Natural skin care products are top sellers in the skin care market. More and more people are recognizing that the chemicals used in big brand name skin care products are not good for us, or our skin, and turning to natural alternatives, both for skin care products, hair care products and cosmetics.Here’s 6 skin care tips for getting healthy good looking skin, for free. Because although the best natural skin care and anti aging products are spectacularly effective, there is more that you can do than just using organic skin care products.1. Improve your diet.Like it or not, our diet affects our entire body, and our skin. Our skin is an organ of our body like any other organ, and like the other organs our skin can get unhealthy from an unhealthy diet. But as everyone sees your skin it’s a highly visible result of a poor diet.This applies to all skin types, whether you have oily skin or dry skin or or any skin type, poor diet will affect the health, and look, of your skin. Skip the burgers and pizzas in favor of fruit and vegetables and your skin will look way better, and you’ll be healthier.2. Avoid big brand name cosmetics and skin care products. These products, including such things as hair care treatments, hair removal treatments, popular cosmetics, many facial and body care products and more contain chemicals that can both be harmful to your health and also damaging to your skin. Ironically, skin care products and cosmetics can actually cause skin problems. Junk your big brand name products.The author has personal experience with this. My young daughter was given traditional cosmetics by her ballet studio for her first ballet concert a few years ago, and immediately broke out in a nasty skin reaction. We now use our own (natural) cosmetics for her and there has been no repeat.3. Make yourself stick to a regular exercise routine. Exercise improves blood circulation, and this is good for your skin, and for your whole body. Exercise has so many benefits it’s hard to know where to start, and this includes improved skin health.4. Pay attention to getting plenty of beneficial essential oils in your diet. This includes omega 3 which comes from eating fish as well as some other foods. Omega 3 is good for your skin, and your overall health. You can get omega 3 from good (natural) supplements, but if you’re on a budget just find out which foods contain omega 3 and eat those. Do a little research and find a good source of omega 3 essential oil and include this in your diet regularly.5. Drink plenty of water. Your body, as well as your skin, needs to stay hydrated. If you don’t drink water this will impact your overall health as well as your skin health. Water is important for many things in your body, including skin health.6. Start dry brush exfoliation. It sounds complicated, but exfoliation is just using a soft, dry brush to gently brush your skin. Why would you want to brush your skin? Dry brush exfoliation helps remove the dead skin cells that all of us have on the surface of our skin.And you don’t just brush the skin on your face either, you should brush your entire body. It is done by gently brushing in small circles from your feet right up to your face. Dry brush exfoliation also helps improve your blood circulation in your skin, and lymph circulation.There’s 6 things you can do for free to help improve your skin beauty routine. In fact you can even save some money, for example fruits and vegetables are usually cheaper than burgers and pizzas. And if you regularly do these 6 things they will improve your skin health over time, and you will see the results. And your body will thank you for it with improved health overall.One last thing. Once you’ve junked your big brand name skin care products and cosmetics and hair and facial and body care products, find some high quality natural skin care products. They work better than the big brand name products (many of which do nothing at all), and they are made from safe non allergenic ingredients. Science is finding answers to skin aging and skin health, and they come from safe plant extracts such as shea butter and natural keratin.Stay health, stay fit and stay hydrated and your skin will do the same.
Shoe Repairs And Several Other Things When I Was 7
Shoe Repairs And Several Other Things When I Was 7
My Dad repaired most of our shoes believe it or not, I can hardly believe it myself now. With 7 pairs of shoes always needing repairs I think he was quite clever to learn how to “Keep us in shoe Leather” to coin a phrase!
He bought several different sizes of cast iron cobbler’s “lasts”. Last, the old English “Laest” meaning footprint. Lasts were holding devices shaped like a human foot. I have no idea where he would have bought the shoe leather. Only that it was a beautiful creamy, shiny colour and the smell was lovely.
But I do remember our shoes turned upside down on and fitted into these lasts, my Dad cutting the leather around the shape of the shoe, and then hammering nails, into the leather shape. Sometimes we’d feel one or 2 of those nails poking through the insides of our shoes, but our dad always fixed it.
Hiking and Swimming Galas
Dad was a very outdoorsy type, unlike my mother, who was probably too busy indoors. She also enjoyed the peace and quiet when he took us off for the day!
Anyway, he often took us hiking in the mountains where we’d have a picnic of sandwiches and flasks of tea. And more often than not we went by steam train.
We loved poking our heads out of the window until our eyes hurt like mad from a blast of soot blowing back from the engine. But sore, bloodshot eyes never dampened our enthusiasm.
Dad was an avid swimmer and water polo player, and he used to take us to swimming galas, as they were called back then. He often took part in these galas. And again we always travelled by steam train.
Rowing Over To Ireland’s Eye
That’s what we did back then, we had to go by rowboat, the only way to get to Ireland’s eye, which is 15 minutes from mainland Howth. From there we could see Malahide, Lambay Island and Howth Head of course. These days you can take a Round Trip Cruise on a small cruise ship!
But we thoroughly enjoyed rowing and once there we couldn’t wait to climb the rocks, and have a swim. We picnicked and watched the friendly seals doing their thing and showing off.
