INPUT ARTICLE: Article: An outfit can make you extremely self conscious or boost your self confidence. Choose pieces that accentuate your best features, hide your flaws, and fit you well.  For example, if you have a tiny waist, wear shirts, sweaters, and dresses that are cinched at the waist. If you want to mask your midsection, wear a peplum skirt, shirt, or dress. If you aren’t comfortable rocking a crop top or a backless dress, don’t wear it. Makeup is designed to subtly enhance your natural features, not mask them.  Experiment with various products to discover the makeup application process that best suits your features. Remember, too much makeup isn't attractive. Try to highlight what is attractive with makeup instead of using too much. Sometimes, girls look better without makeup.  Create a flawless complexion by covering any blemishes you may have with foundation and then concealer. Enhance your eyes with natural shades of eyeshadow. For a dramatic look, line your eyes with eyeliner and coat your lashes with mascara. Give your cheeks a natural glow with blush, bronzer, and highlighter. Complete your look with the perfect shade of lipgloss or lipstick for your skintone. Little details, such as manicured fingernails and a radiant complexion, can attract the attention of boys. Set aside time to care for your skin and nails.  Cleanse, moisturize, and exfoliate your skin. Protect your skin with sunscreen. Trim, shape, and if desired, paint your nails. When your wear perfume, scent, eau de toilette, body spray, scented lotion, etc, boys will remember your scent and associate it with you. Prior to going out, spray a small amount on your hair. When you encounter a boy you are attracted to, flip your hair to subtly waft the scent in his direction. Boys and girls are more attracted to people that smile than to people that frown. Smiling also has the added benefits of making you and those around you feel happier. Laughing is also very attractive. It illuminates your face.

SUMMARY: Wear clothes that make you feel comfortable and confident. Highlight your features with beauty products. Pamper yourself. Wear a signature scent. Smile often.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Whether your earnings decrease with retirement or not, you remain responsible for making your payments on time. The credit agencies, which include both the credit card companies and the credit score reporting agencies, are less concerned with your income than with your ability to make your payments. Making your payments on time is the key, regardless of your income level. With decreased income in retirement, you may be tempted to use credit cards more. This is fine if you make your full payments each month. However, if you let the credit balance creep up, you will reduce your overall credit score. Carrying a minimal balance will not hurt you much. Credit agencies measure the ratio of your outstanding credit debt as compared to the amount of credit that you have available to you. Carrying a debt of $2,000 is less damaging if your total credit line is $25,000, for example, than if your credit line is only $5,000. Watch the balance and keep your ratio down as much as possible. You should try to keep the ratio to 25% or less. Thus, a $2,000 debt with $25,000 available credit is only 8%, which is strong, but $2,000 debt with only a $5,000 limit is a ratio of 40%, which is going to hurt your credit score. You may find that you need less credit as you enter retirement because you are buying less and your monthly expenses are lower. This may tempt you to close one or more credit card accounts that you might not be using. Don’t. Keeping established credit card accounts open serves two good purposes that will help your overall credit score.  First, your credit score is positively affected by the age on your accounts. An older account that you have had continuously for many years carries good, positive weight and helps boost your credit score. Second, keeping accounts open increases the amount of available credit that you have. As a result, the ratio of borrowing to credit is lower, and this helps increase your credit score. For example, if you owe $2,000 with total available credit of $20,000, the ratio is one-tenth. However, if you shut down an account, you may still owe the same $2,000 but only have available credit of $10,000. This ratio is one-fifth, and scores less for your credit report. Your credit score is affected not only by the credit that you have but also by your ongoing good use of credit. You should make a habit of using your credit cards at least for modest expenses each month. Then pay those bills on time and in full at the end of the month. This kind of practice will show that you can handle the credit cards and that you continue to be a good credit risk. The amount of your purchases is not as important as the fact that you continue using and paying off the credit cards. Periodically, you should ask your lender if you qualify for an increase in your credit limit. Especially if you have built up a good credit history by making payments on time, this request should be granted. You should continue to request this every few years, even as you enter retirement, if you believe you would qualify. The credit limit increase will help you keep a low debt to credit ratio and keep your credit score high.

SUMMARY: Pay your credit card bills on time. Keep the credit balance low compared to the credit limit. Keep credit accounts open. Continue using your credit cards. Request credit limit increases.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: It can be tough to recognize when someone is toxic and not in your best interest, especially if it’s someone you’ve known a while. One sure sign of a toxic, negative person is listening to your gut and how they make you feel.  You may dread being around them and exhibit signs of nervousness anticipating meetings like sweat palms, nausea and a general uneasy feeling. Toxic, negative people tend to exude pessimism and can even be physically or verbally abusive. If you find any of these traits in your relationship with a family member or friend, you may need to evaluate the relationship. People who are negative and toxic tend to have one-sided relationships. Sometimes it can be hard to be an observer of your own relationship. Watch how they interact with their other friends, particularly whether they talk negatively about other people. Those who feel the need to bring others down may do the same to you. They always worry about themselves. Whether you’re telling them about your day or your own feelings, toxic people will turn the focus to themselves. They also tend to be greedy and more concerned with their wellbeing than yours. When you realize that someone dislikes you and you’d be better off without his or her negativity, make a change for your own good. This important step means you’re ready to seek positive change in your life and surround yourself with people of similar goals.

SUMMARY:
Focus on how they make you feel. Observe their other relationships. Realize you need a change.