I prepared heartily for the release of the last Harry Potter film. My newspaper section came out with two Harry Potter specials. I reread all seven books. I watched the first seven movies.
And I planned on doing a special manicure when I watched the last one. And because one special manicure wasn’t enough, I ended up doing three.
The first time I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was really early. So early that I wasn’t allowed to talk about it yet. There were only seven of us at that private screening.
I sat there, riveted, crying and sniffling all throughout the movie. It didn’t help that I just finished reading the last book twenty minutes before the screening. I was an emotional wreck.
This is what I wore when I saw the last Harry Potter movie for the first time.
That’s a-england Perceval with a matte top coat.
I chose red in honor of Gryffindor and Perceval in honor of Albus Percival Dumbledore, one of my favorite characters.
The second time I watched Deathly Hallows 2 was in Shangri-La, the day after the movie opened in theaters. I was really looking forward to watching with a big crowd because I wanted to see how they would react. Nel and the other girls in the office were talking about how lively the crowd in Glorietta was – they were cheering, clapping, crying – and I was hoping it would be the same at Shang. But I was wrong – they were quiet the whole time, only laughing when Mrs. Weasley called Bellatrix a bitch.
This was my second Harry Potter mani.
Because I cannot draw to save an ant’s life, I asked Jill to draw for me.
The base was OPI Skull and Glossbones and she used a black Etude House nail art pen to draw HP, Harry’s lightning-shaped scar and Hedwig on my nails. I used Chanel Graphite and Rescue Beauty Lounge Under the Stars to create accent nails.
My third Harry Potter mani is my favorite.
I’ve been wanting to do newspaper nails forever (I work for a newspaper – how can I not?).
I thought it was the perfect time.
And what makes this mani even more special is the fact that I used pages from one of the Harry Potter specials we came out with.
I chose words from one of my favorite articles – “How Harry Potter Changed The World” by my friend Ruey.
My base color is Jane from Rescue Beauty Lounge. It’s an anagram of Hermione’s second name “Jean.” (Yes, I’m a geek.)
If you look closely, you’ll see the mirror image of the word “Harry” on my middle finger, “J.K.” on my little finger, part of the word “lightning” on my index finger and part of “Quidditch” on my thumb. It was my ring finger that I struggled with – I had to redo it five times, wasting the words Hermione, Rupert, Potter along the way. The print on the ring finger is still far from perfect but I knew I had to use it not just because I finally got the word “Potter” (although the “o” was missing) but because I managed to capture the word “over” under it.
And it’s sad – because it’s over – at least until Pottermore.
I posted a pic of this mani on Facebook and Twitter and I’ve been asked how to do it. There are great tutorials online – both in the form of videos and blog posts – but I thought I’d post a quick step-by-step here too.
1. Paint your nails with your base color – choose a light shade. Gray would be nice.
2. Wait for your nails to dry.
3. Soak a nail in a bowl of rubbing alcohol (or vodka, if alcohol isn’t easily available in your country) for about five seconds.
4. Press a piece of newspaper onto your nail for about thirty seconds. You might want to add more alcohol to make sure it’s completely wet. Hold the newspaper piece steady to make sure your imprint is clear. Don’t move it around.
5. Remove the piece of paper and check if you are satisfied with the transfer.
6. Repeat steps 3 to 5 until all your nails are done.
7. Add a layer of top coat to protect the letters from rubbing off.
It’s really easy. If I can do it, you totally can do it.
What did you wear when you watched Deathly Hallows 2?
