So recently I got the opportunity to review some new products from The Estee Edit. I have the Pore Vanishing Stick, Beam Team, Flash Illuminator in shade 4 Day Light, and The Barest Lip Color shade 05 In The Buff. So Estee Lauder is known more so for appealing to maybe an older target if you will, even though we all know we love some Double Wear. Don't play, if you don't love it you've at least owned 1 bottle. I'm not kidding Double Wear is the OG of good foundation. Moving on, they have introduced The Estee Edit line which is full of tons of cool and innovative products. When I say innovative I mean it. I shit you not, they have a lip stick transformer (2 actually) that LITERALLY makes doing an ombre lip a piece of cake as well as just making a lip color into something entirely different. It's incredible. They have a ton of new products, I actually viewed them all in store with my friend Edie who works at my Sephora in Knoxville. If you live around here go in and ask for her she really knows what she's talking about. Anyways, from packaging to the line itself it's all REALLY REALLY GOOD. I'm so impressed with what they've done and all I can say is it must have taken a long time to get all of that together because..... it's a lot. So starting with the Pore Vanishing Stick. I love this product. I don't know about you but when I use other pore filling or minimizing products, that you apply before makeup or touch up with, they tend to have that "slip" feeling which is usually from a silicone ingredient and for whatever reason that makes my foundation and makeup slide right off my face. It makes me super oily, it just doesn't work for me. This on the other hand is stick form and thus goes on the skin and then when you touch the skin, after applied, it feels.... like skin. Like you didn't do anything at all to it, but your skin looks smoother or mine did. Now I'm not saying it made every large pore disappear but I was able to wear a ton of highlight and pretty much apply it to my entire face without making my pores look humongous. So I really like this. Now, for whatever reason after I used it my stick started to get bumps in the product which is why I'm not showing you what the product looks like in this post. It's not a big deal but it is something that I feel when I apply it to my skin, I feel the bumps in the stick now when it used to be smooth. So I still use it and love it but just so I'm being honest that has happened to mine. Next is The Beam Team. This is a cool product. This is basically an illuminated cream/moisturizer with a cream poured highlighter on top of the twist off cap. I don't used the highlighter in the cap that much but this cream is so nice. Mine comes out quite golden but when rubbed in, it sinks into the skin and feels good like a really good moisturizer would. I have used this applied after foundation, with foundation and on it's own and I like it every time. I will say that if you don't want specific areas to have some "glow" to them you may want to apply this before foundation or to specific places after foundation. This is also great if you don't want to wear foundation but you still want to look healthy and well....glowing. So days on the beach, lake, or just running errands this is perfect for those "skin focus" kinda days. Next is the Barest Colour lipcolor in 05 In The Buff. This is a sheer to medium, high shine, super creamy neutral lipstick. This shade is actually pretty dark on first glance but swatched it's a medium mauve with a hint of brown. Applied it gives the lips just enough color. No it's not gonna last all day but this is great for those who are running late, don't want to think about it, don't want to worry if your lipstick is jacked up in a meeting, or whatever because it will apply easily but as it fades it will do so unnoticeable. Plus we all carry lipstick in our purse for touch ups anyway. Last is the Flash Illuminator. This comes in a few other shades and my shade is Day Light. I probably wouldn't have picked this color for myself because it has kind of a pink undertone, but this makes great cream blush that can double as a highlight, or be a base for both blush or highlight. Which is actually how I like using it, as a base. I will be honest though and say in general I don't use cream blushes or highlights often. They've never really been my thing but this is a pretty thick formula and beautiful product that does what it should do so I have no complaints as far as how it performs or is made. Below I'm gonna add in some pictures of swatches and me wearing the products. I applied the creams with a damp sponge and you'll see once they're on they just make you look really healthy and glowing. **I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.** Wearing Flash Illuminator in Day Light, the Beam Team all over, and The Barest Lip Colour in 5 In The Buff. Pore Vanishing stick was applied before foundation. Flash Illuminator in 4 Day Light Barest Lipcolour in 5 In The Buff So this is the Beam Team. The color in the lid is not super pigmented, so don't let the color fool you or intimidate you. The color of the cream looks super yellow gold but worked into the skin it's not so yellow gold. Don't let that fool you either.
