Investor Jim

Investor Jim

I love to write about a lot of different stuff all over the internet from investing to cooking. I really enjoy sharing my knowledge with people and ansering questions so feel free to ask away.

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Everyone nowadays has been aiming to shift to more natural ways of being healthy be it in food, medicine and other forms of lifestyle. One of the most taken care of aspect in our body is the skin. Huge investments have been made in order to maintain its health. The skin reflects the lifestyle of a person and when it is unhealthy, it just shows that there is something wrong with the body.

The relationship between green tea and skin has been established many times in studies conducted by experts. It is said that green tea aside from reducing the incidence of cancer and heart diseases likewise have a direct effect on youth and longevity. Many people who have grown accustomed to drinking green tea look younger than those who do not.

One of the examples how green tea and skin health are connected is the radio protective effect of green tea on the skin. Application of green tea on the skin reduces the risk for erythema. Also, tannins in the green tea act as astringent which is less harmful and milder than commercial astringents sold in the market. Epigallocatechin galate or simply EGCC is an antioxidant found in green tea which, according to studies is 200 times more powerful than Vitamin E. It is directly absorbed by the skin and is effective in maintaining the integrity of collagen thus causing firmness and reversing skin aging. The benefits of EGCC is best reaped when the agent is applied topically- that is, directly in the skin rather than drinking freshly made green tea. That is why the compound is incorporated in natural anti-aging creams which is comparable or even superior to known brands.

Because of this, many cosmetic lines are now developing green tea based make-ups. The pigment is more natural, easier absorbed by the skin plus its healthier because of EGCC. It is more assuring for many that the cosmetics they put on in their skin is healthy and do not contain harmful agents which can cause pore clogging, and destruction of the skin’s natural elasticity. Choosing the healthier way is not easier because of green tea and skin cosmetics. There are powders, foundations, blush and even lipsticks which have green tea extracts. Likewise, lotions and day and night creams with green tea are now available in the market. Because of this, there is absolutely no excuse to remain healthy while making yourself beautiful.

People who choose a particular style of  bag will no doubt give an impression that the style they have chosen are reflective of their personalities. In most cases, this impression is accurate. However in some cases, nothing could be farther from the truth. Take for instance someone who buys a leather doctor bag.  Casual observers might assume that this individual is a practicing physician. After all these bags are specially designed for doctors right? Wrong! A leather doctor bag is so universally stylish that it has transcended the medical profession to successfully enter the mainstream fashion-conscious set.

A leather doctor bag is one of those accessories that has a classic, timeless quality. The doctor bags used by people decades ago will definitely not look out of place in the fashions of the 21st century. Because of this timeless quality, doctor bags have acquired the reputation of durability and strength that  few other types of bags can claim. These bags are simply designed to last a lifetime or more, making them perfect heirloom pieces.  When properly maintained a leather doctor bag will undoubtedly look better with each passing year.
With these qualities in mind, take a look at a few examples of leather doctor bags available in stores and various online retailers:


•     Doctor Leather Handbag from Floto Ciabatta – This top-quality doctor bag is made in Italy from premium calf skin and measures 9 inches high, 8 inches wide and 14 inches long, making it spacious enough to contain many personal items.  It has a lining made from yellow plaid cotton  and is available in colors such as olive brown, Tuscan red, Vecchio brown and blue. What's more, it comes with a lifetime guarantee from the manufacturer.
•    Leather Doctor's Carriage Bag from Amerileather –  This particular bag is made from premium cowhide leather exterior with an interior that is made with three compartments. It measures 18 inches long, 13.5 inches high and 6 inches wide. It has an ergonomically designed adjustable shoulder pad and has a leather carry handle with even more padding for additional comfort. 
•    BR3508 Tessuto Leather Doctor's Bag from Prada – Another top-class bag from a globally recognized fashion house, the Tessuto is designed with distinctive lines that makes it recognizable as a Prada bag. It can be securely fastened with a dual magnetic closure. Its interiors contain a zipper pocket and an additional spacious slot.

These are  just three of the many leather doctor bags out there. Dozens of top quality brands are available to be discovered by a discerning consumer

There are various kinds of interior design companies that you can choose to get involved in once you get out of interior design school. If you are an individual who wants to hire the services of an interior decorator, there are also many options to be had in a huge interior design company.

Some of these companies concentrate in the field of architecture. Principally, they center on the utilization of space and interior outlines. While the people who work for these interior design companies are not licensed architects, they use their skills to aid architecture firms bring the best of out of a simple space. These interior designers also help in making a cohesive design in the interior of a home or commercial space.

