Some would argue that growing a beard was easy till a few years ago. All you had to do was stop shaving, and let nature take its natural course with your facial hair. There were no beard grooming or beard trimming tips to keep in mind and the simplest look of a straggly disheveled beard was widely accepted as the only way a beard can look. Read more on how to grow a beard and how to grow a beard fast.But as time passed by, newer beard trimming techniques and beard trimming instructions began to flood the homes of many. Newer beard styles began to gain popularity and pretty soon the age old fashion of just growing a beard became obsolete. The amount of beard trimming tools available in the market today are testament to the rise of the varied and endless beard trimming styles that are prevalent today. There are very simple beard trimming tips available for you today, that can guide you through the entire process and give you that perfect bearded look that you desire.

Also read about other beard styles for men.A thin line of hair above lips is enough to send any woman in depression. A stray hair on a chin, a reason enough to commit suicide! Wait a moment before you begin to challenge your femininity. Do not let a strand of hair at a wrong place hamper your self esteem. There is lot you can do to get rid of those visible or invisible hair on your face. If you take a walk through a super market, you’ll see shelves overflowing with hair removal products. However, you must understand that you cannot use all the commercially available hair removing products for removing facial hair. More on hair removal products for men and women. Although, shaving is a quick, painless method of removing unwanted hair, it should never be used for removing facial hair, if you are a woman. Shaving not only aggravates the growth of hair, but the hair that grows back is thicker and darker. This is because shaving does not remove hair from its root, only cuts it off the surface. Hence you’ll have to shave it off more frequently to make your skin smooth. Shaving is a strict no-no when it comes to facial hair removal for women.Tweezing Tweezing is only helpful when you want to get rid of random hair grown here and there. You’ll only need a pair of tweezers to carry out the task. You’ll experience little pain which lasts only for a while. Eventually, you will become used to the pain. Tweezing is something you can do once or twice a week, depending upon your hair growth.
Depilatory Cream There are several depilatory creams, gels and lotions available in the market. They are a good way of removing facial hair. All you have to do is apply them on the skin and wipe off after a few minutes. The method is quick and there is no pain involved. However, the flip side of depilatory creams is, that they have a high content of chemicals which can irritate your skin. Hence, people with sensitive skin should steer clear off them. Moreover, prolonged use of depilatory creams darkens your skin.Bleach Bleach is the most harmless method of camouflaging facial hair, as no damage to hair is involved. Bleaching is not a method of hair removal, nonetheless, it gives you a hair free appearance. Bleach colors your hair the same color as your skin, so that the hair cannot be noticed. This method is effective only if you have light growth of hair, that is hardly visible. Again, some bleaching creams are known to irritate skin, hence always go for a patch test on your hands before applying it on your face. More on homemade skin bleach.Waxing In spite of all the pain invoved, waxing remains the most preferred method of facial hair removal in women. The reason is that waxing eradicates the hair from its root, hence there is no effect on the growth of hair. Moreover, with waxing you can enjoy more weeks of hair free skin. The only disadvantage of waxing is that since it pulls the skin, it may lead to sagging of skin, over the years. More on side effects of waxing.Electrolysis Electrolysis is a method of permanent hair removal. It targets one hair at a time by passing mild electric currents which deactivate the root. The method is painful and you may have to undergo several sessions before you actually acquire a hair free skin. Electrolysis is now being replaced by laser.Laser Laser procedure for hair removal includes passing a beam of laser on the skin, to deactivate the roots of hair in that area. Unlike electrolysis, laser targets several hundred hair at a time. Hence, the procedure is not all that time consuming and there may not be any need for multiple sessions. Although, laser relieves you permanently from facial hair, the treatment does not come cheap. Moreover, people with light hair benefit little from laser treatment of removing facial hair. More on laser hair removal costs and laser hair removal at home.You must have noticed that every method of facial hair removal for women has its own pros and cons. You’ll yourself have to work upon which method to opt for removing facial hair.

