I am surprised that no one (PF bloggers, media) has mentioned anything about the SEC assessment fee that is charged every time you sell a security. I notice a small fee taken out every time I sell, I am perplex by it, but I never bother calling my brokerage firm to get a clarification until now.
Maybe everyone else is clear on exactly what this fee is about (it explains the lack of coverage on this subject, why write about something that everyone already knows about?) Anyhow, I finally call my brokerage firm. The rep on the phone has no idea what I am calling about , he asks where do I see this fee. I say, I am staring write at it on the trade confirm. He fumbles around and finally sees what I am talking about. He puts me on hold so that he can fish out his glossy, he comes back on the phone and reads me the definition. Thanks for definition, but what is this fee again? He asks if I want to talk to an equity trader to get more clarification. Yes, that'd be great.
The equity trader gives me this answer, the sec will charge a fee every time you do a sell, it is $XX per million share. Not everyone sell a million share at a time, so you are just charged on the number of share sold * (percentage) to the $XX per million share. To most small investors like myself, the SEC assessment fee dollar amount comes to a few cents. I guess either most people already know this and don't care, or they don't notice and they don't ask.
I did some searching around and found out the the SEC actually don't charge this fee on the customers, this fee is charged to the broker/dealer, but most broker/dealer pass this on to the customer. But the equity trader that I talked to made it sound like that the SEC charges the customer for the fee. VERY suspect. I searched Fidelity.com and Vanguard.com, enter SEC assessment fee, nothing comes up. I looked and looked on their commission fee page, no where does it says that the customer is responsible for the SEC fee.
I don't like it, if I was going to be charged for something I'd like to know upfront. I want to know exactly how much I am paying for trade (buy side/sell side.) I am also VERY surprised that no blogger, or anyone (PF/investment writers) have raise attention to this issue. Or is it understood by everyone except me?
Don't take my word for it, just google SEC assessment fee.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Using (more) Natural Products
In my attempt to use more natural products, I've stopped using most of my skincare/makeup that contains mineral oil and parabens.
I am now using Kiss my Face Pure Olive Soap, Boscia's skincare line, Josie Maran's makeup, and 100% pure shea butter as my daily moisturizer. I know Boscia's and Josie Maran's product still contains some level of chemical, but at least it doesn't contain mineral oil, parabens, and fragrance. If you read the ingredients label on your products, you might see "fragrance" on the list. Many scientists are baffled by this, what exactly does the manufacture mean when they say "fragrance"? What exactly is in "fragrance"? it is an unknown. So be wary when you see fragrance listed as an ingredient.
Btw, I am not paid by any company by writing this. Don't take my word for anything, do your own research on this subject, and do whatever you feel is best.
Anyway, Boscia is from Japan. Its "parent" company is FANCL. FANCL is well known in Asia (i.e. Japan, Hong Kong) as a natural skincare company. You can buy FANCL products on line, you can buy their Boscia line in Sephora, not sure why they need to rename to Boscia (perhaps some sort of international lincensing/marketing issue?!)
I am still using my old shampoo and conditioner though. I want to finish whatever I have and then switch to a brand that has less chemicals. It is extremely difficult to find an eye cream with a SPF which doesn't contain mineral oil, paraben, and the mysterious fragrance.
I also stopped cold turkey with using CO Bigelow's Metha Lip Shine. It is addictive I tell you. I was never a lip gloss person, I don't like the stickiness. But my friends swear by it. So I tried one, and I couldn't stop using it. Because the Lip shine is VERY VERY moisturizing, once you put it on, it immediately gives you the very glossy look, your lips become very hydrated. You might think this is a good thing, but this enhanced fusion gives your brain the wrong signal; that your lips are too well conditioned, so you don't need to produce any natural oil(or whatever the right term is) to self moisturize. Therefore, if you don't re-apply, you lips become dry and tight, and you are not producing the right amount oil to protect your own lips, because your brain doesn't think you need it. So you need to re-apply the lip shine again, it's a vicious cycle. Another reason that I don't like this lip shine is that it contains saccharin. I wanted to stop a while ago, but I was not motivated to do so. Since I am trying to re-vamp my whole routine, this is the perfect time for me to stop. and I did, and I am very happy that I did. I am now back to using burt bee's lip balm (stick) I am less dependent on the lip balm, I feel my lips are more healthy.
Again, this is just me. My friends swear by the Mentha Lip Shine, it works for them. I personally find it to be too much, and again I don't like saccharin. I mean it's on your lips, you are bound to swallow some into your stomach, and I don't want to swallow any unnecessary amount of saccharin into my stomach.
And I am glad I never got into the whole facial thing. God knows what's in the spa's cream and facial masks.
