Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Cosabella Sample Sale

Hello lovely readers,

I intended to cover the Cosabella Sample Sale this weekend but something has come up and I have to be out of the city. I will try and cover the sale when I return but as it's only a three day sale you'll probably visit it before I do. Here's a reminder of all the details.

Location: 220 Lafayette Street between Spring and Kenmare
Hours: March 2 from 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
March 3-4 from 11:00 am - 7:00pm

I'm told that the sale will focus on highlighting the Cosabella thong but that there will also be "various panties, bras, swimwear, robes, dresses, babydolls, camisoles, and skirts."

This will be a credit card only sale. They will accept Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.

Thea Thong $34.00 $14.00
Ever Thong $20.00 $14.00

Never Say Never Thong $21.50 $14.00

Friday, February 21, 2014

REVIEW of Zoya Tomoko With SWATCHES

Hello darlings,
 
I have another gorgeous textured polish to share with you today. Zoya Tomoko was released as a part of the Zoya Fall 2013 Pixiedust collection. The Pixiedust line is Zoya's take on the textured polish trend. In general, I've found that the Pixiedust polishes have a finer grit and texture than the OPI polishes and other textured polish lines but there is some variation within the line. Let's get into what makes Tomoko a little different from the others.

Color: Zoya Tomoko is a light gold textured polish. Well, actually it's somewhere between silver and a very pale gold. Sometimes it looks like a pure pale silver. Sometimes it looks like a pale gold. And sometimes it looks like a slightly darker gold. I know. I'm being so helpful. Personally I prefer the silver as cool tones work better with my skintone but regardless of what state this polish is in you're going to have a pretty metallic textured polish. With top coat Tomoko appears slightly darker and more sparkly. Unlike other textured polishes, Tomoko is already glittery and sparkly without top coat but the gloss of the top coat makes it blinding. With or without top coat, it definitely pulls a lot of focus so it's probably not work appropriate but on the positive side as a light metallic shade it will go with so many outfits and it's a great shade for a date night or another special occasion.
Formula: This polish has a thicker formula.
Application: First of all, I should note that I again used two layers of glue as my base coat. The first coat two coats of polish went on very smoothly. This polish was so sparkly that it felt like painting with liquid glitter. I did have to even out the polish with the brush because of the thicker formula but it wasn't a big issue. The most important tip I have is to not wrap the tips of your nails and keep the polish away from that edge so it doesn't become rough. At two coats the polish wasn't opaque so I added a third coat. The polish seemed to be a little thicker when I was applying this coat. I had to work harder to even it out though it still wasn't a major issue. My other tip would be to not put too much polish on the brush so you don't have to work as hard to even out the polish. At three coats this polish was still nowhere near opaque but I don't like to go past three coats unless it's necessary so I left it.
Wear: This polish seemed to take quite a while to dry. I didn't feel very secure about it without top coat until the next day. It just had that feel of not being completely dry. Once it had dried, the texture felt quite rough and abrasive. The other Pixiedust polishes did not feel this abrasive. I don't think it's dangerous. If you were to accidentally brush the surface of your nails roughly over your skin, it wouldn't brake the surface of your skin but it might scratch a bit.
Now, this section speaks to the success/failure of the glue as base coat method and not this particular polish. I applied this polish on February 14 very early in the morning. It was more like the night of February 13th. By 6:00pm on February 15th, the polish on the index finger of my right hand had popped clean off while I was in the bath. This was actually on a nail that I had applied top coat to. On February 16th by 5:00pm (but probably earlier) the polish on the thumbnail and middle nail of my right hand had popped clean off as well. I'm not sure when it happened. I ended up taking all of the remaining polish off on the 17th. It all came off cleanly.

CONCLUSION: The sheerness of this polish annoyed me but it ended up looking so gorgeous in spite of it that I have to recommend this polish. Application isn't perfect but it's pretty good for a thicker formula. You do have to even out the polish a bit but I don't expect that you'll run into any complications.

