A Potted History of Cosmetics

For thousands of oldness, people have been using cosmetics and evidence has been start up of this from as long ago as 4, 000 BC during the Ancient Egyptian term. Rich and meager alike all wore eye makeup, the most common being Kohl which was used as an eye liner, this was introspection to improve the sight and ward ice flagitious spirits. The ancient Romans and Greeks again used cosmetics and during the ancient Roman title, these were produced and fruitful by female slaves called Cosmetae. Kohl was detached of antimony ( a toxic grey metalloid ), ashes or soot and sometimes saffron which more useful the redolence. It was propitious using a rounded stick which was primordial dipped in oil or water, then dipped in the kohl. Eyebrows were also painted and darkened using antimony or soot.

The Egyptians, with their strikingly painted faces, believed that their appearance and sweet scented bodies brought them closer to their gods, and they took enormous pride in their cleanliness and makeup. The Greeks, however, were much vainer and looking and smelling good for each other was more important than how they presented themselves to their gods. Later the Romans took cosmetics to another level and with their brazen lifestyles, used makeup and oils for no other purpose than that of enhancing their sexual pleasures.

Despite their self indulgence, the Romans did discover medicinal treatments and found that plagues could be combated by burning aromatic gums and resins. The word perfume actually derived from Roman times: " Per " is Latin for ' through ' and " fumum " means ' smoke ' and together ' per fumum ' translates as the practice of transforming a substance into something airborne through nebulisation.

As years have gone by, makeup and cosmetics have become more and more fashionable, and as ballet, theatre and later television became popular, the whole world was influenced by the media and the representations of beauty ideals. Images of Japanese geisha, excessively made up 1920s flappers, ' Twiggy ' s ' iconic 1960s look, David Bowie ' s 1970s ' Ziggy Stardust ' image, Lady Gaga ' s elaborate use of makeup, leads us to ask ourselves why do we wear makeup. Is it to enhance natural beauty, for religious reasons, to attract the opposite sex, or to create a work of art on the body?

Whatever our reasons, the world just would not be the same without the use of our lotions, potions, paints, perfumes and cosmetics. With the creation of the Internet, we do not have to visit department stores for our beauty products as they are now widely available on - line. We have a lot to thank the Egyptians for, and the creation of cosmetics is one of them, which not only changed the appearance of the human body, but made it much sweeter smelling too!

At Home A Short History of Private Life

Book Review: At Home - A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson

Bryson makes his writings for actual interesting due to the selfsame actuality that he infuses his own imagination, satire and humour into it. His study of human nature and human history are expansive in a tour of his own home, a remarkable way to confabulate history, but he somehow pulls it neutralize.

Although he is not confidential about the rector who built his home in the mid 19th century, he then goes on to tell us about some religious people he does know of. The church was originally meant and designed for the upper class he goes on to say, it was not originally invented for studying religion.

Bryson is from the states but has lived in England for a while and gives the readers an inside account of England as he see ' s it. The history of the 18th century amateur mathematician is revealed. A man named Reverend Bayes whose theorem had no practical use whatsoever until many, many years later when the computer was invented! This theorem is now used thought - out the worlds most complex technology systems, like the stock market and advanced computational tools.

Readers who are already familiar with Bryson ' s works realizes that although he is taking us on a tour of his home, he manages to explain the historic world at the same time.

He uses examples to describe things, one such example is the humble salt and peper pots on your dinner table, these he goes on to explain are there only because many people have brutally died.

If you enjoy astounding facts and amusing anecdotes then Bill Bryson ' s witty and fluent book At Home, A Short History of Private Life is for you.

Alegria Shoes - a short history about the most comfortable shoes.

Rent ' s frontage it, when it comes to shoes women know okay what they yen. If you can blend premium style with supreme comfort, combine in a portion of immense extent fashion and then ornamentation with a few sprigs of charge for jack, then you have the recipe for a tidily stunning scale of shoes that will taste as gnarly as they look. Routine.

