GO FIGURE S/A RANKED 9TH FRIENDLIEST NATION IN THE WORLD

Here I was thinking of what to blog about when I happened upon this story. Forbes, yes the very same Forbes that have carved a niche for themselves involving money and moneymaking personalities carried out a survey on friendly nations in the world. The survey brings out a list of top 10 countries,the criteria they used to gauge these countries and of course the friendly nations themselves. I will swiftly put you out of your misery and inform you now that Nigeria didn't make the cut but I seriously wonder how many of you are surprised. Happy reading: HSBC surveyed 5,339 expatriates in nearly 100 countries between May and July 2012. Respondents rated their host countries on a slew of factors related to economics, raising children and overall experience. (Because countries with fewer than 30 respondents were deemed statistically insignificant, its final rankings include only 30 countries.)

To determine which were the friendliest, Forbes isolated the results in four categories: ability to befriend locals, success in learning the local language, capacity for integrating themselves into the community, and ease in which they fit into the new culture.

1. Cayman Islands: The Cayman Islands scored well in all those categories, putting it first on our list of the Friendliest Countries. Seventy-five percent of expat respondents living there reported that they were integrating well in the local community.

2. Australia: Expats living Down Under had much to praise about their new country—from the pleasant climate and easy social integration to friendly locals (including at work, where 73% said they felt welcome) and a better work-life balance than in their previous country.

3. United Kingdom: Despite low economic confidence among expats here, 71% are looking to settle here long term, with the same percentage agreeing they have integrated well into the local community

4. Canada: This country ranked as the top destination for raising children in this year’s survey, but also received top scores for its friendliness of locals (praised by 62%) and social integration (felt by 70%).

5. New Zealand: Though it’s fallen from its top spot in last year’s list of friendliest countries, this country still gets high marks for its work culture, friendliness, weather and ability to organize local finance

6. Spain: Despite 92% of expats in Spain being troubled by the economy, none are actively seeking relocation, and 71% say they have actively tried learning the local language (a key factor to integration), while 71% say their diet has improved since settling here.

7. United States: Since their relocation here, 63% of expats feel their quality of life has improved. In addition, 57% appreciated the climate and scenery, 49% said they found it easy to make friends and 74% say they’d like to stay here for good.

8. Bermuda: This country scored particularly well on quality-of-life issues, such as the ability to have a high disposable income, or to own a boat or yacht, as well as great weather and easy commutes

9. South Africa: Ranking ninth overall out of 30 countries, South Africa gets praised by expats in a range of areas: great work-life balance, ease in organizing accommodation and healthcare, great weather and the ability to integrate well into the culture (as agreed upon by 67%).

10. Malaysia: Better quality of life, a satisfying social life, easy local travel and better housing than in their home country helped put Malaysia in fifth place overall—though many reported difficulty integrating into the local community (often because of a language barrier)

With all said and done we have only one African country in the list and left to me South Africa shouldn't even be on this continent they are way way ahead of every other nation in Africa. Thoughts anyone?

CONGRATULATIONS MESSI

The Barcelona ‘baller wrote on his Facebook page that his entire family was flying into Barcelona from Argentina and he was excited. Sport.es subsequently reported that Anto is going to have a C-section on Saturday the 20th.  I am happy to announce that the 25 year old footie susuperstar and girlfriend have had a baby boy whom they've named THAIGO....

Welcome to the world... :)

SOMETHING FOR THE LADIES: TIPS ON HOW TO LOOK ATTRACTIVE

Here are some tips i sourced on how to look attractive:

1. Fitness: Exercise. If you are at an ideal weight, but want to tone up a bit, try doing small exercises such as sit ups, push ups, weight lifting etc. Aim to do at least one set every morning and another every night. After doing these exercises for a while, you may notice that you've gained some weight. That's because muscle is denser than fat, and 1 cubic inch of muscle weighs more than 1 cubic inch of fat. (But that's no excuse to not exercise, if you need to be further convinced, muscle burns calories faster than fat does.) If you are already completely happy with your weight, you can skip this part.

2 Body: To get smooth and silky skin, buy a nice smelling body exfoliator that isn't too harsh but does the job. If you want, shave/wax/use removal cream to get rid of leg hair. Follow by a rich body butter all over.