There are also interior design companies who perform as consultants in the field of design and layout. They are always on the lookout for efficient space planners who educate businesses on how to take full advantage of a space. Most people think that the job of an interior decorator is to decorate a home and other spaces, and that is that. Maybe because designing a home is the most fashionable aspect of this job. However, a professional who plans a layout of a store is also called an interior designer. He is also working on a space and its interior decoration to create a perfect design for the establishment. A lot of these well-known interior design companies deal with big businesses and not with individuals.

To work for a large interior design company is probably the ultimate wish for many interior design graduates. If hired, they would have to start at the bottom of the corporate ladder. But if they are willing to learn and acquire the necessary skills, there’s no other way to go but up. They would also find it easy to start a business of their own since they already have a massive experience to back them up. Since starting an interior design business is no easy feat, a lot of interior designers are already satisfied in being employed in a reputable firm and enjoy the benefits that come with it.

The industry of interior design is a competitive one and if you want to join it, you should create your own niche. Aside from accepting decorating projects, you can also add more to your income by holding interior decorating classes and teach aspiring interior decorators. Because of the tight competition, many job seekers try their luck in various interior design companies that focus on space planning for big businesses and commercial spaces.

The green tea powder matcha is a finely milled green tea. It was brought from China to Japan by the monk Ensai and from then on, drinking matcha has been popular in tea ceremonies and casual occasions in Japan and other neighboring Asian countries. Traditions aside, matcha has been found to contain high amounts of antioxidants. In the United States alone, the health benefits of matcha green tea powder have led to the rise of significant interest in the product. Because of this, matcha is no available in many healh food stores. Examples of foods where matcha has been incorporated include cereals and energy bars. Also, it is found that matcha contains EGCG, an important molecule that benefits the health. Furthermore, the EGCG content of matcha is 137 times greater than ordinary green tea.

Here are just some of the ways to enjoy or to use the matcha green tea powder:

1. Make matcha green tea powder cupcakes
Cupcakes are delicious treats after a very tiring day. Moreover, making cupcakes with your kids is a good way to bond and spend your free time with them. Incorporating matcha with the recipe not only creates a new color but also add a flavor and variety to the usual home made cupcakes.

2. Add a touch of green to your smoothies.
Especially for hot days of if you would like to make your day extra special, making smoothies with matcha powdered green tea can be a refreshing treat. Mixing fruits, milk, ice cream and nuts added with matcha powder as a finale is a great concoction for your friends and family.

3. Incorporate matcha green powder in your soups and stews
For squash soup, adding milk with matcha is a perfect way to create a green and yellow color for the soup which will surely be eye catching and interesting most specially to the kids. Just limit the amount of matcha because it might overpower the taste of the soup and leave a bitter taste.

4. Use matcha powder as a facial scrub.
After all the mouthwatering ways wherein one can enjoy matcha, why not try using it as a skin care product? The benefits of green tea for the skin are countless and what could be better than directly applying the matcha powder in the face. It is safe and natural. Furthermore, no artificial chemicals are added so it will serve as a great substitute to the generic facial scrubs.

For food, health and beauty, there is surely more ways where you can enjoy the matcha green tea powder.

Artistic minds like to work on creative jobs. The world of interior design is filled with creative people who value the freedom and contentment they derive from being able to conceive a magnificent structure or space. If you think you have the creative skills that you would like to release, then going into interior design business may just be the thing for you. You can even do this on the sideline if you already have a full-time job on your hands.

Putting up an interior design business can direct you to a satisfying career, even if you will only start as a part-time designer. You can work anywhere because this career doesn’t restrict you from working in any kind of place. You can work on a variety of projects such as private homes, commercial buildings and business spaces. It is the goal of an interior designer to design, execute and to present a space that is eye-catching, comfortable, and most importantly practical.

There are certain requirements that you have to fulfill when you want to start a business in interior design. You may have to take a crash course in interior design or finish an associate or a bachelor’s degree. You also have to pass an examination to acquire a license to practice. More importantly, you have to have the skill for it. You must be creative and you should be able to bring fresh ideas on the table whenever a client asks you to design a commercial or home space. You should also acquaint yourself with the various materials utilized for interior renovation.

You can operate your own interior design business from a space in your home or rent a space outside to make it your office. Having an attractive space of your own will show clients the extent of your ability. Just like any budding enterprise, there are marketing tools that you need to get your hands on so your services can reach the right client base. Have your own letterheads and envelopes, calling cards, and other marketing materials that can help promote your business. You have to include in your start-up expenses advertising and promotional tools because they are integral parts of the business.