I am still searching for the right eye cream...
I am now using Kiss my Face Pure Olive Soap, Boscia's skincare line, Josie Maran's makeup, and 100% pure shea butter as my daily moisturizer. I know Boscia's and Josie Maran's product still contains some level of chemical, but at least it doesn't contain mineral oil, parabens, and fragrance. If you read the ingredients label on your products, you might see "fragrance" on the list. Many scientists are baffled by this, what exactly does the manufacture mean when they say "fragrance"? What exactly is in "fragrance"? it is an unknown. So be wary when you see fragrance listed as an ingredient.
Btw, I am not paid by any company by writing this. Don't take my word for anything, do your own research on this subject, and do whatever you feel is best.
Anyway, Boscia is from Japan. Its "parent" company is FANCL. FANCL is well known in Asia (i.e. Japan, Hong Kong) as a natural skincare company. You can buy FANCL products on line, you can buy their Boscia line in Sephora, not sure why they need to rename to Boscia (perhaps some sort of international lincensing/marketing issue?!)
I am still using my old shampoo and conditioner though. I want to finish whatever I have and then switch to a brand that has less chemicals. It is extremely difficult to find an eye cream with a SPF which doesn't contain mineral oil, paraben, and the mysterious fragrance.
I also stopped cold turkey with using CO Bigelow's Metha Lip Shine. It is addictive I tell you. I was never a lip gloss person, I don't like the stickiness. But my friends swear by it. So I tried one, and I couldn't stop using it. Because the Lip shine is VERY VERY moisturizing, once you put it on, it immediately gives you the very glossy look, your lips become very hydrated. You might think this is a good thing, but this enhanced fusion gives your brain the wrong signal; that your lips are too well conditioned, so you don't need to produce any natural oil(or whatever the right term is) to self moisturize. Therefore, if you don't re-apply, you lips become dry and tight, and you are not producing the right amount oil to protect your own lips, because your brain doesn't think you need it. So you need to re-apply the lip shine again, it's a vicious cycle. Another reason that I don't like this lip shine is that it contains saccharin. I wanted to stop a while ago, but I was not motivated to do so. Since I am trying to re-vamp my whole routine, this is the perfect time for me to stop. and I did, and I am very happy that I did. I am now back to using burt bee's lip balm (stick) I am less dependent on the lip balm, I feel my lips are more healthy.
Again, this is just me. My friends swear by the Mentha Lip Shine, it works for them. I personally find it to be too much, and again I don't like saccharin. I mean it's on your lips, you are bound to swallow some into your stomach, and I don't want to swallow any unnecessary amount of saccharin into my stomach.
And I am glad I never got into the whole facial thing. God knows what's in the spa's cream and facial masks.
I am still searching for the right eye cream...
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Going Natural (sort of)
I said I'll write about my attempt to go "as natural as possible" with my skincare/makeup routine, so here goes: Let me start off by saying, I am not a scientist, not a chemist, nor a toxicologist. My actions are based on research, articles, blogs, opinion that I've read, and most of all I use my common sense to do what's best for me.
Two things I want to make clear:
1. Natural does not = good.
2. Synthetics does not = bad.
I read both sides of the argument. We are surrounded by chemicals and toxins everyday. Nature produces toxins and poisons (ex. poison ivy. Therefore, just because something is natural doesn't mean it is good for you to slather over your skin.) I think it is impossible to live a toxin/chemical free life (not in my lifetime at least.) Now let's get into the skincare/cosmetic side of things. Nearly all cosmetic/skincare company uses some chemicals in their products, such as paraben and mineral oils. Paraben is a chemical, and it is used a preservative, so your face wash, shampoo or moisturizer don't go bad. Mineral oil is derived from petroleum, and it is in a lot of lotions and creams. There are just 2 examples, there are more different types of chemicals in our face wash, shampoos, conditioners.
As with any chemical-"Dosage is everything."
As a consumer, the 1st question I ask is, do I believe these chemicals are bad for my body? 2nd question is, can these chemicals be absorbed into my body (i.e. blood stream, organs) as I use the facewash/body lotion? 3rd question, what is the amount of dosage for each application, and amount accumulation over a person's lifetime to declare as safe use?
My personal take on question 1 is yes I believe these chemicals are bad for my body. 2nd question, I am not sure but I am leaning toward the assertion that the chemicals CAN be absorbed into our body. There are studies out there that dispute this assertion, we always need to keep in mind that correlation does not equal causation. Moreover, it has been pointed out that skin is our natural barrier , therefore, toxins can't be absorbed. However, just because we can't prove a negative doesn't mean that it can't happen. (kind of like, we can't see/prove there's life outside Earth, so there must be no other life form out there in space. but I digress.) and to the 3rd question, to me this is the most important question. What is the right dosage? I am sure most of the products you find in the drugstore will not affect your body negatively with one use. i.e. if you just slather one thin coat of body lotion over your body. But most of us use multiple products (shampoo, conditioners, face wash, for the ladies, make up, lipstick, fragrance...) on a daily basis. Each dosage adds up. As far as I know, there is no research done to study these chemical dosage, and how it affects our bodies and mind over time.
