not it's the city square, bazaar, train station, airport, MySpace, YouTube or Twitter.

There are much more than seventy five million movies on YouTube, for instance, and when these movies go viral they register hundreds of thousands of views per online video. And although several authors know how to use YouTube to share videos with loved ones and buddies, very number of fully grasp how to harness the electrical power of YouTube to earn money, marketplace on their own, connect with clients, grow their company and promote a lot more books.

I am employing YouTube in each and every way doable for all my purchasers. I actually see opportunities for each kind of customer I signify including, writers, doctors, attorneys, entrepreneurs and even charities.

In fact, I employed YouTube to aid Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue make it to the "Top 10" in a $1 Million shelter makeover contest sponsored by Zootoo, a internet site for animal and pet lovers. As portion of their hard work, I enquired Mike Ball who, alongside with becoming an award-profitable columnist, is an achieved musician, if he would be prepared to write and document a track that could be utilized in an on-line online video and for public service announcements. That emotional track with the pictures of horses assisted Angel Acres in their on-line voting campaign.

One more shopper, Mr. Duey, a faculty trainer who utilizes music to educate youngsters math, science and history, is also getting excellent good results with his video clip. Referred to as "Mr. Duey Fractions" it's featured on Instructor Tube which is like YouTube but it's for lecturers, mother and father and college students. The "Fractions" video clip we promoted is now 1 of the top rated 10 all time most seen films on TeacherTube with 567,000 views. You know you are sizzling things when the children in your faculty ask a teacher for an autograph! The publicity has led to CD sales, media coverage and other thrilling chances Mr. Duey and the label Kaas Records. As I am writing this Mr. Duey is finishing filming a new series of movies which tie in his musical expertise with a new "guide type" product... cant' tell you what it is but it arrived about as direct outcome of the that video clip!

Another really effective software for YouTube video clips is through online video e-book trailers as portion of a guide advertising and marketing marketing campaign. In an energy to get hold of ebook publicity for my creator customers we'll develop a guide trailer about the e-book. A ebook trailer is like a film trlr in that it allows somebody to preview a e-book the two visually and through audio. A video clip book trailer brings the guide to living and provides the likely reader a sneak peak at the contents. We'll then publish that e-book trailer on YouTube and... here's the finest aspect... we add it to far more than 41 extra video web sites online for even higher publicity.

1 of the large rewards of a book trailer is how is improves search engine ranking for an author's primary world-wide-web web site, supplying you cautiously select visitors driving essential phrases and titles.

How can a guide trailer assist? A couple months ago we landed a fantastic post for one particular of my authors in The Patriot Ledger outdoors of Boston. Very first, they ran a photograph of the author holding his guide. They talked about the upcoming book signings I enquired him to prepare following we had this tale confirmed so he could capitalize on the PR.

The Ledger also included a link and display shot of the book trailer video clip we created for YouTube. The best component? ABC-Television CH-7 of Boston then noticed the write-up and guide trlr, realized it was a great visible tale and arrived out to the author's house and shot their very own story! It truly proves my point that "PR Begets PR, the A lot more You Get, the Much more You Get!"

An instance of guide trailers we've developed can be seen at Westwind Communications YouTube Channel at: [http://www.youtube.com/thebookpublicist]

There are a good deal of ins and outs when it comes to YouTube. If you are critical about using it then I recommend you acquire a new e-book How to Make Funds With YouTube, by Brad and Debra Schepp. In this insightful guide the authors unveil distinct measures to harness YouTube's energy to turn a revenue. The Schepps offer you in-depth, straightforward to comprehend directions on every thing from shooting and uploading movies to fundraising and advertising, to building buzz, and how to get your movies observed.

They also draw on a single infamous company's humorous "Will it Blend?" video clip that brought 1000's of new clients to its internet site. You've most likely noticed it. A man in a lab coat blends every thing from food to iPhones in their blender
demonstrating how potent the blender truly is. The guide is stuffed with beneficial guidance and sensible tips to allow readers to maximize their earning prospective on YouTube.

A single of the most valuable attributes of How To Make Dollars With YouTube are genuine-life good results tales from video clip marketers who utilized the web site to launch productive consulting corporations. A highlighted triumph narrative is from my individual firm about Mr. Duey talked about above. The bottom line: Get a ebook video recording trailer developed and get it on YouTube right away and use it to market your book on-line. You can't go improper.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1764859_4.html

Choosing The Right Camcorder For Making Web Videos

2010-12-01T21:51:00.001-08:00

If you intend to commence shooting video recording to use on your website and for submitting to online video sharing web sites for a lot more publicity and to drive site visitors to your website then make certain to take into account the subsequent factors and invest your funds wisely.

It is all very straightforward to overspend and spend for capabilities that you do not need to have. Believe of all the attributes that your mobile telephone has and you by no means use so don't make the identical mistake with your videocamera.

The cam corder is the center piece and mainstay of your video clip manufacturing and if the videocamera you pick doesn't have the needed functions, it will be tough or even impossible, to generate a high quality video clip.

Acquiring a camcorder with the following capabilities can be the difference among a online video that will seem professionally created, or a single that is certainly household made.

Here is a listing of functions to aid you pick the proper cam corder.

MiniDV: The very best and most flexible structure. Contemplate HDD but give DVD camcorders a miss, if you do purchase 1 then you will quickly realize its limitations.

Outer Microphone Terminal: Necessary so you can plug in an external microphone. A need to have. Examine for the external mic terminal 1st, if it's not there, choose one more cam corder.

FireWire Terminal. May be listed as a DV terminal or a IEEE-1394 connection. A need to have so you can send and acquire digital video clip among camcorder and personal computer.

