10/2/07

Top 10 सकीं care Tips

Top 10 Skin care Tips

Sonia Kashuk shares 10 skin commandments to live by.

By Sonia Kashuk

We all dream of getting a miracle in a bottle. And so much ad copy leads us to believe it exists: An instant facelift. Zero pores. Paper smoothness. But our obsession with being flawless is absurd. Wrinkles happen -- adding character and depth to the face. Other changes occur as well -- features can become more pronounced and bone structure can become more angular over time. We get scars. We get freckles. And other dings and dents. Are these catastrophes? Or merely a map of our lives? Certain products can help to offset all this, but aging is a natural (and beautiful) process that happens to all of us. And acceptance, not denial, looks better on everyone.

A lot of product lines have gotten way too complicated -- aside from being costly, they take up too much time. You can keep it simple, and just as effective. Many of us overindulge our skin anyway -- if we're dry, we tend to overmoisturize; if we're oily, we tend to overstrip.

Great skincare, like makeup, doesn't have to cost a lot. A $100 jar of moisturizer? Forget it! Not many of us could afford a daily routine in that price range. So don't get caught up in the marketing madness and don't pay for pseudo science. Your endorsement is the only one that counts.

Here, my top 10 skin tips:


Protect yourself from the sun -- use sunscreen and avoid direct sunlight between the hours of 10 and 2.

Don't -- I repeat -- don't smoke. Your skin is a large organ and it needs a lot of circulation. Smoking impairs that dramatically. That's why smokers' skin looks dull and gray. Instead of having oxy-generated blood delivered to the surface of the skin, they're getting poisons and oxidants.

Get adequate rest and nutrition.

Protect yourself from stress -- both emotional and environmental stress.

Wash your face twice a day and put on the proper treatment product. I'm amazed when women tell me they don't wash their face in the morning. A lot of icky stuff collects overnight -- dead skin cells, dirt, and dust!

Don't neglect certain areas of the skin. Elbows, heels, neck, and decolletage need moisturizing, and your scalp and the tops of your feet need sun protection.

Touch your face less and wash your hands more! Don't get too surgical on yourself. It's very tempting to pick, poke, squeeze, and scratch in front of the mirror. But the more you traumatize the skin, the greater your risk of scarring. Apply treatment products and let them work.

Keep your makeup clean. Replace the sponges in your compact on a regular basis. Now and then, toss the whole works and start fresh -- the average shelf life for cosmetics is 6 to 12 months. Don't buy products so expensive that you'll be heartbroken if you have to throw them away.

Exercise moderation. More is not always better. Moisturizer, for example, is the most overused product in America. We've been bamboozled by cosmetic companies into thinking every square inch of our body has to be slathered. And it's simply not true. Exfoliators are another thing to be careful with. Used too often, they overacidify and irritate your skin.

Beware of counter girls. If it were up to them, you'd be in the bathroom for two and a half hours each morning -- putting 80 layers on your face. Keep your regimen simple. And when you do add a new product, do it gradually so your skin has time to adjust. Each skincare or makeup product has an average of 20 to 40 ingredients -- you're introducing 20 to 40 potential allergens to your face every time you try something new.


Sonia Kashuk's book, Real Beauty, is available at bookstores nationwide.

8/27/07

How to get the best car loan rates

Using a car loan is a good way for financing the purchase of a car. One of the most important aspects to consider when getting a car loan is the car loan rate. You need to get reasonable rates and that too from a lender who is reputable. Here’s what you can do to find the best car loan rates:

Compares rates offered by different lenders and don’t just jump at your first offer, Why? If you get an interest rate that’s even slightly lower than the usual rates offered, you can save a lot in the form of interest payments. However, check on the lender’s reputation as well. You can find reviews on car loan lenders across the United States in many sites on the Internet as well as rate comparisons between popular lenders.
Be realistic and decide firmly on how much you can really spend on a car loan. You may want to buy a really expensive car, but how does it matter if you can’t make regular payments for it. This is an important thing to consider, as it will help to lower your monthly loan repayments.

A crucial aspect determining car loan rates is your credit score and your driving record. If both these are at a good level, you will have no problem in getting nominal rates on your car loan.
Negotiate lower rates with the lender, to get better rates. Lower rates save you money. One thing to understand about rates is that a loan taken for a shorter period of time can cost you less in interest than a loan with a longer loan repayment period.
If you raise the amount of money you pay as down payment, your interest rates get lowered. Usually a down payment of more than 20% qualifies you for reduced rates, you save on the money you will have otherwise spent on paying interest.
Getting the best car loan rates depends on how well you assess your financial ability to repay the loan in the long term and above all, the lender with whom you are taking out the car loan. Do your homework right on these points and you will be sure to get the best rates on your car loan.

Affiliate marketing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Affiliate marketing is a method of promoting web businesses (merchants/advertisers) in which an affiliate (publisher) is rewarded for every visitor, subscriber, customer, and/or sale provided through his/her efforts.