Last December when Apple acquired the music service LaLa, most thought that it would be an easy plug-in to use this technology to give Apple a broader music footprint. Launched in 2006 and shut down by Apple in May 2009, LaLa possessed a unique technology that scanned hard drives for existing music libraries and then enabled users to play back the same songs from LaLa’s servers via Web-connected devices. Great in theory since drive space is getting filled up quickly especially with Steve Jobs notion that downloads will be the death of the Blu Ray and standard DVD discs. This is the key reason why Apple has no plans for a Blu Ray Super Drive to be released anytime soon. Something that makes a loyal Mac user like myself wonder if my next computer will be a Mac if it doesn’t include a Blu Ray player.

Originally all Apple had to do was acquire the music licenses from the top four labels to create what is known as the Cloud partnership. To date Apple still hasn’t been able to negotiate the kind of licensing deals it would need to distribute music from the Cloud (their servers). In addition, after the merger Apple told LaLa executives that they would receive “key positions helping shape music strategy for the iTunes Store’. However, the industry speculated if outspoken label managers would fit the mold of the Apple code of secrecy.

The situation with the former LaLa management team is hazier now. According to CNET, two music industry sources said Monday that one of LaLa’s four founding members, someone who moved to Apple after the acquisition, has recently left the company. The sources didn’t know whether this would affect Apple’s cloud plans.

With the popularity of movie and music downloads, this Cloud server will be welcomed by many users who have maxed out their hard drives both internal and externally. In addition it is rumored that the major film studios have said this year that Apple plans to create “digital shelves” that enable iTunes users to store movies and other media on Apple’s servers.

Apple is supposedly building a Server Farm in North Carolina to store this massive amount of information once the Cloud clears up its internal start up struggles. ‘The Orchard’ is what Apple executives are calling this futuristic farm. Cloud storage could provide unlimited space for Apple’s top gadgets. The Cloud could help make hard drives irrelevant and help users avoid losing content that can occur when hard drives malfunction. Thus the main reason why people still aren’t convinced that soft product is the best way to go.

Of course, if Apple goes down a certain path then Google must follow and from what I understand their competing service is coming close to launch. The search engine has recently hired Elizabeth Moody, an attorney with deep experience negotiating digital-music deals. Record executives expect Moody will help cut the first Cloud music licensing agreement. Google has told label managers that it wants to launch its music storage service this year.

Apple will not nor do they need to show the world that they have the same urgency for the Cloud service, since they know first hand all the obstacles to overcome. Also, in case you have been hiding under a rock for the past few years Apple iTunes is the largest music retailer both on and offline. Where did those retailers run off too?

Whether consumers even want the Cloud remains to be seen. But one thing is certain and that is the way we store our movies and music is a big business that is growing right before our eyes. This business will play out over the next decade as both Apple and Google lead the way into this new world and option for the end-user.

The thought of storing my music and movie collection on a company server is a good one but being from the old school, I enjoy collecting CD’s, DVD’s and Blu’s. Even with the Cloud service, or a drive sitting on my desk, I get a kick out of looking at some of my old CD’s and wondering if one day that original Duran Duran debut CD will be a collector’s item? Last time I thought about it, you breathe air rather than collecting it. Not quite the same thing as owning the actual product.

The camisole has been around for centuries. Originally, a camisole was worn to keep sweat away from clothing, and it was worn to add a clothing layer for warmth. It was generally made of muslin. Today, the camisole still serves those two purposes – but functional has turned into oh-so-much more.

In stores, you can find a stunning silk camisole, or ones made of cotton, nylon and blends that have Lycra in them. The designs have expanded so that you can find ones to fit and flatter most any body type.

More than that, though, camisoles and silk chemises can be extremely sexy. Many camisoles and chemises have adjustable narrow straps and built-in bras, also known as “shelves, for women whose busts need lift and shaping. The necklines can vary from V-neck to scoop so that camisoles are perfect under any type of clothing.

Camisoles can even be worn alone. When it comes to versatility, few undergarments can compare with this one. These days, you’ll find many women wearing camisoles with no over-blouse, a fun, flirty look that can be traced to the hip-hop scene where you’ll find some of the sexiest looks going. Pair a camisole with a pair of jeans and high heels and you’re instantly wearing the hottest fashion.

Camisoles are also great when paired with sheer blouses for a truly hot look for a night out. For a while, contrasting colors for blouse and camisole where the hot trend. Now, though, the trend is for colors to match; white with white, black with black, for example.

