What You Need to Know before Buying Plastic Playing Cards

Whether you are a big poker player, a blackjack star or a classic rummy player, the pack of cards you play with can make or break your night, and your wallet. There is a huge industry in creating plastic playing cards, and within that industry are big names, famous for producing playing cards for casinos and clubs across the globe.

Playing cards were first invented in China during the Tang dynasty and soon caught on as a way to pass time and allow gentlemen to enjoy and create lots of different games - some which are still popular today. Western games were invented a long time after the initial cards were produced in China, but still proved popular as their use grew more widespread.

Modern materials for the modern game

The materials used in creating playing cards have changed over the past 1,000 years to give us different styles of playing cards such as decorative cards, custom playing cards, royal card decks and the modern plastic playing cards that we use and love today.

  

Amongst the playing cards that are popular in use today, there are two types of card decks that make a big difference when it comes to the feel of the cards themselves, as well as the price and the quality. The usual playing cards that you can pick up just about anywhere are simply cheap playing cards that are sometimes referred to as Bicycle playing cards.

These playing cards are designed in lots of many different ways depending on the style that you like, so think highly decorative, simple and jumbo decks that have bigger letters and simpler symbols to see and read. These playing cards are generally manufactured with a paper which is then covered in a thin plastic layer to give them a little more durability.

Resistant, durable and smooth

These playing cards, whilst handy to have at any time are rather poor in quality. The thin layer of plastic that protects the underlying paper of the playing card can wear of incredibly fast for any professional or amateur player. This means that whilst costing anywhere from $8 to $12 a deck, they can last a single game of a few hours or so and start to deteriorate quickly form there.

For professional use such as in casinos and for pro players or enthusiasts, there are two big companies which make authentic playing cards that last the test of time and offer a premium quality that no standard deck of cards at the dollar store can offer. One of those companies is KEM.

KEM plastic playing cards

KEM is one of the biggest manufacturers of playing cards in the world, their popularity stemming from their quality, longevity and their professional use within the poker game. KEM plastic playing cards are made from 100% plastic to give them a more durable finish when compared to standard playing cards, which does not deteriorate anywhere near as quickly.

KEM plastic playing cards due to their durability, can last anywhere between 100 to 200 playing hours at a professional table in a casino, and are the top choice around the world when it comes to quality and look. KEM decks tend to shuffle better than their counterparts, being slightly thinner than other varieties.

COPAG plastic playing cards

COPAG playing cards offer an alternative to KEM, offering a premium card deck that is also used by many of the world’s leading casinos. The COPAG brand offers again 100% plastic playing cards that are resistant to heavy use due to their manufacturing process.

 

COPAG 100% plastic playing cards are even thinner than their counterparts, offering impressive shuffling ability for the duration of their lives. Plastic playing cards are a much better alternative to the paper variety due to them being less prone to bending, folding, buckling and becoming useless when damp.

Plastic playing cards are the only choice when it comes to playing poker, blackjack, or just about any other card game imaginable. If you really want a deck of cards that will last longer, be more durable and offer the player a premium feel and look, then a choice of either KEM or COPAG 100% plastic playing cards will give you hours upon hours of enjoyment, and might actually help you practise your shuffling tricks better!

Beauty Products You Can’t Skip To Stay Beautiful!

Looking beautiful is not only the important thing but staying beautiful is also very much necessary. There are tons of beauty products to help you out for maintaining a flawless look but there are some specific among them of which you can’t live without a single day!

For staying beautiful you need to take a very good care of your skin, hair, lips, eyes, hands, legs and even nails. It is more of a complete package, you cannot compromise any of these for another.

Products for your daily use

There are different products for different segments of your body. Make sure to use the products those suit you. Not all products are meant to suit all skin types so a simple wrong decision can lead you to the worst part of your life. Choose wisely and stay gorgeous.

Hair

Starting from your hair. Try to analyse your hair type whether it is too oily or dry or may be damaged. Try to select the beauty product according to the pattern of your hair.

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Shampoo — Start your day with cleansing away all the oil and dirt from your scalp with a mild shampoo leaving your hair smooth and soft.

Conditioner — Your hair deserves some moisturizing too! So get your hair nourished with your favourite conditioner just after you are done shampooing it.

Leave-on-conditioner — Take a leave-on-conditioner as per your choice and apply it when the hair is dry and leave it on until the next shampoo.

Face

It is the most important part of your body so definitely needs the extra care. Determine your skin type and get the products those compliment your skin making it softer and smoother.

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Face Wash — Wash your face with your favourite face wash to remove the oil and dirt leaving your skin clean and fresh.

Toner — After a few minutes of cleansing make sure to tone your face with your choice of toner to restore your skin’s natural pH level and to kill the bacteria leaving a spot-fighting ingredient on your skin.

