Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! Just when you thought I was done with my mention about Stila, well nope, I'm back!

This is Look #2 that I had done using the In The Garden palette though comparing to the first one, it does seem fairly similar. That is without a doubt as the colors used are the same except this time, this eye (shadow) look was done solely using the Garden palette, without intrusions of other items. The placement of the shades do differ a little as well.

The look still carries a mossy tinge as I couldn't resist and reached for the beautiful Juniper, which I used on the outer corner. I really should reach for the blue and pink within this palette more so they aren't all lonely and untouched.

While the look is generally smokey, I aimed to find a way to keep it 'light' so it works as a day look and transcends to a light night look as well.

This look is also extremely easy and quick to do. Once you've settled blending Bark and Juniper into each other, everything else is a breeze!

A bit of a complicated diagram but here's how I placed the colors for this look!

(click to enlarge)

Starfish (Smudge stick) - applied near the the lashline and smudged out

Bark - applied on 2/3s of the lid, starting from the inner side
Juniper - applied on the outer half of the lid
Breeze - dabbed lightly over indicated portion (over Bark)
Nectar - to blend out the edges
Chinois - highlight on the browbone

Products Used:

BROW / FACE
SANA New Born Lasting W Brow in LB3
Elizabeth Arden Good Morning Serum
Biotherm White D-tox BB Cream
Lancôme Maqui Miracle Compact (Crystal)

EYES
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Stila Smudgestick in Starfish
Stila In the Garden Palette (listed above)
CLIO Pen Liner in Black
MAC Powerpoint Liner in Engraved
Lancôme Hypnôse Doll Eyes Mascara

CHEEKS
Sleek Powder Blush in Rosegold

LIPS
Victoria Secret Perfect Lipstick in Heartbeat

Highlighted products were provided by companies/distributors,
I was not obliged to use/feature them in LOTDs.

As Stila shadows are quite easy to blend out, I personally like dabbing that hint of color (Breeze) with my fingers so it provides a more concentrated brightened effect. Else it would be blended out into Bark if I were to use a brush.

I wore this look when this happened....

More about my new hair soon!

How is everyone's weekend? I've been doing a lot of slacking and a lot of sleeping. Not very productive... heh.

Thanks for reading!

Pulled a disappearing act for awhile there, but I'm back. Typically I find it hard to squeeze blogging time over the weekends because sooo many things are happening but I have loads to share and I'm trying to get them up as quick as I can manage.

Rambling aside, I figured I would keep with the flow and post up some Stila goodies I had received before diverting the topic to other things I want to talk about.

The 'star' of this entry is of course the Stila In The Garden palette, so I will give more focus to that first and briefly run through everything else after.

This botanical-inspired palette carries a lovely mix of shades suited for "every skintone", as mentioned by Stila. All of Stila's eyeshadows are formulated such that they can be used both wet and dry for your desired effect.

The palette comes in the form of a sturdy cardboard case that holds together with magnets. I'm not sure if it's just my palette but I found the magnetic pull to be rather weak as compared to other magnetic 'clasped' palettes I have.

Mine seems to push apart quite easily with a light nudge, making it worrisome to toss into a makeup bag or haul along when traveling. Nonetheless it should be safe to carry around if slotted in a safe compartment or would do no harm seated at a makeup counter.

The palette comes with a look book for those in need of a little inspiration.

In The Garden palette comes with 10 eyeshadows varying from neutral highlight tones to brighter accents, though a mossy green vibe dominates the palette. It also comes with a Smudge Stick in the shade Starfish, exclusive to this palette only.

There are no mirrors here which isn't a big deal to me because I hardly use the mirrors encased with palettes anyway.

(click to enlarge to see corresponding names!)

I love the selection and mix of colors in this palette, though honestly I am very easily satisfied. Anything with a good mix of neutrals along with several unique and pretty accent tones wins my heart.

In this case, Rosette and Freesia are beautiful shades. Even the deeper forest-green tone Juniper is lovely as well. Did I already mention, Juniper is probably my favorite shade of the lot, it seems to remind me of A-England's Saint George with it's deep emerald beauty.

Here they are swatch dry, with no primer. I should have done a wet swatch too. Perhaps in another post, another time!

When swatched dry, the shadows are still pigmented but carry a softer tone as opposed to when it's used wet.