Few forms of lingerie can make a woman feel sexier with such comfort. With a sexy, sheer camisole under an ordinary blouse or even sweatshirt, a woman feels more attractive. You can also find camisoles for hot lingerie in all sorts of prints and colors. With a little looking, you can find ones to fit every mood-as well as lift your mood. The Internet is a wonderful source for shopping for anything from modest silk chemises to naughty lingerie Be prepared to be wowed by the selection and the wide range of styles.

The fit of a camisole is very important, especially if you plan on wearing it alone. When wearing one under a blouse, it should be form-fitting. If you’re going to wear it as a top, though, you may want the fit to be a bit looser and more relaxed. This can be hard to judge unless you try the garment on first, so know return policies of stores before purchasing. When making your purchase online, be sure that any site you decide to buy from has a return policy just in case the fit isn’t exactly what you need it to be. As with any type of clothing, fit is everything when wearing a camisole-especially if you want to give someone other than yourself camisole fever.

I love that plus size body shapers for women are mostly designed to be a hidden asset under your clothes, creating a powerful illusion – but this product is pure genius! Flexees Fat Free Dressing Tank shapewear is a star performer right now and they’ve been flying off the online shelves.

The Flexees Fat Free Tank is the first ‘meant to be seen’ body shaper camisole, another industry favorite and winner of the Undie Awards 2010 for ‘favorite overall shapewear’.This is an excellent body shaping camisole to buy if under normal circumstances you feel embarrassed to wear your standard tank due to the ole muffin top. Flexees Fat Free Tank shapewear looks like your ordinary tank top, but the fabric used for the stomach area has a microfiber lining that secretly reduces the bulge.

This is definitely a more moderate control than firm control shapewear, so can be worn all day in comfort. The material is soft and breathable and you don’t have to worry about excessive sweating. It is also a nice length to the hips, which means it doesn’t roll up when you move. At it is moderate control, it won’t exactly suck your gut completely like a firm control shaper would. Instead it slims your torso rather than reshapes. Therefore expect it to neatly trim your waist by smoothing out the bulges and slim your stomach and back with it’s firm control midsection panel. The straps are also adjustable, so you can amend the neckline for a more comfortable fit.

I enjoy wearing this body shaper camisole and so do many others. They come in a variety of colors, so needless to say, I now have one in all of them as they immediately replaced my standard tanks. I don’t really see the point of wearing my normal tanks outside of the house now. Personally, I think this is a brilliant new body shaper for plus size women who enjoy the simplicity of wearing a tank for any occasion as just another item of clothing. This Flexees shapewear item looks perfect underneath a shirt, cardigan, or alone when paired with some jeans, shorts or even tracksuit bottoms for the gym. Yes that’s right; it can also be worn when exercising. So no more excuses about not going to the gym because you hate looking like a hot mess! This body shaper camisole has solved that issue.

In the prior article, I covered what I refer to as the basic steps to take in order to own and operate a small retail business. These are the steps that take you to the point in the process where it’s nearly time to open your doors to the public. Now it’s time for the next stage of the process, or what I call Advanced Basic Training. This is the stage that requires even more due diligence than the basics as a lot of key financial issues are discussed here.

Remember in the first article that we named our business, stocked and priced our shelves and sales floor, and established our hours of operation. So now it’s time to move into final three stages, which are:

o Guidelines for staffing

o Wages and benefits issues

o Developing an effective marketing plan

In the basic steps I discussed in the first article, I tried to focus on some of the pitfalls you are apt to encounter during each stage. I made recommendations on the positives and negatives in this process based on my own personal experiences with various endeavors. And I’ll be doing the same with the above three steps as well. The big difference this time is that the financial aspects of your business really come into play in these three steps.

Guidelines for staffing

How many people will it take to staff your business? This is difficult to calculate when you’re initially starting. My biggest headache was always hiring the right people that would benefit the business. Let’s face it folks, the “employment pool” as I call it is pretty damned shallow — not a lot of talent to choose from like there used to be. The hiring process is still a pain for most business owners, and it’s going to be even tougher for you as a rookie business owner, especially if you are lacking the experience in this area. But don’t fret, here are some recommendations that will help you get through this process.