You can get this at Sephora, Nordstrom, Belk, and Dillards I'm sure. Here's some promos for Sephora. Use Ebates and get you some cash back. Sephora has 8% cash back right now. For VIB and VIB Rouge: Code "3FORVIB" pick three Fresh Minis with a $35 purchase. While supplies last. Code: "Sparkle" for 1 free Summer Essential which there are 4 to choose from. $25 purchase. You can still get 5 samples at check out rather than 3, until July 11th. First Aid Beauty Mask Mini. Code: "Bouncy" with $25 purchase.
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The Dark palette is on the left and obviously the darker one. The Light palette is on the right. Elf Cosmetics is always giving us some really good affordable makeup and brushes actually. I have several things from Elf. Brushes, eyeshadow palettes, and now blush palettes. The blush palettes in particular the "Dark" one is creating quite a buzz. The lighter one I've not heard much about. At $6 though you can't turn it down. I found mine at Walmart. The palettes has 4 blushes in them. One shade usually has either glitter or a shimmery sheen to it. The rest are a matte-satin type finish. Let me just confirm what everyone else is saying.....these are really good and the formula is really nice. The Dark one is crazy pigmented, the light one however is not as pigmented as the dark one. It has much brighter colors in it so I feel like it's a really good thing that it isn't so crazy pigmented because it's much more wearable and the intensity can be built up to where you want it. So I like them both even though they are very different. I would put these up against any other blush I have, including the Becca, Tarte, Makeup Geek, so on so forth. They are just as good and hold their own. The packaging is simple, matte black and travel friendly. They both have a color that could work as a bronzer as well so that's a big plus. So here are pictures of the palettes and swatches without flash (left) and with flash (right). The top quad is the light palette as are the first 4 swatches from the top. The bottom quad is the dark palette as are the last four swatches. Each swatch of the lighter palette has two swipes. The darker one was basically one swipe for all of them.
Several of these in the light palette has some shades that are similar but not dupes for the Tarte Tartiest blush palette. Becca Songbird has a decent similarity to one of the shades in the dark palette. These are all pretty standard colors in the Light palette. Basic pinks and peachy shades and a tan color. The darker palette is not necessarily colors you've never seen before but just colors that you probably wouldn't lean toward using. Understandable, because they can be quite intimidating but just try them especially in the summer. Dark blushes with a tan or dewy skin look phenomenal. They are so flattering and make you look even more sun-kissed. So I can't tell you anything bad about them. They're ideal to have just so you would have plenty of shades to choose from for anything or any look you might use. They're also awesome for a makeup artist for their kit. So this is the new Tarte Tartiest Blush Palette. It has 4 shades it's the same size, package wise. There are 3 matte shades and 1 shimmery shade. I won't be showing swatches because the swatches are disappointing. They don't do justice to how the pigmented the blush actually is when applied. So I don't want you to google swatches and then think this sucks. Because that's what I thought at first. I'm really enjoying it though. Now this is $38 for 4 shades with beautiful packaging. Makeup Revolution has blush palettes that have 8 shades in them that are awesome for about $10 that are also awesome. Not identical mind you so if you love these shades in the Tarte palette then I'm all for getting it. The four shades are Live, Laugh, Love, and Dream. Live and Dream are the brighter ones. Live is a warmer bright pink, Dream is a cool toned bright pink. Laugh is my favorite and I wear it constantly because you can't see the shimmer it's just super healthy looking. Love is a matte more neutral shade. They all wear extremely well, and apply really pigmented so go light at first and build from there. I went in heavy because the swatches weren't much and ended up buffing some of the color off.
