I was super excited to receive the ABH Self-Made palette in the post, it's my first palette purchase from the company, prior to this I have only ever tried their brow products.
At first glance, the packaging is sturdy, sleek and elegant looking. With it's magnetic closure, large mirror inside and included brush it would seem you get plenty for your money.



When swatching the majority of the shades were a dream on the skin, pigmented and buttery. But there was a few for me personally that weren't all that they seemed when I swatched them, bare in mind this is a first impression not an in depth review I have not yet tested them to their full extent!
For me personally 'Buttery' is a pointless shade in this palette, against my skin tone it doesn't show up a lot, it was a little chalky when swatching, maybe I would get away with using this as an all over lid shade prior to applying my other shadows? I don't know. You may be able to notice the patchiness in the above photo in the colours 'Hot Chocolate' and 'Spirit Rock' these two shades in particular I found were difficult to work with when I swatched them with my fingers but they may apply differently with a brush. 'Spirit Rock' also had large pink chunks of glitter in it but these just sort of fell away when swatching they are a lot more noticeable in the pan.
Overall I am pleased with my purchase, I think it's an affordable palette for the quality of shadows and I look forward to trying it out some more. I think 'Pink Champagne' could be making an appearance at Christmas!

Find the ABH Self-Made Palette online at Beauty Bay

If you follow my blog you may or may not have read my previous post (here) on how I receive orders in the UK from US companies that do not offer UK shipping.
This post is aimed specifically towards ColourPop and how I use the forwarding company Shipitto to get my orders to me.
In my previous post I mentioned how I used the "Assisted Purchases" tool where Shipitto place your order and forward your parcel to you. This time I used my "Virtual Mailbox" for the first time. Although Shipitto obviously still do the forwarding of your parcel, I have to place the order with ColourPop myself through the ColourPop website and have it sent to the Shipitto warehouse.

Within my Shipitto account I have a "Virtual Address" where my ColourPop orders are to be sent and when they receive the parcel they then email you informing you that they have it, at which point you must log back in to your account and complete your order by arranging delivery and filling out your declaration form.
Below is a snapshot of how the Virtual Address looks within my Shipitto account, for obvious reasons I blurred out some of my personal information.

Cost of shipping:
As Shipitto have the weight and dimensions of your parcel when it arrives at their warehouse they calculate the cost of shipping with each potential sender, below is a screenshot of how my delivery costs looked with my latest ColourPop order. For reference I had five liquid lipsticks and one gel eyeliner, nothing that would be of a significant weight.


There is more delivery options further down the list however the prices start to get a little silly ($100+) so I don't think they are worth sharing. As always I chose Airmail Economy, obviously its the cheapest option and although it states that it can take between 20-45 days for my parcel to reach me from past experience I found it took less than two weeks. For the sake of $3.90 I did choose to add on insurance. Once you have chosen your delivery method you must deposit the necessary amount into your account.

Below is another screenshot of how my package status appears on my account when everything is complete and ready to be shipped to me. It tells me the total cost of shipping, breaking down all the individual costs including the $1 Shipitto fee for using their service. Notice that in this instance my Customs Value is $30.00, this is how much my ColourPop order came to before shipping. It is important that this is correctly stated on your declaration form to avoid the nasty customs charge when it arrives in the UK. You must also state the contents of your parcel e.g. Make-up, the quantity of items in your parcel and whether it is a gift or merchandise.

And that's it, Shipitto notify you when they have despatched your parcel via email, it's pretty straight forward and I think it's very affordable. If you think my order was a total of $40.21, including shipping (my ColourPop shipping was free) which is around £26.06 (depending on the exchange rate). You can buy one lipstick for more than that in the UK so for six pieces of make-up it's definitely budget friendly.

Hoped this post helped some of you!
Visit Shipitto
       


The Meet Matt(e) Hughes Liquid Lipsticks by The Balm are my second ever purchase from the company, I already have the Mary Lou Manizer Highlighting Powder which I adore and a lot like the highlighter these liquid lipsticks were being heavily raved about on social media. Although The Balm Cosmetics is easily available in the UK the Meet Matt(e) Hughes Liquid Lipsticks are only available through Debenhams. When I first tried to purchase them 'Committed' was out of stock as it is currently (14/10/15) but I kept checking back and managed to bag myself the two shades I wanted when they had re-stocked.

