Monday 23 February 2015

How to survive a cold when you just don't have the time...

How to survive a cold when you just don't have the time...
Monday 23 February 2015
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I hate getting colds. I hate that a bunch of tiny germs have invaded my body purely with the intention to make me feel rubbish! But they have, and they've succeeded.  I feel awful. Right now all I want is to burrow under the covers while somebody, my mum most likely, feeds me soup and pats me lovingly on the head. But ALAS! I'm too busy too wallow in bed whilst binge watching netflix, as amazing as that sounds. This week has not been a good time to be ill. I have neither the time nor luxury to indulge in a good old-fashioned sick day. Here are my top tips for surviving a cold when you just don’t have the time to be sick.

My first tip, and probably  the most effective, is to take Echinacea.  Echinacea is a herbal remedy that boosts the immune system  and helps fight off colds. Preferably with orange juice (which is good for colds anyway) because it absorbs into the blood stream quicker so it starts to work quicker.  According to the font of reliable *cough, cough* information that is Wikipedia the evidence to suggest that Echinacea is particularly adept at treating colds is thin but for me personally I recover so much quicker when I use it. Now it doesn't make you feel better immediately but it does fast track a cold so you get better sooner. I started taking it on Thursday when my cold was at it's worst and by Friday it was like I'd skipped ahead a  few days. 

My second tip is always use Eucalyptus Oil. It is a godsend for blocked noses. A drop or 2 in a hot bath, or a mug of boiling water and you'll be breathing easy in no time.  That brings me to my third tip...

Now my third tip is a bit steamy... because it's steam.  Take a hot bath, have a long shower, stick your face over a bowl of boiling water - not too close to it mind- and let the steam, combined with eucalyptus oil, work it's healing magic. 

My fourth tip is Moisturise, Moisturise, Moisturise! It's so important I repeated it thrice! I don't know about you but my skin is always at it's absolute worst when I'm sick. My skin right now is awful, the constant nose blowing has left my nose red, raw and chaffed  and my skin looks and feels disgusting. I've been trying to get away with wearing as little make up as possible because nothing looks worse than foundation sticking to the dry, chaffed patches round my nose. I've been moisturising constantly and my skin hasn't been as bad. Don't get me wrong it's bad BUT it could have been so much worse. 

My fifth and final tip is SLEEP! I really need to take my own advice on this one, it's common knowledge round these parts that I am a terrible sleeper. BUT getting an early night is instrumental in getting better quicker. I haven't been able to go into a lemsip induced coma because I just haven't had the time, but I've been trying to get as much sleep as possible because while you're asleep you don't feel ill and no matter what sleep is awesome.  

I also have a lot of basic stuff I do to treat a cold like drinking orange juice, taking vitamins and eating chicken soup but you could read more about that here

What do you do to make yourself  feel better when you're sick?  Let me know on twitter, by commenting below or dropping me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com.  Also check out my instagram, bloglovin, facebook and pinterest

Love love love xxx
Wednesday 18 February 2015

Paper Towns Book Review

Paper Towns Book Review
Wednesday 18 February 2015
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Image via

At 11 years old Margo Roth Spiegelman and Quentin 'Q' Jacobsen find a dead body in the park by their houses.  Q has loved Margo from afar ever since. 7 years later Margo  appears at Q's window in the middle of the night  and  asks him to come  on an adventure with her. During the night Margo and Q wreck havoc on Margo's enemies and break into Seaworld. The next day Margo goes missing, but not before leaving a series of clues for Q to find her. As Q delves deeper and deeper into Margo's past in search for more clues, the more he realises that he never really knew Margo at all. 

The thing I found most interesting in Paper Towns was Q's perception of Margo. He built her up to be his perfect, dream girl. It's only after he begins to get to know her through the clues she's left behind that he begins to see her as a real person rather than a fantasy. But even Q's idea of her as a real person is wrong.  It's not real, it's not who Margo really is but only what Q thinks she really is.  I think everyone, myself especially, is guilty of moulding a person into something they're not in our heads, falling in love with an idea and then being disappointed after finding out who they really are.  I do this a lot, I build people up to be this amazing person, I even do this with people I know quite well and then I'm so disappointed when they're not who I want them to be.  So this really spoke to me on a more personal level. One of my favourite quotes in the book is towards the end  when Q realises that Margo isn't who he thought she was. 