Starfish, the smudge stick included is an olive brown with gold sparkles. When seen straight on, it's a definite brown yet it appears to hint at olive in person (or is it just me?).

If you are new to Stila Smudge sticks, these apply very creamy and can be smudged out before they set. Upon setting, they stay on and not budge like your typical eyeliner making it good to use either as a base or a liner!

Flashback to the previous LOTD I had done with the In The Garden palette. I used 3 colors of the lot in a fairly typical fashion, typical in my LOTDs that is.

This was the look:

I had Breeze in the inner corner, Sage in the center and Juniper on the outer corner. I did get some help from Wet N Wild to darken the outer-v and some Jewel Eyeshadow was dabbed in the centre of the lids.

Stila's eyeshadows do blend well and effortlessly into each other, making a very smooth transition. If you want something more distinct, you can use the shadows wet for more 'oomph'.

❧

So that was it for In The Garden palette. I do see myself using it for awhile and will share some assorted looks from this palette!

In the meanwhile, here's a brief rundown of the other Stila goodies we got in the bag, complete with swatches.

Smudge Crayon in Dazzle.

The smudge crayons are fatter than the smudge sticks and function similar to that of MAC's Greasepaint sticks. You can use it as a cream shadow base or eyeliner, though I think a shadow base is the popular usage. I find that it swatches creamier than the smudge stick.

Dazzle is a lovely brown-black shade with gold sparkles.

The next item is a simple ole liquid liner. I have an unspoken love for liquid pen liners and I think they are one of the best things I have introduced to my makeup routine about (maybe?) a year ago. I still love pencil liners but the ease and quick glide of liquid pen liners on the upper lids is the reason why I love these so much.

I shall give this Stila one a shot and see what I think of it.

The tip of the Stila Waterproof Liquid Liner is extremely fine, a lot finer than what I was expecting (though I don't know what I was expecting...). The darkness of it is similar to CLIO's Brush liner - dark enough but not pitch black like CLIO's Pen Liners.

The next product is their One Step Corrector, a very fascinating and adorable product.

This corrector contains a whirl of peach, green and purple to right redness, brighten the skin and eliminate any sallow-ness on the skin. The products swirl around the bottle and is dispensed through a pump.

The colors though separate in the bottle get mixed up together when dispensed but you can still see them 'individually'.

Of course they wouldn't appear as purple, peach or green streaks across your face. When blended, they mix up to form this light beige-y tone. I've not tried it on my face to witness how the correctors do their job but I'll share about that when I do!

On the left is a rough look of the blob smeared out but on the right is the tone it takes on once blended. I believe the dollop I have on earlier is more than enough for 2 applications.

And with this I commence my Stila goodies post and in good time too! Currently Chantana is holding a giveaway for the One Step Corrector and Liquid Liner (in black). Hop on over to her post to enter!

Thanks for reading and I shall disappear away again for the weekends. This entry was actually drafted up over the course of 2 days when it would normally take me one sitting on a weekday to complete. Does anyone else find it harder to do any e-activities on the weekends? Either ways, hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend!

It feels like a Sunday but it's only Saturday! *throws confetti*

Disclosure:
Products were provided to me for review consideration.
I am not affiliated to them and all opinions expressed are my own.

I'm certain that news of Stila being back in Singapore and available to us again has spread through our beauty community like wildfire. After all, it's the iconic Stilagirl, who doesn't love her?

I'll admit I don't have much history with Stila during the time it was around but my makeup chums (appalled that I don't own Stila, and I mean this is a positive way) had gifted me with a couple of items which I do love.

Though back to this, Stila is back and currently a resident in Sephora with a well stocked shelf!

Mag, Chantana and I were down on a Friday evening and the shelves (Stila and another new arrival Laura Mercier - yay!) were bustling with people. Whats more these shelves were facing each other. Can you imagine the congestion in that particular aisle?

Guess we have a good handful of makeup fanatics on our little island!

There are enough posts announcing the warm arrival of these brands on our island so while I had chimed in with it as well, that's not entirely the purpose of this post.

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Stila Cosmetics had arranged for a Makeup demonstration, part of promoting their new Spring 2012 makeup palette - In the Garden.

