Beauty's Product RAVE: Anastasia Brow Duality Debuts at Sephora on October 23!

I love this part of being a beauty blogger! Brow Duality from the brilliant beauty faeries at Anastasia Beverly Hills has taken the fast track to my highly exclusive daily makeup bag and it hasn't even hit stores yet!! Truth be told, Anastasia's Eye Lights Matte Camille brow highlighter was a founding member of the Beauty's SPOT Daily Makeup Bag society (which I apparently just made up.) Anyhow, this stunning new two-fer simply combines my two classic favorites, Anastasia's Eye Lights Matte and Eye Lights Shimmer, while taking up no additional space in my makeup bag and preparing me for day and evening looks. A-mazing!

These lovely little wands will be available at Sephora starting October 23. You can select brow duality in 2 different color combinations. Duality one is a Matte Camille/Sand Shimmer while Duality two is Matte Shell/Lace Shimmer. The Lace Shimmer, pictured below, is the stand out color of the bunch with a subtle gold/copper undertone. Both sides are enriched with vitamin E to calm post pluck inflammation. Each magical wand retails for $23.

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Total Beauty Bit: Find Out if You Can Do Without Primer.

My morning routine really can't handle another step. Luckily, according to legendary makeup artist Molly Stern, I'm not a candidate for primer. Check out her guidelines and find out if primer is for you.

TotalBeauty.com content:

Makeup Primer: Worth the Extra Step?

Find out if they make a visible difference

Pro makeup artist Molly Stern says primers are meant to serve as a layer between skin and foundation to create a more even surface. But not everyone needs them. "The best candidate for them would be someone who is very oily or has a lot of scarring from acne," she says. But do primers actually make a difference? We had two women of different ages each test a top foundation primer geared toward their skin type. Find out if their makeup looked better ... and if anyone noticed. See primers

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Beauty's Product: Benefit Wins Again

So. Adorable.

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Beauty's Product RAVE: Aveda Re-Launches Vintage Clove Shampoo and Saves Marine Life

Unless you are willing to say, "Baby Sea Turtle, I'll bust a cap in yo' ass." out loud in your kitchen every time you throw away a bottle cap, listen up. Apparently I'm not the only one who didn't know what to do with her plastic bottle caps and it's creating a real problem for baby turtles and marine life in general. I can attest to this personally as I recently saw a pelican in San Felipe Mexico with a bottle shaped gullet and I seriously considered sacrificing my arm to try and remove the obstruction. Luckily for my arm and the earth's marine life Aveda is thinking on a larger scale than I am.

In honor of their 30th anniversary, Aveda is introducing the world's first cap recycling program. Not only are they accepting old caps but on September 15 they debuted the first 100% post consumer recycled caps on their Limited Edition Vintage Clove Shampoo. Happy Birthday Aveda! I am lucky enough to be a proud owner of the Ayurveda-inspired, organic clove and coffee filled shampoo and I ADORE it. The smell reminds me of old, kindly Indonesian men and it reads the riot act to my unruly locks. Not only is the potion inside magic, and the recycled cap ingenious, but the bottle itself is made of a minimum of 96% post-consumer recycled (PCR) high-density polyethylene (HDPE)—the highest percentage recycled content in colored bottle containers to date in the beauty industry. (The remaining 4% HDPE is virgin resin used as a carrier for the bottle colorant.) Learn more about Aveda's school-based cap recycling program here. Indulge yourself, make amends to the baby sea turtle community, and get yourself a bottle.

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Beauty's Product RAVE: GloMinerals GloGloss Mini Collections

Girls, it has been a long long time since a new product earned a spot in my highly selective daily makeup bag. Housed in the Anastasia 6 piece eyebrow kit, this bag contains everything I absolutely need to put on a face and never, ever leaves my side. Some say I have an issue with putting down my purse, I say I come prepared. I opt not to say - "Um are you insane? My Anastasia clothed makeup bag is in there!" Now that the GloGloss Mini Collection has graduated from the month-long probation period as purse dweller, I truly feel like the day makeup bag is complete. These pucker pleasant glosses are perfectly packaged, two inch vials of sweet smooth sultry lip love. They are so pleasantly natural that on occasion instead of eating I just apply, taste, and smell these little lovelies and it does the trick.