'I realize that the idea is not only wrong but dangerous. What a treacherous thing it is to believe a person is more than a person.

That just speaks volumes to me.

All in all I really enjoyed this book. I found it gripping, laugh out loud funny at times, poignant and sad at others and in a lot of ways not what I was expecting. I also had to stop myself looking up the ending on Wikipedia a number of times. Having said that I had a quick look on goodreads and a lot of people have said that Paper Towns is pretty much exactly the same as John Green's earlier novel Looking for Alaska, which I haven't read (I am planning to read it) so I can't really comment. But I love John Green so I was always gonna enjoy it. I'm a great advocate of reading the book before seeing the film so I strongly recommend giving this a read because it is really good, and the film looks like it's gonna be good too. 

Have you read Paper Towns? What did you think?  Let me know by commenting below, on twitter or by sending me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com. Also have a look at my instagram,  facebook, bloglovin & pinterest

Love love love xxx

Sunday 15 February 2015

W7 In The Buff Eyeshadow Pallet: A Review

W7 In The Buff Eyeshadow Pallet: A Review
Sunday 15 February 2015
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L-R: W7 In the Buff, In the Nude & In the Buff: Lightly Toasted Eyeshadow Palettes.

In the Buff





W7 In the Nude





In the Buff: Lightly Toasted





Being a fourth year student it's no secret that I'm seriously strapped for cash. Annoying (and boring) expenses like rent and food seriously eat into my income, so my make up tends to be almost exclusively from the high street with a few high end treasures. Luckily I've become quite adept at knowing a decent dupe when I see one, no prizes for guessing which pallets these beauties are a dupe of (pssst... it's the Urban Decay Naked pallets) 

I’ve been having a bit of a moment with these pallets lately because they're kind of amazing. All three pallets are really good quality, particularly considering I only paid £5.99 for each of them. Each pallet is made up of 12 shadows, with the majority being satiny shimmers but with a few mattes thrown in. My favourite is In the Buff: Lightly Toasted, a dupe for the Naked 1 pallet, because it's beautiful! The shadows are warm toned, and has everything from shimmery taupes, rich chocolatey browns, dark purples and smokey greys. It does everything  but it's really good for creating the most incredible smokey eyes (and we all know I LOVE a smokey eye). Having said that I get a lot of wear out of all three pallets. 

The shadows in In the Buff are cool toned neutrals that create everything from a really subtle day time look, to a super smokey evening look. In the Nude is probably the least wearable of the three due to the pink tone of the shadows but they're still lovely and look really pretty just swept across the lid. 

The shadows are soft and blend beautifully. They last really well on the lid, are nicely pigmented and don't crease. Now they're not perfect, I won't lie to you lovely people, like all of us they have their faults, the texture leans slightly more towards the chalky side of things rather than buttery and there's quite a bit of fall out when applying, also the packaging isn't great - my Lightly Toasted pallet's broken already! -  but that's to be expected when they cost as little as they do. Overall they're really, really good for the price. 

Have you tried any of the W7 In the Buff/Nude Pallets? Or the Naked pallets for that matter? Tweet me @lolarocknroses, comment below or drop me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com. Also check out my instagram, facebook, Bloglovin & pinterest

Love love love xx



Tuesday 10 February 2015

Lola Rocks #3 ... The Live Music Edit

Lola Rocks #3 ... The Live Music Edit
Tuesday 10 February 2015
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I have seen a lot of live music, like a lot, a lot. I try to see at least one live act a year but most years it's way more than that. In 2011 I went to loads of festivals and saw roughly 28 live acts and it was a really good year. 2012 was the best year though because I saw my favourite everything, the Boss Almighty himself... Bruce Springsteen! And then I saw him again in 2013 and he was - and continues to be - the best musician I have ever seen!