I've worn all of them and they all can be pretty universal I think, which is very cool and not something you can get in a palette of blushes. You usually have several shades that are not wearable , or pigmented, too shimmery, so on so forth. This one seems, to me, to be a great palette that would be a good investment if you find that most colors work well for you. As always if you're going to buy this it's available at Ulta and Sephora (out of stock at the moment). As always use Ebates and get you some cash back. Here we are with another review. I hope you aren't getting tired of them. Then again, this is a makeup blog lol. So today we have the Kat Von D Two Tone blush in Hansel+Gretel. First off, this is only a review of this specific color, as I do not own the rest of the colors and unfortunately sometimes formulas can vary between shades. There are 7 blushes in this line. All of them being matte, and designed to help you sculpt and define your cheekbones along with providing you color. They each have a dark shade and a light shade. It comes with a diagram of three ways you can apply it (according to your face shape) and it was made to work hand in hand with the Shade+Light Contour Palette. So for this shade, I really really like it. I'll be the first to tell you they don't swatch that great on the hand...they apply much better with a brush to the cheeks as you'll see on down. The pan in mine does seem a little wobbly. It's not on the verge of popping out or anything I don't think, but it does move.That has been one of the issues talked about with these. Which I either won't travel with it or I'll depot it and put it in a z palette if I'm determined to have it with me all the live long day. Another thing that I'm seeing people say is that they're "chalky" and "powdery". They do have excess powder when you use them, but so does my Shade+Light palette and everyone loves that so I don't really find that a huge issue. I do not find these dry however, which "chalky" products seem to be. This particular shade is a peachy/apricot shade. The light shade reminds me very much of Makeup Geek Bliss blush and I don't have anything really for the darker shade. I will say that on the skin combined they remind me of Songbird from Becca only without the sheen, because it's a bit darker peach. This is also a lot of product as well. If you only wanted to use one side you could do that with a regular sized blush brush just fine because it's as big as a Becca highlighter. It's 9 grams which is .317 oz for $25. Here is a list of the size of other popular blushes and their price:
These are the swatches. As you can see they don't look as pigmented and they actually look very similar maybe just a shade difference between the two, when there are really several shades different. Also you can see some extra powder on the swatches because YOU DO GET SOME excess. This formula though is very silky and a bit thin which can be better than all these heavy "cream like" powders like Becca ( I love Becca though). I find these don't emphasize pores as much, and I get down with that. This formula is similar to the Shade+Light palette which would stand to reason because they are made to work together only the Shade Light palette seems to be a bit thicker and more pigmented. My advice is try your best to try this on with a brush and go from there. This is where I show you how I placed mine. Now you can totally just mix these together and use them as a blush, I wore mine for at least half a day before taking it off and it held up really well. I applied these like the diagram suggested, applying the dark shade near the ear and the lighter shade in front of that. I did use two separate brushes though to apply them to make sure I was getting the right shade in the right place. The last pic (bottom right) is when I added (very lightly) some contour in. So the definition you hopefully can see is mainly from the blush. Also if you happen to not like flat, matte, blushes, I feel like this is a good base for a a similar blush with a different finish you could possibly put over it. Alright, so final thoughts: I really really like this. I know they're getting mixed reviews so that's why I stress that this shade works really well for me. The pink shades aren't getting amazing reviews but I haven't tried them. They did say that this is build able color. I personally had to buff mine out some what, because I went in a little heavy. It was super easy to blend and apply. I really don't have many negatives about this, certainly nothing substantial enough to make me wish I hadn't purchased this.
I got mine from Sephora. Remember to use Ebates when you order and get you some cash back. *There is also a link on the side bar for it.* As you know, I love all types of makeup. People ask me if I ever wear makeup from drugstores and the answer is "absolutely!". I wear something drugstore every day usually. The truth is that while there are really awesome things that you have to pay a little more for, there are also awesome things you can find cheaper. I never mind investing in good concealer, or correctors and even foundation. I do not buy expensive gloss, mascara, or eyeliners and as of the last few years the drugstore companies have really stepped up their game as far as makeup quality. So there are great foundations and concealers out as well now. Starting with your base: Revlon Colorstay Foundation (the combination/oily formula) Maybelline Fit Me Concealer (really similar to NARS radient concealer but actually a little better) Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless powder (this is really nice to set under the eyes or all over the face) I forgot to include NYX under eye corrector. I think the shade is medium. It's orange. It's all that I use for my dark circles to correct. Its really similar to It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Corrector only a little less shiny. Next up we have blush, bronzer, and eyeshadow. Rimmel Sun Shimmer Maxi Bronzer in Sun Love (it's kinda red based but I love it. I've used it to contour as well.) Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso (this can be found at some CVS but I ordered mine online. This is a popular shade and it's very pretty) Loreal Pressed Pigment Shadows (this color is Amber Rush but I also love Smoldering Plum. They are kinda expensive to be drugstore. Makeup Geek is cheaper but it's only online.) Wet and Wild shadows are really nice as well. I don't have a favorite drugstore highlighter. I haven't found one that I think is great. On to liner and mascara: Loreal Carbon Black Voluminous is my all time favorite. I never run out of it. I always have it in my kit and at my vanity. Loreal Liner Intense liquid liner. I don't use liquid liner much but I do use this to cover up the band of lashes if I need to. Maybelline Eye Studio gel liner. I love this liner. I apply it with a slanted liner brush. Not the brush it comes with. Lastly is lips.
