How to use Oatmeal as a Face Mask

Oatmeal is useful in several ways for the skin. It is often used to make face masks and other skin care products. Usage of oatmeal face mask helps you to stay away from several skin ailments and also adds glow to your skin. Also, this face mask enhances the texture of the skin and makes it plain and even. If your skin is damaged due to sunburn, it can be cured effectively with oatmeal bath. Below are some oatmeal face mask recipes and their uses.

Oatmeal Face Mask Recipes:

Recipe – 1:

To prepare an easy facial mask with oatmeal, take 5 – 6 tablespoons of ground oatmeal in a bowl and add water to make a thick and smooth paste. Spread the mixture on the face evenly and let it dry. Rinse it with cold water. You can also add milk instead of water to make your facial skin more nourished. This is the best oatmeal mask recipe for oily skin people.

Recipe – 2:

This oatmeal mask recipe is for people suffering from acne. This can be applied on alternate days and must be followed by moisturizing to eliminate acne. Take 5 drops of almond oil, juice of half lemon, an egg white and a tablespoon of oatmeal powder. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl to make a smooth paste. Add water if it is very thick. Apply it on the face and let it stay for 15 – 20 minutes. Wash it off with cold water.

Recipe – 3:

This is a best recipe for dry skin and it is also an excellent face scrub. This mask helps in exfoliating the skin and to flush out dead skin cells leaving soft and plain skin. Take a ripe banana and smash it. Take it into a bowl and add a cup of ground oatmeal to it. Mix it well and later add lukewarm milk. Stir it properly to make a smooth facial mask. Apply it over the face and leave it for 15 minutes. Wet your hands if it is dry else start scrubbing it directly to exfoliate the skin. Rinse it off with cold water. Pat dry and apply a toner, which is followed by moisturizer.

Benefits of Oatmeal Face Mask:

It is more beneficial than a healthy breakfast.

• Oatmeal facial mask is the best face cleanser. It opens up the skin pores and flushes out dirt. This mask is suitable for all skin types. Hence, people with all skin types may use this to obtain its benefits.
• It can be used to treat mild skin irritations.
• If you have dry skin, try this face mask to obtain smooth skin.
• Half dried oatmeal can be used as a scrub to exfoliate skin.
• It also treats itching and is known for anti-inflammatory properties.

Surely oatmeal makes an excellent homemade face mask. If it is used regularly, it helps in taking the best facial skin care. The above mentioned recipes help your skin in many ways such as wrinkle-free, pimple- free and completely healthy.

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How To Get Rid Of Acne Redness Overnight

One of the main reason why you want to reduce acne redness fast is because you have an important event or meeting to attend. And you can't bear having people staring at your acne redness. At the same time, you don't want to feel embarrassed because of the red blotches on your face especially. Taking oral antibiotics such as tetracycline, doxycycline, minocycline, and erythromycin may decrease redness but it will take some time to see results.

What Is Acne Redness

Acne redness is not a scar. It is an inflammatory response.

How do you get pimple redness in the first place? It begins when excess sebum pass through the walls of the follicle. In the pores, the sebum combines with the dead skin cells, causing the clogging of the pores. This allows P. acnes bacteria to populate and free radicals to damage the tissues which lead to inflammation and redness.

If the lesions do not develop, the redness will disappear on its own. However, if the color does not change after a year, it may be a scar.

With these problems in hand, you would want to reduce pimple redness fast, even overnight.

How To Reduce Acne Redness Quickly

The are two important things that you should know if you want to get rid of your pimple redness overnight.

1. Redness is caused by an inflammatory effect. Thus, whatever remedy you use should address the inflammation.
2. The other thing is to ensure the blemishes can heal faster. This will reduce redness of acne quickly.

In this article, you will find several solutions that are easy to apply. Some of them can be found in your home. Therefore, you can save money.

Home Remedies For Pimple Redness

There are a few effective, simple home remedies that you can use for quick acne redness relief.

How To Remove The Redness Of A Pimple

Tip#1The fastest method is ice. Use a cloth to wraps several ice cubes and place it on the affected area. Leave it for a few minutes. Repeat it until the redness subsides. Make sure you don't apply too much pressure. It may break the acne, causing the bacteria to affect nearby areas.