Anyway I thought I'd put together a list of the Top 5 bands/musicians that I want to see this year.


The Killers 

 


The Killers basically got me through my dissertation last year but for some reason or other I've never got round to seeing them live and I desperately want to change that.  Sadly it doesn't look like they're  touring anytime soon so it might not happen this year but I will definitely see them live. At some point.

Kodaline 

 


Kodaline is my current obsession and I'm dying to see them live. Their touring at the moment but the only UK date I can get to is next week and I really can't afford it but I will see them before the year is out! 

One Republic 




I always forget how much I like One Republic and then a song will pop up on my iPod and I'll remember that they haven't released a song I don't like, and then I have a One Republic binge.  I've wanted to see them for a while but have just never got round to it. They're touring in Canada at the moment and I'm hoping they'll end up in the UK soon. 


Flogging Molly 


I have wanted to see Flogging Molly for years! Since I first heard If I Ever Leave This World Alive in P.S. I Love You. I've listened to a couple of their other songs and I just really like them and I bet going to one of their gigs would be so much fun!

The National 



I love The National! They're music is heartbreaking and amazing, and I would just be in tears the whole time if I ever saw them in concert but it would be WORTH IT!

Who are the bands you want to see live this year? What was the best live music experience you've had? Let me know on twitter, by commenting below or even dropping me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com. I'll be back on Thursday, until then have yourselves a lovely week & check out my social media (instagram, facebook, Bloglovin & pinterest)

Love love love xxx




*Disclaimer* I own none of the videos featured in this post. Videos used for entertainment purposes only


Monday 9 February 2015

January Favourites 2015

January Favourites 2015
Monday 9 February 2015
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Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer in 2 Cool Medium



This is a new addition to my make up collection and I honestly don't know why it took me so long to buy it because it's amazing! I was a bit wary at first because I thought there was no way it could possibly live up to the all hype that surrounds it. But it totally does. And even if it didn't (but it does!), at £4.19 it was more than worth the investment.  I got the shade Cool Medium which I think might be the slightest bit too dark for me, I think I'm somewhere in between Fair and Cool Medium, but even so it's awesome. The formula is the real star, it is so covering, really long lasting, easily blendable and just wonderful, concealing goodness in a tube. I've been using it constantly and I love it so very, very much. 

Seventeen Phwoarr Paint in Fair


I have waxed lyrical about this super concealer on many occasions, so I'm not going to bang on about it too much. This concealer is a lifesaver, it covers blemishes and under eye circles like nothing else.  It's really creamy but so long lasting  and the coverage is excellent. I warm it up between my fingertips and dab it on the offending blemish  or my severe under eye baggage and it's like it was never there.

Ilcsi Grape Stem Cell Gel Mask


So my skin is still crap, I don't know why, because I take good care of it and drink plenty of water but it's still bad... but it's being particularly bad at the moment. I've been waking up to a new breakout every couple of days and it is NOT fun! Then I tried this Ilcsi mask, and whilst the breakouts are still happening, the rest of my skin is looking great. The mask itself feels quite strange against the skin but not unpleasant. It's a really thick, orange gel that has the consistency of marmalade but smells like marzipan.  The mask promises to regenerate and rejuvenate the skin through the highly concentrated power of grape stem cells which stimulates cell renewal and increases cell longevity leaving you with clearer, younger looking skin. I've been using it twice a week throughout January but could notice a difference from the first use. My pores look smaller, my skin is firmer and more radiant, it's just a shame that it's also covered in spots.  

Barry M Hi Shine Gelly Nail Paint

L-R: Sugar Apple, Elderberry, Almond & Rosehip

Top to Bottom: Rosehip, Almond, Elderberry & Sugar Apple


I wasn't loving a particular shade this month, although I did use all of these in January, the formula itself was my favourite. It's thick but easily workable, is opaque within two coats and the finish is gel-like (hence the name), super shiny and longer lasting than the average Barry M nail paint - which is pretty decent anyway - overall I was seriously loving the Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paints last month. 




