These might at first glance sound like easy questions to answer.1. Are all skin care products out in the market place safe?
2. Can you develop skin conditions just from using certain skin care products?
3; Can skin care products actually cause serious harm to your health?
4. Are there skin care products that are effective and also good for your health and cause no harm to your skin?Question number one is a resounding no! There are many skin care product lines that are widely sold in the market place that are not safe. Many of these skin care products contain caustic chemicals, preservatives and many other additives that can cause not only skin reactions but can also lead to serious conditions both on your skin and for your overall health.The answer to question number two is yes. Many people develop skin conditions from the products they are using and don’t even know that the products are the source. They keep using the products they are familiar with and use makeup to cover the problems. When a skin care product has a variety of synthetic chemicals in it the potential for negative reactions to the skin are widely different for different people.Question number three’s answer is also yes. Long term use of chemical ingredient skin care products can cause many forms of long term health issues. Like cancer, auto immune disease. There are many types of illnesses that are related to the absorption of toxic compounds through the skin. It’s bad enough that we all absorb toxic compounds just being exposed to the environment, we live in a very toxic world these days. Then to also add more toxic chemicals willingly through the skin care products you use is insult to injury.Question number four is answered yes. There are definitely skin care products available that are not only very effective but also good for your health and for your skin.
This what the rest of this article is about, the positive message that you can take great care of your skin, stay looking younger, heal and prevent skin conditions and prevent serious health problems that can start through your skin.The concept of organic skin care has gained a lot of attention. The idea that what you put on your skin should be pure, chemical free and have no synthetic ingredients makes perfect sense. If you believe it’s better to eat organic food, as opposed to food grown with pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals, or foods processed with preservatives, additives and other unnatural food compounds, then the same should go for skin care.Of coarse you should be conscious and concerned about the food you eat and it’s effect on your health, you should also be conscious about what you put on your skin.Your skin being your bodies largest organ is the filter and the protector for your body from all the toxicity you are exposed to in the modern world. If you have healthy well treated skin that has been fed lots of antioxidants and your are internally also healthy with a strong immune system, you can fight off all the free radicals that attack you through your skin and can potentially cause serious damage to your health.Antioxidants are if not the most important compounds, they rank right at the top of the organic compounds we all need in our bodies and on our skin. We have to add them daily and keep the absorption of antioxidants at a consistently high level. It is sad to say but we do live in a very polluted world and much of this toxicity in deliberately added in the quest for profitable products. Companies get their products approved without the longer term health studies that should be completed so the consumer can be assured the products are safe.The only real clear way to know for sure whether a specific skin care product has no harmful side effects, is to only use organic products that have zero synthetic additives, chemicals or other ingredients that are not from the natural world. Of coarse there are compounds in the natural world that are toxic, and ingredients in organic products that can effect different people in different ways, so as with any product or food, read the labels and know what you are eating or putting on your skin. If the company is a reputable company with a positive track record and their skin care products are all organic it is a good bet they will do you no harm.
Why Is Organic Antioxidant Skin Care The Very Best For Your Skin?
How to Balance School With Your Social Life
Many students, especially those in high school, could benefit from taking a step back and considering the idea of “balance.” For some, it is all work and no play; getting perfect grades and building up one’s resume is considered the most important aspect of one’s time in school. For others, it is all play and no work; homework seems boring, classes are tedious, and the idea of hanging out with friends seems tremendously more appealing than going to school. Both ends of the spectrum can be problematic for various reasons.For the students who believe that the only purpose of going to school is getting the perfect grades that will earn them acceptance into the next school, here is a message: those very schools are placing more and more weight on what kind of person you are aside from your transcript. There is a reason that going to school entails being surrounded by your peers: it allows you to learn about friendship, social skills, and relationships, and it exposes you to new interests, hobbies, and activities. No matter what your career goals may be, having strong social skills will always set you apart and will make you a more effective communicator, participator, and leader.However, many students take the opposite approach and develop a stubborn attitude that anything related to academics is inherently useless and a waste of time. What these students should realize is that most people who shared this mentality during school come to a point later in life where they regret it. Brushing aside one’s academic obligations is not only precarious for one’s future success, but it is also wasting the time that one could spend developing a love of learning. Many people who work full-time agree that they would love to be back in school because they miss being compelled to learn about a variety of subjects. The students who claim that classwork is “boring” or that it “will never be useful later in life” could not be more wrong. No matter what you are learning in school, there will always be a time later in life when you can call upon what you learned to make educated decisions.Therefore, the most effective strategy when it comes to balancing school and a social life is to make sure to focus on balance at all times. When you receive good grades, reward yourself by spending extra time with your friends doing something you love. Limit the amount of time each day that you do something social, but do the exact same thing for the amount of time you spend doing homework. Don’t let either academics or socializing take over your life; be sure to include a little bit of both in everything you do.