Cat is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. If you would like to help support this site, please consider making your next purchase at amazon.com through the links on my page.
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REVIEW of Batiste Dry Shampoo Clean & Classic Original

Hello chickadees,
Yes, God only knows why but I've decided to review another hair product. If you follow this blog, you know I'm not really an expert on anything though I am rather spectacularly good at doing my own nails and moderately good at writing. But I know very little about hair and hair products. That is my disclaimer. I'm just a regular person trying this product for other regular people. I decided to test the "clean & classic original" version of the Batiste Dry Shampoo instead of the other scented or tinted versions. It says that it's meant as an "instant hair refresh for all hair types." I have dry, slightly frizzy straight hair. Because my hair is so straight, by the second day, my hair has pretty much lost all volume and is flattened against my scalp. Sometime between the second and third day it starts to get a little greasy, mainly at the scalp. So when I set out to try this dry shampoo I was looking for something that would add a little volume and also leave my hair looking a little cleaner and less limp and depressing.

I used this product fourteen times between mid-August and mid-February. I feel like I can still get a number of uses out of it. If you'd like, I'll continue to keep track of how many uses I get out of this product before I've used it up.

I'll get straight to the point... I don't think this product really did anything for me. The only other dry shampoo I've tried is the Oscar Blandi dry shampoo that they sell at Sephora so it's not as if I'm a dry shampoo expert. But from one dry shampoo novice to another, I wouldn't recommend this product. First of all, I think anyone who claims that this dry shampoo gives them volume is a lowdown lying dirty rotten scoundrel. I never got any volume with this dry shampoo and in fact I think it made my hair even flatter on a number of occasions. It also didn't add any texture. As a positive, that also means it didn't leave my hair crunchy or sticky like some hairsprays can. I don't think this dry shampoo made my hair look "cleaner" exactly but if your hair is very greasy it does seem to make it a little bit more matte. I found that it didn't do much for second day hair but it improved fourth day hair. The instructions for how to use this product are printed on the side of the can. I generally found that even if I shook the can vigorously and then held the can the recommended distance from my scalp it would still leave a white residue in my hair. I'm glad this product works for some people but it does nothing for me. Does it sound like I'm daring you to buy this product and prove me wrong? Why am I so pugnacious today? Sorry about that.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Update

Hi chickadees,

I've been a little quiet for a few days so I just wanted to fill you in on what's been happening with me. But first, what's been happening with you? Did you have a nice Valentine's Day? Did you stay home watching Neftlix? Did you forget that Valentine's Day happens in the middle of February? I went out (my mistake) and it's completely beyond me why the "most romantic day of the year" is supposed to take place on February 14. What is so romantic about trudging through the slush and ice and falling into a puddle of cold water?

I salvaged the week by visiting the Brooklyn Museum to tour the John Paul Gaultier exhibition that will be closing soon. If you're in the area and you haven't seen the exhibit yet, I would highly recommend making the trip. The lines are long but worth it. I didn't find the actual exhibit all that great. It wasn't organized terribly well and there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the set up. There was no journey or flow, no message being communicated. But the actual pieces in the exhibit were gorgeous and thought-provoking, if a little overwhelming after a while. My photos from inside the exhibit aren't very good. If you search around on other blogs, you'll probably find better quality photos. Racked NY has a particularly good post. But I will leave you with one piece I fell in love with. I'm such a sucker for fashion that incorporates wheat.

I have many, many swatches to sort through but there are two particularly pretty Zoya polishes I will be reviewing soon.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Liebster Award

Hi darlings,

Random post today. So normally I find chain letters quite creepy and I'm glad they've mostly died off (at least compared to the early days of the internet). They always sounded like weird gypsy curses threatening to kill all your loved ones or sentence you to a life of loneliness and despair if you didn't continue the chain. Of course, I'm someone who starts getting anxious if I spend more than half an hour on tvtropes at night so maybe I'm not the best judge of what's terrifying on the internet. I was all set to ignore this but I've exhausted all my polish reviews for the moment and I thought it was quite sweet of Hazelnut to nominate me, so I will sort of fulfill the terms of this bargain. I would be quite happy to nominate 11 other bloggers but everyone I follow has well over 200 followers.

Rules: 
Post 11 facts about yourself
Answer the 11 questions from the person who nominated you
Choose 11 to nominate (who have less than 200 followers)
Write 11 questions for your nominees.