Not to mention all kinds of birdlife including the Puffin.The Martello Tower was also interesting but a bit dangerous to attempt entering. I’m getting lost in the past as I write, and have to drag myself back to the present.
Fun Outings with The camera Club
Dad was also a very keen amateur photographer, and was a member of a camera Club. There were many Sunday photography outings and along with us came other kids of the members of the club.
And we always had great fun while the adults busied themselves taking photos of everything and anything, it seemed to us. Dad was so serious about his photography that he set up a dark room where he developed and printed his photographs.
All black and white at the time. He and his camera club entered many of their favourites in exhibitions throughout Europe. I’m quite proud to say that many cups and medals were won by Dad. They have been shared amongst all his grandchildren which I find quite special.
He liked taking portraits of us kids too, mostly when we were in a state of untidiness, usually during play. Dad always preferred the natural look of messy hair and clothes in the photos of his children.
SPDN: An Inexpensive Way To Profit When The S&P 500 Falls
Summary
SPDN is not the largest or oldest way to short the S&P 500, but it’s a solid choice.
This ETF uses a variety of financial instruments to target a return opposite that of the S&P 500 Index.
SPDN’s 0.49% Expense Ratio is nearly half that of the larger, longer-tenured -1x Inverse S&P 500 ETF.
Details aside, the potential continuation of the equity bear market makes single-inverse ETFs an investment segment investor should be familiar with.
We rate SPDN a Strong Buy because we believe the risks of a continued bear market greatly outweigh the possibility of a quick return to a bull market.
Put a gear stick into R position, (Reverse).
Birdlkportfolio
By Rob Isbitts
Summary
The S&P 500 is in a bear market, and we don’t see a quick-fix. Many investors assume the only way to navigate a potentially long-term bear market is to hide in cash, day-trade or “just hang in there” while the bear takes their retirement nest egg.
The Direxion Daily S&P 500® Bear 1X ETF (NYSEARCA:SPDN) is one of a class of single-inverse ETFs that allow investors to profit from down moves in the stock market.
SPDN is an unleveraged, liquid, low-cost way to either try to hedge an equity portfolio, profit from a decline in the S&P 500, or both. We rate it a Strong Buy, given our concern about the intermediate-term outlook for the global equity market.
Strategy
SPDN keeps it simple. If the S&P 500 goes up by X%, it should go down by X%. The opposite is also expected.
Proprietary ETF Grades
Offense/Defense: Defense
Segment: Inverse Equity
Sub-Segment: Inverse S&P 500
Correlation (vs. S&P 500): Very High (inverse)
Expected Volatility (vs. S&P 500): Similar (but opposite)
Holding Analysis
SPDN does not rely on shorting individual stocks in the S&P 500. Instead, the managers typically use a combination of futures, swaps and other derivative instruments to create a portfolio that consistently aims to deliver the opposite of what the S&P 500 does.
Strengths
SPDN is a fairly “no-frills” way to do what many investors probably wished they could do during the first 9 months of 2022 and in past bear markets: find something that goes up when the “market” goes down. After all, bonds are not the answer they used to be, commodities like gold have, shall we say, lost their luster. And moving to cash creates the issue of making two correct timing decisions, when to get in and when to get out. SPDN and its single-inverse ETF brethren offer a liquid tool to use in a variety of ways, depending on what a particular investor wants to achieve.
Weaknesses
The weakness of any inverse ETF is that it does the opposite of what the market does, when the market goes up. So, even in bear markets when the broader market trend is down, sharp bear market rallies (or any rallies for that matter) in the S&P 500 will cause SPDN to drop as much as the market goes up.
Opportunities
While inverse ETFs have a reputation in some circles as nothing more than day-trading vehicles, our own experience with them is, pardon the pun, exactly the opposite! We encourage investors to try to better-understand single inverse ETFs like SPDN. While traders tend to gravitate to leveraged inverse ETFs (which actually are day-trading tools), we believe that in an extended bear market, SPDN and its ilk could be a game-saver for many portfolios.
Threats
SPDN and most other single inverse ETFs are vulnerable to a sustained rise in the price of the index it aims to deliver the inverse of. But that threat of loss in a rising market means that when an investor considers SPDN, they should also have a game plan for how and when they will deploy this unique portfolio weapon.
Proprietary Technical Ratings
Short-Term Rating (next 3 months): Strong Buy
Long-Term Rating (next 12 months): Buy
Conclusions
ETF Quality Opinion
SPDN does what it aims to do, and has done so for over 6 years now. For a while, it was largely-ignored, given the existence of a similar ETF that has been around much longer. But the more tenured SPDN has become, the more attractive it looks as an alternative.
ETF Investment Opinion
SPDN is rated Strong Buy because the S&P 500 continues to look as vulnerable to further decline. And, while the market bottomed in mid-June, rallied, then waffled since that time, our proprietary macro market indicators all point to much greater risk of a major decline from this level than a fast return to bull market glory. Thus, SPDN is at best a way to exploit and attack the bear, and at worst a hedge on an otherwise equity-laden portfolio.