Pink-ish Wednesday! Ombre Fun with Inglot Colour Play Nail Polishes

(**Inglot Press Samples**)

Happy Humpday!!

 It's only been about an Eon since I've done a Pink Wednesday... So, here is a Pink Wednesday post ♥. A few weeks back I received the Inglot  Colour Play pastel range. These babies are perfect for ombre manis, they really take the guess work out of picking your shades. For this look, I also went back to my roots by doing some stamping. I used my Pueen Love Elements nail stamping plate set.

 This look features Inglot Shades, from Thumb to Pinkie: 388, 387, 386, 385 and 384. For the stamping I used Konad Black Special polish and Pueen stamping plates Pueen 32 on my Middle and Ring finger and Thumb. For my Pinkie and Index nails I used Pueen 28. To finish my nails off I did a coat of Seche Vite followed by a light coat of IN Northern Lights. 

 Here are my base colors before stamping and top coating. 388 is a clean, light Lilac purple creme. 387 is an aweome Blue toned bubblegum Pink creme. 386 is a muted Violet- Mauve creme. 385 is a light Pink- toned Mauve creme. 384 is a beautiful muted Coral creme. All of these polishes have a slight flash of smooth complimenting shimmer. You can see the Golden shimmer in the bottle photo above. That said, the shimmer does not really translate to the nails, but it does aid in appication. All of these were really easy to apply and all did well in Three, thin and easy coats.  

 I miss stamping so much. But at the same time, I'm pretty excited because I have all of these awesome Pueen plates that I have not really gotten to play with yet. So I have those to look forward to :D. I have been terrible about keeping up with plates honestly, if you guys know of any sets I may have missed out on, or new brands, share them in the comments!! 

 So, I am LOOOVING these Inglot Colour Play range. I love them so much, they have even earned a spot on my wall racks. These are great for nail art of all kinds and I just love the formulas and beautiful shades.

Thanks for stopping by darlings! 

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Summer Ready Swatch Spam!

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Hello my loves! 

  Today I have some swatch-y spam for you guys. I've had these pics sitting in my folders for some time now.... So I figured, why not do a spam post?

 These shades are all kinda screaming Summer to me. What are some of your favorite Summer shades? Or do you not really follow seasonal colors? Me, I kinda wear what I want, when I want. But I do tend to gravitate to Spring and Summer shades because they are always so bright and happy. 

 All of these swatches are shown with a top coat. 

LVX Nail Color in Mynt

 Mynt by LVX is a lovely, clean Mint creme. I found the formula on this shade to be AMAZING. Normally, these types of Pastel-ish, minty greens can be a pain in the butt to apply. That was not the case with this beauty. I did Three easy coats of Mynt for my swatch. 

LVX Nail Color in Deco

 Deco is an amazing shade of Melon-y Coral creme. I knew I would love this shade the second I unpacked it! I am a sucker for these types of colors. This shade is insanely flattering and easy to wear. I used Three thin and easy coats of Deco for my swatch. 

Zoya Gaia

 Gaia, Gaia, Gaia... This color.. Ok.. So this color is BEAUTIFUL, stunning really... A Pearly, shimmering White with the most perfect Golden shimmer running though it. Bridal perfection... That said, this color has a horrid formula! I found it to be patchy and uneven.. I needed Four thin coats to get it to look even and opaque. Maybe layering it could remedy that problem, but it could also ruin that squishy effect... I suppose the color payoff is definitely worth the work I put into the application though. 

Essie Tart Deco

 Tart Deco is a vivid, hot Melon-Coral shade. This shade is a more vibrant cousin to LVX Deco. The formula on this color is a little patchy, but not problematic. I used Three thin coats for my swatch. 

Zoya Sari

 Sari is a lovely, nude Pink jelly. Colors like these are great for French manis, or just to add a healthy glow to a nakey-look. I used Three thin coats for my swatch. 

LVX Nail Color in Indigo Bleu

 Indigo Bleu is a deep Violet-Blue creme. This shade is intenesely pigmented and very easy to apply. I could have almost done with one coat. I used Two thin coats for my swatch. 