A lot of arguments FOR synethics is that they place a high bet on the FDA and our current science. They think that since the FDA let the companies put this stuff in the products, then it must be safe. They also believe our science is the absolute truth (I know this sounds harsh, but I can't find another way to word it.) First of all, FDA does not regulate the cosmetic industry, the industry regulates itself. Furthermore, ask this question, do you think the FDA has the consumers' best interest at heart? Lastly, I don't believe our science is the absolute truth. We still don't completely understand how our body and brain works, and just because we have not encounter an issue, it doesn't mean that it can't happen. We just haven't got there yet.
With all this being said, I am continually reading and researching on this issue. I am open to change my mind if there are valid data/studies to convince me to take a different stand.
I will write about what products I switched to on my next post.
Two things I want to make clear:
1. Natural does not = good.
2. Synthetics does not = bad.
I read both sides of the argument. We are surrounded by chemicals and toxins everyday. Nature produces toxins and poisons (ex. poison ivy. Therefore, just because something is natural doesn't mean it is good for you to slather over your skin.) I think it is impossible to live a toxin/chemical free life (not in my lifetime at least.) Now let's get into the skincare/cosmetic side of things. Nearly all cosmetic/skincare company uses some chemicals in their products, such as paraben and mineral oils. Paraben is a chemical, and it is used a preservative, so your face wash, shampoo or moisturizer don't go bad. Mineral oil is derived from petroleum, and it is in a lot of lotions and creams. There are just 2 examples, there are more different types of chemicals in our face wash, shampoos, conditioners.
As with any chemical-"Dosage is everything."
As a consumer, the 1st question I ask is, do I believe these chemicals are bad for my body? 2nd question is, can these chemicals be absorbed into my body (i.e. blood stream, organs) as I use the facewash/body lotion? 3rd question, what is the amount of dosage for each application, and amount accumulation over a person's lifetime to declare as safe use?
My personal take on question 1 is yes I believe these chemicals are bad for my body. 2nd question, I am not sure but I am leaning toward the assertion that the chemicals CAN be absorbed into our body. There are studies out there that dispute this assertion, we always need to keep in mind that correlation does not equal causation. Moreover, it has been pointed out that skin is our natural barrier , therefore, toxins can't be absorbed. However, just because we can't prove a negative doesn't mean that it can't happen. (kind of like, we can't see/prove there's life outside Earth, so there must be no other life form out there in space. but I digress.) and to the 3rd question, to me this is the most important question. What is the right dosage? I am sure most of the products you find in the drugstore will not affect your body negatively with one use. i.e. if you just slather one thin coat of body lotion over your body. But most of us use multiple products (shampoo, conditioners, face wash, for the ladies, make up, lipstick, fragrance...) on a daily basis. Each dosage adds up. As far as I know, there is no research done to study these chemical dosage, and how it affects our bodies and mind over time.
A lot of arguments FOR synethics is that they place a high bet on the FDA and our current science. They think that since the FDA let the companies put this stuff in the products, then it must be safe. They also believe our science is the absolute truth (I know this sounds harsh, but I can't find another way to word it.) First of all, FDA does not regulate the cosmetic industry, the industry regulates itself. Furthermore, ask this question, do you think the FDA has the consumers' best interest at heart? Lastly, I don't believe our science is the absolute truth. We still don't completely understand how our body and brain works, and just because we have not encounter an issue, it doesn't mean that it can't happen. We just haven't got there yet.
With all this being said, I am continually reading and researching on this issue. I am open to change my mind if there are valid data/studies to convince me to take a different stand.
I will write about what products I switched to on my next post.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Water Only Experiment - FAILED!
I couldn't last more than a week with my water only experiment (i.e. using water only for hair washing and showering.) It's not so much that I have a oily scalp, my scalp was actually not that oily at all (maybe because I am used to use a very small amount of shampoo to begin with, so going water only didn't really affect my scalp.) The problem was, I couldn't wash out all the dirt in my hair, no matter how long I scrub my hair. I think my hair is too thick, and not soft enough for water only to work. As far as showering goes, I like the fact that water only has no fragrance, but I just prefer to use some sort of soap.
