Meet your new everyday fave: GiGi Ferranti jewelry.

So much jewelry is beautiful, but there is another quality that truly determines if a piece is worth owning: wearability. Because let’s be real, how many times are you going to wear a necklace that refuses to lay correctly, or a bracelet that isn’t comfortable, no matter how pretty it may be?

The answer is GiGi Ferranti jewelry.

GiGi Ferranti’s designer, Gina, spent years in the fashion industry before launching her jewelry line.

Continue reading Meet your new everyday fave: GiGi Ferranti jewelry. at Diamonds in the Library.

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The House Always Wins at Wakatobi Dive Resort

At Wakatobi Dive Resort, guests don’t have to go far to discover the world’s best shore diving. Resorts usually bestow the name “House Reef” on the site that’s most easily accessible from the resort, usually right off the beach and within easy swimming distance of shore. Some house reefs are quite good, while others offer little more than a pleasant spot for squeezing in another easy submersion after the two-tank morning dive. At Wakatobi, the former is definitely the case.

Wakatobi’s House Reef

One of the world’s best house reefs is the expansive seascape that begins just off the beach at Wakatobi. This formation stretches off into neighboring sites, taking in hundreds of acres of thriving coral reefs and fertile seagrass beds, all located within a private marine preserve. The House Reef’s drop-off is just 262 feet (80 m) in front of the resort, making it easy for divers to make a wall dive followed by a shallow safety stop, day or night.

Guests arriving at Wakatobi Dive Resort get their first glimpse of the reef when the transfer boat pulls up to the resort’s jetty. A peek into the clear water reveals a steep coral wall, which drops precipitously from snorkeling depth into a dark blue void. In between this blue boundary line and the gleam of the white-sand beach is a broad expanse of shallows, home to a wide array of elusive and engaging sea life. It’s something you wouldn’t expect so close to a resort.

From shore, it’s a short swim to the edge of the reef. Along the way, the seascape transitions gradually from knee-deep shallows to coral formations at a depth of 10 to 13 feet (3 to 4 m), based on the tide, along the edge of the drop off. Then, the reef makes a near-vertical plunge to over 260 feet (76 m). Because the water is very clear, ambient light filters deep, showcasing broad underwater vistas. A diverse array of hard and soft corals, gorgonians and sponges cover the slopes and walls. These growths harbor a menagerie of invertebrates and fish, with the mixture of species changing as depth increases.

As an alternative to swimming from shore, divers and snorkelers can enter from the ladder on the resort jetty. Schools of fish hang in the shadow of this pier, and its large concrete foundation is home to an assortment of shrimp, crabs and a wide range of macro life. Within a 100-foot (30 m) circle of the pier, divers and snorkelers can find seven species of anemone fish, leaf scorpionfish, octopus, cuttlefish, porcelain crabs, a bevy of colorful nudibranch species, pipefish … well, the list goes on and on.

Marine life on the House Reef

The vertical contours and shallow crest of the House Reef are ideal for multi-level dive profiles, allowing for bottom times of 70 to 80 minutes without going into decompression. And time spent off-gassing in the shallows can often be the most interesting part of the dive. Searching around the grass beds and branching coral colonies in the sunlit shallows have rendered subjects ranging from pajama cardinalfish to robust halimeda and ornate ghost pipefish, pegasus seamoths, bluespotted stingrays, and, of course, a range of invertebrates. And when the sun goes down, the life on the bottom becomes a carnival of color, showcasing the weird and wonderful.

Many guests spend days exploring Wakatobi’s House Reef, which sources have named “The World’s Best Shore Dive.” But as captivating as this expansive landscape can be, it is just one of more than 40-plus sites available to resort guests. This entire area falls within the protection of the Wakatobi Marine Preserve, which is supported by a portion of resort revenue.

Ashore, guests are housed in luxuriously-appointed Indonesian-style bungalows and villas tucked into a palm grove overlooking a white-sand beach. Fine dining and five-star service combine with an informal and relaxing atmosphere to create a memorable vacation experience that includes diving, snorkeling, and a full range of additional water sports such as paddleboarding, kiteboarding and kayaking, along with pampering spa services and a range of land activities and village tours. Direct charter flights connect to/from Bali in 2.5 hours, creating easy connections to points around the world. For more information, email the resort directly here.

Photos and article by guest author Walt Stearns

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#MacroSW Transcript: Transferable Skills of Social Work, 5/18/17

Read the transcript of May 18, 2017, #MacroSW Twitter chat on transferable skills in social work.

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Review: Video Sidemount Training with Steve Martin

For good or for ill, modern consumers increasingly favor video content over the written word. That can mean that even dive instructors must shift their teaching styles with the times. Giving in to the demand for video content, scuba instructor Steve Martin embarked on an innovative approach to dive training. He took his years of experience as both a diver and instructor and started developing video-based training courses for divers interested in expanding their recreational and technical dive knowledge.