Finally, you have to build an impressive portfolio because this will be your best weapon that could help make clients seal a deal with you. Your portfolio should display the work that you have completed so far. It would help to have well-known figures under your belt. If you are just starting out, the best way you can build a portfolio is to gather the works you have personally designed, either as a professional or as an aspiring designer. Offer your services to friends and family so you will have plenty of work to showcase in your portfolio.

Digital photos are convenient, easy to produce and have qualities comparable to photos conventionally produced from films. Moreover, they can be easily shared through e-mail, social networking sites or displayed as a hard copy tucked on frames on your home or office once you have already printed them. The availability of professional photo printers which can produce outputs of superb quality has even made digital photos the more preferred medium.


There are three categories of photo printers. Basically, the professional photo printers produce outputs which more or less have the same quality. They are just categorized primarily because of the speed of producing their outputs and their specialized features and options.
First is the ink jet photo printer which is referred to as photo ink jets or simply photo printers. The ink jet photo printer is functional as an all purpose printer. Business type applications are printed well. The downside to this type of photo printer is that printing is done at a noticeably slower pace. If you want a multipurpose printer, you can consider using the ink jet printer.
Photo printers which are designed specifically to produce outputs printed in glossy paper is the second type of photo printer. Some models of the special purpose photo printer can only print on small sizes of paper such as four by six inches. 2 subtypes are the thermal dye and the ink jet.


If you are intending to make photo printing as a career, the higher end photo printers which is in the third category is suited for the types of photo printing tasks you do or would like to do.  Using this type of photo printer elevates your level as not just a dedicated amateur. Although types of professional photo printers such as these seem intimidating, you can find a third category type printer that costs less. The output of this type of photo printers are large photos with sizes such as eleven by seventeen or even larger.
Depending on how you see photo printing be it simply as a hobby or a career, you can surely find professional photo printers which can suit your taste, budget and desired output. Nowadays, most photo printers are flexible and offer speed that can match your needs. You just have to evaluate the printer and research on it prior to buying so that you can save yourself from the hassles brought forth by unnecessary features of the printer.

Green tea is one of the oldest and most popular drinks all over the world. Like coffee, green tea has so far been evolving into more commercialized form which even the younger generations enjoy. This is because of incorporation of green tea extracts into popular drinks marketed by world popular coffee and likewise tea brands. 

Although many people enjoy green tea in its raw form, there are still some who do not like the bitter taste of green tea. Others especially those who were not introduced to green tea habit early on simply prefer other drinks such as coffee. Green tea has been found to possess compounds that can fight cancer and certain diseases and in order to give these people the chance to still benefit from the good effects of green tea, the presence of green tea capsules as well as green tea extracts conveniently mixed with delicious drinks have been made.

Here are some of the tips which a person can do in order to benefit from the good effects of green tea for the body:

1. Introduce the green tea habit to your family.
In Asia, even young kids are taught to drink green tea. By sharing the green tea goodness to the family, you are giving them the chance to stay healthy plus boosting their immune system. Moreover, green tea is a better substitute for high calorie containing coffee blends.

2. Organize an Asian inspired party for friends.
Preparing Asian inspired dished with green tea drinks will be great for entertaining people. Moreover, it is a refreshing change to typical alcohol drinking parties. With this, you are not only entertaining guests but giving them the opportunity to shift to a healthier lifestyle.

3. Look for brands which have green tea extracts
Brands which have green tea extracts don’t assure that what you are getting is the same amount of compounds which can be obtained from the freshly prepared counterpart. But still, drinks with green tea extracts are healthy and if you cannot prepare fresh green tea, it is a good substitute.

4. Explore and taste different preparations of green tea from different tea shops and restaurants.
This is a great bonding moment especially for couples. As an alternative to wine tasting, why not go for green tea tasting? Like wine, green tea contains polyphenols which fight aging and are linked to slimmer bodies.
There are many other forms of how you can enjoy green tea. Just be creative and choose what best suits you.

Grocery shopping can sometimes be tedious and once or twice, you may have thought that you have been wasting your money. But then, you need food to live, obviously. So being smart in shopping is essential. Being smart means saving more money, so you could use that money on other things. So here are a few tips on how to save money on grocery shopping:

For certain items you use often, try going to different grocery stores. Doing this allows you to compare or equate prices. You could also check for sale fliers. Knowing different stores allows you to know which store is on sale, so you could buy the cheaper option. But this is advisable only to grocery stores which are near to each other, because if they are far apart, it would cause you more effort and time merely just to compare prices.

Before you use a coupon, check the price and debate with yourself whether it really is the most beneficial deal. If you check another brand, would it cost less or more without using a coupon? Sometimes, the prices of the coupon really aren’t the best deals. Some grocery stores try to reel you in with the sale prices to convince you to spend more for other items they have in their stores, so it is best not to be misled.