Each color can stand alone or be layered. Creativity and the pretty. Two matte colors, two glitter infused colors so the collection goes from day to night. The whole little package is 2 inches by two and half inches and you'll never be bored. Also I think who ever develops the GloMinerals color pallet may actually be a descendant of van Gouh as these colors look good on all skin types. I just had coffee with my bestest, who has a completely different skin tone than I do, and she looked so good in one I felt obligated to hand it over. No worries, I still have four left. I have searched high and low to figure out where you girls can get your hands on these coveted mini-glosses. Beauty Gone Green will special order them for you.

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Beauty's Product RAVE: Skin Ceuticals AOX Body Treatment.

I die for this kind of discovery. This lotion, when applied correctly, transforms me into a gorgeous sophisticated radiant woman. This is a must have travel product because no matter how much your travels plans change and your dollar's value plummets this lotion will help you look and feel like two million bucks, you know since a million isn't worth so much anymore. But seriously this lotion is like self-esteem in a bottle.

Vitamin-E and purified grape polyphenols combat damaging free radicals while capriloyl salicylic acid induces efficient exfoliation of dead skin cells to give skin a smoother texture. As if the Duke University scientists behind Skin Ceuticals weren't already showing off, flavonols derived from jasmine limit inflammation caused by UV exposure. Dookies are such smarty pants. Anyhow it makes my skin look FAB.

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Beauty's Favorite: Estee Lauder Sensuous Widget

Girls, this is the most exciting thing that's happened since I actually got to sit at Estee's desk! Seems like Estee's belief that when it comes to beauty know-how woman to woman chit-chat is the most important thing is really taking off over at Estee Lauder HQ.

The Estee Lauder Sensuous Widget can be downloaded onto your desktop or shared on your Facebook or MySpace! (Sorry is anyone still using myspace?) Anywho,when you download the Estee Lauder Sensuous Widget, a world of ‘Sensuous’ information is at your fingertips! The widget gives you exclusive access to the Sensuous style newsfeed with content provided by Style.com, Concierge.com and Epicurious.com, for the latest in fashion, travel and food. Could this day get any better? Yes it could...the widget also allows you to find your Sensuous style – Take the quiz to find out if you are Casually Chic, Glitz and Glamour, Back to Nature or Oh So Romantic. Also don't forget to watch Sensuous model videos – Elizabeth Hurley, Carolyn Murphy and Hilary Rhoda talk about what ‘Sensuous’ means to them, and see behind-the-scenes footage from the ad campaign. Humm looks like Gwenny was to busy eating her way through Italy to make her own video. I've added it permanently to the bottom of Beauty's SPOT's front page. Enjoy!

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Total Beauty Bit: SATC Retrospective

TotalBeauty.com content:

The Sex and the City Girls: Then and Now

10 years and countless hair and makeup looks later, they're still smokin'

We loved the show, but it wasn't just the relationship drama that kept us tuning in -- it was their unique style, gorgeous hair and flawless makeup. See how each of the ladies evolved from the first season in 1998 all the way to the movie's much-anticipated May 2008 premiere. (Scene spoiler alert!: We managed to snag some shots of the girls on the movie set.) See the looks

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Beauty's Product: The Secret Behind Posh's Pixie

The oh-so-glamorous Victoria Beckham turned heads when she traded in her sleek trademark bob for an ultrasexy pixie cut. To keep her new crop looking effortlessly-chic, the gorgeous U.K. import styles it with the TS-2 Detailer Tourmaline Mini Styling Iron. A miniature tourmaline styling iron that providesprecision detailing, the TS-2 Detailer features thelatest in heat straightening technologies and its small size allows you to get close to the scalp and hard to style area. The convenient size also makes it an ideal travel companion. TS-2 Detailer has a suggested retail price of $39.99 and is available by visiting www.ts2products.com