Remote Manage: Necessary so you can manage the camera even though recording your self. Enables you to start off the document, zoom, pause, and so on. Very useful.

Headphone Terminal: Needed so you can use headphones to examine the audio becoming recorded. One more must have.

1/4" or bigger CCD: Steer clear of anything scaled-down. The more substantial the CCD the higher the resolution of the online video.

10X Optical Zoom: Do not settle for not as much and do not be seduced by electronic zoom which is fairly worthless for our requirements.

Handbook White Stability: Necessary to equilibrium hues below all lighting circumstances.

Picture Stabilization: Steadies the impression as you shoot. It doesn't compensate for poor digital camera operate, but it can assist smooth out a shot when you can't use a tripod.

Tripod Socket: You would be tough set not to come across this but really worth mentioning.

Leading or Facet Loading Tape: Inconvenient to have a bottom loading tape when utilizing a tripod.

Analogue Video clip In/Out: Convert and report analog online video to miniDV format or miniDV format to analog. Can connect to a VCR or 8mm videocamera. Most helpful.

Handbook Focus And Coverage Controls: Possessing the capacity to flip off automatic manage leads to far better creation as you turn into much more skilled.

S-Online video In/Out: Necessary so you can file input from personal computer screens. Most valuable.

Size Does Matter: A cam corder that is as well little can be challenging to run, will also have a more compact Lcd. Appear for a medium sized videocamera. When out and about take your electronic digital camera for sudden pictures.

Lastly: Stick with the main title manufacturers, Canon, Sony and so on. Keep away from the temptation to obtain a employed videocamera from eBay. No will need to invest much more than the minimal if you can acquire a main brand with all the above talked about attributes, unless of course you are planning on shifting up a level in your creation then go for a 'pro' quality videocamera. My Canon MVX350i has all these attributes and price me much less than $500.

Analysis on-line and slim down your list noting the rates. Then check out a store and have a 'hands on' ahead of generating your last selection. Test on the merchants best value and if they are a lot a lot more expensive then order on-line and just be individual till it arrives.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1764811_4.html

Design Sample Can Give Several Chances for Trial with Little Expense

2010-12-01T21:50:00.001-08:00

Being a website owner it is a common expectation that people will remember the website and can be beneficial after going through it. The website has to be effective for both the owner as well as the visitors. The huge traffic rate definitely helps the owner to earn a good amount of money and the richness of the content and the information within the website enhance the visitors' knowledge. Even a website can attract the visitors with its design and the enriched material. The entire concept of Web Development
Service is based on the tools called website. Such service is all about making the website more informative, more attractive and more users friendly. Such services think about the ranking of each and every website in the search engines. Website will be so attractive and informative that people can have the eagerness to visit again and again. Even they can book mark any specific website and can give the reference to the friends. The usability and accessibility are two foundations of a popular and successful website. Even a proper design is also important to attract the visitors. A nice design is the basic criteria of a good website.

Undoubtedly the online services
are completely based on eye-catching materials. It is very important to give a well design to the website to attract people at the very initial level. Making the website well design is the foundation and being the owner you need to think first and foremost about the design. Being the owner of the website you can choose to assign one designer for giving the website an ethnic and attractive look. In that case you need to spend a good amount over the design as you are engaging an expert for your purpose. You just require to give all the details and your thought and the designer will give the structure of your thought in your website.

Another way can save a little bit of amount as the owner of the website while construction. A number of websites are offering ready-made templates over the Internet. You just need to select and pay for the template that may be Flash templates. Well-known and expert designer creates such templates. The difference is you do not need to expense over an expert designer just for a creating a single design for your website. Even you can purchase the template and can start working on the site. Design Template can really minimize the time period of launching the website. Time saving is a benefit as you can leave behind numerous opponents at every moment.

While selecting the ready-made template you need to maintain some issue in your mind to get the best result. Uniqueness should be the main focus as far as the design of your website is concerned. It is not profitable and good idea to have a same design site juts like any of your opponents. It is very important to try something very interesting, unique and distinct design from others to compete for a long run in the world of web marketing
. You can have a trial through Design Mock up templates for your website. If you re not satisfied with the design you can change it again before launching the actual website. It is also very important to focus on the simplicity as this leads to a very user-friendly site. The visitors do not have much time to spend over the construction of your site. They will never give more time to understand the construction and the use rather they will prefer to move further for the material they are hunting.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1760644_4.html

Create and Internet Layout - What Are the Variations and Why It's Essential to Style In a different

2010-12-01T21:49:00.002-08:00

Although operating as a net designer, I have several instances run throughout extremely gifted and wonderful artists who, whilst performing wonderful jobs for pattern manufacturing, attempted to style for internet with really minor understanding on the engineering, computer-individual interplay, usability, and other crucial factors that distinguish net items from create ones.

I feel that only Net Art Directors really should generate web project layouts, and this ought to grow to be a rule. I genuinely hope that this discipline will soon be taught in colleges. So far we are dealing with Person Interface Designers, who are not essentially Artists. This is why we generally see properly searching sites that are not usable or quite usable items that do not appear good. The predicament has been bettering recently, but tons of internet sites are nevertheless being developed by print designers. And I don't feel this is coming to an finish any time shortly.

There is a key big difference among designing for impress and for the internet. Pattern products could be carried close to and read by your aim for viewers at their hassle-free time. When designing for the net, you will need to preserve in thoughts that your aim for viewers 1st arrives to your web site and then reads the contents. Yet another distinction is that impress material could be very carefully go through from paper. That's significantly more hassle-free and comfy versus studying from the display.

