Haul: Sugar Pie Scents Haul #1!

I know, I know, another haul from another new vendor! I just can't seem to stop making tiny orders with these start-up companies!

This haul is from Sugar Pie Scents, and the owners name is Erica! The thing I love about this business card is that it's one of those cool stamps on the front, but it was cut from a cardboard box on the back, so it really didn't involve any excess waste of paper products. Neat idea! Love the stamp, too, and font choice.

I guess I was only the second person to order, since my order number was 002! WOOHOO! Well, she included a coupon (for all orders, I think) in the shape of a ticket stub. Another cute touch! I only placed a small order, so let's get into it!

Anywho, since I was one of the first two, she included a soap sample in my order, how generous! It's in pink sugar, and is an "oopsie soap," maybe she accidentally messed it up during pouring, and that's why it's an oopsie? I don't know, but it smells awesome. The other sample on the left is a tart in pink sugar as well.

Here they are out of their packages. I love the little floral design on the tart, very cute!

Now, into my order. The scent shot on the left is 2oz., while the one on the right is 1oz. (in a hot sauce cup, I like to call them). The scent on the left was the scent of the month for April, April Fresh Downy Type. I have been looking for laundry scents for days when I, you guessed it, do laundry, so this seemed right up my alley. The scent on the left is in Iced Lemon Cookies; it's a really nice balance of lemon and cookie, and it smells pretty strong on cold sniff!

I'm fairly certain at least some of my order was RTS (ready to ship), so she got it out very quickly to me. The scents here are:

• Pink Peppermint Twist: pretty nice, will be good for sleeping. It's a bit light on cold sniff, but I am letting it cure as we speak!
• Vanilla Bean Noel: what can I say, I love vanilla bean noel. This is a good representation of the popular scent!
• Cactus & Sea Salt: WINNER! Love this. It's one of my favorite scents at the moment, and this is no exception. Strong and refreshing.

Finally, we have:

• A clamshell in Pink Sugar: mainly got this for blending with other things, and this is a strong PS scent.
• Summer Boardwalk: I have heard a lot about this, and wondered if it was a dupe for the Bath & Body Works fragrances apparently everyone loves. It is! Peanuts, popcorn, saltiness...I don't know if I'm a huge fan of the scent, but it certainly is unique!
• Mabel's Mint Sugar Cookie: cookies mixed with...spearmint? I don't know, but it sure smells like it! It's interestingly nice!

Hope you enjoyed my first haul from Sugar Pie Scents, I have a feeling I will be ordering from Erica again in the future because everything smells pretty damn amazing! Have you tried or heard of this company?  :)

Haul: Aunt Smellman's Super Scented Candles #1

I must admit, I love trying new and upcoming vendors. Even if I buy a small sampling of what a vendor has to offer, it's good to expand your smell-tastes. Do you agree, or do you stick to what you know?

Aunt Smellman's Super Scented Candles is a new vendor that has only been around a month or two. I started seeing videos pop up from people receiving products to try from this vendor and decided to give her website a paroozal. It was fairly bare, so I backed out quickly. Well, that is not the case today. She seems to have expanded her scent list quite a bit, and offers things like clamshells, candles, scent shots (super shots, on her site), and wickless candles.

I placed a small order while she was having a sale, buy 4 clamshells get 1 free. I received two scent shots, pictures above. They are in:

• Whipped Cream: a very nice, obviously creamy scent, but I think there is a bit more to this...I swear I smell fruit! It might be a rub-off from something else in my package, but yeah, this is nice.
• Marshmallow Ambrosia: the worlds most hated loved dessert (she said fighting back laughter). This one is good, too, fruit mixed with the marshmallow sweetness...will be nice in a smaller room, as it is sort of light.

Then, we get into my order. I have been on a "fresh" kick lately, so you might notice a them. My clamshells are in:

• Peppermint: a go-to scent for me, I'm always looking for the most minty thing to put me to sleep. Again, light on cold sniff, but I will let this cure; mint almost takes a backseat to some sort of sweetness, perhaps vanilla.