Moisturizer — Do not let your skin get dried up so apply your preferred moisturizer sooner you are done with toning your face.

Sunscreen — Apply sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher to protect your skin from harmful rays.

BB Cream — You can allow your all-time favourite BB cream to show its magic on your skin giving it a natural look with the feel of the foundation and soft feeling from inside.

Face Powder — After the application of the BB cream you can sprinkle a little of your face powder to avoid the stickiness or the greasiness on your face and allow to maintain the freshness for longer. 

Eyes

Your eyes play a leading role for dragging attention of other people so you really need to take a very good care for making them look more attractive.

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Concealer — Choose the shade matching your skin tone and dab it on to conceal the dark circles or the fine lines.

Eye-liner — Let it be gel or pencil. Choice is yours! Just give your eye a complete outline according to your style.

Mascara — This will allow you to give your lashes more volume and will make your eyes more prominent. One or two cover of your preferred mascara would just be perfect for your daily use.

Lips

Your lips are something you would never want to compromise with.

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Scrubber — Use a mild lip scrub to exfoliate the dead cells of your lips giving it a smooth and soft texture afterwards.

Balm — Using a lip balm can actually help you preventing your lips from getting chapped or dehydrated. Try applying a good quality lip balm to help your lips lock its moisture within and stay soft and supple.

Lip colour — It is something you can use according to your mood. It can either be a lipstick or a lip-gloss of your choice just to add colours to your style to get idea about your mood of the day!

 

Hands

Hands should equally be taken care of. Hands include your nails as well. If you want your hands to look beautiful then you also need to make sure that your nails are so!

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Hand Wash — Of course you need to keep your hands and nails clean so use a mild hand wash to do the job.

Hand Cream — Different kinds of hand creams are available so you have a huge option to choose from. Moisturizing lotions can be used as well to keep your skin soft and moisten.

Nail Paint — Let the colours speak your mind! Choose your colour to suit your style.

Legs

Mostly people tend to avoid taking care of the legs while they are busy with their face. The legs are also parts of your body so even they deserve a little attention of yours.

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Scrubbing — Use a good quality scrub to remove the dead cells and dirt from your legs.

Moisturizing Lotion — Try keeping your legs clean and moisturized. They should not be neglected. It is better to apply the lotion just after the shower and before going to bed to get better results.

Others

Others include loads of things. Different people have different priorities to deal with.

Perfume — Perfumes allow you to create an image of your own when you are in the crowd. People might notice you later but get an idea as soon as they get your smell. So choose your scent and get confidence to be in the crowd. 

The list might go on or might vary from person to person as nobody is same and cannot have the same preferences. Whatever you choose as your priority, make sure that you are not only choosing it to make you look beautiful but can keep your skin beautiful from inside as well. Let the beauty products help you look beautiful and stay healthy.

Choosing the Right Skin Care Products Online

The world of online skin care products can often be a daunting experience for those that just wish to choose a simple product that is backed up by real world results. Whilst many of the top brands are often filled with hard-to-pronounce ingredients that claim to offer revitalised skin and rejuvenated complexions, making sure that you find the right ingredients that compliment your skin tone and skin type is the key to finding a great skin care system that gives results.

It is important to start out by determining the type of skin you have, and then finding the right solution to your needs. Many women often pick the well-known brands of skin care cream online only to find out that it isn’t necessarily the best choice when it comes to their own skin type. Whether you have oily skin, dry skin or somewhere in the middle skin you are sure to find the right skin care product to bring out the best of your complexion.

Many popular forms of skin care products contain certain vitamins and minerals that help aid in the natural restoration of skin cells. Choosing some of these products is a great way to help your skin appear more youthful, as well as making sure that you are not applying too many chemicals to your skin. This is especially true with natural oils, essential oils and skin care products that are bio friendly.

  

Vitamins, minerals and nutrients for your skin

There are many vitamins and minerals that are perfect for the skin, so choosing a skin care product that is rich in vitamin A, E and vitamin B Complex is essential in keeping a youthful appearance. Your skin care regime should start with foundational care, so choose a light skin scrub to fully exfoliate your skin and remove dead skin cells found on the top layer.

A great moisturiser is needed after exfoliation to give your skin a chance to absorb all of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals it needs for a healthy glow. Whether you have dry or oily skin, making sure you moisturise your skin will allow you enrich the top layer for protection whilst absorbing vitamins deep into your skin.

Moisturise and rehydrate daily

Many skin care professionals and experts recommend a moisturiser that contains purely natural ingredients with a range of essential oils to help give your skin a natural glow with a pleasant aroma. Ingredients such as aloe vera helps rehydrate the skin, whilst those with oily skin should choose a moisturiser that contains no oils, to help your skin find a natural balance that works for you.