Style of a create solution web page is absolutely seen proper apart, and the layout notion can be captured by a human thoughts at after. Internet layout components seem to site users one by one as they are viewing the site. Relying on numerous variables this kind of as the quantity of subject material, world wide web connection velocity, screen size and resolution, and many others, occasionally even crucial subject material components may well not be noticeable proper absent.

Another idea vital to planning products is intellectual fill. It refers to the load on functioning reminiscence during pondering. The more a particular person has to understand in a shorter period of time, the much more hard it is to process that details in operating memory. Intellectual load is even a lot more essential for interactive items than for impress product or service. When it will come to printed substance, a person spends some time seeking for important details. Nonetheless, people invest significantly much less time when making an attempt to locate specific info on a internet page.

Audience visually scan pattern products in order to discover the data they are looking for. Users study web sites utilizing a hand when shifting a mouse from an thing to object. The lag involving the sight response and a hand movement is straight connected to the cognitive fill of the venture: the extended it requires a person to come across the details he desires, the heavier the intellectual insert. It is simple to see that intellectual fill is inversely linked to the usability of your undertaking. That is, the extended it requires a person to discover what he is seeking for, the greater the likelihood that he either forgets what he was undertaking or leaves the internet site.

Consequently, even wonderful and clean styles, which function properly for pattern items might not be deemed usable for website items. This is why it's really critical to approach the development of a internet site understanding the essential concepts of intellectual load, human-personal computer conversation, usability, and so on. Create layout prioritizes great appears. Internet layout should emphasize the written content.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1774061_4.html

Creating A Great Web Page

2010-12-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

The Page Title is usually the first thing that you see on a website. It stands out the most and therefore that will be the first thing that the visitor sees. Based on that, the visitor can decide to read further or go on to the next thing. So what you want to do is to make your page title as descriptive as possible. Make sure that it explains about the page.

The content of your web page has to be gripping. You have to be able to capture their attention and get them to see why they should keep reading. Does it provide important information? You have to be able to satisfy what they are looking for otherwise they won't come back.

Page length is an issue that you have to try to determine. You do not want it to be too long to the point where someone will not want to keep reading. You also don't want it to be too short where there is not enough content to keep the reader. You have to decide based on the message that you want to get out to your visitors.

Images are another aspect that you want to concentrate on. First thing is size, so you want to have the picture at 12KB or smaller. Make sure that the picture pertains to the subject at hand. You also want to be able to let the visitor click on the image if they want a bigger better view.

Links are very important to a web page because it allows for the reader to click onto additional useful information. Make links to have a good brief description of what they are actually clicking into, instead of just "click here." People will go to links if they find it worthwhile. Also just another point, make sure that your links actually work. There is nothing worse than a reader clicking onto a link that goes to nowhere.

There are also a few last things that you definitely want to consider. Make sure you add a section that allows for feedback. You want to take comments and suggestions made by the visitors to better improve your website.

Updates are very important because it will give off a better impression to the visitor. They will see that you are constantly updating your website and providing new and current information. It builds for credibility to your website. Speaking of credibility, lastly, you want to make sure that there are correct spellings and grammar. There is nothing more turning off then misspelled words
and incorrect grammar. Make sure that you rectify those problems so that you can be presented professionally.

Jovanky De Los Santos is the creative director
at JD Giron LLC, a website design studio located in New Jersey. His company approaches website development differently than many web companies. JD Giron LLC combines the use of marketing psychology with top-notch web development to create truly exceptional custom sites for its clients.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1768672_4.html

Converting psd to joomla template design can be done by anyone, nevertheless, the one that maintains

2010-12-01T21:48:00.001-08:00

Joomla is a very flexible and easy comprehensible platform, which can be designed and molded as per customers need. It is very less space consumption platform that is not only user friendly but also SEO friendly. Joomla is the only technology with the availability of readymade advanced extensions such as flash galleries, image galleries shopping carts
, forms and more.

The knack of converting psd to joomla template without an inch of difference while maintaining the high quality and accuracy requires ample experience. If you have a file in PSD, PNG, or JPG file; even HTML, Wordpress, Drupal, or other website format than an experienced professional template designer can play with any file and covert it into Joomla without bogging.

Below are few things that psd to joomla converter experts should take care while developing joomla template design.

• W3C Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional Table-less CSS markup

• Clear CCS files

• Browser compatibility with all browsers including IE, Firefox, Chrome and Safari (including old and new versions)

• Module positions must be collapsible and flexible

• Fast Loading due to minimal file requests, gzip compression and image sprites. Because this is not always possible with CMS, but there extensions available to perform these processes.

• Search Engine Optimized - Friendly site fully accessible, without JS

• Compatibility with major components/modules/plugins, please specify if their might be any issues that may arise

Custom orders are converted into psd to joomla template, jpg to joomla template and more. You can even show your own example that you like to a coder to replicate or ask for customization based on your need.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1766909_4.html

Tips to help SEO experts improve their marketing strategies

2010-12-01T21:47:00.001-08:00

SEO
is one of the most basic blocks that will help build your website's popularity, thus giving you the desired results. Every business requires good search engine optimization strategies in order to dominate in the world of online marketing. Here are a few tips that can help SEO experts at doing what they do best - Search Engine marketing
.

• The first is to create blogs. If you add a blog to the website, it will make it easier for updating and adding new content to it. Updated content is preferred by mostly all the search engines, and if done on a regular basis, it will surely help the website climb up higher in terms of ranks.

• You should remember to keep the code limited. Excessive coding makes your website slow, as far as loading is concerned. Also, there is a high possibility of errors occurring in your code. This, of course, is not desirable. It causes trouble for search engine spiders to locate your website and thus affects your search engine rankings in the long run.