What’s included in the videos?

With 17 years of diving experience, 13 of them as an instructor, Martin has developed his own training courses and is considered one of the leading developers of sidemount diving. He continues to create new course content based on client feedback and requests.

Note that his online courses do not offer certifications. Rather, these informational training courses impart knowledge and increase a diver’s skills when he or she puts the knowledge contained in the videos to practical use. However, Martin does teach in person as well, particularly conducting cave-training classes across the world.

A handful of his courses are free, while others have associated costs. The quality of the videos is impressive; the information is clear and concise; and the knowledge is useful and appropriate for a range of divers. On the hand-signals videos alone I learned a few new signals to add to my repertoire. All the instructional videos are easy to understand. They offer some great tips regarding finning techniques, rescue training, S-drills, compass use, determining your air-consumption rate, and so much more. If you’re an avid tec diver, a tec diver in training, or just interested in learning some new skills, there’s a good chance he has lessons that will be useful for you.

Martin offers seven complete courses containing 22 hours of content split over 165 individual lessons. Check them out for yourself at sidemounting.com.

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7 Step Daddy Strategy

In 2016 the US male grooming market was worth an estimated $5.5 billion, doubling its size in ten years. Men are becoming more sophisticated in their grooming habits, and salons that tap into this  trend can grab a slice of this highly profitable hair and beauty demographic. Survey after survey shows the male grooming market is expanding. There is a huge, and increasing, demand from men for hair and beauty treatments.

The additional value of the male demographic is that men tend to be more loyal clients than women. Communicate the right marketing signals to men; make it easy with a separate section on your salon website, a men’s retail section in-salon, a separate service and price guide for men. You’re positioning your salon or spa as a trusted expert and to a brand new audience. Men can be reluctant to call and inquire about grooming services. This year plan and implement the a Daddy Strategy.

Here are some marketing suggestions to really help drive sales:
1. Conceptualize a Theme
A promotion starts with a concept, a photographic image, a catchy message and headline. Father’s Day specials should center on treating dad. Sports massages, back waxes, shaves, brow treatments, skin treatments - even manicures - give dad a little pampering he wouldn’t have given himself. Choose a promotional message and theme you want your salon business to portray for Father’s Day. Carry this theme consistently across all your online and offline salon marketing channels.

2. Think Women
Your target demographic for Father’s Day gift buying is women (wives, daughters, mothers). Dads are tricky to buy presents for, so offer women an alternative to the token tie or pair of socks, promote the gift of a “grooming experience”. 

3. Create Themed Packages
Promote your gift options for Dad by way of a dedicated Father’s Day email followed by social media reminders. Make it easy to buy by creating service and product packages at price points for all budgets.

Have fun Father’s Day references as package names such as; Dapper Dad - a pedicure, waxing and manicure or Hello Handsome - a stress-relieving massage and pampering facial.

Package men’s retail products into a “Dad’s Grooming Kit” or “Manscape Kit”. For pocket-sized budgets (great for kids) display inexpensive retail gifts for dads on your salon reception desk (travel size and finishing style retail works great).

4. Daddy Strategy
Promote your Father’s Day offerings by posting consistently across all salon marketing channels including website, email, social media, and in-salon. Ensure Father’s Day offers and gift ideas are fully promoted on your website beginning on June 1st.

Update website homepage slideshow and/or specials page to include image of Father’s Day promotion. Send an e-newsletter with Initial Father’s Day offers on June1, send follow-up e-newsletter Father’s Day offer reminder on June 12th.

Throughout the month of June continue to drive traffic to your salon website with regular social media posts and email marketing. Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram’s audience is exceedingly female, making them the perfect platforms to promote Father’s Day offers. To harness the full power of online marketing post these “daddy strategy” ideas, tips and advice across all social media channels. Post everywhere consistently.

Give your salon social media “Dad appeal” through posts like:
- Grooming guides
- Shaving tips
- Step-by-step men’s hair style guides
- Anti-aging skincare tips for dads- Manscaping, facial scrubs and pedicure articles
- Men’s summer well-being tips

5. In-Salon Merchandising and Retail Signage for Father’s Day
Make sure whatever you are promoting online is communicated in-salon too. Your salon windows and walls are free advertising space. Display eye-catching Father’s Day window graphics and mirror talkers throughout the salon.

Create prominent Father’s Day retail displays. Clearly label and merchandise Father’s Day gifts for easy selection. Retail signage that clearly conveys specials, package contents, and price points make purchasing a breeze. Merchandising product with signs “tell the story” of your retail promotions to salon guests.

