How to Shop Smart?

Shopping can be a favorite way to pass your time. There's always something to buy. Here's how to be a smart shopper:

• Decide upon your needs. Learn to live with less. Layer your summer clothes during the winter for a different look. Learn to use a small purse. Limit makeup and accessories. Going without can be a real adventure.
• Make your own style. Start an inexpensive, unconventional trend. Ignore advertising. Why follow the crowd?
• Have style. Choose your outfits carefully. Look for the most accentuating outfits worn by others with the same figure, skin tone or hair color. Wearing different shades of the same color is slimming and easy to put together.
• Extend your wardrobe. Take the time to coordinate your clothes into a month's worth of outfits. Make a list of all possible combinations and refer to it frequently.
• Make a plan. Determine what you need to complete an outfit. Something that doesn't match or fit well may never be worn.
• Be sure it's exceptional. Be patient. Check for quality, color, fit and a long-lasting style. You'll want to wear a garment for a few seasons, and then recycle the fabric into another garment or accessory.
• Compare clearance prices online. Have a rough idea of what you're willing to pay. Review the current styles. Keep a list of reasonable prices in your purse.
• Try the flea market. You'll find a variety of unique imported and second-hand items. You can bargain for a better price.
• Try the dollar store. Their selection may be limited, but they have cute clothes and accessories. This is a great place to buy pajamas and slippers.
• Try thrift stores. Vintage is always in fashion. Brand names can be found. Worn clothing is very comfortable. Look for fabrics to make something new.
• Try Wal-Mart. Search both the men's and women's departments. If you're petite, search the children's department as well. This is a great place for the basics.
• Try Target. They have a stylish clothing line of good quality and reasonable prices.
• Watch for sales. Use coupons during the holiday sales either online or in stores. Try things on prior to a sale. Take time to think things over to avoid impulse shopping.
• Bring a limited amount of cash. Stay within your budget. Leave credit cards at home.
• Do not remove the tags. Wait a week to think it over. Remove the tags once you're sure you'll enjoy your new item.
• Check a lot of shops before buying anything. Usually a lot of shops have same things so you should check before buying. You'll probably find clothes that look alike cheaper than in other stores.

More Tips:

• Allow yourself to splurge on one small item.
• Clothes should glide over your body whether sitting or standing. A larger size may be more appropriate.
• Make a list before you shop. Write down what you need, and how much it cost for each part. Then you wont use too many money

How to Avoid Being Sleepy All the Time?!

The body needs energy to stay fit and healthy. Sleep is one of the most important factors to keep the body in its healthy state. There are times that you may feel sleepy because your body lacks the energy to stay up for a long time. If you have some sleepy habits that you are not supposed to be doing, learn some practical ways to control or avoid being sleepy at all times.

• If you can, try to have an 8 hour long sleep. If not, try to have at least 6 hours of good sleep; meaning you should be well rested and your body has recharged for the next activity.

• Try taking a short nap especially in the afternoon as this can refresh you to continue your work for the rest of the day.

• Wash your face with some cold water to reduce your sleepiness.

• Get more lights into your room, so you won’t feel sleepy and you would feel active again.

• Do some physical exercise; this will help you get rid of your sleepiness. Do some stretching or walking around to keep you moving and get rid of your sleepy blues.

• Try deep breathing, inhaling and exhaling to offset your feeling of sleepiness.

• Avoid drinking coffee too much and don’t drink alcohol especially at night, because this takes at least 8 hours for its effect to wear out and will only affect your sleep.

• Avoid taking large meals at night and drinking too much as this can cause you to wake up at night lessening your sleeping hours.

• Take a hot bath to make your sleep more comfortable at night.

• Make sure your room is quiet and your environment is propped up to make you sleep soundly at night and to avoid feeling sleepy the next day.

• Avoid taking medicines that may disrupt your sleep. Check with the doctor if you have to take medicine for your medical condition and it should not interfere with your sleep.

• Maintain a healthy diet. Remember to stay away from too many sweets. Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.

• You can take a vitamin supplement rich in iron and B12 – check with your doctor first.

• Try to relax. Stress and anxiety causes you to lack of sleep at nights and this will only make you feel sleepy the following day.