• Each page of your site should be unique in its own way. If, at all, you use some content that is present on another site, chances of your site being ignored by the search engines are higher. This is because their algorithm looks out for content that distinguishes you from other sites. SEO experts should take care not to duplicate their content.

• Meta description tags help web surfers to know what the site is all about. So, it is necessary to make your description in such a way that it convinces people to visit your site. One thing to be kept in mind while doing this is that your tag should not be a duplicate.

• When footer links are added to your pages, they provide a boost in the search engine rankings. Use plain hypertext links that include the keywords in the anchor text.

• It is advisable to create a separate web page for each keyword or phrase. For every product or service that a company is selling or endorsing, a separate web page should be created. This way, a potential buyer will reach this page directly from a search engine.

• The title tags of your website should include the keywords. This is important because most search engines take into account a website's title to understand its content. This helps maintaining the website's rank in the search engines.

Keeping these points in mind can help SEO experts increase the web sites ranking in the top search engines and also maintain these ranks. This would, obviously, help in the boost of the web site's popularity.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1766514_4.html

Ready Made HTML Templates for Better Performance

2010-11-30T00:13:00.001-08:00

Web design templates
are nothing more than some ready made template that can give you a complete idea regarding the look and appearance of your website. Internet is a place of visual exposure. You need to be very attractive to catch the attention of the Internet surfers. Website design is the basic criteria to have the attention of the mass from all over the world. The website is the replica of your objectives and thoughts of your business. Ready made templates can be very useful to give a perfect look to your website. Adding just some content is enough to launch the website. Such ready-made templates can be customized according to your requirement and choice. You can make a complete exposure of your objectives and views through the website. Easy To Use templates are very much ready and you can launch the website without wasting much time and money. Even you do not need to engage a designer as you get the template very much at the your hand. There are a number of hazards related with your website design
. It is very important to make the person understated what you exact thought is. After that you need to rectify the faults and troubles related with the design. It is quite normal that there will be a number of editing and rectification as this is very difficult to execute somebody else’s thought and it is also very difficult to correct the perception of another person. This can lead to misunderstanding along with wasting ah huge amount of time and money.

Ready made templates can give you relief from all such troubles and turmoil. Customized Website Templates are the ideal platform to express your thought and perspective with the design and the content. A preview for the website is always good to judge the execution status of your thought and you can change if there is some problem. Without a satisfied presentation it is not possible to get the best result. It is not possible to convince other if you are not convinced from the very initial level. You need to forward your thoughts to the consumers with the tool called your website. You need to format it with all your concept and design just to catch the attention of thousands of your targeted surfers. A ready-made template gives you relief from the misunderstanding between the owner and the designer. This is really something very professional and very nice to execute the proper thought.

Time saving is another important factor for such ready-made templates. Saving a single minute leads to you some benefit as you can leave behind numerous other owner on the same field. That means you are leading from other owners. Simultaneously you can save a huge amount of money related with a formal templates designing. Involving a person just for the design is no doubt a huge expense and you can avoid such an important factor through a ready-made template. Moreover you can have enough options to choose from including Flash Web Templates
. You can have the preview of the website with multiple options as the design. There are huge options you can get over the Internet having many well-designed templates just for your selection. They can fulfill all the requirements from your end as well while saving time and money. After purchasing a suitable website you just need to enrich the website with top quality and content and can launch the website accordingly with all perfection. You can make an exclusive purchase of the template for your website to present yourself in front of the whole world.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1774151_4.html

Online Application of Graphic Design

2010-11-30T00:12:00.002-08:00

Any website which is successful had used various tools and techniques to attract the target audience and pursue them to make sale with them. One such element is graphic designing, it has given a new look and perspective to website designing. One can experiment with new creative ways by mixing in polished skills and technology. Graphic designers use various types of communication tools for the purpose of designing.

For any product or service to be sold to customers you need to inform them in correct format and way which could convince them till the end action of buying is done. In recent years websites have become one of the best visual medium to provide the message and information to the target customers.

Not only websites but graphic designs are being used in other mediums like magazines, advertisements, product packaging, billboards, etc. Overall company success is affected by the graphics and the designing being used.

Elements like color usage, its attractiveness, description, scalability, etc are common with every graphic design. Smallest of change in logo can affect the entire brand image and value and influences the results. Therefore the importance of graphic design for any organization can be known from here. If positive and right changes in logos
are done that it gives newer look and feel to it.

If we think about the advantages of graphic designing we would find many to take notice of. You can craft future strategies that can be fruitful in long-term and are fool-proof. You can stay much ahead of your competitors. It gives a particular brand image and identity to your company that gives a professional look.

Companies who want to do advertising through the means of graphic designing can contact any good graphic design company. Internet is buzzing with high level of competition from every field, therefore online promotion of business is necessary. Through a website you can reach to millions of target audience worldwide and lure them to become your customer. If you have greater coverage of customers than you can get higher sales and more profit. Those who want to achieve success with advertising via graphic designing than use services of advertising company for accomplishing the advertising campaign.

The advertising agency that you are hiring should be aware of complete market knowledge and which type of graphic design can appeal to which type of business and its target customers. They should know the consumer psychology and respective behavior pattern they have so that right kind of graphic design can be designed and selected.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1774096_4.html

Create and Web Layout - What Are the Variations and Why It's Critical to Style and design Differently

2010-11-30T00:12:00.000-08:00

Whilst functioning as a internet designer, I have numerous occasions run throughout extremely proficient and high-quality artists who, although undertaking incredible jobs for print manufacturing, attempted to style for net with quite little knowledge on the engineering, computer-human interaction, usability, and other important elements that distinguish internet merchandise from create ones.