Zoya Josie and Zoya Destiny

 Zoya Josie is a beautiful Grass Green creme that applies like a dream. I used Two easy coats of Josie. For this look I did an accent in Zoya PixieDust in Destiny. Destiny is a hot Coral texture laced with strong Golden shimmer. I used Three thin coats of Destiny. 

  Any faves in this bunch? I am really in love with Gaia. I hate the formula on that color, but my gosh it is just beautiful! I also really loved Mynt and Deco by LVX. Though I must admit, this Summer has turned into the "Summer of the Textures" for me. I've been wearing Textures non-stop since they all started coming out! 

 What have you been wearing lately?

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Cult Nails Dance all Night Collection Swatches

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Hello everyone! 

  Today I have swatches of the newest collection by my beloved Cult Nails. This is the Dance all Night collection. This release consists of Three lovely creme polishes, and Three fantastic layering glitterbombs. If you are not a part of "The Cult" yet, this is the perfect collection to start off with as it showcases the strengths of Cult Nails so well. There is a little bit of everything for everyone. 

 Even though the collection is made up of "complimenting" pairs, I decided to do some more unexpected layering combinations to really make each color pop.

Cult Nails Center of Attention over Cult Nails Nakizzle's Shizzle

 Center of Attention is a magnificent blend of vivid Pink-Rose sparkling hexes in varying sizes accented by a heavy dose of smaller iridescent sparkles in a clear base. The slightly larger hexes have a very minimal curve to them, but they all lay flat. This polish is like a bouquet of sparkling flowers in a bottle. Formula-wise, it is a little thick, I did not find this to be a problem. I used One coat of Center of Attention over my sky Blue base. I could wear this layering combination for ages.

Cult Nails Nakizzle's Shizzle

 Nakizzle's Shizzle is an amazing shade of vivid, clean Sky Blue creme. This is your quintessential shade of Sky Blue. This shade is beautifully bright, yet flattering and completely wearable. The formula on this color is Cult Nails at their finest; so glossy, even and smooth. This color practically applies itself, I used Two effortless coats for my swatch.

Cult Nails Walk of Shame over Cult Nails Love at First Sight

 Walk of Shame is a glitterbomb of most epic proportions. This glitter mixes bright, vivid Gold hexes in varying sizes and small Prismatic glitter in a clear base. This photo does not do this amazing, blingy topper justice. I tried taking photos in the Sun, and my camera freaked at the amount of bling. The formula on this glitter is also a bit thick, but very manageable. I used One coat of glitter over my Orchid- Violet base.

Cult Nails Love at First Sight

 Love at First Sight is another fantastic representation of what Cult Nails does best, AMAZIIIIIINGG cremes! This shade is a beautiful, feminine tone of light, Pink toned Purple. When I think of Orchid- Violet, this is what comes to mind. This color has an amazing glossy and smooth formula that does great in Two coats.

Cult Nails Dance all Night over Cult Nails Faded

 Dance all Night is the namesake of the collection, and quite a beautiful topper. This glitter topper mixes Blue, Green and Iridescent hexes partnered with smaller iridescent sparkle in a clear base. The larger hexes in this polish also have a slight curve to them, but they do lay flat. The formula on this polish is also a bit thick, but as with the rest, I did not find this to be a problem. How awesome does this look over Faded?!

Cult Nails Faded

  Faded is a very faint, clean shade of Grey creme. This lovely shade of Dove Grey has an impressive formula. I really love this shade and I can see myself reaching for it a lot in the coming months. I used Two uber easy coats for my swatch. 

  These shades are fantastic and I can't even pick favorites. They all so beautifully executed, I really could not pick a favorite. These areso flattering, easy to wear and just plain FUN! Which are you loving?

PS: I want to thank you all for your support on the matter of Muffin. It really means a lot to Daniel and I. 

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Inglot Spring Pastels 2013- Watermarble Nail Art

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Happy Humpday!! 