I guess starting with the obvious, the packaging. I'm not a lover of The Balm's packaging to be honest, I know they go for the whole retro look but I am more of a modern, simplistic packaging lover, I find The Balm's packaging a little busy. Basic twist off cap with a dofus applicator, 7.4ml of product to be going on with, definitely won't run out in a hurry.
'Honest' is definitely a warm coral shade and 'Committed' is more of a mauve, pinky nude.
Both lipsticks provide an opaque colour and a completely matte finish, when on the lips even when totally dry if you put your lips together you do get that slight 'peeling away' effect where your lips feel like they are slightly stuck together but it's not overbearing I personally found that the L.A. Girl Matte Pigment Glosses were a lot worse than this. Also while wearing these lipsticks my lips did not feel dried out as you can get from some matte formulas.
I tested both shades out on separate days to what I feel was their maximum capacity, I wore 'Committed' for an eight hour shift at work and 'Honest' for an all day shopping trip to the Trafford Centre in Manchester so it's safe to say their longevity has been tested to the highest level. After only four hours of wear the product had started to wear from the centre of my lips, I had not eaten during this time, however I had drank. I honestly expect a longer wear time from a matte liquid lipstick, I have satin lipsticks that I have worn longer than that before seeing any change. As the lipsticks wore away it was quite subtle, they didn't look obviously patchy and they didn't flake off or crack on the lips I guess it was more of an ombre effect, bare in mind that the two shades I have against my skin tone look a lot less obvious but some of the darker shades may be a lot more noticeable if they wear away to the same effect. Maybe it was just me but The Balm do claim that their Liquid Lipsticks are "Long-Lasting" so to only get four hours I was a little disappointed but I have read some other reviews that state a different wear time, for me personally they didn't last as long as I would of hoped.


Priced at £13.50 each the Meet Matt(e) Hughes Liquid Lipsticks are definitely not in the bracket of drugstore pricing, nor are they high end just somewhere in-between and quite often on Debenhams they have 10% off beauty at selected times of the year when you can save yourself a little bit extra.



I've been MIA, not for the first time. It really frustrates me that I can't put 100% into my blog right now I have loads of content in my head that I just need to type into a post but haven't had the opportunity.
First up on my agenda was micellar water, a relatively new product in the skincare community, micellar water's have only really started getting popular this year, or at least I have only noticed them becoming popular this year. There are lots of different brands who offer micellar water in their skin care ranges now, the first brand I ever came across that started doing it was Bioderma but for me personally I thought it was over priced so I bought the Garnier one instead which from what I had read was very comparable. Last month I picked up a new micellar water by Soap & Glory and thought I would compare it with the Garnier one.


When it comes to micellar water, I personally don't feel that your skin feels the difference in terms of looking healthier, after all it's only to remove make-up or in my case make-up residue as I only use micellar water to remove what I didn't get when I deep cleanse in the shower.
Starting with the Garnier, a little goes a very long way, I like to squeeze a little bit onto a cotton round and get rid of any left over foundation or mascara from my under eyes, the water itself is a bit, foamy.. It kind of bubbles up on the cotton round which I don't particularly like but I can get over it as it does effectively remove any bits of make-up I left behind after showering. It also says you can use the Garnier Micellar Water on your lips, wouldn't advise it, tastes awful!
Onto the Soap & Glory, to be fair the poor thing is already off to a poor start because I unknowingly purchased without being aware that it had cucumber extract in it, which is up there with my least favourite scents of all time, so thats one mark against this product already. However, the juice and peachfruit extracts make it a little less potent but overall I would say the cucumber comes through the most. This water is suitable for all skin types and removes my make-up just as well as the Garnier and doesn't foam up which I like, the bottle is also easier to squirt out onto a cotton pad too it's more direct the Garnier one, that tends to run down the bottle when pouring it out and you end up with it on your hands. The first day after I used the Soap & Glory DRAMA CLEAN 5-in-1 Micellar Cleansing Water I had a really sore spot on my cheek, I am not someone who gets spots very often but this one was painful, I am not saying it was down to the Soap & Glory Micellar Water but it could of been a factor.