Don’t be overly judgmental of a person based on their appearance. Boy, this is really the tough one and I feel it is the single most important recommendation of the bunch. Good looks, proper hair length, and the person’s physique are not always quality factors; in fact you might even say that perfection in these areas constitutes a minority of individuals in society today. Not every person out there is photogenic enough for the cover of People magazine, longer hair has become an acceptable standard today, and most people today need to lose a few pounds anyway. If a person appears neat and clean in the hygienic aspects of grooming, this is an indication that they care about themselves and how other people view them. So flush that mentality before you find yourself running your business from open to close seven days a week all by your lonesome.

Can the job applicant carry on a reasonably intelligent conversation? Don’t laugh; this is a very critical factor in the hiring process as well. If they can’t talk to you, do you think they’ll be able to talk to your customers? I look for a few key “hot spots” such as how well they maintain eye contact during the interview, are they too fidgety when trying to respond to your questions, do they lack self-confidence in their answers, are they overly confident to the point of bragging — just to name a few. You can safely construe these as warning signs and reasons to shy away from these types.

Trying to find someone with experience is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Are you ready to be discouraged? Then this one will definitely do just that. I have discovered over the years that this can be very frustrating. It’s not necessarily that hard to find someone with retail experience; but it’s difficult as Hell to keep them. Let’s face it, the only jobs lower on the wage scale than retail is flipping burgers for Ronald McDonald or working in Guy Patterson’s father’s appliance store. Remember the movie “That Thing You Do”?

Look for an individual that you and your business will benefit from. During your interviewing process, get into the habit of always asking the job seeker this question – “Why should I hire you instead of another applicant?” Again, listen for some of those key hot spots (see the paragraph above about intelligent conversation) when they respond to this question. Here’s another helpful tip. Listen for the key words customer service in the conversation; it means that they are a “people person” and will relate well with your customers. This is a must in any retail business.

Employing the use of a good labor matrix (or labor formula) enables you to staff the operation properly, and helps you reach a level of profitability within that 12 month parameter. What does it take to develop the right formula? Here are the variables you need to consider:

o Fixed and variable expenses (wages, rent, utilities, advertising, cost of goods)

o Coverage (i.e., the number of bodies needed for sales, customer service, shipping and receiving, store sanitation, merchandising, point of sale issues)

o Average monthly cost of inventory (this of course varies with sales volume)

When you’re just getting started, you need to calculate the total of the first item above so that you can calculate what it costs you daily to keep your doors open. Once you’ve established a rough idea on this then you’ll have a better idea on how to start controlling this part of your overhead. The key here when it comes to adding additional employees is the customer service factor. When you can no longer handle certain aspects of store operations (e.g. customer traffic, customer service, shipping and receiving, stocking and merchandising), then it is time to think about hiring another employee.

Wages and benefits issues

What does it take to find and keep good employees? The immediate consideration is a decent wage package at each level of employ. If you study the retail industry nationwide, most successful companies are multiple location types of operations or chain stores. Managers are usually salaried and receive an override based on a percentage of the total sales volume. Additionally, monthly or quarterly bonuses are sometimes paid based on net dead profits of the store.

Assistant Managers are salaried or hourly depending on the company. Sometimes they are afforded a smaller percentage of the profits as a monthly or quarterly bonus, but this is rare. Most salespeople are paid an hourly wage and on rare occasions afforded a small commission on their sales as well. Warehouse personnel are paid an hourly wage.

Initially, you will not only be the owner, but the store manager as well since you probably won’t be able to shell out management wages to begin with. However, it would be a good idea to hire and train someone that you could trust running the store in your absence. And you’ll need to pay them a bit more than your regular employees. So keep that in mind, unless you feel like being in that store seven days a week testing your sanity levels.

You will probably start out as a 3 or 4 person operation, depending on size of the store, breadth of your product assortment, and your customer flow. If you start off as a 3 person operation, there are you, that assistant I urged you to hire, and a combination person. By combination, I mean someone who can work shipping and receiving, merchandising, and customer service. If you can afford to be a 4 person operation, there are you, the assistant, a floor person who can help customers and assist your warehouse person when needed, and a warehouse person.

With all this being said, I would urge you to formulate job descriptions for each level of employee in your store, yourself included. This way, you’re not babysitting people all the time, and can attend to your own duties as well. Heck, you may even be able to take a break once in a while, take the wife out to lunch, or even take a day off. And trust me; at some point in time, that day off idea will look pretty tasty when you start examining those sanity levels I spoke of.