  I am at such a loss of words today :-S. So much has happened over the last few days that I don't even know where to start. There has been some utter, horrid nonsense going on; Muffin's been sick, I've been sick, husband got laid off.. It was hectic for a few weeks, but hings are settling down now. 

  Among all the madness some really awesome things happened too. If you pick you the latest issue of Nail It! magazine, you will see a picture of a manicure by yours truly featured in the Snapshots section. It is SO cool to see my nails and name on an actual magazine! That had been one of my goals for some time now.

 Anywho, these are my very first Inglot polishes, and I can honestly say I am a fan. They released a range of 10 pastel shades for Spring 2013 Ranging from Yellow-toned Peach, to Aqua Blue; these colors were begging to be played with. I immediately knew I wanted to do a marble-skittle of sorts with these. These Inglot polishes have a great formula for watermarbles, great pigmentation a really good spread in the water. 

 For this look I started with a White base done with Cult Nails Tempest. For the Pinkie and Index marbles I used Inglot 381(Orange toned peach), 390(Vivid Mint Pastel) and 383(Orange toned Coral). For my Ring and Middle nail I used 382(Yellow toned Peach), 387(Soft Lavender-Pink) and 389(Aqua Blue). All of these Inglot polishes have a creamy formula. I'm not sure if it was just me, but I was detecting the slightest hint of shimmer, so barely there it is not really worth mentioning. I think it definitely aids in the application. 

  To finish off my look I top coated my Pinkie an Index nails in my signature sparkling INM Northern Lights, followed by a coat of Cult Nails Wax That, wax finish top coat. To cover some bubbles I got on my Middle and Ring finger I did a light coat of Lynnderella Connect the Dots, followed by Cult Nails Wicked Fast to give the glitter a high shine. 

  I am loving the contrast of  colors in these marbles, and I really love the completed look. I am also loving what CtD did for my bubbly nails. Overall, I am so happy with how this turned out. I don't marble enough for how much I love the look of the technique. And you know what they say, practice makes perfect. I feel my confidence in my marbling grow with each marble mani I do. They are becoming more fun now that I am getting a good grasp. I think I finally feel comfortable about filming a tutorial about the way I marble. 

 How do you feel about watermarbled nails? Also, would you guys be interested in a tutorial? Let me know in the comments ♥. 

(**Press Sample**)

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O.P.I Couture de Minnie Collection Swatches

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Hello my darlings and happy Friday! 

  I am so very sorry about the minor posting hiatus. We had some MAJOR personal stuff go wrong last week. Basically, I was "ready to jump"... It was absolutely nothing blog related. Just life... doing it's thing... being a beyotch. But, things are settling down and falling in place so I'm feeling positive and keeping my head up. 

 Then yesterday, I was trying to get these photos edited and I was having all kinds of issues with the editor I use. I was pretty hissy... Full Moon maybe? Luckily I found an alternative in Photobucket, which I had not used in YEARS. I was bummed, because I've been desperate to share my swatches of O.P.I's new Couture de Minnie collection for Summer. If you are going "Whit a minute, didn't O.P.I do a Minnie themed collection for Summer last year?" Why yes, yes they did, and apparently they had a really positive response. This year they gave Minnie a high-fashion look, and Five new adorable shades for the Summer months. 

 All of these swatches, with the exception of Magazine Cover Mouse, are shown with a top coat. 

O.P.I Liquid Sand in Magazine Cover Mouse

 Magazine Cover Mouse is a light, Red based sparkling texture laced with strong Golden, Silver and Pink micro shimmer. I LOVED the (almost) duochrome look to this liquid sand. I really must admit that this was a heavy and instant favorite for me. I love the hints of Pink sparkle and the overall "Minnie-ness" of it all. I used Three thin coats for my swatch. This texture dried fairly fast. If I had to pick just ONE color to get from this collection, it would be this beauty!

One hour after application

O.P.I Innie Minnie Mighty Bow

 This shade is your classic Candy Apple red with strong Red and Golden micro shimmer for added dimension. This color has a very saturated formula and could well be a one coater. I used Two thin coats for my swatch. This color will be fantastic during Holidays. 