On an truly related note, allow me to introduce you to Alegria Shoes. Launched in the good old US of A by a Californian company called PG Lite - no tea jokes please - the company has spent the last ten years developing a range of unrivalled, comfortable and classy shoes with the aim of bringing elegance and contemporary flair to the ever - evolving world of fashion trends.

The key aim with Alegria has always been keeping a firm focus on weight. All their shoes are designed to be super lightweight, which is where the clever stuff comes in. Combining featherweight sole materials with insoles so unflabby an asthmatic gerbil could easily move them with one feeble cough, Alegria have managed to produce a range of shoes so light yet sturdy you really do need to feel them to believe. Add to that a commitment to making all their shoes, clogs and sandals breathable, flexible and softly cushioned and you ' re looking at a brand that genuinely sets itself apart from pretty much anything else that ' s out there.

Not just elegant and classy, Alegria Shoes are also fun and funky with a massive range of cool, bright, trendy and highly collectable designs that will add a little colour therapy to your life. On top of that, they are certainly the only shoes this writer has ever come across that have been actively designed to make your feet feel " Happy ". Now before you disregard the aforementioned statement as a load of old twoddle let me give you a little more info.

Alegria Shoes, Clogs and Sandals have been designed and developed with a unique sole unit that has a moderate " Rocking " feature built in, producing a rolling motion when walking which has been proven to help tone up your leg muscles and provide an extra burst of energy when you ' re out and about each day. Each shoe features its own patented, anatomical removable footbed and has an inbuilt arch - support packed with latex and super - comfy memory foam giving it a truly unique fit that it is as individual as the foot that fits it!

Billy Davies - Footwear Reviewer at Shoes. co. uk

A Short History of Apple

Since its unobtrusive beginnings as a computer company flogging hand built machines conceived by an out of work college dropout, the Apple empire has certainly come far. Today, Apple Inc has halfway 50, 000 employees and reported a $14 billion profit in 2010, becoming one of the most worthwhile computer technology companies in the world. Further, it has become a different brand phenomenon with Apple commodities being snatched up all across the world - and consumers are still clamouring for more.

From the rudimentary Apple I to the iPhone 4 - here ' s a look back at some of fat Apple wins and a few of its failures through the oldness.

1976 - Apple was primordial founded on 1 April 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. Wayne subsequently interested his share of the company back to his pair for $800. The primeval offering by the company was a hand built Apple I personal computer retailing for $666. 66.

1977 - The Apple II was introduced. Boasting colour graphics, open architecture and a floppy disk drive interface, the Apple II was positioned well ahead of its competitors and subsequently became the personal computer of choice for the business world with the VisiCalc spreadsheet program.

1983 - The Apple Lisa was launched, the first to feature a Graphical User Interface ( GUI ).

1984 - Apple launches the Macintosh with its powerful TV commercial directed by Ridley Scott. The Mac was a success thanks to its advanced graphical capabilities - perfect for desktop publishing.

1985 - Co - founder Steve Jobs resigns from Apple and goes on to develop a new computer company, NeXT Inc.

1989 - 1991 - Macs go portable with the Macintosh Portable and the PowerBook, which set the ground for the layout and ergonomic design for most future laptops and personal computers.

1986 - 1993 - During this time, Apple produces a few product flops including a digital camera, portable CD players and video consoles. The Newton was Apple ' s foray into portable handheld computing devices but also had limited success.

1996 - Apple purchases NeXT, bringing Steve Jobs back into Apple as an advisor. He eventually became the interim CEO until 2000 when he officially stepped into the role permanently.

1998 - The iMac, with its advanced digital video editing capabilities, would become the launching pad for Apple ' s return to being a computer industry leader.

2001 - Apple introduces the first generation iPod which would revolutionise the digital music industry and become hugely successful with almost 300 million iPod units in its various forms and generations sold since its debut.

2003 - To follow up on the iPod ' s success, Apple launches its iTunes store.

2005 - Apple releases its popular line of Intel powered computers with the introduction of the popular MacBook, MacBook Pro and iMac. These would eventually come to replace its previous models of the PowerBook, iBook and Power Mac. Today, the Intel powered models have been updated and re - released and continue to be some of the most popular computer models sold today.