Post 11 Facts About Yourself
1. One of my lifelong dreams is to be a Disney princess. No, I am not a crazy person and no, I don't mean that I want to audition to be a look alike at a Disney park. Obviously the only one I look anything like is Mulan and I look about as similar to her as any random Asian girl who walks down the street, meaning not at all. No, I'd like to voice a Disney princess. I've come to terms with the fact that my voice will never be as sweet as Jodi Benson's or Lea Salonga's which is why this is a dream and not a goal.
2. I have no idea what my favorite color is. I'm told my favorite color when I was very young used to be pink. I had a phase when I got older when my favorite color was black. If you ask me now, I'll say teal or blue but I will be lying.
3. The only song I know how to play on the piano is 'Happy Birthday.' I studied piano for years but I was a terrible student. I could probably learn to play something else but 'Happy Birthday' is the only song I have memorized.
4. I have no idea what my favorite book is. If you ask me, I will lie and say Jane Eyre, The House of Mirth, or Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. I'm just too analytical and critical. I feel like my favorite book should say something about me. It should be a book that I don't have any issues with. But no book is perfect and sometimes the books that are the most interesting to talk about are very problematic. Sometimes a book is generally well written or engaging but has a terribly boring section or an aggravating plot line.
5. I drink a lot of water. I'm not sure about eight glasses, but on average I probably drink about 5 bottles of water a day. And before you judge me, I'm refilling the same bottles.
6. As far as I know, I'm not allergic to anything. I do sometimes have allergic reactions to makeup products (especially lip products) and seasonal allergies but it's nothing specific and I don't have any food allergies or allergies to medication. So you can forget "accidentally" poisoning me.
7. I am a creature of habit. I like to patronize the same restaurants. I often reread the books that I own. I will listen to the same song many, many times on repeat before I finally get tired of it.
8. I don't have any major phobias but I refuse to watch horror movies. 
9. I took classes at the Arts Students League of New York for two nonconsecutive years.
10. I have never broken a bone.
11. I am a feminist.