O.P.I A Definite Moust Have

 This shade is described by O.P.I as a Fuchsia.... I saw hot Coral. It was hard shade to capture because it is SO vibrant. This shade is very similar to Come to Poppy from the Nice Stems Collection. This shade is a bit more vibrant and extremely saturated. I did Two easy coats for my swatch. 

O.P.I Minnie Style over O.P.I Chic Comes Ears to Tail 

 OMG I LOVE THIS GLITTER. Ok, now that THAT is out of my system haha.. This cute confetti- style glitter is a simple blend of White, Pink and Red hexes packed in a clear base. I was impressed with how easy it was to work with. I only did one coat of glitter over my base color. 

O.P.I Chic from Ears to Tail

 What would a Summer/Minnie- themed collection be without your classic Bubblegum Pink creme? This shade is adorable. There is the slightest hint of Silver micro sparkle. It is SO barely there, can barely be seen in Sunlight even. I do think that the shimmer did wonders for the formula on this shade. I used Three easy coats for my swatch. 

I like this collection a lot more than I thought I would. They really got me in my soft spot with the fantastic Liquid Sand Shade Magazine Cover Mouse and the adorable glitter in Minnie Style. In last year's Minnie collection they went with the more retro-cutesy side of Minnie. This collection is Minnie all grown up. For that, I love these colors.

Are any of the shades in this release speaking to you? Which Minnie Couture would you rock?

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More about → O.P.I Couture de Minnie Collection Swatches

China Glaze Textured Skittles with In the Rough, Bump & Grind and Of Coarse!

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Good morning and happy Wednesday! 

  Today I have a, sort of, skittle look with Three of the new China Glaze Texture polishes. When I was organizing my desk last weekend, these Three colors ended up together. I loved how they looked together so much that I went with a "middle-nail-accent-thing." I got many compliments on this mani. The colors are very fun, bright and Summery. 

One and a half hours after application

The polishes I am wearing are In the Rough, Bump & Grind and Of Coarse!. In the Rough is a Chartreuse creme with a textured finish. None of these sparkle. They all dry to a slightly rubbery finish with a concrete-like texture. This was the sheerest of the shades and needed Three coats, wait in between coats. These apply best in a slow steady manner. Let the brush do the work and don't apply pressure so that the textured bits apply evenly. Bump and Grind is a bright Raspberry creme texture. This shade is really bright  and saturated with color. I could have almost gotten away with one coat of this rich shade. I used Two coats. Of Coarse is a bright, pool liner Blue, creme texture. The formula on this shade is also ridiculously saturated, I used Two coats. These dried fairly fast, no slower or faster than any of the other textures to have come out so far.

Shady to show texture better

 Now... The wear on these disappointing. The Chartreuse shade, In the Rough, chipped within the same day of application. Bump & Grind chipped on the Second day. Of Coarse, the Blue shade was wearing OK. I'm really not sure why these wore so poorly on me. All of the other textured polishes I have tried have worn like iron on me!
 Also, someone mentioned that these Three particular shades are slightly reminiscent of Zoya's Mod Mattes in terms on the colors (Lolly, Phoebe & Mitzi), and they are... If you enjoyed those Three shades, and the matte finish, you might like these. I want to give these another shot, I'm hoping for better wear next time around, because I like the shades. I also like the concrete like finish. I know this is one of those "love it or leave it" type of finishes, but I really dig it.

45 min. after application

 I also have some exciting news! I had the honor of being interviewed for the Nail It! magazine website. I am so excited and so grateful to have this great opportunity! It is crazy to go to the home page of a magazine and seeing my face there! WHAT?!!

Have you given the China Glaze Texture polishes a go? How was the wear for you? I'm curious to see if it was, hopefully, a fluke :-S. Let me know in the comments how it went for you if you tried these out! 

(**Press Sample**)

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Zoya Summer PixiDusts and Stunning Collection- Skittle Ruffian Nail Art

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Hello and happy humpday! 