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Beauty's Spa: Lake Austin Spa Resort - The Ultimate Spa Experience

It does not show up on film but in the afghan-draped sofa chair by the fire place, there is a hollow shell of my old self. This month has been a constant journey for me. In the last 30 days, with destinations as widespread as New York City, San Felipe Mexico, Los Angeles and Dewey Beach, Delaware, I've travelled through much of the North American Continent. In the middle of it all, both geographically and sequentially speaking, I spent a day in heaven.

Voted the #1 destination spa by Conde Nast Traveller's readers' choice awards (the Oscars of the spa industry) Lake Austin Spa Resort is a slightly larger version of the ideal ancestral family home. I first heard about this must see spa from a friend who visits for a week each time her children are in utero. (Note to my future husband, a week at Lake Austin Spa Resort is to be included in any supposed pregnancy budget.) Rather than devour the resort ravenously through pre-visit research as is my usual routine, I decided (out of fashion week vagabond necessity as much as marketing-jaded skepticism) to walk in blindly. I wanted my experience, and my ability to relate it to you, unfettered by expectations.

During the conscious moments of my stay I repeatedly thought 'this is exactly what I would want my family vacation home to be.' Hammocks dotting the shore line of a lake so green the line between it and the foliage surrounding it was consistently undefined, hot tubs and pools in most sitting areas, an unmaginable list of decadent, effective spa treatments, outdoor treatments rooms and showers, hydro bikes, kayaks, an outdoor yoga deck a top the lake, an organic garden that supplies the chef's cupboards, a gym where all of my obsessively athletic relatives are confined. In sum 19 acres where it's completely acceptable to wear nothing but a bathrobe and unlimited fat free frozen yogurt is offered frequently and often by people whom I have never met before. I could go on, forever. The point is, like one of the five tenants of Islam, if you are ever of the earthy means to do so you have a personal and spiritual obligation to journey, (here's where it differs - a lot - from the Q'uran) to the middle of Texas. If you never get there, you can't say I didn't tell you. Please just trust me and go.

On my day there after being rubbed down, hot tub soaked, swimming in the most enchanting pool barn (I know, not even Martha Stewart can imagine a pool so pleasant it is housed in refurbished, garden-moated, barn) and lolling in a lake side hammock, I finally, overcome with delirious relaxation, sat down to nap. A moment after my exhausted body collapsed into the comfy embrace of the over sized sofa chair I fell into a deep cathartic slumber. This nap was the kind that invites a deep meditative conversation with the universe. I think during this nap I made an agreement with the universe about treating myself more gently and promising to let go of any notion that I am not deserving of the absolute best of everything the world has to offer. And isn't that the purpose of a Spa? To heal and rejuvenate? Honestly, it is easy to make such an agreement at Lake Austin Spa Resort as it is a literal slice of heaven. (In all the years I have imagined heaven, I never dreamed a 19 acre parcel of highland lake country in Austin, Texas is actually what lays behind the pearly gates - but it is. Texas? Really? huh. )

The effect, one week later, has not worn off. I left behind, in the blue room, the quickly fading adolescent idea that I am somehow undeserving of living this life to fullest with the best possible friends, companions, and business associates. I can't explain it except to say that when I woke up, a hologram of myself stayed - perhaps to continue breathing in the healing waters and treatments - while the rest of me goes forth, a little stronger from having been in a place so safe so restful so unpretentious that I am certain it was meant for nothing else than to wrap myself in love and a healing consciousness so authentic that it is mine to carry with me wherever I may roam.

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Beauty's Product: The Hydrating Infusion, New from La Mer

Over forty years ago, aerospace physicist Dr. Max Huber envisioned harnessing the energy of the sea to create a miracle. Today, looking to the sea as a source of life and inspiration, The Max Huber Research Labs have created a next-generation infusion – The Hydrating Infusion. With nourishing vitamins and essential minerals, this high-potency treatment pre-wets the skin to receive and maximize the transformational benefits of Crème de la Mer.

