Birthday Gyrrl

by shallow15

The Face

“Right,” said Rarity as she sat Flash down in front of her vanity. “First things first. Did you wash your face while you were changing?”

“Yeah,” Flash said. He eyed the plethora of brushes, boxes, and tubes that were laid out like an arsenal on the surface of the vanity. There was so much, and he didn't have the slightest clue what any of it was going to be used for.

Rarity picked up a tube from the table and flicked open the hinged lid on one end. “Hands,” she commanded. Flash obediently put his hands up and Rarity squeezed out a small dollop of cream into his palm. He looked at it, perplexed.

“What's this?”

Rarity smiled. “Lotion. Moisturizing is key, darling.”

“Oh. Right.” Flash began applying the lotion to his face, hoping his hands would cover his embarassed blush.

“Relax,” Sunset called. She was seated at the end of Rarity's bed. “It's not dental work, Flash. It's just makeup.”

“Exactly,” Rarity affirmed. “There's just a few preliminaries we need to do first.”

She handed Flash a mesh... “thing” was the only word he could think of. It was elastic and open at both ends. He looked at it and then back at Rarity.

“Uh.”

“It's a wig cap, darling. It will keep your hair out of the way while we work. Pull it over your head, all the way so it's around your neck.”

Flash complied, stretching the mesh contraption over his head and down past his chin.

“Good. Now bring it back up so the bottom is even with your hairline at the back of your head, then bring the rest of the bottom even with your hairline all around your head.”

It took a minute but Flash managed to get the cap where it needed to be. He looked in the mirror and grimaced. His hair was sticking up in all directions thanks to the pressure the wig cap was putting on his skull. It wasn't uncomfortable, but firm.

“Now,” said Rarity, “Grab the top and pull the rest of the cap to the top of your head and fold each side over at the crown.”

This part was easy. The cap easily slid up and over his head, wrapping his hair in a secure mesh net. He looked back in the mirror. He still looked weird, and his ears were prominent, but he didn't look like he had a bird's nest on his head anymore.

Rarity pulled her desk chair over and sat down. “All right, now we're ready to begin.”

She reached down and grabbed another small orange tube. She flipped the cap open and picked up a small triangular sponge. She squeezed a small amount of orange cream onto the sponge and leaned forward.

“So, we're going to start with some color corrector,” she began.

“'Color corrector?'” Flash asked.

“When you get up close, you find that your skin isn't one solid color, darling. There's little imperfection and blotches here and there. In your case, the orange is going to cancel out the blue-ish cast of your facial hair.”

“But I shaved my face before Sunset picked me up,” Flash protested.

“It's still there, darling, and it will come through when we put the rest of your face on without this. Just relax and trust me, okay?”

“All right, if you say so.”

Rarity brought the sponge up and began applying the corrector to Flash's chin, cheeks, and upper lip, spreading it around with the sponge until it was evenly applied. Flash glanced at his reflection and noted that his face did seem much smoother.

Rarity picked up another sponge and a smaller tube and unscrewed the cap. “Can I see your hand, Flash?”

“Sure.” Flash held out his hand. Rarity pulled on the cap on the bottle, which drew out a wand with the gold hued makeup on the swab like tip. She smeared a small amount of makeup onto the back of Flash's hand and examined it.

“Good, this should match your skin tone. Very important for concealer and foundation.”

“Ooookay,” Flash replied. Then a thought occurred to him. “Wait. Why do you have concealer and foundation that matches my skin tone?”

“That would be me,” Sunset piped up. “It's mine. Rarity figured our skin tones were close enough this could work.”

“And if you like what you see,” Rarity added, “We'll be happy to help you get something that is closer later.”

“Um... okay,” Flash said. Do they think I'm gonna be crossdressing on a regular basis or something?

“We're going to start with foundation.” Rarity reached up and began applying thick streaks of makeup to strategic locations on Flash's face. It felt slimy and cold on his face and he tried to keep from recoiling as Rarity applied it. She picked up a large teardrop shaped sponge and used the narrow end to begin spreading the makeup over his entire face, making sure to get into the creases around his nose and up to the edge of the wig cap. Soon, she leaned back and Flash looked in the mirror.

His face looked almost jaundiced and his eyebrows raised in confusion. Rarity caught his expression and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Don't judge until we're done, okay? This is only the first few steps.”

Flash nodded and turned back to her. “If you say so.”

Rarity nodded. “I do indeed. Next, concealer. This will cover up any odd coloration or small imperfections.”

She grabbed another sponge and a smaller tube. She unscrewed the cap, revealing a long tapered nozzle. She squeezed some concealer out onto the sponge and began applying it to Flash's face, focusing primarily on the inner corners of his eyes and the sides of his nose. She then grabbed a smaller teardrop sponge and began blending the concealer into the foundation.

Once that was done, she peered at Flash's face, then nodded to herself and began looking through the makeup.

“Everything okay?” Flash asked.

“Just fine, darling. Looking for the right shade.”

Flash nodded and looked back at himself in the mirror. He still looked weird. His face just seemed off somehow, vaguely artificial. He knew they weren't finished yet, but he felt himself slumping in the chair at how he looked.

“You okay?” Sunset asked, seeing his change in posture.

“Yeah, sure,” he muttered.

Sunset got up off the bed and came over to sit down on the floor beside him. She took his hand.

“It’s okay, Flash. We’re your friends. We’re not going to make you look silly.”