If it's possible to have a Youtube problem then I definitely have one, and Rhett and Link are my latest habit. Once again I am so far behind the rest of the world because they've been around for years but they're a recent discovery of mine and I am legitimately obsessed and also a little bit in love with both of them, God save me I love a guy with a sense of humour!  I could watch their videos for days! (and have definitely done that)  because they're ridiculously funny. I've been listening to their podcast Ear Biscuits a lot too and have had to stop myself from LOLing in public.  I love them. 

Vlogbrothers

Image via

Another new Youtube revealation that is new only to me because the world  cottoned on to their awesome years ago.  I am a huge John Green fan so when I found out about the youtube channel he has with his brother Hank I was all over that business.  Their videos are seriously great. I can't find the words to tell you how amazing their videos are because the advent of the heart eyed emoji has robbed me of the ability to express enthusiasm but trust me they are seriously awesome!


Honest by Kodaline



Okay, I know I've mentioned Kodaline loads in the last month but me and Kodaline are having a bit of a moment -well I am, Kodaline aren't aware of it-  This song is from their new album (which I can't wait for!) and is all kinds of amazing. I've had it stuck in my head for the past 2 weeks and I love it. Have a listen and tell me what you think. 

Blank Space by Taylor Swift



Confession time I am not a huge Taylor Swift fan. There were a couple of her songs that I liked but other than that she wasn't my cup of Green Tea but I must admit her new album is making me think twice.  Tay Tay has upped her game and I love it. Now I haven't heard the whole album but I've heard a few songs and Blank Space (and Welcome to New York obvs!) is my favourite. It's amazing. 'Nuff said!

Those were my January Favourites, what were yours? Let me know by commenting below, on twitter or by dropping me an email lolarocknroses@gmail.com. While you're at it  check out my instagram, Bloglovin, facebook & pinterest

I'll be back on Tuesday with a new Lola Rocks. 

Until then... 

Love love love xxx 



*Disclaimer* I do not own the images of Rhett & Link/the Vlogbrothers  and the videos, they were used for entertainment purposes only. 
Thursday 5 February 2015

Lola Loves...Berry Lips

Lola Loves...Berry Lips
Thursday 5 February 2015
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Those of you who follow me on instagram will know that I'm no stranger to a berry lip. It's pretty much my go to look, regardless of the weather. If I'm feeling a berry lip in the middle of summer you better believe I'm slapping on a berry lip, so when winter rolls around all bets are off and berry is the ONLY colour to grace my lips.  

Now Christmas is long since over but Winter is far from releasing it's icy grip on us here in the UK. So my love affair with the berry lip continues. 

I've put together a rundown of my Top 9 Berry lipsticks. I wanted to keep it to 5 but it just wasn't happening 


Clockwise from Middle Left: Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in #128 Starry Eyed, Rimmel Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick in #30, Rimmel Kate Matte Lipstick in #107, L’Oreal Color Riche Collection Exclusive in Blake’s Pure Red, Barry M Ultra Moisturising Lip Paint in Black Cherry, Maybelline Color Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil in #310 Berry Much, Collection Gothic Glam Lipstick in #1 Seduction, Collection Gothic Glam Lipstick in #3 Revenge, Soap & Glory Super Colour Matte Lipstick in Pom Pom. 


L-R: Rimmel Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick in #30Collection Gothic Glam Lipstick in #1 Seduction, Barry M Ultra Moisturising Lip Paint in Black Cherry, Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in #128 Starry Eyed, Rimmel Kate Matte Lipstick in #107, Collection Gothic Glam Lipstick in #3 Revenge, Maybelline Color Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil in #310 Berry Much, Soap & Glory Super Colour Matte Lipstick in Pom Pom & L’Oreal Color Riche Collection Exclusive in Blake’s Pure Red.

Rimmel Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick in #30

This is quite possibly my favourite of the bunch, the colour is a beautiful, red toned berry shade with a lovely moisturising formula. It has ok lasting power, not great but certainly not bad, so whilst it does need to be reapplied after eating or drinking it is worth it because the colour is so lovely. 