An interactive gel network suspends the vital ingredients in the formula and releases them on demand. Activated by the skin’s pH and temperature, this smart gel responds by giving the skin the hydration and nutrients that it needs.

“We discovered that if the skin is too dry, the moisture barrier becomes over-taxed, creating a parched condition that makes it even more difficult for skin to absorb the hydration that it needs,” says Loretta Miraglia, Senior Vice President, Product Development and Innovation, The Max Huber Research Labs. “Like a pre-dampening a sponge, The Hydrating Infusion gives the skin an initial burst of hydration in a form that it can readily absorb, preparing it to fully receive the benefits of the Moisturizing Crème. By doing so, it helps skin to maintain optimum moisture levels and regain a healthy center.”

Once optimal moisture levels have been achieved, Hydrating Sea Ferments provide additional sustenance for the skin. Nutrient-filled sea plants from Japan, Indonesia, France and the United States go through an elaborate bio-fermentation process to help these ingredients realize their fullest potential and create a moisturizing ferment. The Hydrating Infusion also incorporates a ferment made from mariponic algae that are grown in a carefully controlled salt-water environment at the Marine Biological Labs in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Efficiently delivered, the Hydrating Sea Ferments infuse the skin with untold energy, awakening a healthy, resilient appearance. La Mer’s exclusive Deconstructed Waters™ – a targeted delivery system – further enhance this already extraordinary activity.

The Hydrating Infusion also incorporates naturally occurring minerals from the sea floor such as iron, manganese and copper to help skin stimulate collagen synthesis and keep it looking vibrant. Vitamins C, B5, B12 and Magnesium provide further replenishment as they fortify the skin’s outer layer. Magnetized tourmaline gives an added boost to all of these powerful ingredients. Skin is strengthened, helping insulate it against future moisture loss.

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Total Beauty Bit: Best Looks of the 2008 Emmy Awards

TotalBeauty.com content:

Best Beauty Looks from the 2008 Emmy Awards

TotalBeauty.com's awards for the celebrities who showed off winning hairstyles and makeup looks

Here we count down our favorite hair and makeup looks of the 2008 Emmy Awards, from best ponytail and updo to best eye makeup. Find out which TV star showed the most improvement from her look in 2007 and which starlet stole our best all-around look award. And the best part? It won't take you hours to get to the payoff. Best looks

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Beauty's SPA: Warren Tricomi at the Plaza!

My love for Warren Tricomi Salon is similar to the rapture of great Jane Austin style romances. Now they are bringing their beauty to the Plaza Hotel 7 days a week - and really why put a limit on love, especially when it means fabulous locks every day? I can not imagine a more luxurious Sunday that a stroll through the upper west side with a cut at Warren Tricomi's Plaza Salon.

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Rachel Weisz on the Cover of Vogue

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Total Beauty Bit: Heavenly Giovanni

TotalBeauty.com content:

Giovanni Cool Mint Lemonade Salt Scrub with Crushed Mint Leaves

Guest review by TotalBeauty.com editorial team

If you like the smell of mojitos, this fat, angled tub could be your favorite new wake-up call. When smoothed on wet skin, Giovanni Cool Mint Lemonade Salt Scrub invigorates your senses with mint, lemongrass and grapefruit oils. See review

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Total Beauty Web Tour!

Beauty Anonymous reviews La Mer The Hydration Infusion.



Enter to win Y.E.S. skincare products valued at $98 from Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains-Blog.



Beauty411 shares the best online beauty shopping websites from the NovemberShopSmart by Consumer Reports magazine! Did your favorite site make the list?



Monique at Beauty Girl Musings has tried Kinerase Under Eye Rescue, and is surprised at what she discovers. Find out what she thinks

Alison of the Advice Sisters is blogging about the hair, makeup and nails backstage at Fashion Week fromVera Wang to Carmen Marc Valvo, and gives readers a birds-eye view of the American Express Skybox.