In addition to the job description sheets, here are a few more strong recommendations. First and most importantly, drug test everybody that you decide to hire. This one aspect will save you countless hours of grief down the road. I hate to be stereotypical, but 9 out of 10 “druggies” are not in control of their lives — the drugs are. Theft has the tendency to become an issue as well.

Secondly, without fail, investigate their prior employment history. Believe it or not, people are not always honest on their applications, and they can really massage a resume so it sounds exactly like what you want to hear (oh, say it ain’t so). Pick up the phone, call that former employer, and remember that legally there are only 3 questions you can ask, and these are:

1. How long was this person in your employ?

2. What was their wage or salary?

3. Would you consider hiring this person again? (This is the biggy. If the person you’re talking to says “no”, you cannot ask them why. However, it is safe to assume that there is a valid reason for that employer not rehiring that person. On the other hand, if they answer “yes” you can ask the next question.)

4. How would you describe this person’s performance?

Does this help? I sure hope so. I am telling you all this from past experience, and believe me, you want to take all these things into consideration. The livelihood of that new business is dependant upon these issues. So please save yourself a lot of headaches and nightmares and reread through this part again.

The next topic here is benefits, and there’s a good possibility that the only one who will have medical, dental, and vision coverage is you. At some point in time, once the business is deemed profitable and successful, a benefits package needs to be considered for full time employees, with part time employees being included with medical benefits. In most instances, benefits are considered more critical than wages if you want to entice and keep good employees for any length of time. A well-rounded benefits package usually includes the following:

— Health insurance including dental and vision plans (after 90 days)

— 401k or some form of retirement plan (after 90 days)

— Vacation pay (after one year of employment)

— Sick pay (after 90 days)

Bear in mind that your employees are insured through your Workman’s Compensation Insurance, but that only covers them if they are injured on the job. And you are required by federal and state law to have this.

Developing an effective marketing plan

“The man, who on his trade relies, must either bust or advertise” was a quote that came from the 1700′s at the onset of advertising in this country. And there is no greater truism where marketing your business is concerned. I want to say that the quote comes from Thomas Payne, but I wouldn’t swear to it. But, it had such an impact on me when I first became interested in the advertising and marketing industry that I have never forgotten it.

This is the area of the six step process that I always enjoy the most and have a lot of fun with, not from a comical standpoint, but because this is my primary focus of financial endeavor. I’ve been around the advertising and marketing sector for over 17 years now and have really gotten my feet wet in the three major media, (i.e. print, radio, and television), and now I’m becoming well versed in the online sector as well — and not because I’ve wanted to, but because I have had to.

Once it is public that you have opened (or are opening) a new business, be ready for another one of those shark attacks. You are about to be bombarded by reps from every media imaginable, telling you that their’s is the best avenue of advertising in the world. (There’s this word that starts with “bull” that oftentimes comes to mind here.)

Here are a few suggestions when considering where to advertise. At the outset, only look at print advertising, such as your local newspaper and telephone book. Realize that for the time being, radio and television advertising may not be affordable, so you may want to put those media on the back burner. As far as the phone book is concerned, stick with a liner ad in the white and yellow pages (categorized).

When you’re considering placement for your ad in the newspaper, think about the different sections in the publication and where your business fits the best. You can start with a sixth or eighth of a page ad for three months and do just fine. But don’t think that you can advertise a month or less and start doing a land office business. In most instances, it ain’t gonna happen. Here are some things to consider when it comes to spending your money on advertising.

Advertise for a minimum of 60 to 90 days. It will take that long for the buying public to get used to your business being there. And once they know you’re there, you need to keep your name visible. It’s called “market awareness”.

Change your ads often. Run a different special each week, otherwise your ad gets stale and people won’t pay attention to it any more. Remember variety is the spice of life.

Advertise heavier when business is slow. What??? Am I ought of my mind??? Absolutely not. The typical mindset amongst business owners is that advertising is an expense, not a necessity. So when times get tough, that’s one of the first things they pull the plug on. Here’s a tip, if most of the retailers out there do that, and you keep advertising, it looks like you’re still in business when the other ones have flown the coop. Gee, what a concept — market awareness. You have to keep your name out there.