3 Face: Take care of your complexion. This is one of the hardest because everyone has different skin types and there are so many products out there. Ideally, use a good exfoliator in the morning, and a cleanser in the evening. Always wash your face morning and evening. Even missing out one night could result in a couple of spots the next morning. Use a toner if you think its needed, and a moisturizer to follow. Use a mask once or twice a week, and invest in a spot cream.

4 Smell: Always smell nice. Go for a natural, shampoo or soap type smell and spritz over some perfume on special occasions only.

5 Teeth: Brush your teeth for about two minutes twice a day, floss and use a mouthwash. If you have yellow teeth, use a whitening toothpaste. If you are unhappy with your teeth and think you need braces, talk to your dentist. If you have braces, embrace them. Don;t feel less attractive because if them. Visit the dentist every six months.

6 Personal hygiene: Shower every day. Use a deodorant that is antiperspirant while having an attractive smell

7 Make-up: Try using mineral make-up, as they don't clog up pores and are better for your skin. For daytime, use very soft colors for eyes, cheeks and lips and wear just a bit of concealer to brighten up your eye area, and a very bit of face powder just to set it. For nighttime or hanging with friends, feel free to use darker and brighter colors.

8 Clothes that suit your figure, that make you happy and make you feel confident, confidence is attractive and draw people toward you.

9 Smile: There is nothing more attractive than a genuine smile, and nothing more sad that a beautiful girl with a sad or annoyed expression on her face.

REMEMBER!!  you have to be COMFORTABLE with yourself before you make changes to your face and body. Without feeling happy with yourself, you won't be able to pull off a look....that's it oh and your welcome *winks*

ADVERTISING: BROTHEL'S SPONSOR FOOTBALL!!

In a bid to keep up with the theme of my blog,which stated that i'll give occasional footie spoiler's-just in case you had no idea,now you do-I have some information I stumbled upon to trump all other footie spoiler's I have ever blogged about! I need to mention this is absolutely true by the way happened in Greece.


When you’re low on cash, you can’t always be picky about who you take money from. For a Greek soccer team, that meant getting sponsored by a local brothel owner, Soula Alevridou. Alevridou owns Villa Erotica’ and Soula’s House of History, and now, the names are emblazoned across the backs of the players every time they run down the field.

According to the AP:
“Unfortunately, amateur football has been abandoned by almost everyone,” said Yiannis Batziolas, the club’s youthful chairman, who runs a travel agency and is the team’s backup goalkeeper. “It’s a question of survival.”

Interestingly, when things like this happen in America, it doesn't always go as smoothly. For instance, an L.A. little league team turned down a donation from a strip club earlier this year. Why? They thought it was immoral to take it.

In the case of this Greek club they chucked morality to the side and thought of the survival of their club instead even if it involves advertising the said brothel on the back of their jersey's. I guess it's just business guys but if you were faced with such a situation as a club owner what would you do? take the path of the U.S club or that of the Greek club?

HARD TO GET...YES OR NO?

The age old question stems up again, should a person play hard to get or not? I must say the argument about it is endless.  I can't even answer the question any better than I know when this argument started, but what I did do for the benefit of both warring sides is draw up a list of the pro's and cons of this timeless mating/courting skill. Here they are:

 Examples of the Advantages of Playing Hard to Get:

•  It makes you seem mysterious.
•  It keeps the boy/girl on their toes.
•  It doesn't make you seem too clingy.
•  If this ends up in a relationship, you two won't be obsessed with each other

Examples of the Disadvantages of Playing Hard to Get:

• It could make you seem uninterested.
• It could make you come off as rude or mean.
• The other person could get the wrong message from you.
• Mixed signals are very likely to happen.

So you weight it and make your decision, but my personal opinion is for a tradition such as this, which is as old as time, will be pretty darn hard to stop. *kisses*

STUDY FINDS FLIRTING DOES HELP YOUR CAREER

This is really an interesting read, ladies you would like to pay attention here it works for me *winks* so I can proudly testify.