  Today I have, yet another, skittle mani to share with you guys. This look features Five of the new Zoya Summer PixiDust polishes as well as Four of the new Summer Stunning collection cremes. When I was sitting down to do my swatches of the Summer PixiDust polishes, I could not decide where to start. So I decided not to start at all... And wear them in a mixed texture look instead. These colors are just too fun and too beautiful and I could not resist playing with them. 

 This look started with all creamy bases. From thumb to Pinkie: Julie (from the Spring collection), Yana, Rocky, Thandie and Darcy. Then I decided to do PixiDust ruffians over my Skittle base. I wanted to do monochromatic skittles, with mixed textures. These colors were PERFECT for the look I had in mind since Zoya released shades which all complemented each other.
 For the ruffians I used (from thumb to pinkie): Stevie, Miranda, Liberty, Beatrix and Solange. I did Two thin ruffian coats over my creamy bases. I wore this manicure for about Five days? IDK, it was a LONG time in LTHP time, I could not believe how well they held up. These Summer PixiDusts have amazing formulas, much like their Spring "ancestors" lol. There is a mix of Foily texture and the Original PixiDust look as well. If you enjoyed the first PixiDust set, you will LOVE and ADORE this new Summer PixiDust collection.

 Here are some shots of my base colors. The new Summer cremes all had fantastic formulas and all did well in Three thin coats. Yana (index), Thandie(Orange) and Darcy(yellow) had a very slight shimmer to them, barely there, but really pretty. These are really vibrant, fun and perfect for Summer.

 What are your thoughts on mixed texture manis? I really enjoy them and make for quick and cute nail art. I can't rave enough about the Zoya PixiDusts, they are just beautiful, and I love the vibrant colors and how much they sparkle. The Summer cremes are adorable and fun. Zoya always has my heart when it comes to Summer colors. 

Skittle all the nails!!! 

(**Press Sample**)

More about → Zoya Summer PixiDusts and Stunning Collection- Skittle Ruffian Nail Art

Hard Candy- Candy Sprinkles Skittle Nails

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Good afternoon! 

  Today I have a sweet skittle mani I did using some of my new Hard Candy nail polish shades. These are all from the Candy Sprinkles collection. As you can see, these cuties are heavily inspired by the "glitter sammich" concept. This group is made up of Nine creamy-glitter polishes. Today I am sharing a cute skittle mani with Five of these pretties. 

From thumb to Pinkie:
Gummy Green: A creamy-jelly, muted Mint-colored base, with Silver and Black small hexagonal glitter. This particular shade had one of the better formulas. I used Three thin coats for full coverage and to get a really good "mint-chip ice cream" effect going on.
Pixie Pink: A creamy-jelly, light milky Blue-Based Pink. The small hexagonal glitters in this one are Teal, Silver and Pink. I used Three thin coats. The formula on this shade was nice and easy to work with.
Sweet Tooth: A jelly, almost White pink packed with Blue, Pink and Silver glitter. This was the most sheer of all the colors I tried. I used Three decent coats but the formula was great and easy to work with.
Jelly Bean Blue: A creamy base, Powdery Blue packed with Blue and Black glitter. I found the  formula on this shade to be patchy and a little problematic. A light and patient hand is key with shades like this one. I used Three coats.
Sugar Rush: A white creamy base packed full of Black and Silver glitter. I had the same formula issues with this shade as I did with Jelly Bean Blue. Three coats as well.

 Below are some macros of these yummy looking polishes.

 Even though the formulas are kind of.. all over the place... I really am not bothered by that and really ended up loving these polishes. I'm glad that an affordable polish line came out with these "speckled/ sprinkled" polishes. These all seemed to even out well at Three coats and they all wore really well. I think I had these on for about Four days, no chips, no shirnkage. Before application it is best to give these polishes a good shake, they like to settle a bit. These babies to require a good top coat to bring out the shine and smooth the surface. I used Two coats of KBShimmer Clearly on Top top coat and I had absolutely ZERO shrinkage (YAYAYAYAY Praise the polish gods).