• Oceans: just lovely! A tiny hint of salty air mixes well with a watery note. Really good.
• Beach Linen: if my house could be scented with one this all day every day for the next 365 days, it would be this. HOT DAMN is this fabulous! It is so fresh, pretty strong, but not with a "choke you out" kind of-ness. Wonderful scent!

• Serendipity: again, a go-to for me...it's my mission in life to try Serendipity from every freakin' vendor out there. This smells nice, but seems to be more coconut heavy. Might be good for blending.
• Pinkie's Sugar: I realized a while back that I don't have any straight pink sugar scents to mix with, so I picked up a clamshell in Aunt Smellman's version of pink sugar. It's pink sugar, alright. Also, pink sugar. ;)

So, here's my haul! Another thing: I LOVE THE LABELS. I don't know who this flawless queen is on her labels, but I love her and she is the definition of sassy. And, her website has a sort of "retro" feel to is, maybe it's just her highness on the label. :)

Also, I will mention, while $1.95 for a scent shot isn't terrible, I don't think it's necessarily great, either. Tons of other websites have 2oz. scent shots for less; I know they have to make a profit, but I have heard others complain about this. I don't mind as long as it's less than $1 per ounce of wax, which this is (barely). 

Can't wait to get to melting these, I will give them at least a month's cure time, as per usual with my tarts. Have you heard of Aunt Smellman? Care to try any of her products?

Wickless Wednesday: Ariel's Secret Garden Haul #1

My hands are chapped as hell, I'm not gonna lie. For some reason, San Diego thinks it's fun to watch me suffer by throwing rain + 55 degrees and 88 degrees + a Santa Ana stagnant air into a weekend.
In case you didn't pick up on my massive discontent, it sucks.
Case in point, ever since last week, my hands have been dry, chapped, broken, harsh looking...and they hurt, too. :(
(PS: Does anyone know a remedy, thus negating the purpose of this entire post??)

Many, many bloggers and YouTubers swear by Ariel's Secret Garden, a soap and body care shop on Artfire.com. People swear by her creams, lotions, and soaps, so I figured I'd place a small order for one item, that way, if it didn't work for me, I wouldn't be out much money.

I had to take a photo of this pretty detailing, love the bow and mesh wrapping!

Top view, cute little sticker.

The scent I chose for my Luxury Body Frosting was Cotton Headed Ninny Muggins, which is described as: "One of our favorite movies of all times is "ELF".  At one point in the movie, Buddy mentions that he feels like a "Cotton headed ninny muggin"; AKA...an ELF Airhead.  This made us think, "What would a cotton headed ninny muggin smell like?"  Cotton headed ninny muggin fragrance oil begins with sweet, buttery, creamy coconut and vanilla frosting; leading to middle notes of powdery heliotrope and spicy hints; and sits on a powerful vanilla base." Cute description, and I LOVE the movie "Elf," it's one we must watch every year at Christmas! It's yellow and pink lotion swirled together...

...but most of the pink is at the top. The consistency is pretty thick,but it IS body frosting, which tend to be thicker. It smells really nice, like buttercream and coconut!

Along with my order, I received a Trick or Treat scented cupcake soap (which was really glittery and irritated my hands, but once I wiped the glitter off, it left my hands feeling smooth), as well as a non-scented face lotion. The thing I like about these lotions are that they are not greasy like most of the stuff I have used in my life. It's a huge plus!

I also got a drink/soda pop cozy, hand-knitted! This is so cute, but I haven't found it yet from our unpacking! It will turn up some place. :)

Finally, the note Sherri and Ariel wrote to me. I love the goodies, thanks for the samples, ladies! I have liked using my lotion a lot, but find I forget to use it all the time. I am going to put it on top of my side table next to my bed instead of in the bathroom, so I won't forget!

Have you tried this company? From the looks of it, it looks like she's closing her site in May...does anyone know if this is permanent or temporary?? :(

Review: Sugar & Spice Gourmet's Pink Lemon Slices

Lemon is a bakery food staple around these parts.
Every year, I alternate between almond and lemon cake for Josh's birthday, and usually, we make the opposite item for the other one's birthday (my birthday is early May, Josh's is middle May).
I love lemon.
Josh loves lemon.
My mom's boyfriend doesn't like lemon because he's a communist, but that's besides the point. (JK GILFORD).