LA Girl Matte Flat Finish Pigment Gloss. I don't know if this is in drugstores. I think it is, but not around me. I order mine from Amazon. Super affordable and just all around good liquid lipsticks. Loreal Color Riche Extraordinaire (I'm not sure if that's the entire name) This is a very pigmented gloss. It smell good but can be a little overwhelming. Kim Kardashian used Nude Ballet in her wedding to Kanye. I have that one, Rose Symphony, and Coral Encore. They're very nice quality as long as your ok with the strong perfume smell. Lip products are easy to find in the drugstore. I like the Revlon Jumbo Sticks in the matte formula as well as the Covergirl Jumbo gloss sticks that are more sheer. Maybelline Vivid lipsticks are fantastic for people who want electric and bright colors. I've always loved the Loreal lipsticks in general, even in highschool. Their nude collection in the black packaging are very nice. So that's it. There are tons of other products I've tried and liked. I want you to keep in mind that there is good and bad in every single line. Just because it costs more doesn't mean it's always good, and just because it's inexpensive doesn't mean it's crap. Read reviews before trying things or see if you can return something if you don't like it. I know Walgreens has a great return policy. So happy shopping! The newest "trend" that's taking off in makeup is "strobing". Contour is "like so last year" and now highlighting the bejesus out of your face is what's in. I, who am not usually the biggest fan of highlighters, am actually really loving this. Mainly because highlighters have become so much better the last few years. Thanks to Becca Cosmetics, I personally feel. So I done this new trend and now I can't stop doing it. You basically highlight the highest planes of your face which is what you would normally do. Most people do it with liquid or cream highlighters to really get that intense "glow from within" look. I use both though. You're gonna focus your highlight on the: Cheek Bones, Nose, Cupids Bow, Brow Bone, and Inner Corner of your Eye. These are all areas that naturally catch the light more. I tend to go a little further than this and I'll explain on down. The first thing you need to remember is to get this in the fullest effect you'll need to start with your skin. So use a really hydrating moisturizer, or a moisturizer that has some shimmer in it. I use Sanitas Oil Free Moisturizer because it just works best on my skin. Don't let the Oil Free part scare you away, it's still incredibly moisturizing. However, keep in mind to have very luminous skin you'll need to use products that will get you there at night too. So I use Caudalie Grape Water facial spray toner, it's moisturizing, as my toner so it doesn't dry out my skin and I used Josie Maran Argan Oil nightly to keep it luminous and glowy instead of dull and dry like some overbearing products can do. For foundation I will use a luminous foundation, which isn't necessary really but I like to do it. So I use Loreal True Match Lumi, NARS Luminous Weightless Foundation, NARS Sheer Glow you get the drift. You don't have to use luminous foundations that's just my preference. I always prime though, I use my Makeup Forever Mattifying Primer just so my foundation doesn't break up or move. I still look luminous but it doesn't move. Now if you're incredibly oily you may not want to do this. That's fine. You can skip straight to highlighting if you want. However, for myself, I tend to be Normal to Dry with my skin so I get a little crazy with my strobing. Products that I really feel make a difference are:
I like to go in with luminous blush as well. Some say don't, I say why not? You can absolutely use matte blush if you want. I apply the highlighting first then I do blush and bronzer. I want the over all look to be sunkissed and have a summer vibe, I'm not looking for an intense pink or peach cheek or intense contour. I want it all to blend into a warm healthy deep glow. So some blushes that I've really loved are: NARS High Intensity Blush Duos applied wet are super watt sheen, almost foiled looking (Fervor is my fave) Becca Blushes (any of them will work, Songbird is my favorite but it's pretty dark) Milani Luminoso blush (very shimmery peach) Makeup Geek Romance (Very shimmery pink/peach) MAC Warm Soul (subtle coral blush with golden sheen) Bronzer that I use last, have been: Makeup Forever Sculpting Duo in 2 Chanel Bronze Universal MAC Careblend Pressed Powder in Dark I did a little contouring today, but I went over it with a "warm" toned bronzer so that it wouldn't look too "contoured". I feel like warmer tones suit this look the best. I don't like a really cool toned harsh contour with this super highlighted look. I would say you don't even have to contour if you don't want to just bronze. I contour because I like it to slim my face and give me cheek bones. So cream contour would be much more natural but you can still use powder contour lightly if you want. The later in the day it gets the more your highlight shows up. It's great for dates, or cook outs, you best believe I'll be rocking it for the Fourth of July festivities. This picture taken above is at about 11 o'clock at night as you can see it's super intense and glowy. You can make it as intense as you want. So add or take away what you want from these tips. It's just makeup.
