Teddy Bear Nail Art

Lately I've been a bit stuck in a rut with nail art designs, and I've been doing some quite similar things.  I thought it was about time that I changed that and did something a bit different.  I took a look back on some older designs that I had done to get some inspiration, and I came up with these cute teddy bear nails.

I really love doing cute character and animal designs and I realised that I haven't done any for a while.  You can see some of the ones that I have done in the past on this accent nail collage I did for a tag on Instagram including, Rudolph, Om-Nom, a monkey, a hedgehog, a bunny, a chick, and Frankenstein.

I decided on teddy bears because who doesn't love a cute cuddly teddy?  I started off with a neural base on my index, middle, and ring finger, and two coats of Caramel Matte Nail Paint from Barry M on my thumb and little finger. Then using Mushroom from Barry M I painted a large circle on the tip of my middle finger nail. Using a dotting tool, I added a two large dots for ears.  Then on the nails either side I added paw print shapes by adding one large circle and four small dots.  Once this had all dried I added in some details on the teddy's ears and paws with Caramel, and used Espresso, also from the Matte Nail Paints from Barry M to add a nose and two eyes.  Finally, I added some polka dots with Mushroom on to my thumb and little finger.

To add a glossy finish to my nails I added a thick coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, so I didn't smudge my design.  I am so impressed with how glossy they look in the photo.

I already have some other ideas for different characters or animals I could try out next, so I am really pleased that I got out of my rut.  What do you do if/when this happens to you?

Thanks for stopping by
Aimée x

Barry M: Caramel with Dolly Mixture

Hello all,

This is just going to be a quick one today as this wasn't the manicure I had planned this week.  Just a note to you all, stamping with matte polish does not work!

After my ruined plans I decided to go for a fairly neutral combo as I was sulking a bit after my mini fail.  I used Caramel from the matte range for my base and topped it with Dolly Mixture from the Confetti range.

I really love the Confetti polishes as they add tiny flecks of colour to an otherwise plain manicure.  Dolly Mixture has a range of pastel flecks in it making it perfect for spring.  I used a glossy top coat over this which made my Caramel base slightly darker than it's true colour.  Overall I am not sure how I feel about this manicure.  I like it close up but from a distance it seems a bit lacking. Perhaps it's because it was a second choice, that I am not crazy about it, I don't know!  What do you think?

Barry M: Matte Dots

Hi all,

I have a first on my blog today... matte nails.  I haven't ever left any nails with a matte effect before, but since I won the whole of the autumn/winter collection from Barry M which included their matte collection in coffee shop colours.

I decided to use Caramel and Brown Mocha first.  On my thumb, index and middle finger I have Brown Mocha as a base and then Carmel on my ring finger and little finger.  I have then added some simple dots in various sizes along the sides of my nails in the opposite colours.  I found that the colours were a little patchy on the first coat, but on adding a second coat it's perfect.  To keep the matte look I went out on a search for a matte top coat and decided on Bourjois So Matt which did just the trick.

As this is the first time I have had matte nails they have taken a bit of getting use to.  When I finished them they almost didn't looked finished!  I do like the effect though and it's growing on me.  I think what has helped that these are the first truly matte effect finished polishes that I have tried, despite others claiming to be matte.

I'd love to see what other looks people have come up with with the Barry M matte polishes - leave me a link so I can take a look x