Affiliate marketing is also the name of the industry where a number of different types of companies and individuals are performing this form of internet marketing, including affiliate networks, affiliate management companies and in-house affiliate managers, specialized 3rd party vendors and various types of affiliates/publishers who utilize a number of different methods to advertise the products and services of their merchant/advertiser partners.

Affiliate marketing overlaps with other internet marketing methods to some degree, because affiliates are using the same methods as most of the merchants themselves do. Those methods include organic search engine optimization, paid search engine marketing, email marketing and to some degree display advertising.

Affiliate marketing - using one site to drive traffic to another - is the stepchild of online marketing. While search engines, e-mail and RSS capture much of the attention of online retailers, affiliate marketing, despite lineage that goes back almost to the beginning of online retailing, carries a much lower profile. Yet affiliates continue to play a fundamental role in e-retailers' marketing strategies.[1]

Weight loss

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Weight loss, in the context of medicine or health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body weight, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue.

Unintentional weight loss
A significant loss of total body weight is a serious, chronic illness. Substantial, unintentional weight loss is a symptom of acute or chronic illness, especially if other evidence is present.

Weight loss, for example, accompanied by insatiable thirst and hunger and fatigue may indicate diabetes mellitus, a chronic disease characterized by an abnormal accumulation of carbohydrates in the bloodstream due to insufficient production of insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas that, when secreted into the bloodstream, permits cellular metabolism and utilization of glucose.

Poor management of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), also known as diabetes mellitus type I, leads to an excessive amount of glucose and an insufficient amount of insulin in the bloodstream. This triggers the release of triglycerides from adipose tissue and catabolism of amino acids in muscle tissue. This results in a loss of both fat and lean mass, predisposing a significant reduction in total body weight.

A myriad of additional scientific considerations are applicable to weight loss, including but not limited to physiological and exercise sciences, nutrition science, behavioral sciences, and other sciences.

One area involves the science of bioenergetics including biochemical and physiological energy production and utilization systems, that is frequently evidence of diabetes, and ketone bodies, acetone particles occurring in body fluids and tissues involved in acidosis, also known as ketosis, somewhat common in severe diabetes.

In addition to weight loss due to a reduction in fat and lean mass, illnesses such as diabetes, certain medications, lack of fluid intake and other factors can trigger fluid loss. And fluid loss in addition to a reduction in fat and lean mass exacerbates the risk for cachexia.

Infections such as HIV may alter metabolism, leading to weight loss.[1]

Hormonal disruptions, such as an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) , may also exhibit as weight loss.[2]


Intentional weight loss
Weight loss may refer to the loss of total body mass in an effort to improve fitness, health, or appearance.

Therapeutic weight loss, in individuals who are overweight, can decrease the likelihood of developing diseases such as diabetes [3]. Overweight and obese individuals face a greater risk of health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and osteoarthritis [4]. For healthy weight loss, a physician should be consulted to develop a weight loss plan that is tailored to the individual.

Weight loss occurs when an individual is in a state of negative energy balance. When the human body is spending more energy in work and heat than it is gaining from food or other nutritional supplements, it will catabolise stored reserves of fat or muscle.

It is not uncommon for people who are already at a medically healthy weight to intentionally lose weight. In some cases it is with the goal of improving athletic performance or to meet weight classifications in a sport. In other cases, the goal is to attain a more attractively shaped body. Being underweight is associated with health risks. Health problems can include fighting off infection, osteoporosis, decreased muscle strength, trouble regulating body temperature and even increased risk of death.[5]

Nokia and Microsoft to Deliver Windows Live Services

Cell Phone News

Nokia and Microsoft to Deliver Windows Live Services

Nokia and Microsoft have joined together to provide customers with a new suite of Windows Live services specifically designed for Nokia devices. Starting today Nokia customers in eleven countries with compatible S60 devices can download the new suite enabling access to Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Contacts and Windows Live Spaces. Starting next year, customers who purchase compatible Nokia Series 40 handsets will also have access to these popular Windows Live services.

Nokia and Microsoft are providing customers with access to their world of online relationships, information and interests. By enabling access to Windows Live services on both the Nokia S60 and Series 40 platforms using standard web services protocols mutual customers will have the power to seamlessly move between contacts, mail, messenger, phone calls, text messaging, camera, gallery and browsing all in an integrated way.

Nokia customers who own the Nokia N73, N76, N80 Internet Edition, N93i, and the N95 multimedia computers can get the Windows Live services via the Download! application in the following countries; Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, UK, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Customers can visit http://www.nokia.com/windowslive to learn more, and check if their country is on the availability list. Initially the service will be available as a free trial and then customers in select markets wishing to continue using the service may be asked to pay a monthly fee.

Today's announcement builds on the existing co-operation between Nokia and Microsoft, which integrated Microsoft's Live Search for Mobile into the Nokia Mobile Search application. Nokia also plans to extend this service onto the Series 40 platform to enhance the search experience across a greater range of devices.