This post is my go to face routine, not my go to eye but my go to face routine for sure. I'm the type of person who doesn't change things up too much as far as my base makeup, if it's not broke don't fix it is what I say. Forgive the pictures for being kinda grainy my camera was just not hardly working like I wanted today. First up: Makeup Forever Step 1 Equalizer Primer in the Oil Control one (Sephora online offers these as full size for $32 or half size for $16) I'm not particularly oily but this primer is amazing and foundation goes on so nicely over it. Next is NARS Sheer Glow. I got this a few months ago and I've not put it down. It's full coverage in my opinion. Remember is a sheer "glow" not a "sheer" foundation. Concealer I use Urban Decay Naked Skin weightless concealer. This is incredibly weightless and very full coverage. I love it for under the eye brightening that whole area or using it for highlight in general. Contour/Highlight I use Kat Von D Shade Light Contour Palette. In love with this, I have several other contouring things and I won't use anything but this. Blush: when I don't know what I want to use I reach for MAC Warm Soul it's simple, it's glowy, its healthy looking. I absolutely love it. It's what I travel with and everything. It's just a no brainer. Highlight: In this I used Colour Pop Highly Waisted which I love. My normal go to ones would probably be Becca Opal and The Balm Mary Louminizer. For a more subtle look Laura Mercier Baked Highlight 01. Powder: To set my under eye I use MAC Emphasize and to set my face I typically use Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused Light This Navy Eye Look is:
ABH Dragon Fly with Noir over it on the inner and outer corners (also lower lash line) and some Smoke in the crease slightly Makeup Geek Peach Smoothie in the crease MAC Tan pigment center of the lid Lashes are Lena Lashes in Bianca (amazing) Brows are NYX Tame and Frame pomade in Brunette Lips are Gerard Cosmetics Rodeo Drive and Spring Fling gloss **earrings are from Bauble Bar As you know I'm a huge fan of Colour Pop Cosmetics. They have really unique formulas and products as well as being super affordable. They just released their new highlighters last week and I didn't waste any time getting some. Another thing I love about them is that they offer a wide shade range for every skin tone. Their swatches are usually shown on about three different skin tones. From fair/light to medium to dark. I love that. They also do colors you don't typically see that much like purple blushes or green lipstick or reddish blush. The highlighters where no different they offered some really cool colors. Like white, silver, pinks, beiges, gold, corals, peach, bronze, even purples, and then the classic more neutral shades that are more champagne in color. Some duo chrome options as well. There are 15 colors as well. I want to also talk about the formula I believe these are all "Pearlized" but this formula in particular is really really soft. If you have any products from them for cheeks or eyes they are a little "wet" feeling and they kinda remind you as a mousse because your finger sinks into the product and makes a small dent. The wet feeling makes it more thin when you swatch it or apply it with your finger it's incredibly pigmented but it's just not a powder texture. With this formula its much softer and creamier. It doesn't feel wet and when you swatch it its not thin it's a thicker consistency, that's more like an actual powder. It actually reminds me of the Becca highlighters alot but maybe a little creamier if that's even possible. So I'm so impressed with this and I was expecting a wet feel and thin consistency but great pigmentation (as always) but when it came it was an entirely different formula than what I thought it would be. I just can't get over it. I really can't. These are $8 just like the blushes. The shades I got was Monster and Smoke N Whistles. Monster on the left and Smoke N Whistles on the right. Smoke N Whistles is similar to Becca Opal I think just with more silver flecks in it. So when swatched it takes on a more silver look if you layer it on. Monster is a pink duo chrome in my opinion. It doesn't look like it would be in the container, it's very light but when applied it's got a pale pink sheen to it. It's my favorite. Monster on top