This is the one of the most authentic lemon scents I have smelled in wax, even with the addition of pink sugar. It's not cleaner lemon, not bakery lemon, it's just....lemon. Like, fresh sliced, opened up from a tree, zesting the rind kind of lemon.
With pink sugar, this scent is spectacular. It is so freaking strong! It's really bright and fresh, like you're making lemonade in your own kitchen. Delish! I love homemade lemonade.
Shanna, the owner of Sugar & Spice Gourmet Soy Candles, makes such amazing and strong wax that she has earned a new repeat customer with me (and I have ordered from her twice since my first order). I can't get enough! If you haven't already had the opportunity to try this vendor, you definitely need to add her to your "to try" list, and I'm not just saying this, but you won't regret it. She makes great blends.

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Sugar & Spice Gourmet Soy's Pink Lemon Slices
Cold Rating: 8.5/10; very strong on cold sniff, even without much cure time (2 days, maybe?).
Lit Rating: 9.5/10; such a joy to melt...I don't think I frowned the entire time this was going in the office. It lasted a solid 10 hours, and would have gone longer, but I had to turn off the warmer.
Throw Rating: 9.5/10; brilliantly strong!
Overall Rating: 9.5/10; slightly rounded down up, it's worth every decimal point. Delicious and fragrant lemon paired with the pizzazz of pink sugar (too many P's??) makes for a refreshing treat!

Lightning Round Reviews #5!

So, I set a few blog posts to release this week, and none of them did. WUT???
I blame these jerks, PS: 'MURICA.
Anywhoozle, here are some lightning round reviews to tide you over. I have finally been melting more than 3 tarts a week in nu haus, so it's safe to start my Weekend Wax Reviews again. :)

Candles From The Keeping Room's Pink Sands
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 7/10 
Throw Rating: 6.5/10 
Overall Rating: 6.5/10 (decent dupe for the popular Yankee scent, nothing more to say about this).

Closet Full of Wax's Pink Sands
Cold Rating: 6.5/10
Lit Rating: 3/10 
Throw Rating: 3/10 
Overall Rating: 4/10 (there might as well of been nothing to this...hardly any throw at all. Disappointing, to say the least).

Candles From The Keeping Room's Spicy Apple & Peaches
Cold Rating: 5.5/10
Lit Rating: 5.5/10 
Throw Rating: 5.5/10 
Overall Rating: 5.5/10 (meh. Finding I don't like peach scents. And this spiciness doesn't really go with the apple and peach well).

Crabby Candle Co.'s Passionate Kisses
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 5/10 
Throw Rating: 7/10 
Overall Rating: 6/10 (was I having an off-week or something? This didn't smell good, either. Too fruity for me, but did have great throw!).

Candles From The Keeping Room's Pistachio Coconut Fluff
Cold Rating: 4.5/10
Lit Rating: 3.5/10 
Throw Rating: 6/10 
Overall Rating: 4.5/10 (slightly rounded down; strong, but not a fan at all...smelled really strange to my nose, maybe too coconut-y. I have another pistachio scent from Carol that doesn't smell like this at all, so maybe it's just the coconut addition).

Molten Melts Cinnamon Celebration
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 3/10 
Throw Rating: 2.5/10 
Overall Rating: 4/10 (slightly rounded up, I guess...the biggest disappointment of the bunch. This is a new vendor, and the first thing I have melted from Molten Melts. This was not strong AT ALL. I had to basically be drowning on top of the wax to smell anything while warming. Will try in a smaller room to see if the throw is consistent between large and small rooms...).

Tiffany Candles Candy Cane
Cold Rating: 6.5/10
Lit Rating: 6.5/10 
Throw Rating: 6.5/10 
Overall Rating: 6.5/10 (a lovely, sweet minty scent! Nice for any time of the year; love the red glitter on there, Tiffany!).

Front Porch's Vanilla Grapefruit
Cold Rating: 6.5/10
Lit Rating: 6/10 
Throw Rating: 4.5/10 
Overall Rating: 5.5/10 (weird B.O. smell coming from this tart, must have been from the grapefruit part because the vanilla smelled nice over the off-note. It was sort of there while melting, but it dissipated quickly. Not super strong while warming, though).