The Jet Set Girls are giving away Crest Weekly Clean. Stop by and register to win!



MissWhoever YouAre reviews the forgotten Rich & Ripe lipgloss from MAC's Cult of Cherry collection for her Pucker Up Wednesday series!



The Makeup Divas reviews Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover Foundation and tells you why they love it.



Boutique Flair's fab finds will help you get fall's decadent dark lips. Is the power pout beautifully romantic or tragically goth? You decide!



Butterfly Diary wonders why the heck Sarah Palin is promoting a lipstick for an environmentally friendly company. Heard of the word "oxymoron"?



What anti-aging skincare brand does Beauty Blogging Junkie swear by these days? Find out here!



Latest Hair Trends Seen at the 2008 Emmy Awards-by Talking Makeup!



Meg Ryan is looking better than ever in the new movie, The Women! Find out what hair products help her create those gorgeous waves on A Mom in Red High Heels!



Jenn from Beauty in Real Life has found a new moisturizer perfect for Fall. Click here to find out what it is.



Glossypink has a hot new look and has an awesome Dita Von Teese photo gallery!

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Beauty's Spa Travel: Heavenly Haven of Hot Springs in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

Passing through Hatch, New Mexico in September means being enveloped by cool air perfumed with the sweet peppery scent of roasting chilies. Hatch is the center of all things green chili in New Mexico and, if coming from the west, the gateway to New Mexico's best kept secret, the sleepy town of Truth or Consequences. Named "Hot Springs" until 1950, the town concealed it's most valuable tourist boast in order to win the honor of becoming the home-at-large to the then popular Truth or Consequences radio show with Ralph Edwards. Though frequented by locals and New Mexicans alike, the 10 naturally heated mineral springs and the facilities which house them remain largely ignored by the Santa Fe-Aspen crowd. The town itself, although slightly less O'Keeffe painting friendly in architecture than its northern neighbors of Taos or Santa Fe, is compelling enough that I considered permanently relocating to the absolutely lovely 10 square blocks that make up it's downtown area.

After stopping in Black Cat Books and Coffee for the best cup of organic, home-roasted decaff coffee I have ever had, I grabbed a councilman-baked pecan coffee roll, an Easy Rider commemorative map of Taos signed by Peter Fonda, and headed over to the farmers' market on the banks of the Rio Grande. Organically-grown local pomegranates (sold for 75 cents a piece) and home made soaps laid like lounging cabana ladies on every table. Fruit, coffee, and pastry in hand I walked past the outdoor massage chairs and inflated gas price weary farmers taking solace in the constant flow of the river and set out to tour every available hot spring facility in one day. This is an extremely manageable task as the ten facilities housing the natural hot springs are within a four block stretch along the banks of that Grande river. (My top three picks are listed in the posts below.)

In these depressing financial times, Truth or Consequences is a haven of affordable rejuvenation and healing. Indeed, Apache Indians revered the town's springs as a center of spiritual healing and physical health long before the words short selling and money market account were sources of national exhaustion. In their own desperate (if now seemingly simple) times of crisis the Apache had the wisdom to declare these hot springs neutral ground among waring tribes who all converged there for healing rituals and transference of information. In this time of severe Truth and Consequences, can't we all use a little inexpensive, neutral ground?

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Beauty's Spa Travel: Blackstone Hot Springs in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

If the W Hotel were bite-sized and located in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico with private natural hot springs in every room, it would be the Blackstone Hot Springs Lodging and Baths. Refurbished in April of 2008 the retro rooms boast flat screen TVs, high end appliances, and bathrooms only slightly smaller than the Taj-Mahal. Adobe tubs meant to hold a hot tub sized amount of 110 degree mineral bath water paint themselves into each bathroom corner and feature a mini rock waterfall spout and separate hand-held spigot. In case a tub isn't how you take your mineral water, separate standing showers also occupy each bathroom as does a private mountain view porch, artwork, and memorabilia from your classic television show of choice. While the TV show theme dominates the artwork, the furniture and wall colors remain true to their Southwestern heritage (thank god.) Each room also has a front patio facing the communal courtyard with a sprawling, finely-tended garden. Room themes include, I love Lucy, The Jetsons, As the World Turns, and Roy Rogers. While I loved each place I am posting about, Blackstone is my top overnight location of choice.