Collection Gothic Glam Lipstick in #1 Seduction

Another lipstick that I absolutely love - I have two of them, this is the level of adoration we're talking about here - the colour is a stunning pink toned berry with a matte finish (I love a matte finish), the formula is lovely, not at all drying and has decent lasting power. What more could you want for less than a fiver?! 

Barry M Ultra Moisturising Lip Paint in Black Cherry

This isn't a lipstick I reach for very much but when I do I'm always pleasantly surprised at how pretty it is. The colour is a really intense, dark purple in the bullet but when applied is a lovely red toned wine shade that looks so pretty on the lips. The formula is not that great, the finish is quite matte, and this is definitely more drying that the others, but nothing a slick of lip balm before application can't fix. 

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in #128 Starry Eyed

This is  the most brown toned of all the lipsticks I own and the only one in this list with a super glossy finish, which is probably why I don't reach for it as much. Having said that it has a lovely, moisturising formula  and the colour itself is quite pigmented and a really lovely deep berry. It's not as long lasting as the others and needs to be reapplied after eating or drinking but overall it's a nice lipstick.


Rimmel Kate Matte Lipstick in #107


Rimmel's #107 is one of my all time favourites, and something of a cult fave among beauty bloggers. I am so in love with this lipstick. When it comes to highstreet lippie you just can't beat Kate Moss's collection for Rimmel. You just can't. The colour is a really stunning, red toned burgundy with a matte finish. The formula is long lasting, it does need a tiny bit of touching up after food but doesn't dry out my lips at all

Collection Gothic Glam Lipstick in #3 Revenge


When applied directly from the bullet this colour looks almost black on the lips and is way too dark for me, but when applied with a lip brush it is such a pretty wine red. However this does mean it's not convenient for reapplication when you're out and about but the formula is nice, moisturising with reasonable lasting powers (not amazing, but certainly not bad) and the colour is lovely when applied right. 

Maybelline Color Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil in #310 Berry Much

This could quite possibly be my favourite lipstick, it is certainly my favourite lipstick discovery of last year.  The Maybelline Color Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil is BEAUTIFUL! The formula is incredible, it is creamy but so long lasting, you can eat and drink and it will not budge.  Like not even a little bit.  It has a really lovely, velvety matte finish  but is not even remotely drying. It is so comfortable on the lips that 9 times out of 10 I forget that I'm wearing it.  Plus the colour is  a really wearable berry red that I just love. 


Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker  Matte Lipstick in Pom Pom


I love this lipstick! The colour is a really wearable pink toned plum that looks beautiful on the lips. Now I'm not gonna lie to you it is drying and the wear time is not the best but the colour is beautiful and super wearable and smells like vanilla and happiness so I think it's worth it. 

L’Oreal Color Riche Collection Exclusive in Blake’s Pure Red


Now I know that this is red but on me it's more of a red toned berry than a regular red. It's blue toned with a finish that is somewhere between matte and satin with a really nice formula that is both moisturising and long lasting. I love it. 

These are my favourite berry/winter lipsticks, what are yours? Let me know by commenting below, on twitter or by dropping me an email lolarocknroses@gmail.com. Also check out my instagram, facebook, Bloglovin and pinterest if you like pictures of dogs :D (I DO!) 

 That's me for today but I'll be back on Sunday with my January Favourites.

Until then have yourselves a great weekend  and I'll see you soon. 

Love love love xxx












Tuesday 3 February 2015

PS Love Nail Polish Review

PS Love Nail Polish Review
Tuesday 3 February 2015
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In the last year or so Primark have brought out a make up range, now Primark has really upped it's game lately but still I was skeptical so I didn't bother trying it until recently. I picked this up last week after  popping in for tights. I was in the world's longest queue and getting seriously annoyed when this  silvery lilac polish caught my eye. Even then I wasn't expecting much but for £1 I thought it was definitely worth a try. 

