For this manicure I started with China Glaze Blue Sparrow. I did this a while ago and forgot to write down how many coats I used. It was either two or three.

Blue Sparrow is a neon (it dries matte) that has lots of shimmer in it.

I topped it with Nicole by OPI Pitch-Black Glimmer (one coat). I got this at Target recently, along with some other really cool glitters!

I really liked this glitter! It's my second black glitter and I do love a good black glitter. Reminds me of pepper flakes, in a good way, I suppose, because I like pepper! Anyway, I think it adds something different and fun.

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First off, let me say that I'm going to do my very best to keep my camera lens cleaned from now on. Hopefully you will never have to suffer through a string of smudgy posts again!

Secondly, I'd like to thank my followers for being awesome and supportive. Never, in my wildest dreams, could I have imagined that over 200 people would choose to read my little blog. It blows my mind and humbles me, very much. Thank you.

I just read a post on another blog, Bright Lights, Big Color, which got me thinking about several recent comments on my blog. I don't want anyone to follow my blog unless they want to. Don't follow unless you enjoy my pictures, reviews, small talk, etc. Ya know? It's pretty simple.

While I appreciate that it can be hard to get followers and that at times as a baby blogger (which I absolutely and completely still consider myself to be) you can feel like you need a gazillion followers to be cool, respected, or important, I also think you need to just relax and let things happen as they will. That's my attitude about it, at any rate. I do enjoy seeing other great blogs, although I don't spend a whole lot of time reading/viewing other nail blogs - not nearly as much time as I used to before I started my own!

All of that being said, I want you all to feel free to comment as you wish. I read all the comments and enjoy your shared thoughts and feelings. If you don't feel like sharing, that's fine, too. I don't comment on other peoples' blogs very much but still enjoy looking at them when I can. I would prefer if you not ask me to check out your blog, or leave a link, or tell me that you'll follow me if I follow you. It just makes me uncomfortable and I don't want this to be the direction for my blog to go in. I'm not trying to be snobby or pretentious or anything else annoying...I just wanted to share my thoughts on the matter. I most certainly reserve the right to change my thoughts on this at any point in time, but for now, this is where I'm at.

The manicure, my gosh, was two coats of NYX Girls Sunday Afternoon with a coat of NYX Girls Mushroom Glitter. I of course did this one on a Sunday afternoon, being the occasional cheese-ball that I am. :) I absolutely loved it and I really can't say enough about how great NYX Girls nail polishes are. They are cheap, they always apply fantastically, they have a great color range, and the names are often interesting or quirky. LOVE! If you don't have any, and you are at all able to get some, you really should!! I buy mine from Cherry Culture.

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My Birthday was actually a month ago. That's how far behind I am in posting pictures I've taken versus what I'm wearing on any given day. At any rate, I snapped this picture of my Birthday manicure while enjoying a day at SeaWorld with my bestest bud. It was mega hot out. I did mass quantities of sweating that day!

I used two coats of LA Girl Metal Obsidian and one coat of Lippmann Happy Birthday. I really like how it turned out and it was fun to wear for a few days.

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Listen up! This is important. My camera lens was still smudged when I took all of these pictures. I realize how lame that is...and especially on such a life-changing manicure combination. But it is what it is. Live and learn.

I used three coats of Orly Space Cadet, possibly the world's single greatest nail polish.

Then I added a coat of pa A126.

After I did this combo, I realized that this is practically my dream polish - the one I had hoped to create through Illamasqua's recent contest! Zoinks!!

How freaking fabulous is that?!?! I wanted it to look like the Orion Nebula (you can Google that for images - simply breath-taking and one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen).

The next time I use Space Cadet I'll have to play around with it more to see if I can come up with a more perfect version of my dream polish. ;) I want to see how it looks layered over darker base colors. And I'm not sure if this particular glitter is the one I want to represent the stars (despite it's awesomeness).

I recently bought a back-up bottle of Space Cadet, which makes me very happy. I'm going to pass on MAC's dupe, Mean & Green.

I know you've probably already been over-exposed to this beaut, but hopefully you won't fault me for forcing you to see it some more.

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Okay, so these pictures make me sad because I had a smudge on my camera lens but did not realize it for another mani or two! Not cool. Also embarrassing. I'm hoping you can either ignore the smudginess or pretend that it's trendy and artsy.

I used two coats (but maybe three, I'm not sure) of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Ocean View, topped with a coat each of Pure Ice Busted and Revlon Galaxy.