• Feel positive. Work on your feeling of enthusiasm, so you can release positive energy in you and lessen your sleepiness. Just focus on your work and think of the good result of doing a good job out of it.

If you still feel sleepy most of the time that it hampers your productivity as a person, you might as well have yourself checked by your doctor. You may have a more complicated problem about sleep, so it is best to do this at once.

Top 5 Things That Damage Your Hair!

You cannot really restore you damaged hair. Despite what products say, you can only help its appearance but this should just be done while you are in the process of growing the damaged hair out.

Before you can grow your hair out into a healthy state, you need to understand what causes damage in the first place. If you do not, you will just damage the new hair before you can get rid of the already damaged hair.

• The number one ways that hair is seriously damaged is through chemical processing. I am not saying that you cannot have highlights, colors, straighteners, or perms applied to your hair. If you do choose to alter you hair chemically, it is best to stick with only one process. Of these processes, the best to choose are the ones that can have future chemicals applied to new hair growth only. Colors and highlights are best for this. If you are currently perming your hair to help with control, you will probably find that highlights give you quite a bit of control over your hair. With color and highlights, you will be able to have your stylist apply future chemical treatments to the new growth only. This is also true of straightening processes, but the chemicals involved in straightening are generally harsher overall. This determination is argued by some because highlighting is essentially a bleaching process, which can be very damaging. However, highlights do not affect every hair on your head, leaving a vast amount of healthy, unprocessed hair. Straightening affects every hair with the chemicals used. What you must understand about chemical processes and damage is that repeatedly putting chemicals on the same part of your hair creates a vicious cycle of chronic damage. This is compounded by the various heated tools that you use to style your hair, harsh shampoos and styling products, and a multitude of environmental factors.

Damage can also come from many different things, including:

• Excessive brushing and tearing of the hair (this can also come from constantly pulling it back in rubber bands).
• Too much heat. You've heard the drill before. Keep your use of the blow dryer and the curling iron to a minimum.
• Sun damage. Skin isn't the only part of your body that needs protection from UV rays. Summer sun worshipers are especially at risk for hair damage, but UV rays damage your hair every time you step outside into daylight-even in the winter. No, you don't need to wear a hat everywhere you go, but definitely be conscious of the sun's rays and cover up if you're going to be out in the sun for a while.
• Over-washing. Yes, washing your hair too much can dry out your scalp, cause flakes, and lessen the natural oils on your head that protect your hair's roots.

Now that you understand the importance very discriminating about chemical processes, you need to know some of the ways you can protect your hair on a regular basis. Following is a variety of ways that you can help prevent further damage to your hair, not all of them will apply to you, so use as many as you can.

• Do not blow dry your hairth any more an absolutely necessary. If you can let it air dry completely, do it. If you do have to blow dry, use a thermal protector prior to blow drying. Use the coolest setting possible to achieve your style.
• Use pH balanced shampoos and conditioners that are very moisturizing; for conditioners, also look for one with UV protection.
• Eat foods that are rich in protein and omega 3 fatty acids (the good fat), choose organically grown and raised products, and eat less processed food.
• Using a natural boar hair brush, brush your hair thoroughly every evening, brushing the scalp well while you do this. Brushing like this distributes the natural oils along the hair and massages the scalp.
• If your hair is wet (or damp), only use a wide toothed comb on it. Brushes and combs with thin, narrow teeth cause serious breakage, especially in damaged hair.

Tips:
Now that you know the things you have to do in order to truly have healthier hair once you have the damaged hair grown out, you can use the following tips to attempt to camouflage the current damaged hair. I sat attempt because extremely damaged hair cannot be camouflaged; it will look damaged no matter what you try.

1. Take a tiny amount of your pH balanced moisturizing conditioner in the palm of your hand, run water into your cupped hand and vigorously rub the conditioner, mixing it with the water. Keeping this thoroughly wet, scrunch it onto the ends of very wet hair. Then scrunch a spray styling product designed to smooth curls into the hair. Allow to air dry.
2. Less effective, but still useful are the glossers which are actually a very light oil sprayed through an extremely fine mist. These should be applied to dry hair as a general rule.
3. Do not believe marketing ploys that claim that these products restore or repair your hair. All they do is camouflage the damage.

 Enjoy Your Day! ^_^