Tip#2
Eye drops like Visine contains tetrahydrozoline hydrochloride which can help in getting rid of acne redness quickly. Place some Q-tips that have been soaked with eye drops in the freezer. Leave them overnight. The next morning, place one of them on the pimple for a few minutes. When the solution of the eye drop absorb into the skin, there will be a temporary constriction of the blood vessels. This should make the pimple looks less red. If the redness does not go away, use another Q-tip.

Tip#3Most homes have aspirin. Aspirin contains salicylic acid which can reduce inflammation by exfoliating the skin and redness by constricting the blood vessels. For a quick remedy for acne redness, break the aspirin tablet into half. Add a bit of water on the white content. Place the paste on the pimple. Use a Band-Aid or plaster to secure it. Leave it for about 30 minutes.

Tip#4Toothpaste is one of the mostly mentioned remedies for pimple redness in forums. Just dab the pimples with the toothpaste. It works because it contains silica, which helps to dry the pimples. However, you should not use any toothpaste that has menthol or fluoride. This ingredient not only irritates your skin but will cause more zits to appear.

Tip#5For women, you can use make up to hide the redness. Today, many cosmetics are available as non-greasy and non-comedogenic. Choose mineral-based cosmetics that uses silica, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide as they don't irritate the skin. They are also effective in removing the oil from the skin and covering redness. If you want to use a concealer to camouflage the redness, use a green one as it will offset the red color of the pimples, making them less visible. Put a layer of loose powder over the concealer to match your skin tone. This should also prevent your make up from fading away.

Though acne redness can impair your appearance, but it is not as bad as acne scars. Getting rid of the redness does not always minimize the risk of scarring. You need to treat acne as early as possible to prevent scarring.

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How to Convert a Percent Grade to Slope in Degrees

Percent grade and slope in degrees both indicate the amount that elevation changes over a certain distance, which determines how steep a hill or slope is. Percent grade denotes the percentage of change in the elevation--for example, if a hill rises 20 feet over a 100-foot distance, it has a 20 percent slope. The slope in degrees indicates the angle between the surface of a hill and level ground.

You can record a hill's slope in degrees or percent.

1. Divide the percent grade by 100.

2. Take the arctangent of this number using a scientific calculator. Your calculator may have an "atan" button, or you may need to press the "2nd" or "inv" button, then the "tan" button.

3. Write "°" after the result to indicate degrees.

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You can describe a fraction of a circle by using a percentage or by describing the equivalent angle in degrees. To convert percentage into degrees, you must multiply the total number of degrees in a circle by the percent. Slopes are another entity commonly measured both ways. Percent slope describes the vertical change divided by the horizontal change, or rise over run. Degrees of slope describe the angle of incline. To convert from percent into degrees of slope, you must convert the percentage into its decimal equivalent, then find its arctangent.

Pie charts represent percentages, but the angles of the wedges are measured in degrees.

Circles

• 1. Convert the percentage into its decimal equivalent by dividing it by 100. For instance, 45 percent equals 0.45.
• 2. Multiply the decimal by 360, the total number of degrees in a circle.
  For example, 0.45 * 360 = 162.
• 3. Round the answer, if necessary and add the degree symbol or "degrees." So 45 percent of a circle equals 162º or 162 degrees.

Slopes

• 1. Convert the percentage into its decimal equivalent by dividing it by 100. For instance, 35 percent equals 0.35.
• 2. Find the arctangent (atan) of the decimal. In the example, atan(0.35) = 19.29004622
• 3. Round the answer and add the degree symbol. A 35 percent grade equals a 19º slope.

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How to Convert Angle Degrees to Slope

An angle can represent a slope, and a slope can be measured as an angle. A slope is the measured steepness of growth or decline over a specific amount of distance. In geometry, calculation of a slope develops from a ratio of a change of y-coordinates, also known as the rise, over a change in x-coordinates, known as the run. When given the degrees of an angle representing the slope, you can calculate the slope as both a gradient with the ratio in decimal form and a percentage by employing the trigonometric tangent function.

1. Obtain an angle in degrees. For this example, let the angle by 40 degrees.

2. Calculate the tangent function of the angle with your calculator. For this example, the tangent of 40 degrees equals approximately 0.83901. This is the slope as a gradient.

3. Multiply the gradient by a hundred on your calculator to obtain the percentage of the slope. For this example, multiplying 0.83901 by 100 equals 83.901 percent.