A study finds that, women who flirt in negotiations are more effective than those who don’t. However, this tactic doesn’t work for men. Researchers set up experiments to measure the effects of female charm within negotiations. They defined this elusive quality as a management technique available to women combining warmth, friendliness and affiliation with flirtation, including playfulness, flattery and a certain sex appeal. Research director Dr. Laura Kray remarked: “Feminine charm is a strategic behavior aimed at making the person you are negotiating with feel good in order to get them to agree to your goals.” In their experiments with nearly 300 people, “feminine charm” — which is defined as flattery, warmth, body language (the classic hair toss, eyelashes batting move), playfulness and sex appeal in this case— helped female participants create better impressions and improve their economic outcomes.

In one experiment, researchers asked women to report the degree of social charm they used in their negotiations and then asked their partners to rate the women’s effectiveness, according to a Haas School news release on the study. Those rated more effective were those who said they used more social charm.In the same experiment men who employed more charm were not rated higher.

Another experiment asked subjects to imagine they were selling a car for $1,200 and then engaging in negotiations with a potential buyer: either “serious Sue” or “playful Sue.” As you can guess, “playful Sue” was flirtatious and touched the sellers arm while “serious Sue” was perfectly polite, but she was all business. Guess which Sue got the better deal on the car?

“Women are uniquely confronted with a tradeoff in terms of being perceived as strong versus warm,” Kray said in a comment quoted by the Haas School. “Using feminine charm in negotiation is a technique that combines both.”

This research also reemphasizes the belief that acting masculine doesn’t help women either. Macho behavior comes off as demanding and unattractive on a woman but that perfect blend of sauciness and allure conveys the power women they need without losing their feminine touch. In one experiment with 100 students in an MBA negotiation course, males and females were equally likely to rely on personal charm in their bargaining style. But where males neither benefited nor were harmed by the technique, females who used it to seek compliance were evaluated as more effective by their negotiating partners.

Kray also  found that women who flirt can come across as less trustworthy. “We discovered both an upside and a downside to flirting at the bargaining table,” Kray explains “Although flirtation appears to be positively related to women’s likability, negotiators who flirted were judged to be less authentic than those who refrained from exercising their sexual power.” Flirtation, unlike simple friendliness, was perceived as connected to self-interest and competitiveness. But flirtation is also associated with traditionally feminine qualities like warmth and attentiveness, which could explain the apparent paradox of flirts being seen as both likable and untrustworthy.

I told you this research was interesting, sorry fellas I guess you can sin-a-long with me to Beyonce's song "Who run the world" lol I hope you know the rest.

TIPS ON HOW TO WEAR YOUR MAKE-UP TO WORK

I figure this particular topic  might come across as weird because a lot of people think there is no hard and fast rule to wearing make-up to the office. Well that's why this particular article should be of interest to you yes you because it is a big deal!! Listen you can't and absolutely shouldn't wear loud and catchy/distracting make-up to work, girl please,  keep it for the club! Trust me you might come off looking like an *ahem* "working girl" so if  you can't rock it like a rock star to work and won't feel too confident going without any make up at all what can a sister do? well you can follow these few tips:

1. Start with a clean slate. Scrub, then moisturize your face. These are places where you want to be “picky.” You also want to choose a moisturizer that will adhere to the full-face of foundation you’re about to apply. Apparently, the au natural look requires covering every inch of your face in liquid makeup.

2. Apply foundation. With a sponge, apply a foundation that matches your skin tone. Pay special attention to the eyes and laugh lines. Wrinkles love to attach themselves to foundation and make you look older than you are – hence, “au natural.”

3. Eye makeup. Only use enough eyeliner to make your eyes “pop.” Follow the lines of your eyes, staying within them and not wavering. Smokey eyes, we’ve already established, have no place at the office. Also, stick to conservative colors for both your eyeliner and eye shadow. Neutral tones are your friends.

4. Mascara. When applied with a fan brush so as to prevent clumping, mascara is a great way to add that little something to your eyes. Again, stick to subtle colors – a dark brown or soft black are perfect. No sense in looking like a tramp while you’re in that board meeting – that’s for after work hours.

5. Tinted lip gloss. Again we’re shooting for a slight “pop” here. Unlike lipstick, a tinted gloss looks more realistic and is easy to apply throughout the day.

There you go make-up for work, not for after office hours I hope you noted the emphasis on subtle tones....