Cost:
Probably the most important factor I check out before buying any product, I am not one for over priced skincare unless it is absolutely out of this world, notice the difference, can't live without it kind of product.
Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water 400ml - £4.99
Soap and Glory DRAMA CLEAN 5-in-1 Micellar Cleansing Water 350ml - £6.00
If your looking for the cheapest option, Garnier is your guy, or your girl.. However Boots more often than not offer 3 for 2 on skincare, normally I would never of paid £6.00 for a glorified water in a bottle with a bit of added stuff but it was actually in with two other skincare items I bought recently on the 3 for 2 offer so I got it for free technically.

So if your looking for a cost friendly, effective, non-smelly micellar water I would recommend the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. Don't get me wrong, I will continue to use up the Soap & Glory Micellar Water as I am not one for waste but for the incredible price point and effectiveness I will continue to re-purchase the Garnier option. Unfortunately the Soap & Glory lost out on this occasion but I love plenty of other products by them, my number 1 product in their skincare range is the Flake Away Body Scrub if you have sensitive skin this product probably isn't for you but if you are in the market for a highly abrasive scrub to remove any unwanted dead skin that scrub is amazing.


Summer is very nearly over and for me the darker lips have already started, to be honest they never really left I always tend to lean towards more of a dark lip but lately I have a new current favourite combination that is perfect for heading in to Autumn.


I recently did a post on the L.A. Girl Matte Flat Finish Pigment Glosses and by far my favourite was the shade 'Dreamy', paired with my trusty lip liner from M.A.C in the shade 'Whirl' this combination provides me with the perfect dark nude colour with subtle pink undertones for Autumn. I also found that combining this matte gloss (which I class as more of a liquid lipstick) with a liner you get even more wear time allowing you to achieve maximum longevity on the lips.

Left - L.A. Girl 'Dreamy' Right - M.A.C Lip Pencil 'Whirl'
Whirl lipliner is now widely available again as I am pretty sure the Kylie Jenner craze has now died down thankfully! And the L.A. Girl Matte Flat Finish Pigment Gloss is also widely available online and very affordable too.

Find the liner here
L.A. Girl Gloss is cheapest on eBay with free shipping here




I am already a huge fan of so many of Maybelline's concealers, the Age Rewind and the Master Conceal are already on my top 5 list. Last month I picked up the Better Skin when I placed an Ulta order (find out how i do that here) and I have had that many concealers on the go I haven't had chance to try it until this month.
As with most other concealers it has a twisty cap with a handy dofus applicator to allow you to accurately place it where you need it.
I got mine in the shade Light 20 which I thought I may get away with using under my eyes as a bit of brightener but this shade actually matches my foundation pretty accurately so I don't use it as a highlight. To be fair this concealer only states to be a 'corrector' not an under eye brightener. I personally think that if you have some patchiness, uneven skin tone or dark under eye circles that your foundation doesn't quite cover then you could use this concealer in places to even things out, it's fairly lightweight and doesn't provide that much coverage so I wouldn't use it on any prominent blemishes or spots. Or even if your going for a "no make-up, make-up" kind of day this would be perfect! It's not going to look cakey instead it will look quite natural on the skin.
Has this concealer landed itself in my top 5? Sadly not, it doesn't do anything for my skin that my other concealers can't do, I don't get very many spots fortunately and my skin tone is pretty even so I am not sure how I could fit this product into my daily routine.
It's definitely worth trying if you are in the market for a lightweight concealer to provide an added bit of coverage in places you feel you may need it, it's just not something I need right now.

This concealer is available in the UK here but instead of being a twist cap dofus applicator it's a squeezy tube, whats that about Maybelline? It's also pretty inexpensive as it is drugstore.



For a while now I have been searching for a new foundation, I have been trying out the L'Oreal Infallible Matte Foundation for around three months, I kept using it for a while then stopping and using something else but I always ended up reverting back to this one.

Firstly this is a full coverage foundation, it's quite thick but I don't put this on par with Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation, cause that stuff is thick! After a while that started to go patchy on me, this foundation doesn't do that. My shade is 11 Vanilla which is a perfect match with my skin tone, if you are a fair skinned person who doesn't get a lot of sunlight like me then this shade would probably suit you quite nicely, it doesn't look orange on the skin either.