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How to Convert an Angle From Degrees to Decimal

Degree measurement of angles can take two forms: one form is when the distance between individual degree units are measured in minutes and seconds, and the other is decimal notation. When measured with minutes and seconds, the measurement appears as d° m' s", where "d" is the degree amount, "m" is the minute amount and "s" is the second amount. Both the minute and second count follow from a normal hour, so a degree is composed of 60 minutes, and a minute is composed of 60 seconds. Conversion from this form to the decimal form helps in simplifying angular mathematical operations.

1. Find an angle measured in degrees. For this example, the angle is 44° 15' 36".

2. Multiply the minutes of the degree by 1/60 and the seconds of the degree by 1/3,600, then sum the two products. For this example, 15' (or 15 minutes) multiplied by 1/60 results in 0.25, and 36" (or 36 seconds) multiplied by 1/3,600 results in 0.01. Adding 0.01 to 0.25 equals 0.26.

3. Add the decimal sum to the degree to calculate the degree measurement in decimal notation. For this example, adding 0.26 to 44 equals 44.26°.

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How to Convert Fractions From Seconds to Minutes

Converting a number of seconds given in fractional form to its equivalent value in minutes is a task you might do when preparing an estimate of how many times a certain task that takes less than a minute could be performed in a span of time that is greater than a minute but less than an hour. Whatever the case, conversion of a fractional value of seconds to minutes is a simple matter of fractional multiplication.

You can convert seconds given in fraction form by multiplying the denominator by 60.

1. Convert the supplied value for seconds into a simplified fraction. For example, a value of 2 1/2 seconds can be expressed as 5/2 seconds.

2. Multiply the denominator of the fraction by 60 to obtain its equivalent value in minutes, as dividing a fraction by 60 is the same thing as multiplying it by 1/60. In the example, 2 * 60 yields a value of 5/120 minutes.

3. Simplify the resulting fraction, if possible. In the example, 5/120 minutes is equal to 1/24 minutes.

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How Much Can a Contract Laborer Make Before Paying Taxes?

When you provide services as a contract laborer or independent contractor, the Internal Revenue Service treats you as being self-employed. However, you have the same income tax obligations as an employee who earns a salary. The only difference is the way you report this income and how much money you can make before you must file a tax return. Unlike employees, contract laborers are responsible for paying self-employment tax directly to the IRS.

Contractor Filing Requirements

• If you earn a substantial amount of income during the year as an independent contractor, you must report your earnings on a Schedule C or C-EZ attachment to your tax return. The IRS requires this even if you earn other income during the year as an employee. As of 2011, you must file a Schedule C with your personal tax return when you make $400 or more as a contract laborer. However, don't confuse this with your obligation to pay tax, since the income criteria for filing and paying are different.

Contractor Income Taxes

• The IRS will not impose any more or less taxes on you just because you make money as an independent contractor. All taxpayers, regardless of employment status, don't pay tax on annual earnings up to an amount that equals the sum of your standard deduction plus one exemption. If you are a dependent to someone else, then you will pay tax on earnings that exceed just the standard deduction, since someone else claims your exemption. The standard deduction for each type of filing status is different. For example, head of household filers can earn more tax-free income than a single filer, since their standard deduction is much higher.

Self-Employment Tax

• You also are responsible for paying self-employment taxes on your contractor earnings. These are the taxes that fund both the Social Security and Medicare programs and are separate from the federal income taxes you pay. Most employers will withhold these taxes from employee paychecks, but as an independent contractor, you aren't subject to such withholding. Instead, you calculate your self-employment tax liability on a Schedule SE attachment to your personal tax return. However, when preparing your tax return, you are eligible to claim a deduction for half of your self-employment tax payments.

Contractor Tax Benefits

• One of the notable benefits of paying income taxes as a contract laborer is that the IRS allows you to claim deductions for many work-related expenses that most employee taxpayers aren't eligible for. This is because you are treated like a "business," and businesses have more freedom to fully deduct the expenses they incur to provide services. For example, if you perform all of your contract work at home, you can claim a deduction for office supplies, paper and even the miles you drive to the store to purchase these items. Many more types of expenses are deductible, but your eligibility for them will depend on the type of work you do.