You do not have to be a doctor of dermatology to understand what your skin needs, so choose the right skin care products online that cater for your needs. Avoid using oily creams if you tend to suffer from oily skin and make sure that your skin is well hydrated if your skin is too dry. Use natural daily creams to help your skin keep a natural balance, and use a night cream that contains essential vitamins for rejuvenating your skin for the perfect complexion every time.

Finding The Right Hair Care Products Tailored To Your Hair

There are many thousands of hair care products on the market today, with many different shops and salons offering the latest in high fructose, shimmery shampooing and natural mist that can work wonders for just about any type of hair imaginable. But narrowing down all of these different products can often make you feel like pulling your hair out! No matter what colour, thickness, curly or straight your hair is, you can narrow down the many products to choose the perfect accompaniment to give you a happy head.

Many people choose a hair care product or shampoo based on the negative aspects of their hair. Maybe your hair is slightly greasy, too dry, frizzy or just too curly for your needs, but being positive about your hair will also put you a step in the right direction. Making sure you have clean and healthy hair is the first important step in bringing extra strength and texture to your hair, so choosing the right base shampoo will do wonders in this respect.
 

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For greasy hair, one of the best shampoos to choose is one that can remove the excess oil without leaving the scalp too dry. A dry scalp can cause issues of its own such as flaking and dandruff. Washing your hair on a regular basis can help alleviate the root causes of greasy hair, washing your hair daily will eliminate hair that is too greasy, but it is important to get the right balance, depending on your hair type.
 

Daily washing of your hair, no matter if your hair is too greasy or too dry can have damaging effects on the hair itself. Washing daily can remove the natural oils that your hair and scalp need to stay healthy, and stripping the roots of your hair of these natural oils can cause them to come back even greasier to make up for the loss. It is best recommended for people with greasy hair to use a clarifying shampoo once a month to help eliminate too greasy hair whilst maintaining the natural healthy oils needed by your scalp.

Shampoos guaranteed to work for healthy hair include the range of Head & Shoulders shampoos. One of the world’s best shampoos, Head & Shoulders has a wide range of products aimed to help eliminate excess grease, aid with the healthy regulation of natural hair oils, as well as eliminate dandruff and a flaky scalp. Whilst the regular Head & Shoulders shampoo combines the two qualities of a conditioner and a shampoo, it is the dandruff-eliminating qualities that make this shampoo so popular.
 

With a wide range of fragrances and added nutrients and ingredients to add to the finished product, Head & Shoulders has a range for both men and women to choose from. By combining a conditioner with the shampoo, the Head & Shoulders classic shampoo eliminates the need to rinse before applying the conditioner.

This reduces the risk of any excess shampoo being left in the hair and allows for a nourishing treatment of the hair and scalp together, making for the best choice when it comes to those with oily hair, greasy scalp and dandruff problems.

Makeup for Men - Yes or No?

The growing trend amongst men to wear make-up has been on a steady rise in recent years, thanks in no doubt to popular celebrities such as Russell Brand, Johnny Depp and Zac Efron. Men have been wearing make up for centuries, especially musicians and singers who have popularised certain trends to make it more accessible to others. Notable men who have worn make up in the past have included Boy George, David Bowie and Prince to name but a few. But with the modern trend in perfectly kept men being known as metrosexual, is this modern take on make-up the one that lasts?

It can be hard to exactly pinpoint when the tide turned for it to become more acceptable for men to wear make-up, but when the UK high street store Superdrug started selling make-up that was designed solely for men, the shift into acceptability possibly broke new horizons. For many years it had been popular for men to wear what was now termed ‘guyliner’ and ‘manscara’ to help accentuate ones’ eyes, and with more and more celebrity males seemingly quite happy to endorse and promote their own metrosexuality, it was only a matter of time before the looks hit the streets.

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Men have become increasingly more obsessed about the way they look, and with the big brands that are most commonly associated with women’s cosmetics seeing a gap in the market, the marketing steamroller of the cosmetics industry was just about to roll into town. Whilst male grooming isn’t a new addition to the modern man; barbershops, tailors and specialist gentleman’s’ clubs have always been art of a thriving and diverse culture in just about every large city in the western world. This apparent new foray into the world of male grooming has been met with the argument that the feminisation of the modern man has already started.

Jokingly aside, most open-minded individuals would agree that there is nothing wrong with taking care of yourself and looking the best you can be, but with more male beauty products on the market today that were previously only associated with female grooming, many men are wondering if this is just a new phase, or maybe this time around, the make-up is here to stay.

Being part of a multi-billion dollar industry, the male grooming sector of the cosmetics industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in all beauty products, with facial scrubs and anti-ageing serums making up the majority of purchases. Eyeliner and manscara only make a tiny dent in those figures, but with the growing trend of new products being released onto the market daily, this figure is set to soar.