Long-time Stila Makeup Artist Dominick Briguglio (his twitter) was invited down all the way from USA to show us 2 looks that can be using this palette (and a mix of other products).

The first model for the night was none other than Chantana!

Sorry, not very flattering shot of Dominic but Chantana is cute here!

The first look was a more color focussed one, making use of the mossy-greens available in the palette.

Dominic started off by prepping the skin with some color-correcting primer, liquid foundation and concealer.

I didn't take down a mental note of the entire procedure, colors used though I do have a rough idea. Maybe I can try replicating it from the little fragments I am able to recall.

Though here are more pictures of the makeover process.

The overall look is a mossy-green with an added accent of pinkish-purple on the inner lids - using rosette (only purple in the palette).

Finishing the eyelook with liner and mascara, Dominic added some color to the lips and cheeks.

Cheek: Lillium Convertible Cheek and Lip Color

According to Mag's informative run-down, the cheek item used was Stila's Custom Color blush in Coral (oops, how did I get Lillium?)
Lips: Yumberry Crush Lip and Cheek Stain with Lipglaze in Grapefruit over.

After Chantana's makeover, Dominic demonstrated Look #2 on a different model. Look #2 was suppose to be a smokey yet midly natural.

We stuck around for a bit before adjourning to the Stila shelf to avoid the demo-watching crowd. We were particularly drawn towards the Stila Jewel Eyeshadow which was used in Look #2 because they look so shimmery and lovely!

However the Stila shelf was already bustling with people hunting down products used in Look #1. After some joustling, we got to swatch the Jewel Eyeshadow shades and they were all lovely! Decisions, decisions....

Of course I only swatched the ones I was attracted to but there are loads of lovely shades. Kas recently picked up Amethyst, one of the darker tones, and did a look with it here!

We enabled each other, swatched a couple of products and ooh-aahed at everything. It was a fun time makeup shopping with pals and in the process of enabling, our combined (keyword: combined) shopping basket looked a little something like this.

Will post up my haul very soon! Time has been tight (again) these days but I will stick around as best as I can *shakes a determind fist*

Have you checked out Stila? Picked up anything since their return?

Thanks for reading!

This weekend flew by like a blur (as always) and so many significant things have occurred, one of them being me attending my very first Hens' Night! Or Bachelorette party as some may call it.

Before I talk about the night, I thought I would briefly share some pictures of the look I had on.

If you remember my woe on twitter and seen me around events in my frames, thankfully my contacts were ready just the day before so I didn't have to wear glasses to a Hens Night! It probably wouldn't matter but I wanted to go all out with lashes and the works, which I realize I haven't done in forever!

I had amassed a couple of Stila stuff, some received and some purchased, last week and will feature them shortly but I just couldn't wait to try them out.

In this look I used shades from Stila's In The Garden Palette, their spring 2012 offering. I wanted to mix up something fun and colorful but in the end, I went for a safe smokey moss-green look. I figured I didn't have the time to experiment and given my lack of color-use lately, it could be bad.

The highlight (literally) of this look would actually be the Stila Jewel Eyeshadow in Rose Quartz that I had dabbed, very moderately, in the centre of my lids for some added bling. Though sadly, since everything is shimmery in camera flash, the effect isn't as obvious in these pictures.

Perhaps next time! But it was beautifully (and subtlely) bling in person!

Will go into details about In The Garden's shades soon but for those familiar to it, it's

• Breeze in the inner corner
• Sage in the middle
• Juniper on the outer corner. Love love love Juniper!

Products Used:

BROW / FACE
SANA New Born Lasting W Brow in LB3
Elizabeth Arden Good Morning Serum
Revlon Colorstay Liquid Foundation
Lancôme Teint Miracle Compact Powder (to set)

EYES
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Benefit Skinny Jeans Creaseless Cream Shadow
Stila In the Garden Palette (Breeze / Sage / Juniper)
Wet N Wild Palette in Comfort Zone
Stila Jewel Eyeshadow in Rose Quartz (lightly dabbed in the centre of lids)
28 Color Palette (crease blending & highlight)
Majolica Majorca Neo Automatic Liner
MAC Powerpoint Liner in Engraved
Canmake Lashes in 01 / Dolly Wink Eyelash Glue

CHEEKS
MAC Mineralized Blush in Happy Together
NARS Nico powder blush (as highlighter)
I Nuovi powder blush in Dolly (light dab on the apples)

LIPS
Make Up Store lipstick in Bare

Highlighted products were provided by companies/distributors,
I was not obliged to use/feature them in LOTDs.