I imagine that only Internet Artwork Directors ought to develop website challenge layouts, and this ought to turn into a rule. I really hope that this discipline will quickly be taught in colleges. So far we are dealing with Person Interface Designers, who are not necessarily Artists. This is why we generally see properly looking web sites that are not usable or extremely usable items that do not search great. The scenario has been enhancing lately, but lots of sites are nevertheless being designed by pattern designers. And I don't assume this is coming to an stop any time soon.

There is a key variation between creating for pattern and for the website. Create products could be carried around and examine by your goal target audience at their handy time. When creating for the web, you have to have to maintain in mind that your aim for audience initial comes to your website and then reads the contents. Yet another big difference is that create materials could be meticulously study from paper. That's significantly much more practical and comfortable versus reading from the screen.

Design of a pattern item page is completely seen correct apart, and the layout notion can be captured by a human mind at when. Net layout components seem to web site people 1 by 1 as they are viewing the internet site. Relying on numerous variables such as the quantity of content material, web connection pace, screen measurement and resolution, etc, at times even essential written content components might not be seen proper apart.

An additional notion essential to creating items is intellectual fill. It refers to the load on functioning reminiscence throughout pondering. The more a man or woman has to discover in a shorter period of time, the a lot more difficult it is to procedure that details in operating memory. Cognitive fill is even much more essential for interactive items than for impress solution. When it happens to printed materials, a individual spends some time hunting for critical information. Nevertheless, customers shell out very much less time when attempting to find certain information on a internet web page.

Readers visually scan print merchandise in order to discover the data they are seeking for. People go through web sites utilizing a hand when shifting a mouse from an thing to object. The lag in between the sight response and a hand motion is immediately connected to the intellectual fill of the project: the extended it requires a consumer to come across the info he would like, the heavier the intellectual load. It is simple to see that intellectual fill is inversely associated to the usability of your venture. That is, the longer it takes a consumer to discover what he is seeking for, the greater the opportunity that he both forgets what he was performing or leaves the internet site.

Consequently, even wonderful and clear designs, which function well for print merchandise may not be regarded as usable for net items. This is why it's quite important to method the creation of a website knowing the crucial concepts of cognitive fill, human-personal computer interplay, usability, and many others. Pattern design prioritizes great seems to be. Net style need to emphasize the subject material.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1774077_4.html

Internet site Improvement Procedure for Newbies

2010-11-30T00:11:00.000-08:00

Website Improvement is a broad time period which refers to all the measures which should be taken to turn an idea into a website. You have to be systematic and methodical about it - poor planning in the early levels can create difficulties down the line. Though Website improvement in Lafayette, LA can generate remarkable websites, and put a business in a modest city this kind of as Lafayette, LA on the map, they adhere to a pretty rigid pattern based mostly on your needs when they actually code the internet site. All the elements of the website must work with each other - if you modify your thoughts on a single element of the website, really frequently that will indicate programming
changes to the rest of the site as well...which can be a high priced and time consuming enterprise. Strong preparing from the starting will go a lengthy way to guaranteeing that the Internet site Growth method is smooth.

You've got to commence by asking 'what is the goal of this site'. Possibly you have a little site improvement organization in Lafayette, LA. So your objective is to encourage your service. Your purpose for your web existence is to consolidate and improve your image, showcase your function to a wider viewers - right after all, there is no reason why a graphic designer in Lafayette, LA can't do perform for someone in California. What do you will need to have in your web site that will draw buyers to you?

Determine your target viewers. Most of them will be in Lafayette, LA - so envision the kind of particular person who is most likely to appear to your web site, and what their needs will be. If you want to stick to graphic style for skilled companies, then your method is likely to be diverse than if you specialize in graphic style for posters for musicians and album covers. Web site Development implies you require to get clear on all of this ahead of you start - or the procedure will be troublesome, nerve-wracking and may price more than you budgeted for.

The next part is preparing. It's a great concept to commence from the level of the internet site map - which will checklist all the major subjects of the internet site, set your navigation system
in location, and clarifies what content material your internet site desires to have. At this point in Internet Improvement you also have to acquire into account e-commerce, whether you are heading to use flash or not, how you program to consider orders and liaise with your clients, specially if you strategy to do so more than the internet, and not in particular person.

When all this is in location, you can transfer on to the Style part of Web site improvement. How do you want your web site to seem and experience? Make positive you keep your style appropriate to your organization picture and the consumers you prepare to appeal to. Clear format, pages that load quickly and great written content are the watchwords here. At this stage you will transfer onto what is referred to as the development phase. This is in which your website is truly programmed. The developer will generally begin with a household page and a shell for the interior pages. The entrance-stop is of the internet site is what it will search like to your clients. The back again-finish is the part you will use to load subject material to. In consultation with your developer, you will also have to select what coding language to use, and that your code complies with existing net standards and can be updated easily as trends transform.

When the coding and the layout are in place, you can commence loading content and testing the website. This is extremely essential - hyperlinks, animations, headings and many others ought to perform, and must show effectively. At this level you also require to make positive your web site is compatible with all the major browsers. Search engine marketing, or Search Engine Optimization is an critical function of Internet site Improvement in Lafayette, LA - the greatest web site in the earth is worthless if the primary investigation engines are unable to discover it and list it large in the rankings, so when search final results are returned for Graphic Layout in Lafayette, LA, the search engines have you at least on the initial page. If you are organizing to make some revenue from promoting, this is also some thing which has to be integrated in your Internet Growth tactic.

