New year, new glitter! Here’s my first manicure of 2014. I’ve decided to try out a matte coat over glitter, and I’m not sure how much I like the result, but here it is.

A Cut Above is a fantastic glitter topper made up of various sizes of pink glitter. It applies evenly with the brush, which means I didn’t have to flood my cuticles and waste a lot of polish to get this look. It went on very easily. When I put the matte top coat on, I felt like I was taking something away from it, but maybe I got something in return. The glitter still shines, but has a softer quality. It’s pretty and it’s interesting, but I’m not sure if I’ll do it again. I want my glitter to shine.

Also, I seem to have this problem with matte topcoats; the tips wear down more easily. Do you see those exposed tips? I just did these, and somewhere between applying the topcoat and taking the photos, the tips are worn down. That’s embarrassing. I feel dirty posting them, they’re so bad. Maybe it’s just this topcoat, but every time I use it, I have the same problem. I hate it.

Sally Hansen’s Black Out, Essie’s A Cut Above

I’ll mention this on the side: About a year ago, when I was living alone, I needed acetone. The store nearest me, which was about a half mile away, was perpetually out of acetone, so I sucked it up and went the extra mile (literally) to Walgreens. Meanwhile, I had some Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket, and I didn’t yet own any Essie polishes, so I knew I’d leave with a few of those, too. It took me ages to find the acetone; it ended up being on some hidden aisle endcap outside of the cosmetics department. As I walked around looking for it, I’d found tons of other things to buy, and I spent literally every cent I had on my wallet. I felt a little guilty (and a little relieved I didn’t have to put things back), but I did what I went to do. I bought acetone (at least I didn’t forget that) and I got my first Essies. Also, I walked three miles just to buy them, which says quite a lot about my dedication and/or insanity.

The haul from that fateful day.