I was in so much of a rush that I didn't put my lipstick on till I was on the way to the Hens Night, thus the bare lips in the above. Though I'm just listing the lipstick I had used, just cause!

I didn't have any proper outfit shots but over the course of the night there were some shots taken (by others) somewhat showing it. So here it is!

Taken from Nadia

With part of the gang, waiting for the rest and bride-to-be to arrive before heading in.

And a polaroid with the gorgeous bride-to-be, Clara, later in the night

Outfit:
I had on a slouchy grey tee-shirt (from Bangkok) paired with these black high-waisted Topshop shorts, along with these New Look wedges.

From the front it looks like a comfy attire but thanks to Smith's not very surreptitious shot (yes I knew you took a photo, I saw the flash!), here's the back.. which is also the reason I bought this otherwise normal looking top.

But enough about me, here's more of the bride-to-be on a night I hope she remembers for a good long time to come!

Board reads: I'm Single (for tonight)

Design done by me, caption provided by Smith and unknowingly modelled by Clara. Snagged a shot off her blogshop advertorials, muaha!

Here's the board by the end of the night, filled with polaroids taken from her missions and with us!

Picture from Jacelyn

All in all it was a night of crazy fun for us and I hope for the bride too, amidst her demanding missions. Now I know what to expect if I were to hold a hens night in future. I think I may have to rethink people I want to invite.... ha!

Thanks for reading, hope the weekend went great for you!

The night before, I had a mind to search around my wardrobe for something feminine and floral to wear to the church wedding today. I have no particular idea why floral but I just wanted to wear something I rarely do. Though come morning, it was a whole different story...

Getting ready at 8am (proceedings start at 10am) with 3 hours of sleep left me thinking, okay whatever, I'm just going to slap something on.

Amidst all that, I did manage to reach for the Anna Sui Anna Rose Cheek Color and Double Lipgloss in Sensual Rose. Aside from the swatches I had done, and featured here, I haven't played around with these or wore them out until now.

The blush seems to sway a little pink-toned on me as opposed to the flushed-red I presumed it would be. I had spammed on a little more blush than I normally wear but this blush picks up well and one dusting is really all you need. I went for 1 1/2 because... I needed to look alive at 10 in the morning and the pictures tend to moderate the blush effect a little. The photos reflect what 1 dusting looks in person, hope that makes sense.

Here's the swatch I did in the previous post, just for a recap.

It is still a lovely rosey shade on, which I love but I think it all boils down to how and where you run your brush over and which colors you pick up on.

On my eyes I had on plain ole neutrals, nothing to it and I didn't want to fuss with colors because wearing contacts was quite a challenge in itself already. If only someone could invent tired-eye-friendly contacts!

Though if you are interested,

On My Eyes:
- Stila Kitten
- L'oreal Made For Me Naturals In Medium Fair
- CLIO Professional Pen Liner
- MAC Powerpoint Liner in Engraved
- Dollywink Mascara in Volume

I used both ends of the Double Lipgloss in Sensual Rose, leaving me with a pink-red lip which I think ended up complimenting the blush very well. While I love the rouge portion on it's own, it's a pretty combination and that shine/sheen the glossy end lends is lovely.

❧

As far as outfit goes, I think it's been established that I never did end up dressing in florals. Though I did put some effort into it and dug up this dress I have had for almost a year now but haven't worn out at all.

Ignore the mildly candid hand on the right shot.

This is a cream colored dress with an interesting lapel design along the front. This was one of the first few pieces I had received from Loef (before I did fashion features) and I think they no longer have this up on their site - I think.

Do you have any guilty pieces stashed away in your wardrobe that you haven't worn?

Hope everyone's weekend is going along good and thanks for reading!

Hello! A quick mention and feature about the 2 items I had received from the Anna Sui Spring 2012 collection which I had gone into detail about here.

This post will be a closer look, indepth swatches and my thoughts of the items I had received. Point being that it is done in the comfort of my home and preferred lighting which means juggling the camera in odd angles and the use of tissue at my expense, I'm sure you know what I am getting at.