After your website is up and working, bear in thoughts it will need maintenance and updating. If you have all these details in location, and your Net Growth in Lafayette, LA has been sound, you will be on your way to creating a globally presence on the internet.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1774076_4.html

Recruitment Web site Layout - 9 Methods to Construct a Recruitment Site

2010-11-30T00:10:00.001-08:00

Who need to examine this report?

Any individual who owns a recruitment organization, recruitment internet site or position board, or anybody who may possibly will need to have a recruitment agency site or position board produced or re-created.

Introduction

Some time ago, we carried out some research into common expenses required in buy to build a recruitment web site. We spoke to a range of distinct suppliers and requested what they normally charge for a pretty normal recruitment web site.

We considered we'd asked every person for just about the similar factor. So we anticipated to get charges which have been at least in the same ball-park. Rather, we obtained costs ranging from all around Â£500 to more than Â£20,000. Which is very a big difference - in anyone's guide.

At the exact same time, we did some browsing on the internet to see what recruitment businesses may locate if they attempted to discover possibly a toolkit or a vendor for establishing recruitment web sites. Once more, we discovered a massive array of different possibilities, each with their very own pros and cons.

To be perfectly trustworthy, even we got baffled by the quantity of different alternatives, approaches and rates that had been out there. So this obtained us thinking: "If it's this complicated for US, then what on earth should it feel like for our customers when they commence to appear at this?!"

To combat this, we decided to set this write-up together to assist recruiters make some sense of all the alternatives, and to distil all individuals diverse prospects into five major classes or strategies. Most importantly, we needed to describe the positive aspects and drawbacks of each and every approach to assist companies make a much better purchasing selection for their business.

Here, for your convenience (and maybe bed-time reading!) are individuals diverse approaches in as little a nutshell as we could probably manage:

Tactic one: Intense Do-it-yourself

This is in which YOU the enterprise proprietor or recruiter (i.e. any non-complex man or woman with no preceding net improvement encounter) decides 'hey!, I don't wanna fork out loads of cash for a recruitment website, I'm gonna develop the point myself - can't be that difficult'.

There a a number of diverse equipment you could try utilizing in purchase to create your internet site this way:

1. You could use a no cost (open source) device like WordPress to create a simple internet site;

two. You could use a compensated-for 'website builder' which is a company or instrument presented by some net hosting companies that enables you to set up and setup a web site primarily based on particular templates or layout kinds;

3. You could use a slightly much more superior site-creating content material management utility like Joomla! Or Drupal. These totally free style libraries allow you begin placing collectively a website utilizing components or modules which have currently been constructed and tried by builders of the framework;

seven. You could understand how to use a completely-fledged internet site coding language like ASP.Net or php and purchase the books and tools needed to find out how to produce, edit, organise and/or compile these languages into a web site.

The single advantage of this type of remedy is: it's dirt cheap. At minimum, it won't price you much from a monetary stage of perspective. But the poor news is it will virtually definitely expense you a fair bit of time.

Whichever way you seem at it, the main difficulty with all the options outlined above and this general approach is that you would be a making an attempt to do a career which is not truly your specialism or in which you have no earlier encounter. The end result? You'll spend numerous several hours making an attempt to be a internet developer rather of concentrating on the enterprise of recruitment. There are some other down sides to these methods very:

* Unless of course you have some prior style expertise, you'll require to rely in your personal thoughts and instincts in terms of what the web site ought to appear like and how it really should behave. This can be challenging. For a expert appear, it's normally greatest to have the suggestions of a specialist designer who's knowledgeable in making internet site concepts and who understands how to make colors function successfully with 1 an additional;

* The templates or beginning setups often provided with the 1st 3 alternatives listed over are usually fairly restricted and/or inflexible - as quickly as you want to do one thing which is outside the capacity of the web templates or framework you will run into troubles whereby you require some further complex know-how to get points how you want them (or what you're trying to accomplish might not even be achievable at all);

* In many circumstances, site builders and instruments which allow web sites to be developed effortlessly basically can not assistance some of the much more challenging or superior functionality devoid of you understanding what you're undertaking on a complex stage. Alternative 4 detailed over would support you get all around this, but in alone this would involve instruction oneself as a site developer to a fairly large stage.

In quick, if you are severe about producing a web site for your enterprise (as opposed to a pastime or fundamental individual website) this strategy is typically a negative proceed. There genuinely is a good deal to know about creating a expert recruitment web site and attempting to develop it oneself is, effectively, type of like attempting to construct your very own residence: you'll put the foundations in all incorrect which will result in issues later, you won't know how to develop issues so that they're long term and intruder proof, you won't be capable to put systems in spot that tell you when something's improper and you possibly won't be ready to do a higher top quality work (at the very least not the first time round). Most importantly of all, you'll shell out WAY as well significantly time understanding how to construct a site that would be much much better invested doing work on your company or other places of recruitment.

Approach a couple of: Inner Diy

This is equivalent to the above, but in this circumstance your IT team carry out the internet site develop. This may be an selection if you already have an IT staff who appear right after other inner techniques or databases.

But the issue is that building a effective web site is a really specialised talent in itself. It's a sub-sector of IT and even if your IT staff have some experience creating sites, they may not have a great deal of encounter building recruitment web sites particularly.

The primary downside of this strategy is that in the prolonged-manage it is likely to price your enterprise significantly much more than it would to outsource this alternative to a internet site advancement firm (preferably one particular specialising in recruitment web sites). A professional company would be in a position to supply you a thing for a mounted value, within just a fixed time frame and they really should be able to use understanding and encounter gained from other tasks and customers in buy to assist your site carry out far better.