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How to Figure Income Tax on Contract Labor

Receiving income from contract labor means filing the long form for your personal income taxes. You will need to fill out and file either a Schedule C for a business or a Schedule F if your income was in the agricultural field. 

Contract labor is also subject to Self-Employment tax. The Self-Employment tax is a contract laborer's way of contributing to their Social Security fund.

1. Collect information about contract labor income and legitimate expenses you may be able to deduct. For example, if you are working as a freelance writer, you will need to collect all the information about who you worked for and the amounts you were paid. Legitimate expenses can include the cost of your computer, postage, telecommunications, including Internet service, and office expenses.

To pay the minimum amount of tax, you will need to show how much it cost you to be in business. Those expenses directly offset the amount of Income Tax and Self-Employment tax you pay.

2. Fill out Schedule C or Schedule F for the tax year. Begin by filling in the top of the form. Schedule F is for farming and other agricultural endeavors, so most people would fill out a Schedule C.

The top portion of the form has spaces for the name of your business, your name and Social Security Number and your business classification.

The second portion of the form is where you enter your income. There are different types of income choices available, whether it is general income or if you received it from a government grant. Select the areas that apply and leave those that do not apply to your contract labor blank. You will be able to total your income to get your gross income from your contract labor.

The major portion of the Schedule C or Schedule F is dedicated to classifying your expenses. Enter the amounts you spent for items such as advertising, interest paid, tools and utilities. Total the expenses.

Subtract the total expenses from the total gross income to find your profit or loss. Transfer these numbers to your 1040 Personal Income Tax form and to Schedule SE to calculate any Self-Employment tax you may owe.

3. Complete your 1040 long form. You will be able to subtract exemptions and credits from the amount you owe. It is possible that you will receive a refund, even if you did not pay in any taxes, if you qualified for an Earned Income Tax Credit or other credit. File your taxes by the due date to avoid paying any penalties or interest.

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How to Calculate Taxes When Self Employed

Self-employed people enjoy the convenience of being their own boss and being able to set their own schedules. However, they are completely responsible for paying their own taxes. Self-employed individuals must pay self-employment taxes and estimated taxes. Self-employment taxes consist of all Social Security and Medicare taxes. Estimated tax consists of the paying quarterly on money that is not subject to withholding.

Calculating Self-Employment Taxes

• 1. Use Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ to determine what your net income for the year is. Net income typically equals your total business revenue minus your total business expenses, such as operations costs.
• 2. Find your net earnings by multiplying your net income by 92.35 percent. If your net earnings are under $400, you do not have to pay self-employment taxes, but if your earnings are over $400, you have to pay self-employment taxes.
• 3. Multiply your net earnings up to $106,800 by 15.3 percent (the Social Security and Medicare tax rates), and multiply any earnings over $106,800 by 2.9% (the Medicare tax rate). Add the two amounts together to determine what your total self-employment taxes are.
• 4. Factor in your deductions on the "Adjustments" section of the 1040, where you can deduct half of your self-employment tax in determining your adjusted gross income, and file your Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ with your 1040.

Calculating Estimated Taxes

• 1. Obtain your adjusted gross income from your previous year's tax return, and add any anticipated additional income for the new tax year to that figure. If you anticipate your income to be less than the previous year, subtract the anticipated lesser amount from the previous tax year's earnings.
• 2. Review the previous year's list of itemized deductions, and make any anticipated additions or subtractions from those figures for the new tax year to determine your estimated deductions for the new tax year. If you do not itemize or have deductions amounting to less than the Standard Deduction, use the Standard Deduction in your figuring. The current Standard Deduction is $5,450 for a single taxpayer, $8,000 for a head of household and $10,900 for married couples filing jointly. Subtract your estimated deductions from your estimated income in Step 1.
• 3. Subtract any personal exemptions and tax credits from your figures, and calculate your annual federal tax payment required by referring to the tax table rates.
• 4. Adjust the tax amount calculated in Step 3 by multiplying it by 90 percent. You can pay your estimated taxes based upon 90 percent of your estimated taxes for the current year, or based upon 110 percent of the tax paid on the previous year's tax return, whichever is lower.
• 5. Divide the annual amount calculated in Step 4 by four to determine the estimated quarterly payments to be paid on April 15, June 15, Sept. 15 and Jan. 15 of the current year.

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