5 Budget-Friendly Korean Beauty Tips

Korean beauty secrets focus on the rigorous steps that you need to follow on a daily basis. They invest their time and money on flawless skin to wear less makeup. Dewy skin with tinted lips is the way their go-to look!

#1: DRINK LOTS OF WATER

Much like the tip shared by a Parisian model, renowned Korean artist Song Ji-eun is zealous when it comes to drinking water. She drinks about three liters of water daily. She believes that the act of hydration will keep her skin looking radiant. She is right!

Drinking water is essential for your body. In some cases, it may even lighten your skin! Generally speaking, it keeps your skin from cracking or drying out.

#2: FOLLOW THE 10 STEPS

Most Korean skincare regimen involves 10 steps. It includes applying sheet masks, essences, serums, moisturizers, fermented products, and sunscreen. Cleansing and exfoliating are parts of the ritual too. I am going to focus on exfoliation.

Exfoliation not only cleans out clogged pores, but also removes dead skin cells. Doing so will brighten your skin. People with sensitive skin must exfoliate once a week. While, people with less sensitive skin shall exfoliate three times a week. Consider purchasing the Palmer’s Exfoliating Facial Scrub for S$15.90.

#3: MASSAGE YOUR OWN FACE

Many Koreans prefer showering with a warm to hot temperature setting. As an avid fan of facials, I learned that the steam opens up pores. It makes it easier to remove your blackheads and other imperfections. Fortunately for South Koreans, skin clinics are rampant in their area. So, how can we mimic this convenience?

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Massage your face whenever you want to. Create circular motions with your fingers tapping your forehead, cheeks, and jaw. Massaging it can increase ciculation. It is believed that this can lead to a dewy complexion.

#4: USE A CHARCOAL FACE MASK

Buying sheet masks in South Korea is synonymous to purchasing rice in Singapore. It is a necessity! What face mask ingredient is all the rage? Well, charcoal is popular these days. Charcoal dries out your face to detoxify it from excess oils. Furthermore, it exfoliates the face to wash out other impurities. Let it sit on your face for 10 to 15 minutes.

A popular Korean brand for face sheet masks is MEDIHEAL. Its black charcoal mask retails for S$8.90 at Watsons.

#5: WEAR A TINTED LIP COLOR

Korean women prefer wearing lip tints for its many advantages. Firstly, it stays put throughout the day. You can eat two slices of pizza and still have stained lips! Secondly, brands incorporate different natural products such as plant extracts and essential oils. Lastly, it is perfect for the low-maintenance or no-makeup look.

Image Credits: Hanbyul❤ via Flickr Creative Commons

Korea’s innisfree carries a variety of lip tints including the Eco Flower tint for S$10. It has balsam, calendula, rose, azaleas and camellia extracts make your lips look fresh and beautiful.

Sources: 1 & 2

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What Should You Know About Mortgage Refinance?

Millionaire's poor credit rating has caused him a mortgage

An option used in a hurry might just jeopardize you. You must think down the line twice before applying for your next or first loan. You may just finally end up paying more for this home loan than your original mortgage loan. Therefore, compare and contrast the different interest rates offered by the lending company, look up the advantages and disadvantages and then make your final decision.

The Variable Rate Loan Vs. A Fixed Rate Loan

Are you stuck with a variable rate mortgage and your interest rate is going up day-by-day? Well, home loan refinancing can help you switch over to a fixed interest rate.

A variable loan rate can help you select protective attributes such as lower cap premiums, and cash out from your home collateral.

The Rate Fees and Annual Percentage

This is actually the precondition factor of any kind of home loan plan. Before signing up for any remortgage plan, be very positive about your total forecasted cost savings. In essence, the particular cost of capital the new home loan, in totality, should be less than the financial savings you have as a result of interest rate.

It is possible to reduce your mortgage refinance costs – iSelect by asking for no upfront and at the same time going for lower rates of interest.

The Actual “Safe Margin”

The actual “Safe Margin’ means that you can make your mind up whether you should go for the remortgage option or not. If the particular comparison of the balancing valuation on financial savings against loan refinancing is more than a couple of percentage points slightly higher than the current market rate, then you can certainly go for refinancing mortgage.

At the same time, you have to be able to live in your house for enough period of time and harbor no plan of leaving. Usually, your financial savings will be figured out within 3-7 years, determined by the actual costs at the time you choose to sign up for your home remortgage.

Mortgage Comparison

Comparing your original mortgage and new financial loan needs to be carried out, trying to keep the future in your mind. You need a reasonable thought regarding how long you would like to keep your new mortgage. All things considered, mortgage refinance is a great option on condition that the all-inclusive costs of the current home loan are a bit more than the total cost charged as a result of the new home loan. Which means, your new home loan will allow you to cut costs.

Be Skeptical About Your Pre-Payment Fees and Penalties

You might like to pay the balance of your original home loan early but be familiar with the pre-payment fees and penalties involved in this process. Loan companies are prone to charge penalty costs if you’re thinking about paying off your very first mortgage loan earlier than the specified time period. This takes care of the interest charges, which would have been due in case the mortgage payment had been made through its life.

 

 

 

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How To Help Your Family Financially

Admit it! Financial conversations can be awkward, but your relatives can save you in the future. Support them and your relationships with the help of these tips:

PROVIDING A LOAN

One of the most controversial yet clear-cut way to help a family member in need is by providing a loan. The loan is ideally short and straightforward. One must write the terms and conditions that both parties will sign into. This will help ensure a binding financial agreement. Other details that you should clarify include:

a. the total amount of the loan,
b. the installment conditions (e.g., monthly basis),
c. the interest rate calculation,
d. the payment deadlines, and
e. the legal action necessary to cease the payment.