Strategy a few: 'Out of the Box' recruitment site templates

This is exactly where the recruitment website is essentially currently produced for you, leading to backside. These systems can be extremely tempting, fairly low cost and yes, they can be valuable in some scenarios. This kind of web site often comes with big quantities of features at a fairly low cost and provides one particular complete and relatively rapid solution.

At first, this selection sounds genuinely great. It's the natural route you may possibly believe of and it's variety of like picking a new kitchen from a magazine and getting someone convey it in and install it for you.

That's all very effectively. Nevertheless, there are a entire bunch of problems with this approach and you will need to feel extremely meticulously about whether or not you're really just slicing corners on your web site by undertaking this or whether it's the correct and sensible investment.

The down sides are:

* These options frequently seem extremely equivalent to a single yet another which signifies that it's quite possible your internet site will seem the identical as 10, 20, or 30 other recruitment firm web sites all around the nation - probably some of your competition;

* These websites are usually more than-engineered with big amounts of performance which is accessible to the candidate and/or clientele on your site, but due to the generic and formulaic way in which it's been carried out, it doesn't necessarily get applied as frequently as it may otherwise do i.e. it doesn't truly operate as well properly from a organization viewpoint;

* There might be some limitations on what both can or can not be carried out with the web site possibly now or in the potential from a specialized level of view i.e. it may well not be completely versatile in the long operate;

Often, this type of approach to building sites can be a small slap-dash... but much more crucially that it entirely undermines the entire tactic which a organization need to have towards its web site:

The firm site is one of, if not THE, most effective and lucrative advertising and marketing tool/instruments obtainable to any company. Most recruitment companies fully beneath-use their internet site as a signifies of attracting new candidates and consumers. Making use of a web template web site remedy means subscribing to a 'me too' method for your web site which will make it appear generic and normal. All organizations will need to try to differentiate themselves from their rivals and a web template tactic to the organization internet site will make it more tough to do this.

In small, utilizing web template site dangers generating your firm appear like a web template enterprise. You most likely wouldn't be content considering of your enterprise as a template enterprise, so it's crucial not to perspective your website like that each. In the end you may possibly be disappointed with the outcomes you get from a template website in comparison to what your web site need to be able to do for your company (a lot more due to the fact of the general method and tactic than simply because of the real solution alone).

Approach 4: Ground-up development (from mark)

This (or a thing near to it) is usually supplied by website suppliers (both good and undesirable) who don't have a lot encounter creating recruitment web sites. They'll recognize a specification with you and create you an whole process, from scratch, that ought to be completely yours from best to bottom.

Investing in this course will normally mean you finish up with a internet site which doesn't have some of the drawbacks of the template web site option talked about earlier.

Nevertheless, there are sure disadvantages:

* It'll be much much more expensive (to get a great job carried out at minimum);

* It'll generally consider more time;

* It'll imply the business are creating tons of un-tested, model-new capabilities for you, from mark: the business will invest ninety% of their time on growth, but only ten% of their time with you understanding your needs and getting things just right for you. This indicates your site will be the one and only guinea pig for the new computer code and you'll will need to fully finance all future developments.

In the end, this method is fairly inefficient and you're getting an individual to reinvent the whole wheel when actually, you only will need to reinvent the component of it that makes your company various.

Essential Notes On This Strategy - Beware:

Several world-wide-web advancement businesses who generate bespoke or customised internet sites claim they will be creating your web site fully from scuff and so you would believe their company falls inside this category. The primary cause why this is desirable is simply because it signifies that (as opposed to the subsequent selection) you are not tied to any particular business for a set of main program code libraries or items of your web site. Even so, when the useful parts of a web site grow to be remotely difficult, it is extremely scarce for a internet site improvement business to publish each and every line of computer code for a website from the leading layers down by means of to the database, from scuff, for any particular consumer. To do this (for something like the complexity of even a pretty easy recruitment internet site) would acquire a lot of hundreds of several hours, and possibly months of improvement time. It would be really tough for any web site growth firm to be aggressive if they commence every website totally from scrape.

As an alternative, most businesses tend to use particular computer code libraries or an current foundation and they develop their web sites utilizing that basis (this is nearer to approach 9 posted below). Irrespective of how the particular web site improvement organization might word it (inside the good print of their agreements and so on), it is normally the situation that you are NOT acquiring the key program from the provider. As a substitute, you are acquiring all of the bespoke function which they do for you as portion of the venture you recognize with them. This will normally consist of: layout work (copyright of which you will personal), integration with the heart method and any other customized program code or logic which they may possibly write for you particularly as component of the challenge. In addition to the function carried out for you, you may possibly then need to shell out a licence payment for the duration of the lifetime of your web site for the bottom process upon which your internet site is constructed.

You ought to be cautious right here: numerous improvement firms will assign rights for the complete internet site to you, unaware that they are not allowed to do this: if they have bought a main method to one shopper, then they merely are unable to promote it to a second client because it is no extended theirs to offer. Alternatively, they might simply not inform you that they in truth very own a big piece of your web site which you are not entitled to if you ever wish to proceed your web site to a various dealer.

Tactic 5: Bespoke website built upon on a Licensed Core Method

Acquiring both experimented with or noticed all other approaches first-hand, we believe this is by much the greatest strategy for creating recruitment web sites at the moment.

In this tactic, you spend for the advancement of the 'top layer' of your website (every thing that's particular for you), and the integration of that best layer with a core method which has previously been built, attempted and tried. You then buy a fairly priced annual license to use that core method with your site.