As I am oily the bold claim of a 24-hour matte foundation is unfortunately not the case, however I didn't expect it to be. I have never worn this foundation for a full 24 hours firstly, 10 hours has been my maximum. I can honestly say as time goes on this foundation doesn't break up or go patchy, with most other foundations after about 8 hours my t-zone is looking like a greasy mess but 10 hours later and the L'Oreal Infallible Matte just looks 'dewy'. I definitely think there is a difference between your skin looking moderately hydrated with a slight shine to looking straight up oily.
I allowed myself three months to try this foundation so my skin could really get used to it and this product lets the least amount of oil come to the surface of my skin and for that reason I already know I will repurchase.


My one niggle, I have to clean my foundation brush at least every three days because I get all this build up of dried up product in my brush that falls out when I use it and if it gets on your white jeans when your getting ready, your knackered, take it from me. I know you should clean your brushes regularly to prevent bacteria from giving you break outs and all that stuff but I am lazy, I don't find brush cleaning enjoyable as I am sure most people. Every three days! This is far too much effort and that is the only thing that lets this foundation down. I have never had a foundation do this before so I find it rather strange but I will persevere as the positives outweigh the negatives.

Find it here at Boots


July Beauty Favourites 2015 | KMC Beauty

by Kelly, August 01, 2015

For July I have rounded up some of my current favourite beauty products to share with you all, I don't  do monthly favourites religiously only when I find products that are really worth taking about.

Bleach Silver Shampoo
As it stands I currently have very dark roots and blonde ends but my blonde just never seems to shake off that brassiness, I have tried the Provoke Touch Of Silver Shampoo and that didn't seem to lift away any of the brassiness I am trying to shift even when I left it on for great lengths of time. I was reading reviews on the Bleach London Silver Shampoo and everybody had great things to say about it and how it worked wonders so I ordered some for myself. I feel like every time I use this shampoo I notice a change in my hair colour, I am step by step getting closer to banishing my brassiness for good and this shampoo is my saviour. The directions do not state that you should leave this in your hair for any length of time but i'm impatient and I have been known to leave this in for 45 minutes on one occasion and my hair managed not to go purple. I don't use this product everyday but mostly when I have the time to leave it on otherwise I think it's a bit pointless to just use like any other shampoo. If you have brassy hair and you have the time in your day to leave this shampoo on for a little while I strongly recommend it, it's gearing my hair up nicely for a fast approaching colour change coming soon.
Find it here at Boots.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer
It's the concealer with the worlds longest name but worth typing over and over because it's so damn good, for me the formula is just where I want it to be it's not too watery that it doesn't provide enough coverage and it's not too thick that it looks cakey and creases. It's the perfect consistency of being a lightweight concealer as the name 'Weightless' would suggest but definitely giving me the under eye coverage I need. The down side is the colour selection, it's not the best and the names of each colour are very confusing if you are ordering online, if you have a nearby counter I would definitely suggest going there to try it out first to determine your shade, unfortunately I have no counters near where I live, as with most high end make-up brands but I made a guess and chose 'Light Warm' which I think is a good fit. I am fairly pale at the moment but I do like my under eyes to be a tad brighter than my foundation and this shade does just that.
Find here at Debenhams.

Rimmel London Professional Eye Brow Pencil
As much as I love by ABH Dipbrow Pomade lately I have been going for a more natural brow look and you just can't get a natural brow with the Dipbrow, or at least I can't. So I just like to use my Rimmel Eye Brow Pencil to give my brows a little more shape at the front of the brow so they are more squared off and a tiny bit on the tail and fill in any other sparse areas, mine is in the shade Dark Brown. I literally use the lightest hand when applying to achieve the most natural look possible and i'm really loving the results. I'm also saving a lot of time doing it this way. This pencil does come with brush on the lid (not shown in the picture) but I personally do not use it, I find it too hard I just revert back to my ABH Brow Wiz spoolie if I need to use it.
This pencil is also super affordable find it here.

