Weather forecasters continue to present warmer and drier conditions than normal over the US due to the colder water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. Any retailer selling ski gear and winter apparel will find that the winter season is basically over. A good friend from Eastern Mountain Sports informed us that they are moving their winter inventory fast with deals and coupon codes. There are still plenty of great deals left, but Winter inventory will disappear like the snow.   The dry forecast will be a concern for those who watch snowpack levels. Now is the time to get cheap skis and snow gear for 2010.

20% to 50% Off Skis & Snowboards at Eastern Mountain Sports

Online-Only – 20 to 40% Off Kids’ The North Face, Patagonia & More

All Daypacks 20% Off at EMS.com

All Wheeled Luggage 20% Off at EMS.com

Popularity: 31% [?]

How to get people to pay you money? Deceive them

Facebook users are being bombarded by a steady flow of advertising. Facebook recently launched their ad platform and advertisers are starting to use it to pitch products. Just like pop-up ads, malware, and other web based unethical advertising, those facebook IQ ads are of the same unethical genre. These ads are a scam where you answer simple questions and then at the end you put in a cell number to get a PIN to get your answer. Meanwhile, if you did not pay attention, let alone the fact the ad creator has basically hidden the fine print/agreement off screen, you actually just subscribed to a $10/month cell text message service. How many $10 plans do you think this person is receiving? Or better question, what could the person make a month based on the number of users. I put together a simple calculation below.

Numbers:
175 Million facebook users – 1% hit rate, 90% are youth who have phones, 99% who don’t read legal agreements let alone slow down to know what they are doing.

Bottomline:  this joker could be making up to $15M a month.  You could go on a lot of vacations with that money. What would be nice is all the users blocked those ads right off the facebook universe.

It does not take long to find the teenagers struggling to stop this scam from charging their cell phone plans. These Scam IQ Ads are nefarious.

Popularity: 21% [?]

If you are going to dive into the cosmetic market, you should start do your research and understand the industry so you can help the consumers buying make up online. When you look at the online cosmetics industry, you first have to understand the relationships between the manufacturers, the specialty retailers, the department stores, and the close out/discontinued makeup web retailers. We won’t even discuss the concern about counterfeit makeup.  We read recently of an online make-up retailer in a lawsuit with a supplier that sold it counterfeit cosmetics. The other general trends when you begin to research the cosmetics market is the ingredients and the lab testing. Specifically, are the ingredients toxic? Does the manufacturer test on animals?  So as we develop our review of the makeup cosmetics market, we will evaluate each manufacturer, their best selling products, and some of the best places to find them.

As we launch into this series of cosmetic ratings and reviews, we decided to use our proprietary analysis to find the current hot cosmetic on the internet. The current top five list includes Mary Kay, Chanel, and Clinique, but the mass consumer is out searching for the current pop star of cosmetics, M.A.C. cosmetics.  MAC stands for Makeup Art Cosmetics and is gaining market share in department stores. This market share gain may have been helped by the recent new owner, Estee Lauder. MAC Cosmetics products are reasonably priced considering their superior quality to other similarly-priced brands. Furthermore, jobs with MAC are highly sought after, whether at the main company or at a department store. Since the makeup line is popular, the shrewd cosmetics salespeople know where to post their resume. Mac makeup as a company is known to not use animal testing on their finished products. The main reason to shop for MAC is for the makeup. They also have a dual strategy of targeting professional makeup artists, or those that would like to look like they were made up by a professional. Since professional makeup artists like to use neutral toned foundations and matte eye shadows and blushes, they tend to find what they needs with MAC cosmetic color selections.  Another interesting strategy from MAC is their relationships to merchandise the cosmetics line with Hello Kitty and Barbie. Barbie license holder Mattel says it has forged a deal with cosmetic specialist MAC that should see Barbie branded cosmetics aimed at adults

The most popular products from Mac cosmetics is the foundations, specifically the cream to powder foundation, Studio Tech Foundation, that offers the satin finish.

Mac Lip Care, 1.45g/0.05oz Lip Pencil – Currant for Women

Popularity: 64% [?]

Keeping skin soft and healthy during winter months can be a challenge even for regular spa clients, but it’s harder for the many men who would rather keep their facials and exfoliating treatments to a minimum.

Simple morning skin care regimen can help keep your complexion from flaking or cracking during cold dry winters. The first step is to start with a clean face ever morning using a cleanser that contains glycolic acid, which experts says has natural exfoliating qualities.

The highest ranked (best) foam facial cleanser is the La Prairie which scored very well for cleaning during recent product testing. Generally, the facial cleanser helps removed dead skin cells and dirt which makes for an easier shave, and spa consultants seem to consider shaving in the showers a better option because the steam softens the beard and hairs and making it easier to get a clean shave with less razor burn. Another tip is to use a non foaming cream or gel. The more air that you have in the foam, the harder it is for the blade to get close to the skin. Seek out shaving creams or gels with aloe vera beads that break as you shave dispersing moisturizer during the process. After shaving,  a mans face could use an astringent toner that has low alcohol content for less drying and includes ingredients for such as chamomile or calendula that are hydrating for the skin. Other key ingredients to look for are Aloe Vera and wheat germ in moisturizers and should be applied after the toner. At the end, dabs of a light cream with super moisturizing ingredient like shea butter around the eyes where the skin is most sensitive. This skin care routine at night is simpler he typically splashes water on his face to clean it, and then uses a high performance moisturizer as a night cream.

Two or more nights during winter, it is recommended to use an exfoliater in place of a regular cleanser in order to do a more thorough job of getting rid of dry skin. It may be uneccessary to have hydrating facials during the winter if you are using products consistently and effectively. You are essentially doing the same thing that facials are doing but every day.

Popularity: 35% [?]