Benefits:

* Your internet site can look and work precisely how you want (like ground-up improvement) but you don't have to pay for the costly or risky process of producing all that style from scuff;

* Your website won't appear or function like a template site - it can do anything at all you want and seem precisely how you want;

* Your provider will be ready to devote virtually all of their time with you and operating on your requirements instead of redeveloping basic functions from scrape;

* There's not much value in the main stuff for you (you only need 1 copy of it to operate your website) so this enables you to have that copy devoid of having to pay to create it;

* You will be able to acquire benefit of existing heart capabilities which are currently attempted and certified;

* The site will be a lot less 'buggy' (it'll be much more secure and reliable);

* You'll have entry to long term upgrades and enhancements as they take place and you'll only will need to shell out a fraction of the cost for these due to the fact the expense would be shared across other consumers using the same core capabilities.

There's just a single principal disadvantage to this approach: you won't personal the complete program from best to bottom which you may possibly do with tactic (four) (but only if you've been really cautious about the legalities and ownership of all the style).

But eventually, why do you will need to very own the total method? - The licensed heart method method allows you to get a extremely useful, nevertheless even now special and totally customised internet site with out having all the style produced for yourself from scrape - It signifies you're not reinventing the whole wheel, just the component of it that genuinely issues to you and your enterprise.

Summary:

So right here are the crucial factors to keep in mind from this post:

one. Do it yourself websites can be inexpensive but will price tag you a great deal of time and will rarely give you the results you're searching for;

a couple of. Getting your personal IT group craft a internet site for you is an alternative but outsourcing to a expert provider will generally be a lot more expense successful and ought to in concept present you with a much better internet site as they will be leveraging encounter acquired on other related projects;

3. Template options can be tempting since they supply so very much for comparatively tiny expense. But be careful to work out regardless of whether this is the right funding for your enterprise: are you basically reducing corners by not taking the time to grow a fully-fledged on-line tactic for your business and thereby missing out on a huge volume of chance?;

seven. Correct floor-up (from mark) growth is usually prohibitively pricey and certainly not price tag-helpful for most companies. But be particularly careful of agencies providing this type of services when in reality they may possibly be promoting you some computer code which has previously been marketed elsewhere as component of a diverse web site. Even if this is not the circumstance, the time they have to spend building program code will depart a lot significantly less time for them to give you their consideration;

7. The licensed main program provides you the greatest of all worlds as you can have a web site produced for your organization which is:

* Unique;

* Totally customised from an look and functionality point-of-watch;

* Aligned particularly to your present company targets and requirements;

* Tailor-made to your distinct applicant and consumer audience;

* Developed on a dependable and properly-tried underlying platform which is previously in reside use;

* Significantly less high-priced than true soil-up growth;

When you're investigating distinct choices for your site, attempt to perform out which of the methods detailed in this write-up every choice falls into. This really should assist you make a a lot more knowledgeable selection about the variety of internet site you are getting, how a lot of it you will actually very own, and the final results you can realistically count on to see from it for your company.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1774060_4.html

Open Source Shopping Cart Software: How to Select the Best?

2010-11-30T00:09:00.002-08:00

Almost all businesses nowadays, small or big, are using the open source software to run and operate their businesses daily. Open Source Software can now meet the needs of various industries even those that are requiring for an ecommerce shopping cart software, (ERP) enterprise resource planning software, productivity suite and many more.

Merchants must choose the best product that suits their needs and unique requirements. When choosing a shopping cart system to operate your online store you must study and evaluate the technical and operational functions and specifications before launching the whole operation. Shopping carts are there to help merchants operate their businesses smoothly but this can only happen if you have chosen the one that meets all your needs and requirements.

To choose the best open source shopping cart software you must start by gathering a list of the major players in the small business market. There are ten (10) requirements that your shopping cart must have in order to come up with such list. Here they are:

1. The source code should be centrally controlled

2. There should be an established developer community

3. Good third party extensions (the payment gateway extension must be a PCI compliant)

4. Can be used with Linux and Microsoft Windows hosting environments

5. Software download must include all features listed on website (e.g. not crippleware or demoware)

6. Well written installation guide and user guide. Documentation may be available as a PDF document or as an HTML file.

7. Installs on a standard SSL certificate

8. A custom notification email should be sent to the merchant and customer

9. Bug fixes and safe upgrade path

10. Installs in a dedicated and shared hosting environment

These things should also be considered in selecting the best shopping cart for your business:

Capacity: Always consider the capacity of the shopping cart when you purchase. The capacity should be inline to your needs. For example, if you have 5,000 products you should look for a shopping cart that can store 5,000 or more products.

Performance: You must also consider the performance of your web store. Your ecommerce store must be fast even with high user loads. It should process huge amount of data without sacrificing the speed. If you don’t pride your site with regards to this, definitely your customer will shop somewhere else wherein they’ll have a must faster and more convenient shopping experience.

Community Support: Always check if the software has a strong development community that exists already. See the feedback of users from online forums about the said software and see also of they have an active community of developers so that you wouldn’t have much difficulty when you’ll encounter problems in the future.

Technical Support: Be sure that upon availing of the services of a certain product, there is an online technical support that can assist you as soon as possible. It would be a nightmare if your operation would stop for a few days because it will take much more time for the customer support to answer your queries or solve your problem.

Payment Gateway Support: To avoid hackers from doing fraudulent transactions using your customers’ information, be sure that the shopping cart you’re buying has a third party payment gateway extension. In this way, your store is more secured and you can foster trust among your clients.

Search Engine Friendly URL: Your goal is for your web shopping cart to be more popular among people and to have more customers. So, you must have a search engine friendly URL for your store to be indexed by the search engines and can put among the top searches.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1773546_4.html