Have you tried any of these new Hard Candy polishes? They are available at Wal-Mart and Online as well. For the price, these are adorable little polishes and I really love what hard Candy did with the glitter-sammich looks. I like all of these quite a lot ♥. 

Any faves?

(**Press Samples**)

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Blue Moons for Autism Awareness with China Glaze

(**Press Samples**)

Good Morning!! 

  Today I am continuing my Blue manis for Autism Awareness month. I hope to finish out this week in Blues. The plan is to feature as much Blue as possible during the month of April. Though, I did see a post on the LVX nail color FB page that April is also Anti- Animal Cruelty Awareness month, I think the color for them is Yellow(Correction:It is Orange). So lots of Blue and Yellow Orange on LTHP during April. For today's look I went with a simple half-moon manicure, all in China Glaze.

 This look started with Two coats of China Glaze Sunday Fundy. This is a lovely shade of Robin's Egg Blue creme. Once my base was dry I added some polka dots using Cheeky stamping plate CH6 and China Glaze Lil Drummer Boy. I top coated my nails with some SV and waited for them to be really dry.
 For the half-moons I used China Glaze Strap on your Moonboots. This is a beautiful, steely Blue holographic shade. I then went back and cleaned up the seams of my moons with a fine stripe of Blue glitter. For this I used a Stripe Rite nail art striping polish. I did not top coat over the Holographic portions as I did not know if adding a top coat would diminish the pretty holographic finish.

 In the photo below I used the flash so the holo would show better. It was so cloudy and Grey outside yesterday :(. Strap on your Moonboots is not an in-your-face-holo, but it is still very linear in finish. It also has a really great, saturated formula. This holo might be great for stamping as well.

  I want to thank all those of you who have been sharing your Autism Awareness manis with me! It's great to see so many different online communitites coming together for such a great cause.

Thanks for stopping by darlings!

(**Press Samples**)

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LVX Watermarble for Autism Awareness Month

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Good am and happy humpday! 

  For today's look I decided to do a watermarble that used the colors for Autism Awareness. I was thinking along the lines of the puzzle piece ribbons. These ribbons usually feature the primary colors, Red, Blue and Yellow. This was my first time marbling with LVX nail polish, and they were amazing! Sorry about the greasy fingers. My tips were SO dry after the marbling and cleanup. They were starved for some moisture. 

 For this marble I started with a base of LVX Fantom. For the watermarble portion I used LVX Cerulean(Blue), Citrine(Yellow) and Fantom. Once my marble was nice and dry I accented the swirls with some small Red dots using Bettina Be Jolly. The final touch was a light coating of INM Northern Lights top coat. 

 Here is a swatch of my base shade Fantom. This is a stark White creme. The formula on this White creme was a little streaky. I had to keep a very light and steady hand to avoid bald patches. I used Three coats for full, even opacity.

 I normally only marble with Bettina polishes because they really take the guessing out of marbling for me. But these LVX cremes were just about PERFECT for this technique as well. They have a really good spread in the water and the pigmentation is just right.  I also had no issues come cleanup time. These come off clean and don't stain the skin.

Thanks for stopping by my loves!

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In Bettina Blues for World Autism Awareness Day

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Good morning and happy Tuesday, 

 Today is World Autism Awareness Day, therefore my nails shall be Blue. For this simple look I went with all Bettina shades. I had not played with my Bettina pretties in a while. 

 This look started with Two coats of Bettina Vanity. For the puzzle piece stamp I used Bundle Monster plate BM219 and Bettina Over dyed. To finish it all off I added a coat of INM Northern Lights top coat and some Blue stones near the cuticles.

 Here is a swatch of Bettina Vanity. This shade is pretty much a dupe of Zoya Blu. I did find the formula on the Bettina much easier to work with. I used Two easy coats. I can't get enough of these White-Based "bridal-y" Blues.

 Thank you all for stopping by and thanks to all of you who are wearing your Blues today!!

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