Okay, it's the script to a play, not a true novel like the rest of them, but IT'S HARRY POTTER AND IT'S WRITTEN BY JK ROWLING SO IT'S CANON SO AHH I'VE BEEN PEEING MY PANTS LIKE ALL WEEK.
My favorite local bookstore is having a midnight release party for which I am SUPER pumped. I haven't missed a Potter midnight release since the fifth book came out (book #4 had a morning-of release party, a bit more kid-friendly). There's going to be a costume contest and, thanks to the inspiration of my friend Joanna, I'll be dressing as a wizard masquerading as a muggle. Or, I guess, a no-maj since we're in America. But anyway I have a super silly outfit planned, parts of which came from the thrift store, and I decided to do my nails to not-really-match.
You've seen all of these polishes on the blog before: they're the Houses and Horcruxes and We'll Take the Lot collections by Twisted Colors (who has tragically stopped selling polish). I debated only using the Houses and Horcruxes collection since they're more recognizably Harry Potter themed, but decided to use all 8 of my Potter polishes because how could I leave the others out? <3
Since these have all been featured on the blog before, I won't go into detail about their names or their coverage. Follow the links above for more details on each specific polish!
I actually kinda messed up the order on my left hand! I meant to paint them on in the order of which House I most relate to: Ravenclaw (that's where I've been sorted on Pottermore), Hufflepuff (where I always kinda felt I'd end up when I was a kid), Gryffindor, Slytherin. But I accidentally reached for The Sword before The Cup so there we go.
On my thumbs, I painted Deathly Hallows symbols over white with Fairy Dust because holo sparkles = magic.
This part of the manicure totally doesn't show up on camera, but I used a scented top coat by Dream Polish so that my nails could smell MAGICAL! One Good Jump on my right pointer finger is chocolate scented, so that is also magical and just makes me smell delicious as I sit around.
It's super fitting that this midnight release is happening so close to my blogiversary, because I got to look back at my old photos and sort of see how far I've come. I first swatched them all in my first year of blogging, and while the photos look fine, it's nice to have a redo with my new lighting setup and macro lens. So I'm going to force extra photos down your throat, including some of the old ones.
This is, to this day, one of my favorite nail polish photos I've ever taken. And it was only in my fifth-ever post! I just love the depth of field on it, and the way I have my fingers positioned against the bottle. This was long before I had a soft box for my lighting, so the glare is super harsh. I don't even think I was wrapping a white pillow case around my LED lamp at this point! :D
Back in the day, my idea of a macro shot was to take a picture with the best focus possible and crop it tightly to one nail. It technically worked, but it certainly doesn't capture the depth of a polish the way an actual macro lens does!
Oh yes, it's time for a storm of macros. Here we go...
My macro lens isn't perfect - it is so very macro that I have to hold it about 1-2 cm away from my nail, and its depth of field is so narrow that I often struggle to get a good plane of focus on my very curvy nails. Still, it clips on to my cell phone's camera and it only cost like $15 on Amazon, so it's pretty decent. And it definitely has more of a true macro look than simply cropping a regular photo!
The silver glitters in The Locket are holographic, which you can especially see when you look at the ones in the bottle. LOL I CALLED THEM "SHINY" IN MY ORIGINAL POST DID I NOT EVEN KNOW THE WORD "HOLO" YET?
That "perfectly stacked 90 degree angle" hand pose was so uncomfortable for me. I almost feel like you can see the discomfort in the photos. My current slanted hand pose is so much more relaxed and natural-looking for me. Back then, I was trying to emulate some other bloggers' poses, but eventually I learned that I had to find what was comfortable for me, because when a hand pose feels better, it looks better. And, doesn't my watermark look so much better wrapped around my middle finger's cuticle than crammed randomly between whichever two nails?
Well, that's enough reminiscing for now. I may or may not do some more looking back and re-creations over the next week or two, who knows? In the meantime, be sure to enter my blogiversary giveaway first thing on Monday! And please, no calls on Sunday. I'll be reading some new Harry Potter content all day <3
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