Herbal skin care – the benefits of using true herbal skin care and not “natural” synthetic productsDon’t you just hate it when the big pharmaceutical corporations loudly insist that their chemical products are safe in skin care creams?Even when they must know natural ingredients are safer, softer and superior!It happens all the time, of course. And herbal skin care products are an excellent example.Herbal treatment for the skin is ancient and effective. Egyptian elites 2000 years before Christ were successfully using sophisticated herbal skin care to maintain stunning, youthful complexions in the harsh heat of the Nile valley. You can clearly see this in hundreds of tomb painting, preserved in the dry desert.Yet, in modern times, the chemical industry scorns the wealth of information freely given away by herbal doctors and constantly puts out disinformation about the effectiveness of herbal products and disingenuously proclaims the ingredients in their pharmaceuticals are better, more targeted and (even) environmentally friendly. Plus they warn that herbal skin care ingredients can clash in your body’s systems with legitimate, tested and safe synthetic medicines.This is nonsense, of course. They should be warning us against their ingredients! And let me show you why.Just take three groups of ingredients found in most synthetic skin care products. It doesn’t take much investigation to find they are toxic and harmfully.Sulphates such as Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate are commonly found as cleansers in many shampoos and shower gels. They’re cheap and strong. But they can irritate the skin. And Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is linked to cancer. They contain 1.4 dioxane, which is a known toxin and carcinogen that is easily absorbed through the skin. Members of the Ethoxylates, they are unstable and break down in direct sunlight, forming the skin-damaging free radicals.Chemical preservatives like formaldehyde, methylisothiazolinones and DMDM hydantonin are put into many synthetic skin care creams, even though it’s better to use natural alternatives such as Vitamin E, grapefruit seed extract, honey and sandalwood essential oil. True, these natural compounds last a shorter time than most chemical preservatives, but they adequately preserve herbal skin care products and give you the benefit of their own nourishing qualities.Propylene Glycol (PG) & Butylene Glycol are petroleum plastics widely used in car anti-freeze and skin care, despite the fact that they can penetrate your skin and weaken protein and cell structures. PG is so strong it dissolves stainless steel in 48 hours and can only be kept in plastic containers. The EPA insists it only be handled wearing protective gloves, clothing and goggles. But some skin care manufacturers use concentrations of up to 20 percent of it.I could make a very long list of widely used, dangerous chemicals, but I think you can see that there is a trend here. It’s this. The big chemical companies don’t mind putting dangerous toxic chemicals into your skin care products.And the reason is obvious — these are thick-skinned businesses (no pun intended) that exist simply to return profits to shareholders. Synthetic chemicals are cheaper than herbal ingredients. So the corporations chose to ride out any litigation from their small-fry customers, and keep producing synthetic skin care at the lowest possible price. Lower than good herbal skin care creams and lotions.Alarmingly, there is no legal definition of “natural”. So a corporation can make a 100 percent synthetic skin care product and yet call it “natural”. To someone who doesn’t know, it may seem like it is a herbal skin care item.Thankfully most of their ingredients have a molecular structure which makes it impossible for them to penetrate your skin, even when you pat on and rub in the creams and lotions. But these chemicals still sit on the surface of your face and arms, where they clog the entrances to your pores and trigger allergies and health problems. (Well, “problems” is a little mild, as some chemicals in skin care products, such as Sodium Laural sulfate has been shown to be fatal.)We’ve got to be very, very careful if we choose to use synthetic skin care products rather than herbal skin care.Actually, in conclusion, I would always recommend herbal treatment for the skin of anyone who asks me. There are excellent herbal skin care companies out there. They are usually small and efficient, and they can make healthy products at a reasonable price even though they are forced to compete with the giant pharmaceutical corporations which have the advantage of dirt cheap ingredients and economies of scale. I’ve written more about them at my web site, elegant-skincare.com and I invite you to visit and learn more about this unhappy situation.

Business loans and finance for a business just may have gotten good again? The pursuit of credit and funding of cash flow solutions for your business often seems like an eternal challenge, even in the best of times, let alone any industry or economic crisis. Let’s dig in.

Since the 2008 financial crisis there’s been a lot of change in finance options from lenders for corporate loans. Canadian business owners and financial managers have excess from everything from peer-to-peer company loans, varied alternative finance solutions, as well of course as the traditional financing offered by Canadian chartered banks.