As you can see, Busted is super gorgeous and is definitely good to have for layering. These polishes are cheap at Walmart.

I had some shrinkage at the tips...which is always awesome. Now, I love, love, love Galaxy. It's my first black glitter. I think it's safe to say that it has started a potential black glitter obsession. That being said, I'm not nuts about this combo, over all.

Just for fun, I had to include this picture of Georgia out sunbathing.

Sid snapped this pic of her being a goof ball and laying in the pool raft. Doesn't she look so relaxed? She loves to go out and sunbathe on the patio, nearly every day, sometimes multiple times a day. Normally she just lays right on the concrete, but I guess she took a fancy to the little float. This is one of those pictures that will just always make me smile. I hope it makes you smile, too!

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The lovely polish you see here is Etude House BL009. Sexy name, right?! I used just two coats and it applied majestically!

The next day I added a coat of Barry M Once Upon A Time.

See, I warned you about me and bar/hairy glitter! I can't get enough.

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I have another StrangeBeautiful for you. It's a teal from volume 4. I only needed two coats.

It applied so perfectly. I can't say enough about how great the formula is on these!

I don't do a lot of cremes, you'll notice; at least, not by themselves. It's because I'm a bit of a perfectionist and it's so hard for me to get the surface to look smooth with the polish and the top coat! One tiny bubble infuriates me.

Also, I do love me some glittah, shimmah, and general blingtasticness. That being said, I did enjoy wearing this just as is. It's so smooth, pretty, and such a calming color.

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This was truly glitter-ific! I used two coats of Nina Ultra Pro Purple Xing and then topped it with a coat of NYX Girls Dreamy Glitter.

I placed the stars with toothpicks, because I didn't think they'd go where I wanted them otherwise.

I had a little shrinkage on a couple tips, but nothing too bad, thankfully.

I like this mani - it was fun and really pretty.

I have some other Nina Ultra Pros that I picked up but haven't tried them yet. They look promising.

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I'm still working my way through old manis that somehow got lost and forgotten! Here is Nubar's Knight's Armor.

I did two coats.

It's really fabulous and I love all the chunky glitter!

Yes, it was a pain to remove, but totally worth it for me.

Have I raved to you yet about the Acetone polish remover tub/pot that you can buy at Target stores? If so, forgive me for mentioning it. If not, listen close! Target sells a white plastic tub of pure acetone. It's their own brand, but says Studio Tools on it. If you love to wear glitter, like me, then you need to buy this A-SAP! Buy two, in fact. :) It has pink plastic spike scrubbers inside it and you stick your finger in then rub it against the spikes. Glitter and flakies are removed rather easily. Voila! The acetone is a bit drying, yes, but if you can moisturize your hands and cuticles after, you'll be okay.

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What's this I see? A stunning purple holo?!

It's Etude House PP007. Just two coats.

It applied beautifully!

Cute little bottle.

It's more of a magenta purple or maybe like a light plum, but still very lovely.

I took a lot of pictures. It is just too pretty!

I ordered this and a few others off of their USA website, here.

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Okay, okay, this is THE mani that popped into my head a little bit ago and prompted me to realize that I'd somehow neglected to post a handful of manis from months ago. Sheesh! I feel better now.

Three coats of pa A96.

This is a perfect green jelly. Perfect, I tell you!

I managed to have cuticle oil all over my finger tips and nails in these pictures, so don't mind the added oily texture on the nail surface! I was probably too excited about the awesomeness of the polish to even notice at the time.

Why doesn't this come in a jumbo sized bottle? Huh?

Then I added pa AA06 on top.

Sorry for the dry cuticles and lame indoor only pictures.

I shamelessly used a toothpick to fish out the larger glitter shapes and place them on my nails. I couldn't bear to just let luck take care of the dispersion. :) Someone told me these nails looked "Christmas-y," which caused my brow to furrow a bit. Someone else said they reminded them of game tables and poker, which I thought was pretty cool! Either way, I love it no matter.

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Here is Sally Hansen HD in Hue. I did three coats.

This is a very frosty, bright, light yellow with shimmer. It's really glowy and attention-seeking!

I took several different pictures of this in various types of light and settings, but most are too awful for me to show you. These two are the only decent ones. Truthfully, I had a bit of trouble on the application. There were several bumps, lumps, and bubbles. Mostly bubbles, I fear. I cannot stand bubbles. I loathe bubbles.

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