6. Add Some Bounce
Bounce-back marketing promotions do what they say, they encourage repeat business and loyalty through offering an incentive. Your salon doesn’t want to see dad just the once, the marketing goal is to turn him into a regular salon or spa client. Encourage clients to return by adding a bounce-back offer to your Father’s Day gift packages or cards to tempt people back in July and August. Schedule these appointments for quieter days of the week or hours of the day and with selected stylists or beauty therapists.

Here are some Bounce-Back marketing ideas for Father’s Day:
20% off pre-booked appointments made that day
20% off men’s retail purchased day of appointment
20% off men’s pedicure and manicure services June - August
Pre-book men’s haircut & finish during months of June - August, receive a steam towel, cut-throat shave
50% for free: book a 60 minute massage and get 30 minutes additional for free months of June - August

7. Gift Card Email Reminder
Don’t forget the easiest gift to give - Salon Gift Cards! Great for women who want to sharpen up her man’s looks. Send out an e-newsletter reminding clients that Father’s Day is coming. Remind your guests about the convenience and last minute opportunities of salon or spa gift card giving. Promote your salon or spa’s Father’s Day gift cards as perfect “last minute” gift options. Gift cards can be a big money making opportunity for salons if panicked gift givers, who didn’t plan ahead, can step-in or access your salon’s website and purchase a thoughtful gift for Dad.
Run your campaign like this:
Email 3: June 17: Only 3 Days left!
Email 4: June 20: Last 24 Hours!

DADDY STRATEGY CHECKLIST
[  ] Theme
[  ] Packages
[  ] Website
[  ] Social Media
[  ] In-Salon Advertising
[  ] In-Salon Merchandising
[  ] Bounce-Back Cards
[  ] Gift Cards Email

For some beauty businesses June signals the beginning of slower summer months. Although Father’s Day purchasing tends to be last minute, plan to begin your promotion early to ensure you squeeze the most from this marketing opportunity. 

Did Father's Day arrive before you had a chance to put together a promotion? BeautyMark Marketing offers stylish, professionally crafted, agency-quality marketing at a small-business price. Click here for more information about our Pre-Made Promotions

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Marine Species: Cuttlefish

 

What are cuttlefish?

They belong to the cephalopod classification, along with squid and octopus. They have one internal shell called a cuttlebone and, despite their name, they are not fish, but mollusks.

The several species all share some of the same characteristics. They have 10 arms and their body is built around a central shell called cuttlebone, which you might sometimes find washed up on shore. Unlike their cousins the squid, cuttlefish have a flat body. Their size varies from a few inches (flamboyant cuttlefish, dwarf cuttlefish) to over 1.5 feet long (50 cm) for the giant cuttlefish.

These animals have great camouflage abilities, which they use mainly for defense against attacks from fish and other predators. Just like octopus and squid, they have a sack of ink that it can deploy to escape an attack. They are very efficient hunters, capturing small fish, crabs and other prey with tentacle movement so fast that it is sometimes hard to see.

Where do they live?

Cuttlefish live in most the oceans around the world, in both temperate and warm water. They favor shallow water but can live as deep as 1,900 feet (600 m). Common species vary from location to location, with over 120 known different types.

Depending on your location, you might be able to spot some of these incredible chameleons of the sea on your dive. They can change color and patterns within a second to scare off a predator or to communicate with another cuttlefish. During mating season, males display some specific patterns to attract and seduce females. Some of the patterns last only a few seconds, while some remain longer.

Some common species

Let’s look at a few of the most famous species and where you can find them.

Flamboyant Cuttlefish

You can spot the tiny flamboyant cuttlefish in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and northern Australia. Its incredible color patterns vary from black to yellow to purple to white, making it a favorite among photographers and macro lovers. It “walks” on the seafloor rather than using its mantle to swim.

You can only find the giant cuttlefish, the world’s biggest, on the southern coast of Australia. Adults can weigh over 22 pounds (10 kg). One of the most spectacular times to see them is during the annual mating aggregation in Whyalla. Thousands of animals populate the shallow waters from mid-May through July each year, first spawning and then dying.

One of the smallest species, the dwarf cuttlefish grows only up to 2.75 inches (7 cm). You can find them from Indonesia up to northern Australia.

Are they hard to spot?

Their camouflage abilities can make it quite difficult to spot these critters, but they are quite common on reefs around the world. Even the common broad cuttlefish can display over a dozen different patterns. So, next time you’re diving, watch the reef carefully and see if you can’t spot this curious cephalopod.

 

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Recognizing the Limits of Your Comfort Zone When Scuba Diving

 

Leaving your comfort zone when scuba diving can be a good thing if it leads to a larger skill set and higher competence levels. But how much stress is too much on a dive? Although you want to improve as a diver, it’s also important to recognize the limits of your comfort zone when scuba diving. Finding yourself overworked or overwhelmed in everyday life can lead to mistakes, but these are usually not life-and-death decisions. Underwater, though, mistakes can be unforgiving.