Those online business loans referenced above are popular and arose out of the merchant cash advance programs in the United States. Loans are based on a percentage of your annual sales, typically in the 15-20% range. The loans are certainly expensive but are viewed as easy to obtain by many small businesses, including retailers who sell on a cash or credit card basis.

Depending on your firm’s circumstances and your ability to truly understand the different choices available to firms searching for SME COMMERCIAL FINANCE options. Those small to medium sized companies ( the definition of ‘ small business ‘ certainly varies as to what is small – often defined as businesses with less than 500 employees! )

How then do we create our road map for external financing techniques and solutions? A simpler way to look at it is to categorize these different financing options under:

Debt / Loans

Asset Based Financing

Alternative Hybrid type solutions

Many top experts maintain that the alternative financing solutions currently available to your firm, in fact are on par with Canadian chartered bank financing when it comes to a full spectrum of funding. The alternative lender is typically a private commercial finance company with a niche in one of the various asset finance areas

If there is one significant trend that’s ‘ sticking ‘it’s Asset Based Finance. The ability of firms to obtain funding via assets such as accounts receivable, inventory and fixed assets with no major emphasis on balance sheet structure and profits and cash flow ( those three elements drive bank financing approval in no small measure ) is the key to success in ABL ( Asset Based Lending ).

Factoring, aka ‘ Receivable Finance ‘ is the other huge driver in trade finance in Canada. In some cases, it’s the only way for firms to be able to sell and finance clients in other geographies/countries.

The rise of ‘ online finance ‘ also can’t be diminished. Whether it’s accessing ‘ crowdfunding’ or sourcing working capital term loans, the technological pace continues at what seems a feverish pace. One only has to read a business daily such as the Globe & Mail or Financial Post to understand the challenge of small business accessing business capital.

Business owners/financial mgrs often find their company at a ‘ turning point ‘ in their history – that time when financing is needed or opportunities and risks can’t be taken. While putting or getting new equity in the business is often impossible, the reality is that the majority of businesses with SME commercial finance needs aren’t, shall we say, ‘ suited’ to this type of funding and capital raising. Business loan interest rates vary with non-traditional financing but offer more flexibility and ease of access to capital.

We’re also the first to remind clients that they should not forget govt solutions in business capital. Two of the best programs are the GovernmentSmall Business Loan Canada (maximum availability = $ 1,000,000.00) as well as the SR&ED program which allows business owners to recapture R&D capital costs. Sred credits can also be financed once they are filed.

Those latter two finance alternatives are often very well suited to business start up loans. We should not forget that asset finance, often called ‘ ABL ‘ by those Bay Street guys, can even be used as a loan to buy a business.

If you’re looking to get the right balance of liquidity and risk coupled with the flexibility to grow your business seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor with a track record of business finance success who can assist you with your funding needs.

US Markets were trading in the green on Friday with Dow 30 trading at 30,678.80, up by 1.14%. While S&P 500 was trading at 3,701.66, up by 0.98% and Nasdaq Composite 10,690.60 was also up by 0.71 per cent

Twitter Facebook Linkedin
US Markets in green on Friday; Dow 30 up over 345 points, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 up nearly 1%
Earlier today, Indian stock markets ended the week on a winning note. It was the sixth straight gains for equity markets. Source: Reuters
US Markets were trading in the green on Friday with Dow 30 trading at 30,678.80, up by 345.25 points or1.14 per cent. While S&P 500 was trading at 3,701.66, up by 35.88 points or 0.98 per cent and Nasdaq Composite 10,690.60 was also up 75.75 points or 0.71 per cent. A Reuters report said that today’s strength was on the back of a report which said the Federal Reserve will likely debate on signaling plans for a smaller interest rate hike in December, reversing declines set off by social media firms after Snap Inc’s ad warning.

Source: Comex

Nasdaq Top Gainers and Losers

Source: Nasdaq

Earlier today, Indian stock markets ended the week on a winning note. It was the sixth straight gains for equity markets. The BSE Sensex ended at 59,307.15, up by 104.25 points or 0.18 per cent from the Thursday closing level. Meanwhile, the Nifty50 index closed at 17,590.00, higher by 26.05 points or 0.15 per cent. In the 30-share Sensex, 13 stocks gained while the remaining 17 ended on the losing side. In the 50-stock Nifty50, 21 stocks advanced while 29 declined.