Online Learning Management Systems, Key Points for Effective Due Diligence and Return on Investment
OVERVIEW:
Online Learning Management alternatives will continue to evolve rapidly with greater options for new software, hosting and administrative services. Direct costs – typically software and hosting – have decreased with continued upgrades to navigation and user-interface, and now with added efficiencies of ‘cloud’ hosting. Indirect costs require careful review on multiple fronts, such as: a) An objective assessment of available/operational internal resource capacity to perform support, maintenance and administrative services or to engage with out-sourced vendor staff to support these services, and b) An accurate projection of LMS deployment scope. A company’s demand for online learning will rapidly increase and gain complexity over the next 2-3 years. Software and hosting options have almost unlimited capacity to meet demand. Services capacity is the bottleneck.
IN-SOURCED VS OUT-SOURCED LEARNING MANAGEMENT
The critical decision-point is whether to purchase LMS software and in-source the function or to contract with a LMS Services provider to out-source the function. Both options have multiple alternatives available in the market. A sample of key cost and risk elements are discussed in the following paragraphs.
In-Sourcing Learning Management Services:
The upsides to purchasing an LMS are increased control and customization of the online learning function. As online learning demand increases (internally and externally), the business case for LMS in-sourcing gains strength. However, a common misjudgment is underestimating the multi-faceted nature of support required to operate and administer an LMS – most of these elements are “soft costs” not budget line items:
- Purchasing the software requires analysis but is the easiest part of the process. Good LMS software options can start at $12,000, plus upgrades every 12-18 months for half the purchase cost.
- The Cost/Time to install the software and achieve operational effectiveness within the client IT environment requires combined IT and Training resources. LMS software installation can be complex, depending on Server Operating Systems and the degree of specialized capacity available within IT and the Training team. Installation raises a range of client server security issues depending on the target user audience – internal staff (working from network computers vs remote) or external constituents.
- Time for the Training staff to learn how to administer the LMS: publish and upload courses, create curriculums and assign courses to curriculums, enroll/manage users, manage user gradebooks and activity reporting, etc.
- Cost to acquire/build course content (SCORM complaint)
- Time to establish course and LMS organization naming conventions and user groups, upload courses, design curriculums, transfer student records, etc. The setup of the user registration process and curriculum listing requires pre-planning prior to loading any content into the LMS.
- Establish operational back-up – that is, people – within IT and Training who can respond when primary resources are unavailable, leave the company, etc. Every system needs 24/7 IT support and user help support to respond.
Out-Sourcing Learning Management Services:
The key upsides to Out-Sourcing LMS Services are lower internal capacity requirements [the converse of the costs/risks cited in the In-Sourcing discussion above] and the vendor’s responsibility to manage all software, hosting and administrative matters. For example, client server maintenance and downtime, software patches, upgrades and access security plus all functions relating to user course/curriculum access are managed. A hybrid out-sourcing alternative exists in which the course and curriculum functions are supported by client staff trained on the vendor system.
- Understanding of the LMS vendor’s services cost structure. Many vendors will charge per-user-course-access fees. For example, in addition to upfront vendor licensing fees, the activity of 100 users per year accessing 20 courses and tests at $5 per access would equal $10,000 in “user fees.” Best to read the fine print.
- Determine the degree of customization available – such as company logo on access pages, costs for reporting, timing of reporting, security protocols for UserID assignment (internal vs external staff), etc.
- Time for Training staff to learn how to upload courses, assign courses, create curriculums, enroll/manage users, manage gradebook and reporting in the vendor system. Make sure the vendor has sufficient training and/or help desk resources.
- Cost to acquire/build course content (SCORM complaint)
- Time to establish course and LMS organization naming conventions and user groups, upload courses, design curriculums, transfer student records, etc.
- Establish operational back-up – that is, people – within IT and Training who can respond when primary resources are unavailable, leave the company, etc.
Online Learning Management can be a significant asset to your business. Effective due diligence will enable you to accurately manage all cost and capacity elements while receiving and/or delivering expert Learning Management services.