Origins GinZing Energy Boosting Moisturizer
A product I have previously mentioned on my blog but I don't think I have ever featured it in a favourites post before, if I have then sorry.. But it's only this month I have been grabbing for this moisturiser again since my skin has been freaking out. I'm oily, i've been oily for a couple of years now but suddenly my face is developing these dry patches particularly below my cheeks, obviously the warmer months could be a factor but dry skin isn't normally something I have to deal with. I like to put this moisturiser on before bed time and sleep with it on. In the morning I wake up and wash my skin and it just feels rejuvenated, the dry patches don't disappear but they do improve, I think I need to be more consistent with a moisturising regime to really see a difference.

What beauty products have you been loving this month?




Five weeks since my last blog post? Unacceptable I know! If you have read my bio page you will know sometimes life gets in the way of me putting up a new blog post every week, and this time it majorly did. Between buying our first home to having my tonsils out with some complications afterwards the past few weeks have been a bit hectic.
Trying to make up for lost time I wanted to get up a blog post about some new Maybelline releases I was so excited to receive from the states (click here to find out how I get US orders) starting with the Color Blur Lip Pencils.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to pick up the entire colour selection they had to offer, I think they have 10 shades in total but I grabbed myself 4 to try out.


Interestingly these pencils come with little smudgers (is that a word?) on the end of them, kind of like erasers/rubbers or atleast thats what they feel like, but i really do not want to use them! I have this thing about stuff like that I like things to stay clean so I really can't bring myself to use the rubber. Obviously the name is "Color Blur" meaning you can blur our the colour on your lips if you like but personally I just prefer a more opaque finish, if I wanted a semi opaque finish I would buy a less pigmented lipstick you know? Or blot with a tissue. Maybe that's just me.
Each shade I got is very pigmented, multiple layers are definitely not necessary when applying and I know that I didn't do any swatch pictures on the lips this time round but I honestly haven't been in the frame of mind to put any make-up on as of recent, but this is not a permanent thing, I will continue to do lip swatches in the future.
I hope they bring these lip pencils to the UK soon, I think they would definitely take off.




If i'm honest i've never really liked primers, i've tried a few in the past and they never did anything for me, everyone had good things to say about the new Make Up For Ever primer range and when the brand landed at Debenhams immediately I was drawn to the 'Mattifying' Primer as I have oily skin.
Due to my previous experiences with primers I didn't have any high expectations before trying this one however I was pleasantly surprised when I did.

Unlike your typical primers this one doesn't feel siliconey at all, it feels like more of a gel but it's not overly thick.
I was disappointed when I received the tube in the post and saw how small it was, I thought to myself, if i'm using this on my t-zone every single day then this won't last me five minutes but a little really does go a long way, as long as you act fast! This stuff drys really quickly, which if you work it into the areas you want it quickly it's fine, this is definitely a plus for me as i'm always in a rush getting ready in the morning and I don't have time for those primers you have to wait for so they can 'sink into the skin' or whatever they supposedly do.
This Mattifying Primer definitely drys completely matte and my foundation glides over the top of it, it doesn't cling to the places I have applied it.
Without primer my oil starts to appear in my t-zone around dinner time on a typical working day, but with the primer it still starts to appear at the same time of day but I don't look as oily, so although it doesn't prolong my oil it definitely reduces the amount that comes to the surface of my skin.

Now I wouldn't say I have been converted onto primers however I was really impressed with this one, it definitely lives up to the hype and wipes the floor with any I have tried previously (including the Porefessional *GASP*)

Find the MUFE Step 1 Skin Equalizer Mattifying Primer at Debenhams - here
Have you tried any of the MUFE new primers?



If you read my June Wishlist (here) you will have seen the new Urban Decay concealer on there, I was in the market for a new concealer and after hearing a lot of good things I decided this was the one I wanted to try out next. At the time of purchasing Debenhams was having their usual 10% off all beauty which they do quite frequently so I decided this was the best time to pick it up.

It comes in this warm bronze packaging and inside contains the 5ml tube that is see through so you can see your product and how much you have left and also has a twist off cap with a dofus applicator.
I will say that this concealer is a lot more watery than other concealers I have tried in the past but it provides really good coverage and a little goes a long way, when I first tried it out I created a triangle of concealer under my eyes like I always did however this was far too much product and I had trouble blending it out, I now find that two lines under each eye as seen in the below photo is the perfect amount to provide me with the under eye coverage I need.
Excuse my bare face, I wanted to show how much coverage the concealer provides alone instead of on top of my foundation, it doesn't give that 'stark white' effect, thats not for me but it does even out my skin tone and also hides any veining I have on my eyelids.

