Since the dawn of civilization, bags, purses, and pouches have been used by men and women equally for the purpose of carrying their belongings. Leather pouches, stacks with clasps, long drawstrings were widely used during the medieval centuries. However, with the inventions of pockets toward the end of the 16th century, bags for men slowly disappeared and handbags became exclusive to women.
During the 20th century, big brands like Gucci, Prada, Loui Vuitton, Chanel, and Hermes reintroduced leather handbags to the luxury segment of women handbags and set the trend for classy leather accessories. Soon, however, people began imitating them to make profits and the market was flooded with cheap knockoffs. In this article, we are going to tell you how to spot real leather and ensure you get what you pay for.
Lately, the market has been swamped with the so-called genuine leather bags, selling cheap knockoffs, making money off of our oblivious attitude or incapability to differentiate the two. Most leather handbag brands have been copied. These are either sold at the original prices, robbing us of our hard-earned money or sold openly as first copies, trivializing the quality of genuine products. So, let’s learn how to recognize real leather before you end up investing in a fake bag:
A genuine manufacturer will never shy away from mentioning this. They might label it as “Genuine Leather,” “Top/Full Grain Leather,” or “Real Leather.” Mentioning it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true, but if it isn’t mentioned at all, it definitely is not.
Is the bag too smooth and perfectly lined? Sorry to break your bubble but it isn’t leather. Leather handbags have coarse edges and are hard to line. Sturdier and rougher the edges, better the quality of leather used.
Like any other skin, leather looks wrinkly. When you press it, the wrinkles form and the color changes. Upon release, it goes back to normal slowly. Faux leather remains pretty and perfect.
Take the water test, pour a few drops on the product and see what happens. Did it get absorbed or got rolled off? Leather absorbs water while the fake one lets it slide down.
Real leather is always, always and forever, warm to touch and gives a cozy comfy feeling. As opposed to this, faux leather is cold and hard and gives an icy feeling.
The old-fashioned smell test tells the truth unfailingly. A leathery smell, when you open your new leather handbag, is what you have; as there is skin involved, whereas, the fake ones smell synthetic, too man-made, and too convincing.
Seek out a genuine store near you and buy your next leather handbag from a reliable shop. They usually give guarantee cards as well, which ensure, your purchase is genuine.
The leather bags are usually handmade and demand long hours of labor. Also, the supply of suitable animal hide has its expenses. So, if it is expensive with the abovementioned features, it probably is real leather. For that matter, any leather good will be pricey and undeniably a luxury to own.
It is easy to manufacture a counterfeit but the quality of a real leather handbag cannot be copied. So, the next time you shop at your favorite store or order online, make sure to check all the points mentioned above. Be a proud owner of one of these elegant yet chic must-have leather handbags today and stay ahead of the trend.
Investing for retirement isn’t as big and tedious and undertaking as it is made out to be. The key is to define how much money you’ll need for the days after you retire and then draw out a plan to achieve your objective. To make things easier, begin by considering your lifestyle post retirement. Sources of income such as Social Security, IRA, etc. are also to be considered, but it is wrong to consider that these sources of income are enough for you!
If you are not sure on the investment, you can estimate your income by using a tool called as a retirement calculator. This is a tool that simplifies your retirement planning and is user friendly. This tool considers your age, current assets, sources of income, and how much you are willing to save every month. This tool helps to determine how much money you will be able to withdraw monthly post retirement. If this is not enough, you have the liberty to vary the parameters and run the scenarios to see how much more you can save.
The main thing to keep in mind regarding the retirement calculator is that the results produced by this tool are hypothetical and do not project any exact deal. The calculations or the output will be displayed based on the inputs given by you. The calculator is such a tool that saves you data and helps you revise your plan when needed
You need to remember
If you assume an automatic plan, you’ll invest the same amount of money on a regular basis over a specific time frame, regardless of price rise. This strategy helps you avoid trying to stage the market and enables you to benefit from the effects of compounding yields.
It’s important to review your plan frequently as it help keep your savings amount and investment decisions on track to meet your goals. If they’re not, you may need to upsurge your investments, re-balance your investments, or reconsider your outlooks for living in retirement.
Assumptions and limitations
All the amounts displayed are pre-taxed. The tool does not assume pension and other retirement income, hence, the data that you input is only considered at the time of calculation. It also does not consider the expenses such as long-term care, health care costs, education, and expenses post retirement. The inflation rate and salary growth rate is set to a default by the organizations offering the retirement calculator.
Kentucky Fried Chicken is generally known as KFC. It is an American fast food outlet that specializes in fried chicken. It is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. It is the world’s second-biggest eatery. They have nearly 20,000 outlets distributed in 123 nations. At present, they are located throughout the world. They offer chicken, as well as different things like plates of mixed greens and french fries. KFC is famous for their “finger lickin’ good” slogan. It is their current slogan.
Best of chicken in the KFC menu
The KFC menu includes many varieties of chicken dishes. They are KFC original recipes that are freshly prepared in every outlets of KFC.
Sandwiches
KFC offers three varieties of sandwiches to their customers. They are Zinger, Double crunch and Chicken Littles. A Zinger is a fiery, firm chicken sandwich. The others are also equally delicious and popular on the menu.
Other combos
KFC offers meals, $5 fill ups, sides, classics, desserts, drinks and sauces. Bucket meals, big box meals, combos and kids’ meals are also available on the main menu. They include $5 fill ups, extra crispy tenders, chicken breast, and pot pie.
Kids are known to be picky eaters, they tend to get bored of a typical lunch preparation too soon, be it a simple sandwich. So, here are some fun non-sandwich lunch ideas that you can prepare for your kids to keep things interesting for them.
Let us begin with muffins. You can prepare mini muffins out of cornbread batter. There are some gluten free mix batter available which can be used. Whisk melted butter, sugar and add eggs to the mix. Add buttermilk to make cornbread extra moist and tasty. Time to put dry ingredients. Add some cornbread flour, baking soda and salt to the mix. Add the mix in two batches and whisk well. Add one tablespoon batter into each mini cup of a non-stick mini muffin tray. Cut hot dog centers. You could use meat of your choice (or the one that your kid loves). Make sure they fit and are inserted well in the center of batter. Bake them good. Serve them with a dipping that would well complement these mini muffins.
If your kid is sensitive to gluten, it can be difficult for you as well for your kid to pick something out of the gluten-free batch which is relishing. Well, fret not! There are a couple of easy ways that you can make for your kid without messing with their digestion. It requires little or no pre-preparation. All you need to do is collect some gluten-free foods and present them in a way that it looks colorful and hence edible. This will keep your kid interested. Grab some boxes that contain compartments of equal size. Place cubes of cheddar cheese nibbles in one box. Cut pieces of strawberries or berries in another compartment. Keep the rolled slice of turkey in a separate compartment. Gluten free crackers are available in stores, you can include them as well in the box as well. Let your kid do the mix and match with the flavor.
Pizzas can save the day if your kids are bored of taking the same old sandwich or waffles to their lunch box. You can bake pizza for lunch. Knead a dough the traditional way using the traditional ingredients and make a flat bread out of it using a rolling pin. Once done with this, add pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, meat and vegetable toppings that your kids love. The twist here is, once done with spreading the toppings, roll up the bread and cut them into equal parts. Place the rolls vertically in a baking tray. Bake them like you would bake a pizza, that is, in a preheated oven at 350 degree Fahrenheit for 25 to 30 minutes.