Answer The 11 Questions From the Person Who Nominated You
1. Would you rather go to the future or to the past, and why?
While there are many things I admire about the past (fashion, culture, literature) and answers I would be able to solve by going back in time, if I had to live there, I would rather go to the future. As not fantastic as things can be right now, going back in time as a woman and/or a minority generally isn't the best idea. What would I do in Regency England? It's optimistic but I would hope that if the earth isn't destroyed or an apocalyptic wasteland in the future, that living conditions have improved and technology has continued to advance. Of course, realistically if I went into the past I'd probably get tuberculosis or some other disease and die without modern medicine and if I went into the future I'd probably die from air pollution or be overwhelmed by how far things had advanced.
2. Which would you choose: time travelling or teleportation?
Oh, absolutely teleportation. Even though as a New Yorker I can sometimes walk 20 blocks without realizing it, I can also be quite lazy and teleportation sounds fantastic. It would also help me get to sample sales in the middle of nowhere or to a Best Buy selling discounted Sephora by OPI polishes. And it would probably curb my habitual lateness.
3. How did you start blogging and what keeps you going?
I've been writing for years. I don't remember a time when I haven't been writing. But I started this blog on a whim. I was just starting to get into the makeup and beauty community through blogs and youtube and I just had some things I wanted to talk about. This blog would have probably stayed a lot more personal and I probably would have kept talking about writing and movies and my thoughts about the world but my nail polish reviews were popular and my nail polish and makeup buying habits were exacerbated by involvement in the beauty and makeup community so it was a natural progression to focusing this blog more on those topics. What keeps me going aside from the boxes and boxes of makeup and nail polish I have to review? I guess, it's just knowing that there are people out there reading. I do wish you'd comment more but even seeing all the pageviews makes me happy. I love telling you about products that I've enjoyed using and warning you about those that I've disliked. I like feeling like we're all part of this big community. It's why I lurk in certain places on the internet. That feeling of community is important to me.
4. What is a pet peeve of yours?
Lazy spelling and grammar mistakes. I'm not infallible. I don't know the definition of every word. My spelling isn't always perfect. I actually think that schools should focus more on spelling and vocabulary past elementary school. But I try my best and I look things up if I'm unsure of how to spell a word or if I'm using a word incorrectly. I think it's a part of common courtesy. Let's not contribute to lowering our collective intelligence level.
5. Do you prefer the mountains or the sea?
I'm not really an outdoorsy person but if you're making me choose, I'll say the sea. While the mountains in Germany are picturesque, the Mediterranean Sea is the most gorgeous shade of blue. Ocean life is fascinating. What lives in the mountains? Goats? The mythology and literature surrounding the sea is so much more interesting whether it's selkies or mermaids or sirens. Again, the only story I can think of off the top of my head that involves the mountains is Rip van Winkle.
6. What is your favorite type of makeup product?
Nail polish. The answer is obviously nail polish. But if that doesn't count as "makeup," I'll say lipstick.
7. What are you thankful for today?
My dog. He is the sweetest warm, cuddly bundle of unconditional love. Also, his presence makes me feel protected and less like a faceless demon is going to walk out of the shadows and murder me alone. I really need to stop reading tvtropes at night.
8. Would you rather learn all of the languages in the world or master all of the musical instruments in the world?
I would rather learn all of the languages in the world. I'd love to be able to communicate with people from different countries (in a language other than English), especially when I travel. I think it's more fun to listen to music than to play it, though if I could sing the way I'd like to be able to, that would be wonderful.
9. How would you spend a perfect day?
I think it's impossible to plan a perfect day. I've enjoyed imperfect days (like when I got caught in a torrential downpour in Paris) but perfect days just happen. You can't plan them. Your head doesn't roll off the pillow when you're sleeping so you wake up with neck pain. You have enough time to get ready and have breakfast without rushing around like a crazy person. It's sunny and the temperature is perfect and you go out and do something you thought you'd like to do but you enjoy it even more than you expected. And you're with the people you love and you just enjoy each other's company. No one argues and it's never awkward. Perfect days are rare and precious and can't be planned. It's much easier to just find something to enjoy during all the imperfect days.
10. If you could be anything in the world, what would you be and why?
For a very long time, I would have said 'a doctor.' Now, I'm not so sure. I think now I would say 'a novelist.' Writing is a form of communication. It's one of the things that I think I'm genuinely good at doing. I'd like to use my writing to become a part of the literary community and to also form a community of my own, a group of like-minded individuals who respond to something in my work.
11. What is your favorite snack and drink?
I drink a lot of water every day and I like to snack on things I don't have to feel guilty about like almonds or edamame. But my indulgences are dark chocolate and Diet Coke.

Write 11 Questions For Your Nominees
Now, I don't have any nominees as I mentioned above because I don't follow any bloggers who have less than 200 followers and I'm not about to force this chain award on unsuspecting bloggers whose blogs I don't even read. But if you'd like to participate and you like my questions, just pretend that I nominated you and answer these questions on your blog. Treat it like a tag. I tag everyone who wants to participate.

1. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be, and why?
2. If you could own any original work of art, which one would you choose?
3. If you were able to change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
4. If you could have something named after you what would it be?
5. What skill or talent do you wish that you had?
6. What cancelled television show do you wish was still on the air?
7. If you were able to talk openly to the person who you love or admire most in the world (dead or alive) what would you say?
8. What is one change or development you'd like to see in present-day fiction (movies, books, television)?
9. As a blogger, do you prefer getting more comments or more page views?
10. What is one thing you would love to do if fear and insecurity weren't holding you back?
11. What do you get out of blogging and where would you like to see your blog go in the future?

Saturday, February 8, 2014

REVIEW of Zoya Hunter With SWATCHES

Hello peanuts,
I was going to make some kind of reference to Artemis but it wasn't coming together in my brain. Today I have another polish that I picked up when Zoya was having some kind of offer (isn't that when I buy all my Zoya polishes?). Hunter is from the Zoya 2013 Cashmere collection. As far as I know, "cashmere" has nothing to do with the finish of the polish. It seems like a normal creme polish to me. Well, normal is probably underselling it a little. Let's break it down.