CHIPPING IN AS A GROUP

Tackling a dilemma as a group will maximize your efforts and resources. Say your parents are asking you for an allowance. If your siblings are in a capable position to contribute their funds then, you must ask them. However, you must access whether they have a good relationship with your parents too.

Please involve your partners in the discussions as you do not want to create resentment between siblings and their spouses. If they cannot afford to loan money, they may suggest other ways to help (e.g., accompanying your parents during weekend errands).

EXTENDING AN OFFER

Providing a short-term loan can only last for a specific period of time. On the other hand, offering a means of living can go a long way! Consider hiring or recommending your relative to assist your company’s needs. The job can help him or her to earn money for paying bills or debts.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Treat your relative like any other employee. Layout the job description as well as the task deadlines. Ensure that you will be able to deal with incomplete or poor quality of work.

GIVING NON-MONETARY ASSISTANCE

Some people may not be comfortable with the act of loaning money without the guarantee of getting payment. If you are unwilling to give cash to a family member, opt for giving non-monetary assistance such as gift certificates or gift cards. This way, you will have more control over what your money will be used for.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

No arguments there! 🙂

Sources: 1 & 2

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4 Indoor Plants Believed To Attract Money

There are a host of beautiful indoor plants that have powerful effects on one’s prosperity. Whether it be money or luck, the following plants have earned a reputation for bestowing those who take care of them.

#1: MONEY TREE

As the name suggests, the Money Tree is recognized as one of the luckiest plants out there! Fung Shui principles highlight its abilities to purify air and to absorb radiation. It energizes the flat by increasing oxygen inflow and filtering air. To absorb radiation, it is recommended to keep the plant close to the Wi-Fi router, computer, or television.

The position of the plant is important too. You must keep it indoors in the southeast direction of the living room.

#2: JADE PLANT

The Jade Plant or Crassula ovata is a succulent with small pink or white flowers. This common houseplant is native to South Africa and Mozambique. Much of its popularity is rooted from its low maintenance nature. It requires little water to survive in indoor conditions.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

With regards to its appearance, its shiny and smooth leaves appear to have a yellow-green color. The branches are impressively thick too.

#3: LUCKY BAMBOO

Generally speaking, a bamboo is an amazing plant that brings peace and wise energy to your home. It teaches an individual how to be flexible for its spirit to freely flow or heal within. It is more than just an addition to your aesthetic!

In Feng Shui, the amount of stalks signify different aspects. Two stalks bring positive energy to your love life. Three stalks evoke happiness, five stalks give good health, and eight stalks bring wealth. Furthermore, a lucky bamboo with 21 stalks may bring good fortune and good health to your life.

#4: PEACE LILY

Last but not the least is the Peace Lily. This deep green plant laced with white blooms helps you to prosper physically, mentally, and financially. It can detoxify your air and get rid of the following toxins: formaldehyde, benzene and carbon monoxide. Bid farewell to the medical expenses caused by these!

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Moreover, this type of plant is super easy to care for. It survives best in shaded or dark environments such as small offices and corner closets. Interesting, right?

Sources: 1, 2, 3, & 4

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Is Forex trading profitable?

Onprofitability: a definition

In the business world, an economic activity is profitable if it’s able to generate earnings relative to the associated expenses. In other words, profitability is basically the ability of making monetary gains from a given activity. In the financial world, on the other hand, profitability is often related to the ability of generating a positive risk-adjusted-return at a given point of time, even consistently over time.  Given the first definition, it’s safe to assume that the Foreign Exchange market is profitable since it is clear that is possible to make money in the market, otherwise, it wouldn’t exist according to basic economic laws. Naturally, this is only taking the ability of making positive net gains into account, bringing risk into the picture makes our question a little bit trickier since it is known that the Forex market is particularly risky, which means that the chance of having an actual return differing from the expected outcome return is not negligible. In other words: you can lose money easily on Forex, especially if you’re not skilled enough.

Facing the reality: Forex is not a magic alternative

The internet is full of promises claiming the ability of making impossible returns with minimum effort. Those scams are not exclusive of the Forex market, however, it’s a fact that they are common in the industry. Reality is that Forex is like any market, having the proper skills and the determination of taking the necessary amount of risk to generate profits is essential, and despite all of that, making surreal profits in a reduced time span (way higher than those of skilled Hedge Funds) is not a possibility.

Proper trading strategies and risk aversion

Like any market, having success in Forex is related to the quality of the involved trading strategies and the behavior of the investor. Both are important components in the making of a successful trader in any market, and both require concessions, time and money. Acquiring the ability to make the right decisions, designing proper trading strategies and being able to manage the risk properly takes time and a huge amount of effort, besides that, a proper behavior is required, if you are a Risk Averse investor this might not be the right option for you if your purpose is making economic gains, since is a fact that profits are proportional to the amount of risk the investor is willing to take. It’s also important to get a proper training and to have access to the right information, since (as we just said) the internet is full of scams and empty promises.

Coming back to the initial question: is Forex profitable?

Like many things in life, the answer depends on who you ask. If you ask an investor who has been trading successfully for years after spending a considerable amount of time and money the answer is probably going to be positive, otherwise, he wouldn’t invest his time and efforts in such activity. On the other hand, if you ask an unexperienced risk averse investor you might get a negative answer, since (as we stated above) Forex is not a magic mechanism and being successful requires effort. The best first step is to find the right forex broker for your needs with a recommended website CompareForexBrokers.com.

 

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