From the collection, I received a Rose Cheek Color and a Double lipgloss.

Starting with the Rose Cheek Color (S$49) !

While I was fascinated with how beautiful Mystic Rose looked in the pan, I was more drawn towards what a gorgeous shade Anna Rose is, hence that was my choice.

My own attempt at a close-up pan shot of 400 Anna Rose.

The powder is quite soft and the emboss design isn't too deep-set, so with a couple of uses the rose patterns might start to fade. Perhaps not so much the outer-rim ones but I fear for the one right in center since it doesn't start off too defined.

Depending on how you swirl your brush as well, there is a tendency to 'bring over' the colors, such as smearing the brighter red (bottom left) to the lighter pale highlighter pink (top left), which was what I did while swatching. It's a norm for these 'mixed shades' palette and nothing a quick sweep over can't fix but just thought to share.

I love the blend of bright red-coral, a soft pink, pale pink and a mauvey-plum pink tone in this. Despite all that pink involved, the overall blend of it appears a red or red-coral shade. While it's for Spring, I can't help but feel reminded of a soft winter flush on the cheeks or perhaps, to put it in tune with Spring, a flush from a run through a field of flowers?

You can mix and blend around the various individual shades to come up with your own color, if you want it more red or perhaps to lean towards pink, the choice is yours! You can even choose to skip the lightest color and go at it with a different brush solely as a highlight.

I don't have a swatch of it on but I will most likely drop a feature in a LOTD.

the next item I got is a complimenting Double Lipgloss (S$54) in the shade Sensual Rose!

It must be no surprise that I ended up with this shade after having a minor swoon about it in yesterday's entry.

This Double Lipgloss functions such that you apply a pigmented base color (Rouge Color) first to give you the intensity that you want, followed by a glossy and shimmery shade over (Pearl Color) for that added shine! You can also choose to use them individually/separately, your call.

Anna Sui had employed the idea of using different applicators for the different sides of this Double Lipgloss.

The Rouge Color end comes with a doe-foot applicator that is tapered at the front so you can spread the color out well and ease into the crevices of the lips.

The Pearl Color end comes with a slightly different applicator. I cannot recall the proper name for this but it's a soft plastic piece that works well at spreading the high-shine gloss out. It's also easier to clean since you might 'mix' the gloss with the rouge color and you don't want to contaminate the rest of your tube.

I felt another hand-swatch was mandatory but here are some lip-swatches of the Double Lipgloss.

Pearl Color – While I expected it to be clear, it actually has a soft milky tint to it which is really lovely. It is definitely one with a high sparkle and shine factor and that milky tint of it is tempting me to use this gloss on it's own.

Rouge Color – While this tends to swatch pretty thick on the hand, I've learnt that you can actually thin the shade out some so it appears more like a lip stain, in the half-swatch picture. Alternatively, you can go bold and build the intensity up to match what is displayed within the tube. The rouge color does have a glossy shine of it's own as well and if you ask me, I'm actually quite satisfied with how this looks alone.

Though, I proceeded and used this as suggested, with the Rouge Color beneath and Pearl Color over.

Topping the Pearl Color over sort of morphed the overall to become this red-fuschia shade which goes perfectly well with the magenta sparkles in the Pearl Color. The Rouge Color did lose some of that intense red-ness due to the milky tint but it's a gorgeous color still. It's almost like getting 3 lip looks out of one product.

As I had mentioned, I am still a fan of how how the Rouge Color looks on it's own:

(Rouge Color only)

I cannot get over how gorgeous this is but I shan't ramble and leave it at this. As always, the products come scented with the signature Anna Sui rose scent, which I love. Think rose scented powder and lipgloss!

Do check out the entire Anna Sui Spring 2012 collection in this post if you haven't!

Are you eyeing anything from this collection?

Thanks for reading!

Disclosure:
Products were provided to me for review consideration.
I am not affiliated to them and all opinions expressed are my own.

Available at all Anna Sui counters right now, the Spring 2012 Makeup collection had caused quite a stir and anticipation when photos of the rose cheek colors were first released.

My mention is a few weeks behind (launched 20th January) and most who are in love with this would have checked these darlings out but if you haven't, here are more photos and swatches to entice you to the counters.