Yankee Candle's Simply Home: Fresh Water
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 8/10 
Throw Rating: 8/10 
Overall Rating: 7.5/10 (an amazingly fresh scent, great throw, but terrible burn most of the way...you can see residue at the bottom. Well, the wick caved in on itself towards the end, so it won't light anymore, but the scent is spectacular. I am lucky I got another one of these from Marshall's when I did!).

Front Porch's Pink Tea
Cold Rating: 6.5/10
Lit Rating: 7/10 
Throw Rating: 6/10 
Overall Rating: 6.5/10 (the "pink" in 97.2651008666% of Front Porch's "pink" scents is virtually non-existent. That being said, the tea note was nice).

Tiffany Candles Summer Creamsickle
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 8/10 
Throw Rating: 7.5/10 
Overall Rating: 7.5/10 (I thought I wasn't an orange fan, but this was amazing! I loved it! I got it for Josh since he is a fan of orange scents...I think the problem is orange bakery, I just don't like them in food or in wax. Yucka. Anywho, brilliant scent, would love this in a candle).

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Lots of stuff in the middle, some stuff on the bottom this time around. I will be back from my apparent and unintentional break now that I have "fixed" the "glitch." Happy melting, y'all! :)

Review: Rosegirls Purple Cow Raspberry Swirl

Purple Cow is apparently a drink consisting of grape something and vanilla/milk/ice cream. I've never had it because I am not a fan of "grape" flavored/scented things in food, wax, or life in general...

...like with most things, there are exceptions to the rule or norm.
Purple Cow Raspberry Swirl from Rosegirls is freaking phenomenal.
I mean, it's insanely good.
The grape and raspberry pair extremely well together to create a sweet, fragrant foodie type of smell, as if you had made a shake in your blender and lifted the cap for a whiff. It really does smell heavenly!
This is a DEFINITE repurchase. This chunk lasted for 10+ hours in the office, which is the newest place I like to melt wax. The room is just big enough to make a difference as far as scent throw goes, regardless of vendor in most things I've melted. The kitchen/living room/TV room is just too much of an open space to give a good scent throw opinion, but I find that the stronger it is on cold sniff, the better it does in one of these 3 rooms.
I wish I had waited to melt this. It was so great. If you like raspberry, Rosegirls does have an overall awesome raspberry fragrance!

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Rosegirls Purple Cow Raspberry Swirl
Cold Rating: 8.5/10; cold sniff scent is strong and juicy. Hints of both grape and raspberry.
Lit Rating: 8.5/10; mmmmmmmmmmmmm, milkshake...this might make me want to track down a Purple Cow and try it in real life. It doesn't take long for this to start making the room smell amazing, about 5 minutes, max. Wonderful!
Throw Rating: 9/10; this.lasted.3. freaking. days. after. it. was. put. out. Let that settle in. Strong throw, when the door was opened, I could smell this in the backyard. *insanity*
Overall Rating: 8.6/10; yes, it deserves the .1 extra. Just a fabulous blend, looking forward to more Rosegirls raspberry blends in the future. Childhood memories or milkshakes. Grape? How could it smell good?? Because Rosegirls is a believer of making customers happy and interested in trying new scents, think of that!

Haul: Molten Melts #1

As you probably know, I am big on Facebook fan pages and such. While I have unsubscribed from several vendors I have no intention of purchasing from in the near future, I am part of several groups and fan pages (though with the recent ~*drama~* going on, I am about ready to give them all up for good).

Anywho, I found out about Molten Melts from ScentMyWay (Keren), one of my top 5 favorite wax YouTubers. She had a haul from them, and their products looked interesting, so I subscribed to their Facebook page after watching her video. Ashley, the owner, was had put together a few sampler packages for people to try her products, and I was lucky enough to get one! There are 9 scent shots in here, and I believe the price was either $13 or $15 shipped. I'm always a fan of being able to try a company's product through samplers/sample boxes.

While I was excited about getting my package, the USPS didn't see the point in my excitement and ripped part of my package clear in half. "We Care," more like "Bull $#!%," LOL. How does a package get ripped ALL THE WAY IN HALF on one side?! Ugh...