Color: Unsurprisingly, Zoya Hunter is a hunter green creme polish. Now, I feel like this still needs a bit more explanation as everyone doesn't agree on what hunter green looks like. They really need to come up with a standardized color naming system that everyone agrees on but let's not get into that right now. Zoya Hunter is a medium green. It isn't as light as a pistachio green but it isn't so dark that it veers towards black like Zoya Envy. Regardless of what the lighting is like, this polish always looks green. Now for me, Zoya Hunter has a bit more yellow in it than blue which is important because it'll affect how flattering it is for your skintone. While the darkness of the color makes it feel like a deep, rich green, the yellow makes it look a little drier than a forest green which is more blue-toned. I find it to be a very grown up looking green polish. If you're looking to step out of your comfort zone of reds and pinks and nudes but you don't want something too bright and colorful or too vampy, Zoya Hunter would be a good choice. It does sometimes have more of a blue-tone in natural light but I would say that for the most part, yellow dominates. This sounds like ridiculous quibbling but that's what you come to this blog for, isn't it?
Formula: Zoya Hunter had a thicker formula.
Application: Although Hunter had a thicker formula and I saw it threading a bit, it didn't apply like a thick, gloopy polish. Application went very smoothly. I applied three coats of this polish. All three coats glided on easily without any drag. As the polish was on the thicker side, I did have to even it out but it wasn't difficult. At two coats, this polish appeared fully opaque on my short nails minus a few spots. I applied three coats anyway to get full opacity for the swatches. I think you could maybe get away with two coats on short nails if you were careful with your application but you'd probably need three coats for longer nails. Application was also easy when I was painting with my nondominant hand. I have no issues to report.
Wear: I wore this polish for six days. In that time, I experienced a little bit of tip wear but if you wanted to extend the life of this polish, you could just wrap the tips again. However, there was also some growth (my nails grow rather quickly), a slight loss in shine, and a bit of scuffing on a few of my nails.

CONCLUSION: Yes, I would recommend this polish. It is on the thicker side but I had no issues with application. Because of the scuffing and loss of shine I don't think this is a polish that you could wear for more than a week but it is a very flattering color in my opinion and I'm happy to have it in my collection.
Cat is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. If you would like to help support this site, please consider making your next purchase at amazon.com through the links on my page.

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REVIEW of OPI Alcatraz...Rocks With SWATCHES

Hello darlings,

Today I have a polish from OPI's Fall 2013 San Francisco collection. I didn't see this one in stores so I ordered it off amazon because I was just so in love with the swatches I had seen online. I want to say that this polish didn't disappoint... but it did. And then again, it didn't. Let's break it down.

Color: OPI Alcatraz...Rocks is a dark blue textured polish. My personal opinion is that it's a dark blue base that leans towards navy containing silver microglitter that can reflect back as a multitude of colors including red, green, and yellow. For a long time this polish underwhelmed me both in its matte form and with top coat but then I realized that this polish eats top coat. When I applied a thicker layer of top coat I saw how beautiful this polish could really be. With a single layer of top coat, the sparkle is more understated and falls a little flat. The sparkle is also a little flat if you wear this as a textured polish. But with a sufficient amount of top coat, this polish is gorgeous.
Formula: Alcatraz...Rocks has a thinner, fluid formula.
Application: Having used Elmer's glue as a base coat with much success with other glitter polishes I decided to not even pretend I wanted to deal with cleaning up a glitter polish the old-fashioned way and used glue as a base coat for my entire manicure this time. I used two coats of glue as my base coat, painted on with a regular nylon brush I bought at an art supply store (Pearl Paint if you're in NYC) to create a relatively thick barrier between the polish and my nails.
The first coat went on very smoothly. It was quite sheer and not exactly an even layer of polish but it was already very sparkly. As this polish is a little thin, it's important to make sure you don't have too much polish on the brush or it'll flood your cuticles and make a mess before you know what's happened. The second coat of polish also applied smoothly. However, it thankfully applied more evenly than the first coat and at two coats the polish was already much darker than at one coat though it was still not opaque. At three coats the polish was as opaque as I felt it needed to be. It hadn't reached the full opacity of a good creme polish but I think it looked fine, especially because it applied evenly so there were no bald patches.
Wear: I wore this polish for eight days. I think the polish eats top coat. With one layer of Seche Vite, you can still feel a bit of texture and the polish doesn't really sparkle. With another thick coat of Seche Vite (two coats in total) you get the full shine and smooth finish and feel of a regular (non-texture) polish. I find the polish much prettier this way. While I was testing the polish I only wore it with one coat of Seche Vite (though all the swatches were taken with the two layers) and I feel like I would have liked the polish more had I worn it with 2 layers of top coat to begin with.
The polish held up well on the hand where I didn't use top coat. After eight days I only experienced a minuscule bit of tip wear and some growth at the cuticle. The polish surprisingly didn't hold up as well on the hand where I applied one layer of Seche Vite. After eight days there was some chipping one on nail (though the chipping occurred a few days before the eight day mark), there was more tip wear and growth, and my manicure began to look dull a day or two after application.
As for the glue as base coat method, the polish peeled off easily. All but 2 nails came off in one piece.