Inspired by the coming of spring where snow melts and fades away to reveal flowers in bloom, the Spring 2012 collection pays tribute to the magnificient rose. The vision of roses scenting the air, blooming and casting an exotic sensual spell is the spirit of this collection that spells nothing short of Anna Sui with it's decor.

Thanks to Mag, I got to drop by the Anna Sui counter with the lovely ladies, Kas, Evonne and Joey to swatch and check out this collection in person.

As you know, or might not know, I kind of fail juggling my camera while swatching stuff so the hands you see with swatches belong to the lovely Joey, Mag and Evonne. Thank you ladies for lending me your hands and swatches!

The Spring 2012 collection sees the launch of the following items:

• Rose Cheek Color (6 shades)
• Liquid Eyeliner (3 shades)
• Double Lipgloss (3 shades)
• Cheek Brush

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The star of this is definitely the Rose Cheek Color so I will save the best for last. First up, the Liquid Eyeliner (S$33).

This is available in three shades, a black, brown and violet. The shades are of a more tinted tone that gives definition yet hints at color, instead of say a bright vibrant purple.

We swatched the shade 500 Brown twice because we were a little confused with the testers, or perhaps it's our biaseness showing as Evonne and I really liked how 500 Brown appeared. It has more dimension to what my camera wishes to pick up, it's somewhat a bronzed dark brown, beautiful!

The liner pens have a brush tip to them and function like the Majolica Majorca pen liners where you click up the product to dispense it before drawing. They are said to be smudge-resistant and generally water-resistant yet removable with warm water.

Next, the Double Lipgloss (S$54), which I personally feel is another star of the collection.

The Double Lipglosses are available in 3 shades that are sufficient to compliment the 6 Rose Cheek Colors. One end of the gloss is a Rouge Color and the other is termed the Pearl Color. The Rouge Color for the 3 shades have lovely pigmentation and the pearl color end provides high-gloss, a great combination!

The applicators for this Double Lipgloss is quite distinct as well but I didn't manage to get a shot of it at the counter though I do have one coming up in the next post.

Look at Sensual Rose, isn't that red shade just beautiful! I think I truly am geared towards the reds now.

The final 2 products work hand in hand with each other in a way so I will introduce the Rose Cheek Color (S$49) first.

Available in 6 different shades, each palette comes with a gradiation of 4 colors that blend and work together to give each cheek color its unique flair. You can choose to swatch from a certain portion in the blush mosaic or swirl everything together for color and a pearly sheen.

All the shades are captivating to look at and the powder emboss design seems to mimick roses growing and lapsing within the cheek color itself, trying to reach the top and burst through with color! I think I may be reading too much into it, but it is a beautiful design though at first glance, certain points of the roses weren't as defined as I thought it would be.

Nonetheless, it is still lovely and here are some press images of the 6 shades, because I didn't manage to capture them all at the counter.

Amongst the 6, Mystic Rose has been garnering the most attention and I can't blame it because it looks absolutely ethereal and elegant. The other colors are lovely too but the mix of pale lavender, ice blue and orchid white makes it quite a sight! If anything, it would be a gorgeous collectors item.

While I do love to admire it, it's function as a (blue-ish toned) highlighter is kind of... normal. It's a beautiful color but perhaps I have too many highlighters around to factor purchasing this for shade purpose, however as I've said it's a gorgeous collectors item and if you truly wanted it, there's no such thing as too many highiighters!

The cheek colors pick up well and have a soft pigmentation to them.

Accompanying the Cheek Colors is a statement looking Cheek brush (S$56).

This retractable brush has a very fashionable pink ombre going on with the bristles that do feel very soft and smooth. The brush is retractable, which allows you to lug it around for touch-ups.

What's more, most retractables function in a 'push-up' manner, however with this you 'twist' the metalic portion up which allows you to stop mid-way for a more tapered brush.

With this you can choose to pick up select points of blushes, as demonstrated here. Blush brush and highlighter brush, anyone?

This wraps up my brief (I hope) sharing of the session I had at Anna Sui. I do have 2 items from this collection on hand which I will feature in more detail in another post with more swatches and whatnots.

I was going to do it tonight but I feel my brain shutting down so I'll see you agian tomorrow, thanks for reading!