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Beauty's Spa Travel: Riverbend Hot Springs in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

I almost didn't bother stopping here because one guidebook said the rooms were dormitory style. Why would you go all the way to New Mexico and stay in a dorm? It was however directly next to the Farmers Market and directly on the shores of the Rio Grande and had an oddly welcoming Tee-pee out front. I am so thrilled I stopped by.

First, the trailer houses are only one option for budget travellers and the guest rooms are adorable. Secondly, I will never go to Truth or Consequences again with out a spare $15 to gain entrance to the private riverside baths at Riverbend Hot Springs and a boyfriend in tow to make said visit suitably utopian. For the mere trouble of bringing $15 and a boyfriend to New Mexico, you can have the most romantic, secluded, river front hot spring bath beneath the watchful eye of the robust Mimbres Mountains. The larger pools are also stunning and exceptionally clean. A must visit.

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Beauty's Spa Travel: Hay-Yo-Kay Hot Springs in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

The oldest and purest strain of Hot Spring-ism available in this the hot bed of hot springs is Hay-Yo-Kay Hot Springs. Unlike some other facilities, which shall remain nameless, this humble host brings you to the thermal waters. The entire facility is at water level so that each bath's water flows naturally into the pool created to contain it. When the water drains it flows into an irrigation ditch and will, later that day, irrigate the green chilies which top your Sopapilla-based burrito. This is Hot Springs, Whole Foods style complete with austere mineral ingredient listings posted in the lobby and a monastery like sincerity approach by visitors hoping to gain some healing in these historic waters. The owners will remind you that this spring, the oldest in town, is where the Apache came to heal their war wounds.

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Beauty's Spa: Spa Into Fall with Spas of America

Spa into Fall (or just dream about it) with these fabulous pics from Spas of America.

Secret Garden Spa, Prince of Wales Hotel, Ontario Secret Garden Spa has just undergone a transformation into an ultra-contemporary space with Asian overtones. Its clean design and chocolaty colour palette, complemented by the natural elements of earth, fire and water, are perfect for soothing the soul. An intimate lounge area with comfy furniture, a 120 gallon aquarium and a cozy fireplace welcomes guests to stay awhile and totally unwind.

Ancient Cedars Spa, Wickaninnish Inn, British Columbia Travel & Leisure's #1 Hotel Spa in the World 2008 hugs the edge of an old-growth rainforest, on Vancouver Island's wild west coast. The Ancient Cedars Spa, Wickaninnish Inn combines tranquility with the finest spa therapies. Staff committed to the relaxation and rejuvenation of guests utilize proven wellness techniques and the most healing compounds that can be divined from earth and sea.

Spas of America Reviews ~ The Harmony Hotel & Spa, Costa Rica "Luxury meets laid back at Harmony Hotel, a low-key yet glamorous eco resort in Costa Rica, cradled on the ocean's edge in the sleepy Pacific Coast village of Nosara, where you may spot Susan Sarandon sipping a raw green smoothie beside you at the coconut palm-roofed raw-bar, just a few steps away from the chlorine-free, salt water pool."

Spas of Spain Spain is an ideal destination to enjoy the benefits of hydrotherapy throughout the year. Whether you're enjoying a quiet stroll along the beach, a relaxing swim, or receiving a specific spa treatment, Spain offers a variety of wellness experiences. Not to forget the excellent accommodations, leisure and services infrastructure to be found here. Come and discover the well-being that awaits you in Spain.

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