Now for £1 I really wasn't expecting much.  I was expecting it to be terrible to be honest, but man was I wrong! The thing that attracted me most to this polish was the colour, it's a really pretty blue toned lilac with a subtle trace of silver glitter. But the overall product is really good.  It has a medium - thick brush that makes for really easy application, the polish glides on really smoothly and is opaque in just two coats. The formula is really impressive,  especially for the ridiculously low price point, at the very least I was expecting it to be streaky but it's not in the slightest.  It's thick and creamy but so easy to work with and it just goes on really uniformly. Two coats and you are done. It has decent longevity too, this is my third day wearing it and I am chip free. The one thing that did slightly irritate me is the fact that they don’t have names or numbers associated with shades, which,  in my opinion, is total madness BUT other than that I was pleasantly surprised and will definitely be trying out more from the line. 

Have you tried any of the PS Love make up line? What did you think? Is there anything I'm missing out on? Let me know on twitter, commenting below or dropping me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com.  I'll be back later this week with my January Favourites. 

Until then check me out on social media because I'm on everything  (instagram, facebook, Bloglovin & pinterest) and have yourselves a wonderful week. 

Love love love xxx






Sunday 1 February 2015

2014 Non Beauty Favourites, Part 3: Books & Music

2014 Non Beauty Favourites, Part 3: Books & Music
Sunday 1 February 2015
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At last we come to the end of my 2014 Favourites, it only took all of January but hey ho! Now this post is probably gonna be on the longer, ramblier side of things. I love books and I love music so I'll try to keep this short and sweet but you've been warned, it may get lengthy.

Love Rosie (Where Rainbows End) by Cecelia Ahern



I read this back in the summer, before I saw the film (which I also loved), and I loved it so much I read it twice. It's just such a lovely story. For those who don't know Love Rosie is about childhood best friends Alex and Rosie told through emails and letters as they grow up and life gets in the way of things. I loved it, a lot. 

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart



I read this over Christmas and completely loved it. We Were Liars tells the story of the seemingly perfect Sinclaire family who spend every summer together on a private island owned by the family patriarch. BUT all is not what it seems. I seriously loved it, I read it in a day because I couldn't put it down. It is so beautifully written and a really good story. If you do read it make sure you have some tissues to hand because it gets really sad.




This is one of my favourite books, I read it at least 5 times last year because it is that good. I've definitely talked about it on here before so I won't bang on about it too much just trust me it is an incredible book, made all the more impressive considering its Cotugno's first one, and well worth a read. I seriously love it. 

I reviewed this ages ago when I first read it so I won't go on about it. I love it because Mindy is my favourite everything and it is laugh out loud funny. 

Delicious by Ruth Reichl


Another book I read over Christmas and loved. Delicious!  is about aspiring food writer Billie Breslin as she moves to New York and starts working at Delicious! magazine. It doesn't sound great but trust me it's such a good book. It is so well written. If this book was a cake I would eat the whole thing in one go because it's amazing.  

Those were the books I was loving last year, now onto music. It's no secret that I'm a music lover, I could talk about music I like all the live long day... I won't but I could. Anyway instead of boring you with random music things that only I would care about I'm just gonna give you a rundown of the Top 6 songs I loved last year. I can't imagine that any of these will come as a surprise.





Kodaline -  Latch 



Twin Shadow - To The Top



Jake Bugg -  Broken



The 1975 - Robbers



Karen Gillan's cover of Chandelier from Selfie




I've definitely mentioned some of these songs on here before but I was basically listening to them on repeat for pretty much the entire year. You'll notice that there is a recurring theme here are two songs they're all heartbreakingly sad BUT they're all amazing and  sad  songs are just my favourite kind of song. There are two by Kodaline and that's because I was, and am, obsessed with them and their first album In a Perfect World and I just couldn't decide which was my favourite out of the two. 

Those were my favourite books and songs from last year but I want to know what were yours? Let me know by commenting below, on twitter or dropping me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com. Also while you're at it check out my instagram, facebook, BlogLovin & pinterest

You lovely people have a fabulous week and I'll see you soon. 

Until then... 

Love love love xxx

Images Via , Via, Via, Via, Via

*Disclaimer* I own  nothing, all images and videos used for entertainment purposes only. 


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