What you will need:
From left to right: Essence of Beauty cosmetic wedge, Pink Gel Coat, Milani Nail Art Lacquer in Art of Silver, NYC Nail Polish in Starry Night
You can use any type of makeup sponge, base/top coat, and silver polish you have laying around. The first thing you want to do is put on a hydrating base coat. I used the Pink Gel Coat from Sephora. It's a bit pricey at $30 USD but my nails have never been in better shape. It also gives your nail beds a healthy pink glow. You can read reviews about it here.
Then you want to take your cosmetic sponge and paint some of the plain glitter polish onto one of the sides. Starting at the tip, dab it on until you see a think layer of glitter. As you go down your nail, the dabbing should become lighter, and so should the amount of glitter that is this area of your nail. You are creating a gradient effect.
Your nail should look something like the way my index finger does here. Next all you have to do is take some chunky glitters and just add them on top where you applied the thickest amount of glitter. You can use regular old glitter, but I find it easier just to use nail polish that already has big glitters in them. I got this NYC polish on sale at CVS for just. $.79!
Then, just add a top coat and you're done! Make sure to add the top coat around your edges because this is where chipping usually begins. Now you have a simple and cute look on your nails!