From time to time, divers must reassess and reevaluate our comfort levels, experience, and abilities for certain diving environments, sites and tasks. Here we’ll examine four common scenarios wherein a diver might compromise his comfort level and safety by taking on a situation without the right training and experience.

Diving deeper than your training or experience allows

The traditional depth limits for recreational diving are 60 feet (18 m) for Open Water divers and 130 feet (40 m), 100 feet (30 m) feet for Advanced divers, and a maximum of 130 feet (40 m) for divers with deep-specialty training. When newly certified divers advance beyond 60 feet they risk suffering from gas narcosis, which can affect their decision-making skills and situational awareness. This is particularly true in environments that can increase susceptibility to narcosis, such as cold or low-visibility water.

When divers advance beyond 100 feet, no-decompression time falls significantly. The PADI recreational dive planner allows for a bottom time of 20 minutes at 100 feet or 10 minutes at 130 feet, so extra diligence and time awareness is more critical at these depths to stay within NDLs. At 130 feet, a diver will breathe through his air supply 2.5 times faster than they will at 30 feet (10 m), so it’s imperative to check air frequently and maintain a relaxed breathing rate.

Most resorts, guides and instructors are quite conscious of safety in popular scuba destinations, as tourism is an important part of the local economy. Ultimately, though, it is each diver’s own responsibility to know their depth/training limits and stay within them. If you’ve signed on for a dive that exceeds your training, sit it out or sign up instead for more advanced depth training.

Diving in overhead environments

Caves, caverns and wrecks present unique hazards to scuba divers. All dive-training agencies mandate special training to safely enter and exit these overhead environments. With no direct access to the surface, navigation becomes more complex, especially inside a wreck or cave with many passageways. There may only be one safe exit. Inside a cave or wreck can be other hazards as well, such as entrapment, falling debris, rapid loss of visibility due to a silt-out, and disorientation or vertigo. Cave/wreck/tec training teaches all divers that they can call a dive and abort at any time without question. Recreational divers should adopt this tactic as well if they are not trained or are uncomfortable with any type of dive. Local guides may sometimes take untrained divers into overhead environments such as caverns or wrecks, which can result in tragedy. There is nothing inside a cave or wreck worth dying for, so if you are untrained, do not participate in these dives. Period.

Task loading on a dive

With so much to see underwater, it’s no surprise many divers can’t wait to get their first underwater camera. Because there are so many affordable underwater cameras today, underwater photography is no longer the exclusive domain of experienced divers and committed underwater photographers. Cameras are accessible to entry-level divers, who may still need to work on fundamental dive skills like buoyancy, trim, situational awareness, and improved air consumption. Taking pictures underwater can also distract divers from checking in with their buddy, which can cause further complications. A new photographer might also neglect to check his air as often as he should. Distracted divers with minimal situational awareness may not realize they’re diving deeper than they should, or that currents have carried them away from the site or group.

In short, divers should not carry cameras or other unnecessary equipment until they’ve dialed in basic skills. Wait until you are comfortable with your buoyancy and trim, and have good air consumption and situational awareness. Don’t let taking photos underwater distract you from checking your air supply or with your buddy. It’s also smart for photographers to carry a pony bottle as a redundant air supply.

Diving in strong currents

Some of the world’s best dive spots are subject to strong currents. The Galapagos, Indonesia and Cozumel in Mexico are good examples. Currents are a challenge even for experienced divers, and in these situations, it’s vitally important to dive with a reputable dive center and boat captain. Good operators and locally knowledgeable captains can read currents and know the local patterns. They will typically not drop you into a bad situation, but if a search response becomes necessary, the best topside professionals will be involved.

You must also have a level of comfort with currents in general. Most current dives are drift dives, so you’ll go with the flow of the water and not against it. This should keep exertion levels to a minimum. 

However, currents can change direction underwater, especially in places such as Indonesia and the Galapagos. Divers may suddenly need to work hard against a current or fight cross current. In some places, downcurrents and upcurrents are relatively common. You should be healthy and fit to dive in currents, as well as possessing good situational awareness so you can tell if the current is changing direction or recognize if you are suddenly caught. Carry and know how to deploy an SMB on a reel from underwater in a current in case you are separated from the group. Finally, especially if you’re diving in notoriously current-heavy locales, carry a Nautilus Lifeline, a submersible radio with built in GPS and emergency-distress beacon. 

As divers, we need to recognize our own limits and dive at sites that fit within our training, comfort level and experience. While diving on the edge of your comfort zone can advance your skill level, never do so without trained professional supervision. Be wary of guides or operators who are keen to take you to sites and areas that you may not yet be ready for. Situational awareness and respect for the dive site can go a long way in preventing you becoming a statistic. And finally, never be afraid to call a dive or say no if you’re uncomfortable. 

 

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