Close-up of the damage. Apparently the USPS is keeping Saturday mail delivery, so Netflix DVDs, WATCH OUT for their reign of terror!

She included this note...

Ashley, if you're reading, you have lovely handwriting. :) Most of these smell pretty ready to be melted except for maybe one or two, so I will let those sit a bit.

Here's what I got in my sampler:

• Pink Buttercream: not sure if "pink" here means pink sugar, but I get almost no pink, if it is. It's creamy and sweet, but not in that overly buttery way, do you know what I mean? Not my favorite of the bunch, but nice, nonetheless!
• Berry Nilla: Lots of berries with a slight hint of creaminess as an undertone note. It's pretty strong on cold sniff.

• Wicked Watermelon: the unexpected favorite of the bunch. I am not a fan of watermelon in real life, but this smells like watermelon candy! So, so good. It's sweet, with that artificial candy smell wrapped up in a watermelon basket. Delish and juicy.
• Pomegranate: I guess I'm just not a fan of pomegranate scents in wax...this just smells generic to me. It's not just this company's scent, it's all pomegranate scents that are not in a blend. Meh.

• Cinnamon Celebration: this is your typical cinnamon from a gum type of scent, but it's sort of light on cold sniff. You know me, I like my cinnamons.
• Farmhouse Cider: I have tried this scent from 2 other vendors and loved it, and on cold sniff, this smells practically the same. Definitely like the Trader Joe's cider. Yum!
• Chicks Dig It: not sure what all is in this, but lemon is the dominant note; in this scent shot, the lemon is a cleaner lemon type of smell, which, mixed with whatever berry or other notes that are in this fragrance, actually smells pretty good!

So, that's my Facebook sampler haul from Molten Melts. Have you tried this company? Have you heard of this company? Let me know your thoughts! (PS: I swear there was one more scent shot in here, but I just can't find it...so there might have been 10, but I'm losing my mind).

Review: Candles From The Keeping Room's Fruit Loops Toasted Marshmallow

If I ever eat cereal, it's usually for dinner or dessert, but rarely for breakfast. Why? Because I'm insane.
Also, I eat my cereal in a cup, not a bowl. Why? Because it tastes better. ;)

Candles From The Keeping Room's Fruit Loops Toasted Marshmallow is one of the best fruit loops blends I've ever encountered. I got this in a swap I did with a waxy friend of mine, Karen! She raved about this scent and was gracious enough to send me a tart in this scent, and I was simply blown away by this! The fruit loops is toned down by the creamy, toasty marshmallow; this fruit loops blend is much more lemony than others I have tried, but I enjoyed it very. very much. I can't wait to buy a huge bag of this when Carol reopens her shop, but as of right now, I am on a wax BAN BAN BAN BAN BAN. My only caveat are sampler boxes (Simply Sensational Sampler) and round robins. :)

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Candles From The Keeping Room's Fruit Loops Toasted Marshmallow
Cold Rating: 6.5/10; paraffin is known for not producing the strongest cold sniff rating, but you definitely smell this one with a dominantly fruit loop cold sniff smell. Slight hints of lemon, almost no marshmallow.
Lit Rating: 8/10; love fruit loops scents, and in my opinion, the lemonier, the better. This has a nice mix of creaminess from the toasted marshmallow and the loopiness of the cereal. Love!
Throw Rating: 7.5/10; pretty dang strong! Also, this seemed to linger as well.
Overall Rating: 7.5/10; Slightly rounded up because it deserves it. Carol's fruit loop and toasted marshmallow blends as a whole are fabulous. Can't wait for the reopen! Thanks again to Karen for sharing. :)

Off-Topic Tuesday: Wedding Candle

...well, not so off-topic, actually.

Josh and I are about to have our 3rd year wedding anniversary in May. My candle/scent/waxy obsession just started this past year, but for as long as I can remember, candles have been part of my life. What do the two have to do with one another, you might be asking?

My mom's really good friend Barbara (who I hope is reading this post) gave Josh and I this candle as a wedding gift. The photo of us was on the wedding announcement we made and sent to our friends and family. Packing it and moving it to the new house made me realize the connection, so I thought I'd share!