For the past few years, generic brands were rated only second to the big brands out there. But come to think of it, the product qualities have changed dramatically over time. There is this secret manufacturers never dare to tell. The producers of the big brands sell their products in big quantities to the other manufacturers. These manufacturers consequently package these products in generic appearances selling them at a much lower cost. This makes you think: why would you spend four dollars just for a box of cereal when there is one of exactly the same for a mere dollar and fifty?

Dollar stores should be feared. These stores are the key to save money because the products sold there are actually just purchased from the manufacturers in large quantities causing them to cost less. There are also times wherein the manufacturers may have changed the packaging. The dollar stores purchase the ones with the old packaging for a lesser cost and of course, a big discount. That is why dollar stores have products that cost a mere one-thirds of the usual price tag.

The humble paper coffee cup is a useful container of one of the world’s most loved beverage. While most people just toss it in trash bins after use, have you ever wondered how it was produced, and what happened to it after, let’s say, you abandon it?
   
Paper cups are made from a combination of new paper and recycled paper. Inside, they are lined with plastic or wax so that the liquid is prevented from spilling or from soaking the paper. After a single use, the paper coffee cup is disposed or recycled.

According to studies, it is not clear if the paper cup or the plastic cup shows more detrimental environmental effects. A 16 ounce paper coffee cup has 1/4  pounds carbon dioxide emissions which are obtained from use of paper from trees cut, production as well as shipping. The same size of paper cup results to a loss of potential natural habitat of .93 square feet. In 2006, over 6.5 million trees were used for making 16 biollion of cups used in the United States. Furthermore, the production consumed 4 billion gallons water which resulted to 253 million pounds waste generated.

If you think that the paper cup is 100% recycled and you can go on with the use and dispose routine, you are wrong. A small percent of recycled paper is used in making the cups because of concerns with health and safety. It is done in order to minimize the instances of contamination. Also, paper cups are difficult to degrade because of the plastic coating and this is again a difficult situation for the environment. The PE is a coating which is based on petroleum and PE coated paper cups are difficult to degrade. PLA on the other hand makes the cup easier to decompose. Paper cups in the landfill usually do not decompose or if they do, they release methane.

Before, you are probably unconscious of the contribution of a simple coffee paper cup in polluting the environment and depleting the forests of natural resources. And after knowing this, there are numerous ways where you can help conserve nature. When you are in the office, bring with you a personalized coffee mug. By doing this, your plastic coffee cup usage will be minimized. It may seem like a small contribution but your yearly contribution will be of a big help to the environment. Also, ask your officemates to do the same. Afterall, personalized coffee mugs are even better than paper cups.

Kitchens are one of the places in any house that homeowners must think about carefully before hiring anyone to get started on kitchen design jobs.  A variety of factors make this particular part of the house special for many people. Aside from living rooms and dining rooms, kitchens are where families gather to socialize and engage in common activities such as cooking meals together. From a financial viewpoint, kitchens can add significant value for homeowners who are looking to sell their houses. It one of the first places in the house a potential buyer visits before checking other rooms.

With these things at stake, it is in the best interest of any caring home owner to choose the best professionals to do kitchen design jobs according to their individual tastes and specifications.  However, finding the right kitchen design professional can be a daunting task. Thankfully trade organizations exist to help guide home owners in finding the right person. Tips also abound online to help the hapless customer hire the most qualified person for the job. Here are some of the factors that a discriminating home owner must consider:

•    Cost of the service – As in any service-related industries, the cost of doing kitchen design jobs can vary from one company to another. It can also vary from one independent contractor to another. Be wary of unscrupulous kitchen designers and kitchen design firms who give out inflated job price estimates. A competent and ethical kitchen designer should be amenable to your budgetary limitations without sacrificing the quality of the products they use or the level of service they provide.
•    Expertise and competence – Speaking of competence, a skilled kitchen designer must have a solid understanding of why kitchen design jobs are not just considered normal design or construction projects by many home owners. Kitchens are personal spaces and therefore, a kitchen design professional has to be aware of the home owner's personal preferences, and styles.


•    Reputation – Last but not the least factor to consider is the reputation of the kitchen Design Company or independent provider. Ask around. Look at review sites that talk about and evaluate providers of kitchen design jobs. Kitchen design contractors with a solid track record of excellent service would definitely leave a trail behind for customers to discover.

Using a combination of prudence and cautious evaluation, any homeowner can definitely find which person or company will produce the top quality jobs for kitchen designs.

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