CONCLUSION: I would recommend this polish but not enthusiastically. Learn from my experience. This polish doesn't look fantastic as a textured polish and if you wear it with top coat be sure to apply a sufficient number of layers to get a smooth surface and get this polish to appear its best. Use glue as your base coat for easy removal. And realize that this polish won't be fully opaque.

Cat is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. If you would like to help support this site, please consider making your next purchase at amazon.com through the links on my page.
SWATCHES

Friday, February 7, 2014

The Lego Movie Review

Hi bumblebees,

So, if you're wondering why I haven't posted another nail polish review in a few days it's partially because I spent my Friday doing this. You're welcome. Go watch it. But also don't because I hate the way I look. But go watch it anyway.

Kate Spade Sale Promo Code


Monday, February 3, 2014

REVIEW of Sephora by OPI Already Famous With SWATCHES

Hello my little starlets,

How are you today? I'm just in such a better mood now that my laptop has been fixed. Today I want to share the polish I wore to a recent holiday party. Cat, you may be saying, it's the end of January, what holiday party could you have gone to? Chinese New Year is January 31 this year. Happy New Year to everyone who celebrated it. Anyway, let's turn our attention back to this polish. This is another polish from the Sephora by OPI Tinsel Town collection I purchased a while back.

Color: Already Famous is a champagne gold foil polish. I think. This polish isn't exactly like other foils but it's even less like cremes or shimmers or textured polishes. I'd say it's most similar to the hybrid foil formulas like Zoya Seraphina and Julie G Shimmer Island. But it's even more sheer than those polishes and the particles are smaller so you might be tricked into thinking this is some kind of shimmer or glitter polish. This polish is usually a pretty, flattering champagne shade that is a cool-toned blend of gold and silver which made it perfect for a holiday party. However, it can also look like a basic gold polish or take on warmer, coppery tones to be a bit more coppery and rose gold. I wouldn't call it a rose gold polish at any time but it can have that warmth depending on the lighting.
Formula: Already Famous has a very thin, sheer formula. It looks like a sheer base with flecks of shimmer.
Application: The first coat went on quite sheer but very shimmery, also like a top coat. I already had the feeling that it was more of a foil than a shimmer. It went on a bit streaky, which is not unusual for the first coats of most polishes. It didn't coat the nail in one even layer but there was no drag and I was able to even it out so this is a polish you can work with. The second coat was still a little streaky and quite sheer but shimmery. At three coats this polish was still sheer and failed a light test. I really didn't even to do a light test to know it wasn't opaque. The coverage does build up from one to three coats but it's just nowhere near opaque. If you don't mind being able to look through your nails this is fine but it may bother some people.
Wear: I wore this polish for 5 days and didn't experience much wear. It was actually surprisingly easy to remove though like a lot of glitters a few stubborn pieces refused to come off my nails.

CONCLUSION: I would probably recommend this polish, especially if you're getting it at Big Lots where Sephora by OPI polishes are heavily discounted right now. It is very, very sheer but the color is pretty and application isn't aggravating. It's really just the lack of opacity that is holding me back from really recommending this polish as otherwise it's a very wearable, flattering shade.
 
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