It's been a few weeks since I did much nail art on myself, I've just been so pre-occupied. But I decided to use some of the Zoya Beach colors I got during the recent sale, and since Summer is nearing it's close, I wanted something very summery and fun, but not terribly time consuming. So, here's Pick Up The Party Line, a random mishmash of lines; straight, wavy, spattery, and crisscrossy. Those last two are officially words now ;P A quick note on the nail shape, they finally got long enough to start shaping back into almonds. I had a few breaks over the last couple months and had chopped them down and let them re-grow in squares and I just now got them into this vaguely almond shape. Can't wait till they get a bit longer again!

Products used:

• OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls
• It's So Easy striper in blue
• Zoya Shelby, Arizona, Tracie and Lara
• Seche Vite

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This design was from last month before the move that destroyed my nails. Grrrrrr. I think that I'm going to try to get them back to this shape and length, but due to a few splits, it may take me a while. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted! Anyhow, this design was based on an editorial nail I saw in Nail Pro Magazine, and it was by CND. I added and embellished a little more and changed the colors, but the design reminded me of a rising sun, so I went with it. 

Products used:

• OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls
• OPI In My Back Pocket
• China Glaze Icicle
• China Glaze Aquadelic
• Wet n Wild Black Creme

Click to see the inspiration photo...

I've been dying to do something that incorporates these two shades. My winter coat is the same color as Nails Inc Belgrave Place and one day I held something bright orange against it and I've had a one track mind since then. I didn't want something busy and I wanted something that was simple and only incorporated these two colors because the two of them together make such a statement on their own. I painted the nails orange first, then when it was dry I applied some nail art striping tape from dollarnailart.com. I applied the purple over it and then waitied (not quite long enough, sadly) for it to dry and applied topcoat. The concept for the manicure was inspired by pshiiit.com! If you haven't seen her work yet, check it out! It's in French but the photos really are breathtaking.

Products used:

• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• OPI A Roll in the Hague
• Nails Inc Belgrave Place
• Nail art striping tape
• Seche Vite topcoat

Click for another photo!

Products used:

• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• China Glaze White on White
• China Glaze First Mate
• China Glaze Life Preserver
• gold studs
• Seche Vite Top Coat

I have been dying to do nautical nails forever but the stripes, the anchors... it's all very daunting. However I womaned up, and just gave it a go. Ok for a first try. My favorite part is the gold studs anchors!!! I'd been lusting after Life Preserver for ages and just never seemed to remember to pick it up, and my mother actually picked it up for me, so this one's dedicated to you, Ma! I adore these studs too, I got a ton of them from Dollarnailart.com, and I think I need to order some silver ones, too!

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This is my current manicure and it's basically a complete ripoff of this manicure by Wah Nails. I loved it so much, and I knew as soon as I saw it, I had to try it. it's genius! The "cutout" of leopard is so awesome, and the contrast of light creamy blue with neon orange is amazing. I used Orly Snowcone and a Migi nail art pen for the leopard and the tips are Color Club Amp'd Up. I don't know what shades Wah used, but it looked pretty similar to me.

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China Glaze Awakening Collection - $10 at transdesign.com

When Halloween collections start being released, it's such an exciting time for me. Among other things it means that Autumn is nearly here, and I'm not exaggerating when I say I absolutely LIVE for Fall! Another thing is that the "holiday" itself is just a lot of fun. It's pretty much also guaranteed that there will be awesome nail polishes coming. My first Halloween purchase of this year is China Glaze's Awakening collection. Not to be confused with China Glaze's pink-with-gold-sheen shade of polish, this is a set of three super cool glitter polishes. Last year's Fortune Teller by China Glaze was one of my favorite polishes ever. Spellbound was another that they released for Halloween but sadly I didn't manage to get my hands on that one, and I'm still bruised by that, haha. This year I bought the Halloween set the very day it went online, and I'm pretty happy with it. I've swatched and reviewed each of the three shades below, so click to keep reading!

More on China Glaze Awakening Collection...

Sephora by OPI Havana Nights Mini Collection - $18 at sephora.com

There are some great and not-so-great things about this set I want to share with you. I'm going to start with the bad, just to get it out of the way, then we'll get on to the good stuff. Regular ol' OPI full-size bottles will run you $8.50 retail, and the Sephora by OPI polishes will only set you back an extra fifty cents at $9. No biggie there, right? Well, then you look at the difference in price between this 4-piece mini set versus a 4-piece mini set of the regular OPI. The SOPI set of minis will set you back $18, whereas you can cop a OPI mini collection, with bottles the same size, for a low price ranging online from about $10-12. Why the huge yawning chasm between mini collection price points? I dunno, but it's ridiculous in this girl's humble opinion. At the least, I'd expect to see mini versions of all six polishes from the Havana Nights collection in this box for the extra six or eight bucks, am I right? This frustrates me, but let's move on, shall we?

These four polishes are all very nice in their own right, if not entirely unique. The Sephora by OPI formula is quite nice and these minis are no exception. At just the right balance between thick and thin, and they apply beautifully into the bargain. If you'd like to see the swatches and my thoughts, please check out the jump.

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China Glaze Breakin' - $3 online at transdesign.com

Yeah, this color doesn't work for my skin, but I wouldn't mind keeping it around just to look at. In the bottle it's a gorgeous creamy creamsicle orange with golden shimmer. The Kicks collection had some doozies didn't it? It would be a great polish to put under China Glaze Dreamsicle, and if you're warm-toned it would be beyond amazing just by it's lonesome. Up against my skin it looks crazy warm and orange, but actually it's pretty tame and more on the neutral side.

China Glaze Orange Pacific is one of the most vibrant and shimmery oranges I've ever put on my nails. It's a real eye-catcher, so since it's been sunny this week, I was in the mood for a fiery bright shade. I also got in some new Konad plates in so I wanted to try out some of the designs, and was stuck on this design from plate m69 that reminds me of flames, but really kind of looks more like zebra stripes. I settled on Orly Foil FX in Luxe for the image because the bright gold foil complemented the gold glass-fleck shimmer in Orange Pacific. So you see the final result, in bright light the orange is the dominating color, and inside the gold really stands out the most. Overall, I loved this combination and think it's going to be awesome for summer.

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