2007 - The first Apple iPhone is launched revolutionising smart phone technology and mobile computing. The App Store allowed third party developers to make and distribute iPhone compatible applications, including some of the most popular games today, like Words with Friends and Angry Birds.

2010 - Continuing to blaze new paths, Apple introduces the iPad tablet computer that worked with all iPhone applications. The iPad has already sold almost 15 million units in its first year and consumers are already looking to buy or rent an iPad 2.

Today, Apple fans are waiting for more updates on their favourite products with the iPhone 5 and the iPad 2 expected to debut in 2011.

Bridal Veils Through History

It seems to be every womans dream to have the complete wedding; and central to the shift would be an eye - holding wedding clothes that would not be unabridged vanished a harbour. As we shall identify, the lie low has a long and varied history that is still buried in secrecy.

True as civilization has moved from east to west, the origins of the bridal shroud can also be traced to the near east, where the veils served the practical purpose of protecting the bride from burning sun and dust in the Middle Eastern wasteland. In those early days, licensed was besides the identical real possibility of women being kidnapped or snatched because of their beauty just as Abraham feared in the Bible it was therefore prudent for a woman to wear a veil in order to protect both herself and her husband from harm.

As the veils crossed over into Europe, it maintained some of its old functions while acquiring other practical or symbolic functions. One trait that marriages in the East and those in the West had in common was that they were negotiated or arranged with the parents or the father. The lucky couple would often meet for the very first time on their wedding day. It is therefore easy to see how the notion that it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride before wedding could have come about. And so we find that in ancient Greece and again in Rome the veil was worn to protect against ill luck, or to drive away evil spirits or evil eyes harboring evil designs.

Though Europe and Middle East were often at odds, cultural exchange continued unabated, and the rise of Islam strengthened Arab influence in Europe. Europes crusading armies also brought back Arab culture from the east as part of their war booty. It was in those days that the veil became an article of fashion, and perhaps was even worn to entice men. But just as veils tend to consecrate objects and spaces - such as the legal corporate veil or the veils worn by Muslim women and Christian nuns -, the bridal veil also came to symbolize such virtues as chastity and modesty.

Weddings or marriages have always been thought of as religious enterprises, but as the West moved through the renaissance and the age of reason they tended to drop, more or less, the traditional religious significance associated with the bridal veil though shades of these still linger but much symbolism has been retained but with different meanings. For example, the lifting of the veil still symbolizes the taking of possession of the bride by the groom just as the girl is given away by her father or other relative. But even this may be under threat as some brides now prefer to lift their own veils as a sign of equality with the men.

In the present era, as social and kinship ties have tended to weaken as people become more individualistic; the bridal veil seems to be rapidly losing its significance. Everybody now seems to be more concerned with its fashionable aspects.

A Short History Of Dell Pcs

During the mid nineteen eighties Michael Dell opened a business by the surname of PC ' s Limited with stake worth a thousand dollars. It certified a extraordinary business model of supplying PCs like now to the customer with the target to more useful interpret the consumers wants. This view empowered Dell to terminate the in - between aligning channels that unjustifiably drove expenses up and too many delivery times in getting the manufactured goods out into the mart. Dell empowered customers to attain customized PCs at easy on the pocket rates. All these fundamental elements united to make Dell one of the primary PC and laptop companies globally.

Dells light inception can be traced to a paltry area in an obliterate - campus building in the city of Austin, Texas. Coterminous succeeding to acquire a extensive advance from his family, Michael Dell like now lonely his studies at the University of Texas at Austin to award all his time to his mushrooming business. He concentrated mainly on trading IBM PC consistent computers produced from easily purchasable parts. Michaelss perception of price addition was to serve the customers wants pronto, a key belief in Dells viewpoint since its initiation.

The primary PC designed by Dell was sold in the United States marketplace under the label of Turbo PC and empowered customers to order a customized PC straight from PC ' s Limited by selecting parts and specifications from a predetermined list of choices. Even though other organizations had given this model a shot, Dell was the original one to succeed, earning near seventy million dollars in the initial year of operations. It officially altered its name to Dell in the late eighties and with new found triumph and path of a upbeat future, Dell decided to investigate international shores.

