Hi! Today I've created a cute baby animal design. Initially I wanted to recreate my Big Cat Nails, since I always like to try manicures again and see if I can make any improvements. However, while watching TV this morning, an advert for sponsoring endangered animals came on, and it got me thinking. There's sooooo much animal-related nail art out there, but I thought I'd be a little bit different and mix up some of the more common creatures with the underrepresented. I Googled the most endangered species (I'm not gunna lie, it was kind of upsetting), and then picked out the ones that I thought I'd be able to recreate most effectively. I went for the ever popular panda and tiger along with a koala, a seal, and an orang-utan. The animals all turned out quite chubby and cute, so I decided that they're baby animals :)
The equipment:
Models Own 'Apple Pie'
Models Own 'Blueberry Muffin'
Models Own 'Fuzzy Peach'
Models Own 'Utopia'
Models Own 'Bare Beauty'
Models Own 'Pastel Pink'
Rimmel 'Grey Matter'
Natural Collection 'White'
Fearne 'Burnt Out'
L'Oreal 'Macaron Noisette'
Models Own black nail art pen
Models Own white nail art pen
Models Own 3-in-1 clear coat
Fine nail art paint brush
I applied my bases, alternating 'Apple Pie' and 'Blueberry Muffin'. Each nail took about 3 coats to achieve a really solid finish. When dry, I added the block base colours of the animals. I used white for the panda (on my thumb), Models Own 'Fuzzy Peach' for the tiger and orang-utan (index and little finger), Rimmel 'Grey Matter' for the koala, and L'Oreal 'Macaron Noisette' for the seal. I originally wanted my seal to be white, but I knew it would have large white eyes, and so to make them stand out I settled for a pale creamy-beige. Each base consists of a large circle for the head, and a smaller oval for the body.
When I was happy with my bases I started to add more details. For my panda, I used a black nail art pen and added ears, a nose, eye patches and arms. I didn't bother adding legs or a tail as I thought it would become too crowded.
For the tiger I added some orange ears, then filled them in with white. I then applied stripes, a white belly, and eyes. I originally planned for the nose to be pink, but this eventually changed to black. For the koala I added large grey ears, eyes, a belly, and a triangular-shaped nose. I also added eye bases to the seal, and a muzzle using 'Utopia'. The monkey got some large orange ears, a belly, eyes, and a muzzle using Models Own 'Bare Beauty'.
I added some more details to each of the animals, including little arms and a smiley mouth. I also added pupils to their eyes, with tiny glints of light.
Using a fine paint brush, I added more stripes to the tiger's arms, and also subtly outlined beneath his ears. His mouth is a little thicker than I intended, but it was extremely difficult to achieve a thin line, even using my finest paint brush!
I used 'Pastel Pink' for the koala's inner ears, and tried to shape them to make them a bit more koala-ish. Then I added black to highlight his arms.
The seal kind of looks like a bald baby bird... Never mind! I added a few grey and white details, along with some flippers.
I used sparkly orange to add some fuzz to the orang-utan, as well as a little monkey nose. I tried to make each animal's expression different, just for a bit of variety!
Finally, I topped each nail with a clear coat. I think I might add Essie 'Matte About You' eventually, as I always prefer manicures mattified! What do you think of my baby animal nails? It's such a shame to think that each of these species is extremely endangered, and in the very near future there may be none left at all. It's a horrible thought!
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