So instead of going Water Only, I am going the "as natural as possible route". I did some research and I found Kiss My Face Pure Olive soap (made with Olive Oil, Sodium Chloride -which is salt, and water.) This is as natural as a soap can get. So far so good, I like it. It's definitely much gentler and more moisturizing than regular soap; it adds a bit more to the showering experience than just water only. As far as shampoo goes, I going back to use my shampoo & conditioner (bigelow daily shampoo.) I use a very small amount, but I really love the clean feeling with the shampoo (especially I work out almost daily; I need to get all the dirt/film out.)
I am going "as natural as possible route" with my skincare and makeup regiment, too. I will write more about this on the next post.
So instead of going Water Only, I am going the "as natural as possible route". I did some research and I found Kiss My Face Pure Olive soap (made with Olive Oil, Sodium Chloride -which is salt, and water.) This is as natural as a soap can get. So far so good, I like it. It's definitely much gentler and more moisturizing than regular soap; it adds a bit more to the showering experience than just water only. As far as shampoo goes, I going back to use my shampoo & conditioner (bigelow daily shampoo.) I use a very small amount, but I really love the clean feeling with the shampoo (especially I work out almost daily; I need to get all the dirt/film out.)
I am going "as natural as possible route" with my skincare and makeup regiment, too. I will write more about this on the next post.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
Water only
Inspired by Fabulously Broke (over at fabulouslybroke dot com), I am going water only with hair washing and taking a shower. This is my 1st week.
I did some research. You are supposed to really scrub your scalp (with the tip of your finger) vigorously, the scrubbing helps loosening the oil and dirt in your hair, and the water will rinse it away. I think you are supposed to air dry your hair (that's what fabulouslybroke said. and use a boar brush to brush your dried hair) and I didn't read from anywhere that one should blow dry after water only hair washing. However, I have thick hair, and I am used to blow drying my hair. I can't cut the blow drying out!!! I am trying to cut down the time of blow drying though. Instead of blowing drying my hair completely dry, I stop @ 20%. With each wash, I am getting better at scrubbing my head, and with the blow drying cut back, I am seeing the result. My hair doesn't smell like shampoo, it smells like my hair.
In terms of taking water only shower, I have a friend who already does this. When I first found out, I was appalled by the idea. How can you be clean without using soap? (This friend has the smoothest skin, I wonder if water only showers have anything to do with it.) I did some research, and found that if you make sure you scrub well under water, water will do just fine in cleaning.
Why am I switching to Water Only? Because I want to cut back on the amount of chemicals I put on my body. (I say cut back, not eliminate. Because I don't think total elimination is possible. I wear make up, and want to continue to wear makeup....)
So far, I am getting better at taking shower and washing hair with water only. I can't say I absolutely love it so far (I am still getting used to it.) There's a chance that I might switch back with using soap and shampoo. I am giving water only a month.
edit:some who switched to Water Only hair washing said their first couple of weeks of transition were terrible due to oily hair. (because you are training your scalp to produce a right amount of oil for your head/hair.) So far for me (knock on wood.) I don't have really bad oily hair, it's manageable = I am not grossed out by it.
I did some research. You are supposed to really scrub your scalp (with the tip of your finger) vigorously, the scrubbing helps loosening the oil and dirt in your hair, and the water will rinse it away. I think you are supposed to air dry your hair (that's what fabulouslybroke said. and use a boar brush to brush your dried hair) and I didn't read from anywhere that one should blow dry after water only hair washing. However, I have thick hair, and I am used to blow drying my hair. I can't cut the blow drying out!!! I am trying to cut down the time of blow drying though. Instead of blowing drying my hair completely dry, I stop @ 20%. With each wash, I am getting better at scrubbing my head, and with the blow drying cut back, I am seeing the result. My hair doesn't smell like shampoo, it smells like my hair.
In terms of taking water only shower, I have a friend who already does this. When I first found out, I was appalled by the idea. How can you be clean without using soap? (This friend has the smoothest skin, I wonder if water only showers have anything to do with it.) I did some research, and found that if you make sure you scrub well under water, water will do just fine in cleaning.
Why am I switching to Water Only? Because I want to cut back on the amount of chemicals I put on my body. (I say cut back, not eliminate. Because I don't think total elimination is possible. I wear make up, and want to continue to wear makeup....)
So far, I am getting better at taking shower and washing hair with water only. I can't say I absolutely love it so far (I am still getting used to it.) There's a chance that I might switch back with using soap and shampoo. I am giving water only a month.
edit:some who switched to Water Only hair washing said their first couple of weeks of transition were terrible due to oily hair. (because you are training your scalp to produce a right amount of oil for your head/hair.) So far for me (knock on wood.) I don't have really bad oily hair, it's manageable = I am not grossed out by it.
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