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So while many men will still sniff at the idea of wearing make-up, the generation that is growing up around this modern fascination with male grooming may well be the strongest influence yet that make-up is not just a exclusively female-only attraction and that men of all walks of life are enjoying the pleasure of improving their image with the help of a little make-up. With names like ‘Taxi Man’ being the leading products in the Guyliner range, you can see that make-up for men isn’t shy of a hint of comedy.

Health

Gift Options for Christmas at Order and Save!

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is already just a few weeks away - this year has truly flown by! But it’s been a great year for us here at Order and Save. We’ve been able to increase our stock number considerably and slashed prices on all our products. Not only that, but we’ve offered discounts to our customers, special offers and we even had a competition to reward our newsletter subscribers.

The lowest prices on makeup, cosmetics, hair care and other household items will be at Order and Save over Christmas and we provide special gift items that make the perfect present to just about anyone, male or female. Let’s take a look at some popular gift ideas heading into the holiday season.

For Her

The options are pretty vast when it comes to shopping for the special lady in your life! With our eye-bogglingly enormous range of cosmetics products, you couldn’t come to a better place to stock up on gifts for the missus (or mother, sister or even grandmother). And with our cheap prices, why not stock up on a few products and spoil her rotten?

One option if you’re not sure about what to get, is to play it safe with a body wash or shaving gift pack. We’re basically throwing them out the door. Pick up a Gillette Essentials pack and Lynx Excite Gift Pack for women for less than $26. It’s a low risk gift and it might wow her, but it’s something that she’s sure to need at one point or another.

If you’re looking to splash out a little, you might think about mixing and matching a few beauty products. We’ve got everything from eye makeup to lipstick, nail polish remover, moisturing lotions, suncare and tanning products and more. So you really can’t go wrong!

For Him

Never underestimate how much any bloke appreciates a new aftershave, shaving kit or moisturising cream. While not all of us admit it, the modern man cares more about his appearance and good grooming than ever before!

With Order and Save’s line of men’s products you really can’t go wrong. Grab a Rexona Men’s Sports Pack which includes deodorant, sensitive shave gel and a razor for less than $15. Or if you’re buying for a particularly metro guy, you can pick up a NHD Hair Dryer and accessories for just $75, considerably less expensive than what you’d be paying retail! Beard’s are all the range at the moment; facial hair trimmers are going out at less than $50 so your boyfriend, husband or son can keep himself looking the part.

Be sure to keep an eye on our website for special Christmas deals. We’re always keen to throw a bargain to our loyal customers especially around the holiday season!

The Role of Makeup - A Brief History

Make up has been used in various capacities over many years, playing an important role in cultures from all around the world and also today. While it is considered something that is used predominately be women to look pretty in modern times, it has been presented in many other forms throughout history including being applied to warriors before battle and aristocratic men in Elizabethan times as a mark of sophistication. In this article, we take a look at the history of make up and how it has impacted on the culture of the times.

It is known that early modern humans in prehistoric times used a form of early makeup to decorate themselves and make them stand out from each other. Whether this was a form of beauty or tribal decoration it is not known, but as early as 10,000BC natural pigments fount in fruits, vegetables, plant extracts, castor and olive oil was used by the people of the time to applied to their skin.

In the early ages of Mesopotamia - around 3200BC - the first recognised cosmetic products were produced. Later in Egypt, many items of a cosmetic nature were used in ceremonial practises to decorate and enhance the features of the face, as well as having decorative purposes. The use of makeup as a decorative paint continued for many years until around 1000BC, at which point then-modern civilisations had developed some form of everything from eyeliner and foundation to lipstick and scented perfumes. The Roman Empire actually enforced a 6-year ban on cosmetics during this period, after which the real make up boom began.

It wasn’t until the later 1500s that Queen Elizabeth I popularised the stark white pale faces of the English court, with many people taken seriously ill as a consequence of the toxic materials in the face powders and blushers. 200 years later, the brightly colourful sight of Japanese Geisha maidens started to gain popularity for their immaculately painted faces.

Cosmetics of every form took on greater importance in society and as a way for women, and some men to express themselves and allow them to stand out from the crowd. American Vogue launched in 1892 to much success, and highlighted the popularity of cosmetics and the images that brands could play out to readers. Cosmetic brands took off in a big way with many successful companies launching around this time. Max Factor was founded in 1904 with aims to produce cosmetics for film actresses and models, boosting commercial sales in doing so.

It wasn’t until after World War II that the popularity and the commercial success and availability of cosmetics developed to the extent we know today. Cosmetic brands launched aggressive marketing campaigns and become hugely relevant. Over the next six decades, cosmetics took over the world and connected itself with high fashion.

Today, we see an ever increasing number of cosmetics brands that have stood the test of time, allowing women and men express themselves in the most subtle or outrageous way possible.