Smoke N Whistles on the bottom This week my stand out product is MAC Warm Soul blush. I've used it almost everyday. I never have bought any mineralized blushes from MAC they've never interested me because I felt like they were too frosty looking. This I bought purely because Samantha from Batalash loved it. So without swatching it or anything I bought it. I'm not disappointed. I absolutely love it. It has a golden sheen to it and has like a warm tan base. It makes you look so healthy. I really recommend it. It may not catch your eye but if you want to look healthy and glowy while your pale like Elsa from Frozen give it a shot. Have a good week! First off, excuse my hair. I had just got out of the shower. This is going to be my whole powder contouring routine. This is typically what I do everyday. The pictures above show just foundation, then just bronzer, then contour, and then the finished product. This is my entire face including my nose as far as contouring. The products I'm using is a contour brush, a powder brush, MAC Careblend Pressed Powder in Dark, and Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit. I definately think you need two brushes if at all possible, that is if you want a more dramatic contour. If you just want something light then one brush and maybe even just bronzer will work for you. I,however, like to really make my cheeks prominent. This contour brush ( the smaller domed brush) is from Sephora. You can use one from any brand. Same goes for the powder brush all thought I do recommend that the powder brush be tapered. I just helps keep the product from going everywhere. What you're going to want to do first is powder the areas you're going to contour with a face powder use whatever you want as long as it isn't a highlighter. This keeps the product from getting blotchy. After that take the bigger powder brush about and you're bronzer and dust it along the areas you want to lay your contour down except the nose. It doesn't have to be super noticeable or it can look quite tan it's your call. Just make sure that the bronzer you use isn't as dark as your contour. It needs to be about 2 shades lighter. This step is optional though. I like doing it so I don't have to blend as much and it looks more natural, you can do whatever you want though. In these pictures I'm actually contouring. I already have my base down meaning my bronzer. It's a lighter shade then my contour so I put it on the areas I'm contouring, excluding the nose, just to act as a base so that our contour doesn't look so harsh. I like doing this because you don't have to blend as much when you've done this. It almost acts as a transition color just like the transition color you would use in eye makeup. I'm using the first two colors from the contour kit just mixing them. Sometimes I use all three, sometimes I just use one. I use the middle one because it has an ashy base so I include it so I have more of a shadow under the cheekbone. I start toward the top of the ear and don't go past the tail of my eyebrow. Going in too far will more than likely result in a muddy look, or on me it does. I go diagonally toward the corner of my lip. Not actually reaching the corner but just goin in that direction. If your cheekbones are a little higher I've seen people that can go toward the corner of their nose instead of their mouth. We're using a domed brush so that the color is placed in a smaller area. As opposed to a powder brush that would go much farther down. I find that when it's too far down it takes away from the contouring look which is to slim the face and instead just looks like a tan. Lastly, I contour my nose. I use a eye shadow blending brush to do this. It works best I think because I only like my contour in a small area and then I highlight around it. I take mine about 3/4 the way to the top of the nose. I only contour the parts that I actually want slimmer. Everyone has a different nose shape and there is no correct way or incorrect way for contouring it. You just have to take your time and see what you like. I contour the tip or bulb of the nose because I want it to be thinner than what it is. So I bring the contour down onto the nostrils as well. Which is another reason why I like using an eyeshadow brush. I contour the very tip in the center because if I don't it tends to make my nose look alot longer which I don't want. This is a lot of information and steps you can take away or add to it to fit your needs as always. If you're looking for brushes there is a link to Coastal Scents on the side bar or at the bottom of the page. They have lots of brushes for good prices if you are on a budget or if you just want to give it a try and not waste money if you don't like it.
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ErinI'm from Tennessee. I'm a makeup and skincare lover. I have always enjoyed creating looks but I love to help people with product knowledge and application even more. I've been able to start blogging and do these things I love because God has seen fit to bless me with the opportunity. Thanks for stopping by and visiting with me! Categories
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