Do you have any wax/candle/scent themed wedding items you'd feel comfortable sharing? :)

Haul: My First Candles By Victoria Candle!

I'm a little bit obsessed with the color gold.
...okay, "a little bit" is an understatement.
Let's put it this way, if I had a choice, I'd paint everything gold: my house, my car, my nails, my computer, my dog (okay, not the dog, but you get the picture)....sparkly, shiny, wonderful gold.

Look. At. This. Amazing. Candle.

Sparkly, magnificent, homebrewey gold.

I have had the damnedest time trying to get my Candles By Victoria scent shots working. They don't melt for me, not in my 24W hot plate warmer, not in my 40W light bulb warmer. Not the entire thing, not cut into 1/4 chunks. But, I figured, since there was a sale a few months ago, I'd try out one of her candles! I chose the scent Holiday Homebrew on Josh's suggestion: I read him 2 scent descriptions, one was Amish Quilt, one was this scent. I figured I'd show its golden wonderment. This version of candle is called a 22oz. tureen candle in the color "halo gold," and angelic it is. It has been curing for about 2 1/2 months, but I am going to try and hold out as long as I can.

Hope you enjoyed looking at how awesome this is, just felt compelled to share. :)

Lightning Round Reviews #4, Bakery Edition!

To make up for lost review time, here's a lightning round of reviews, bakery style!

Closet Full of Wax's Sugar Fruit Loops Cookies
Cold Rating: 5.5/10
Lit Rating: 3/10
Throw Rating: 2/10
Overall Rating: 3.5/10 (you definitely get a bakery-ed out fruit loops scent on cold sniff...but there's absolutely no throw to this, which means no scent was produced. Even right on top of it, nothing. I am saddened by this, this scent had potential).

Tiffany Candles Sugar Cookies
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 7.5/10
Throw Rating: 6.5/10
Overall Rating: 6.5/10 (A very almondy sugar cookie scent, and would be an amazing blender scent. By itself, it's nice, medium throw, too).

Skinny Dip Soaps Lemon Sugar Cookie
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 4/10
Throw Rating: 3/10
Overall Rating: 4.5/10 (slightly rounded up, but not by much...there was hardly any scent to this one, either; on cold sniff, you get a nice sugar cookie with lemon, but cold sniff left a big something to be desired).

Ollie's Soaps Pink Vanilla Butter Fudge
Cold Rating: 6.5/10
Lit Rating: 5.5/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating: 6/10 (not my favorite pink vanilla butter fudge scent, but this one was nice, minus the initial super buttery scent while warming; once that dissipated, it was just fine).

Tiffany Candles Butterscotch Drizzle
Cold Rating: 5.5/10
Lit Rating: 3/10
Throw Rating: ---
Overall Rating: 4/10 (I didn't give this one a throw rating because I dumped it out before it completely melted...something about this smelled like icky curdled milk...the butterscotch added to wherever the milkiness came from was not pleasant. Might be a good blender scent, but by itself...not a fan).

Front Porch's Vanilla Confusion
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 7.5/10
Throw Rating: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7/10 (this one was really nice! It smelled like vanilla extract mixed with bakery vanilla mixed with some other kind of vanilla...I can see where the "confusion" comes from, but I enjoyed it a lot).

Front Porch's Angie's Famous Cupcakes
Cold Rating: 6.5/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 5/10
Overall Rating: 6/10 (not a super strong throw, and super buttercreamy, but nonetheless, it was alright. Not my favorite bakery scent, but it'd do in a pinch).

Sugar & Spice Gourmet Soy Candles Sugar Cookie Dough Noel
Cold Rating: 8/10
Lit Rating: 10/10
Throw Rating: 10/10
Overall Rating: 9/10 (I got this in a swap I did with YouTuber suukasi, aka Karen, and I am FLOORED by this scent. It was strong, decadent, delicious, mmmmm...my niece picked out this scent when we melted it a few weeks ago, and the kids loved it. The entire house smelled like freshly baked cookies for an entire day! AMAZING blend, I highly recommend it).

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Hope you enjoyed and found something you're interested in trying! :)