Urban Decay Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer - Light Warm
I have tried both Beauty Blender and my finger to blend out the concealer and both work perfectly, I couldn't tell much difference between the two, when blending out with either method the concealer was easy to work with.
Where I live I don't have a nearby counter where I could go and swatch all of the shades to find out which one I wanted so online it was a bit of a guessing game, I ended up picking up the shade 'Light Warm' as I wanted a colour that was a shade lighter than my foundation to brighten up my under eye, like I mentioned I didn't want a colour that would look stark white on the face as I am fairly pale to begin with, I think I made the right decision in choosing Light Warm it works perfectly and brightens under my eyes just the way I like.

Now when it comes to hydrating my skin, i'm not the best! I try and moisturise my skin but to be honest it's only when I remember to, under my eyes I do have some lines where this concealer does settle, if you moisturise under your eyes on a regular basis (like I should) then this may not be a problem for you, I am trying to remember to put on my eye cream every night now to see if it will make a difference in the future.

All in all I am definitely impressed with this concealer and I would repurchase it again when I run out, it has taken the place of my Maybelline Age Rewind concealer and it's definitely above the MAC Pro Longwear as I find that a bit cakey!

Find online at Debenhams here - Full price £17.50 but if you can hold out I would wait till they have 10% off as they regularly do!


June 2015 Wish List | KMC Beauty

by Kelly, May 30, 2015
During May I have been trying to put myself on a no spend, for the most part I have succeeded, definitely in terms of make-up i've done pretty well, so for the month of June I have created a wishlist of my top 5 items I am dying to get my hands on.

1. Urban Decay Afterglow Blush - Fetish
Urban Decay have released a new line of blushers this Spring and I really want to try them! In particular the shade 'Fetish' looks up my alley, described as a 'medium pink nude' i'm just in the market for a blush to give me a light wash of colour on my cheeks for Summer. The range has 12 shades in total.

2. Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer
Sticking with the theme of Urban Decay can you say longest name for a concealer ever? Although it has a ridiculously long name this concealer is being massively hyped up in the beauty community and I am actually running out of my Maybelline Eraser Eye Concealer (known in the US as the Age Rewind concealer) and although it is a good concealer it doesn't really have that wow factor for me so i'm thinking of trying the Urban Decay one out for a change, the only thing stopping me is that I have no idea which shade to get, after watching people use it on YouTube I think I am best suited to the shade 'Light Warm'.
If anybody has this concealer and has fair skin but uses it as a brightening concealer I would love to known which shade you found suited you best.
Find it here.

3. Charlotte Tilbury - The Supermodel Videobox Make-up Set
Okay so this product is just a fantasy purchase if i'm honest, I have absolutely no intention of purchasing this for myself but it's on my wishlist anyways as I would love to have this make-up set! I don't actually own anything from Charlotte Tilbury and i've never tried any of her products but this set caught my eye on Selfridges website, containing a total of 7 of her products
This item is exclusive to Selfridges, find it here.

4. MAC Paint Pot - Soft Ochre
In desperate need of an eyeshadow base, struggling with my eyeshadow to get an even blend, I think an eyeshadow base such as this cult favourite may solve my problem.
Find online here

5. Make Up For Ever - Step 1 Skin Equalizer
As memory serves me and primers don't have a great history, tried the Porefessional by Benefit, just made my skin feel slippy and the Maybelline Baby Skin didn't help my oily skin situation what so ever. So Debenhams have recently started selling Make Up For Ever in the UK, however out of all the primers typically the one I want they don't have it yet. So I tootled along to Sephora, they have the mattifying primer that I wanted to try, add to basket, get to checkout and it says 'This item can not be shipped to your location' annoying. Although I regularly use Shipitto (I did an entire blog post on this company here) it's not really worth using for just one item. So basically not sure how I am going to get my hands on this primer but I really do want to try it so bad!
If your in the states then enjoy this link I have kindly provided for you here.
And if your in the UK and you don't have oily skin you can basically choose from every other single primer in the range except from the mattifying one here.
Update 04/06/2015 - Debenhams now have the mattifying primer! find it here!

What's on your Wish List for June?

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