By the conclusion of the early nineties, Dell had kicked off operations in greater than ten countries, with Ireland being the first. To supply for a sprouting requirement, Dell attempted to change business models by experimenting with wholesalers and sizeable consumer electronics outlets to sell its PCs, but soon returned to its first model due to the lackluster response. It began to exploit its web for promotion of online sales and started to spread out its product range to include consumer electronics goods like phones, printers, televisions and digital music players. It took over firms associated to the PC industry and established a new production plant resulting in a significant number of tax breaks and assistance from the local government.

In the course of this time Dell turned into one of the main and generally acknowledged firms globally and was at this point included in the Fortune 500 list. Ten years after it had begun operations, Dell altered its logo to the one now exhibited by the corporation.

Dells past however, has its portion of discredit and blunders. Because of to its declining focus on quality goods and parts, Dell was witness to a decrease in turnover and wide spread complaints towards the finish of 2005. Malfunctioning capacitors resulted in losses for Dell and bad publicity was spreading. A couple of years later, Dell was subjected to a handful of lawsuits due to its deteriorating economic strength and failure to report quarterly revenues.

In spite of some issues not uncommon to a huge firm like Dell, it has been able to maintain its rank as on of the worlds most popular respected PCs. With a considerable number of admired and reasonably charged brands like the Dell Inspiron, and improving consumer service, Dell is likely to secure its rank for a substantially lengthy period.

A Short History Of The Leather Motorcycle Jacket

Always made in the USA and 100 % allegiant every Schott NYC leather or wool jacket comes with a history, a legend spanning 90 age and four generations of Schotts in America. As able-bodied, the time frame spans 22 presidents, two world wars, one King not to mention the passion affair of Americans and the open road. How many have secluded their cares behind and hit the open road in Schott leather... impossible to divulge.

In 1913, as Ford ' s new Model T began to crowd the today bustling streets of New York City, two brothers, the sons of a Russian immigrant, went abutting their piece of the American Dream. Irving and Jack Schott starting making raincoats in a basement on the Lower East Side of Manhattan which were then sold by street peddlers door to door.

Into the mid 1920s, when Al Capone and Babe Ruth were in the news breaking laws and records, the Schott brothers changed the way we dress forever when they were the first to put a zipper on a jacket. This totally changed American fashion, and attire. Glad we are today that the Schott brothers had the thought to utilize a zipper on one of their jackets!

Innovation being the modus operandi of the times the Schott brothers targeted the motorcycle market and the leather jacket. In 1928 Irving Schott produced the first leather motorcycle jacket from his own design. At $5. 50 each and named the " Perfecto " it was an instant success. This rugged and durable leather motorcycle jacket became the symbol of the American fascination with motorcycles and the symbol of freedom and the biker image.

Soon the country would be thrust into a World War and the Schott brother would be commissioned by the US Air Force to produce what became the " bomber jacket " out of leather. The leather was an asset to keep the wind away from our soldiers bodies, and kept them warm at the high altitudes they flew at. Below, on the decks of the ships, servicemen utilized the Schott leather pea coats, and wool pea coats, to keep the chill of the open sea from reaching down to their bones.

With WWII over and the threat of communism put in check by MacArthur in Korea, this country was witnessing the rise of a new rebellion - one that would be fought with fast cars and Rock and Roll. In 1954, the now cult classic " The Wild Ones " featured the hot young actor, Marlon Brando, perched on his motorcycle wearing his Schott Perfecto. The subsequent spike in popularity of the Perfecto surprisingly resulted in decreased sales. The jackets were actually banned by school systems around the country because they symbolized a burgeoning teen demographic, the " hood ".

Over the past 50 years Schott NYC has seen new leadership and continues to grow. Styles and products have changed, and some stayed the same, as materials are modernized, changed and fashion styles have come and gone. Schott accessories abound and are now found worldwide.

Schott continues their motorcycle heritage expanding into sunglasses, bags, nylons and wools at their 100 year old factory in the New York City area.

Four generations of Schott ' s thank you for appreciating our quality leather products and our passion for the motorcycle jacket.