“I know,” said Flash. “I just… it’s… well, just look at me!”

Sunset and Rarity exchanged a knowing smirk. “I thought you might feel this way,” said Sunset. “So, Rarity and I did something to make you feel better.”

“Huh?” Flash blinked.

“While you were changing in the bathroom, we did our makeup,” Rarity explained, pulling out her phone and tapping the screen. “Would you like to see?”

She held out the phone. Flash leaned forward to look and burst out laughing. The girls had taken pictures of themselves in mid-application. Their hair was pulled sharply back from their faces and smears of foundation, concealer, and who knew what else were evident. Flash flipped through the pictures, each one showing the girls more ridiculous than the last.

“You see, darling?” Rarity said, smiling. “A complete look takes effort. You may look foolish while you’re working on it, but so does everyone. My word, if I told you how long it takes me to get my face just so before school every day and the sheer grotesquery that happens while I do.”

“And I don’t normally wear makeup except on special occasions,” Sunset added. “I’m only slightly less of a beginner than you are. So lighten up. It’ll all be worth it when we’re done, okay?”

Flash nodded, deciding to trust them. He wished he wasn’t being so namby-pamby about the whole thing, but part of him seriously doubted makeup was going to do anything to make him look less like a dude in a dress.

Rarity produced another tube, this one with a dark brown cream at the end. “Next, contouring. Now, we’re not going to go all out Countess Coloratura tonight. Just some basic contouring and highlights to take the edges off and thin out your face a bit.”

“Check his flesh!” Sunset said, putting on a pompous accent. She grinned.

Rarity returned the smile and replied with a similar accent. “As you can see, he has no flesh!”

Flash looked from Rarity to Sunset. “Did I miss something?”

Sunset shook her head, giggling. “Just an old ViewTube video we think is hilarious. I’ll show it to you later.”

Flash decided to let that one go and leaned forward again so Rarity had access to his face. Rarity reached up and lightly touched his cheek, feeling for the bone underneath on both sides, then did the same to his jaw. She made a satisfied noise then quickly applied the makeup in a series of lines: one on each cheek, a long line just underneath his jawline, several smaller lines high on his forehead, and two L-shaped lines down the sides of the bridge of his nose and over the nostrils.

“Now, we blend!” Rarity took her fingers and began smearing the lines upward. “When contouring, you generally want to blend upwards, so it doesn’t make your face droop,” she said. “I like using my fingers for this, but you can use a brush or a beauty blender as well if you don’t want to deal with washing it off your hands later.”

“’Beauty blender?’” Flash asked. Sunset reached up to the vanity counter and held up one of the teardrop shaped sponges.

“Beauty blender,” she said.

“What’s the difference between that and a sponge?” Flash felt like he should probably be asking more questions. Or at least be a little more proactive in his participation.

“About five bucks a pack,” Sunset replied with a smile. Rarity, without missing a beat while working on Flash’s face, lashed out with one foot and gently kicked Sunset. Sunset responded by sticking her tongue out at the fashionista before giggling again. Flash found himself joining along.

“Hey, a smile!” Sunset cheered. “We’re gonna have to tell Pinkie Pie she’s out of a job!”

“Oh, I doubt we’ll be replacing her anytime soon, darling.” Rarity took a look at her handiwork and leaned back. “There. I think that will do it.”

She rummaged among the cosmetics on the vanity and brought up a large brush and a flat box. She flipped the lid open, revealing six compartments, each with a different shade of powder. She began rubbing the brush into a light cream shade.

“Now, we’re going to highlight the contouring we just did. This will help emphasize the shadows we’ve just created and balance out your face.”

She began applying the powder in similar lines, applying it as before, just underneath the lines she had originally done, then she blended everything until they had made the contouring a little more prominent, but not so prominent as to call attention to itself.

“Can I look?” Flash asked. Rarity gestured to the mirror.

“Just don’t judge yourself harshly,” she said. “We’re only about a third of the way done.”

Flash looked in the mirror and stared. Even though he knew he was wearing makeup, the effect was amazing. His features seemed softer, his jaw rounder, his forehead less prominent. His nose looked both thinner and more sharply defined. He blinked a few times to make sure he was seeing things correctly. He still thought he looked ridiculous, but there was a definite change happening as Rarity worked on him.

While he looked, Rarity had produced another palette from the myriad stacked on the vanity. This one was smaller with four shades of makeup ranging from a dark magenta to an almost white. She produced another brush and began rubbing it into the second brightest shade.

“A little blush, I think,” she said, turning Flash’s face back toward her and leaning forward. She quickly swiped the brush over each of his cheekbones, leaving a trail behind, then she grabbed the beauty blender and began lightly going over them, spreading the blush out until there was just a faint suggestion on his cheeks.

“Damn,” said Sunset looking up at him. “That’s really his color.”

“Yes, indeed,” Rarity agreed. “I shall have to make a note for future reference.”

Flash looked back in the mirror and his cheeks did seem to have more color in them. Whether it was “his” color or not, he couldn’t really say, but the girls liked it and he decided to take their word for it.

Rarity stood up and leaned close to Flash, frowning in concentration. “Hmmm… I really should have had you pluck before we put the foundation on. Oh, well, we can work with it.”

“Pluck?” Flash asked, confused. “Pluck what?”

“Your eyebrows, darling. There’s a few stray hairs between them. But no matter. The concealer is doing its job on that front and we can certainly de-emphasize them.”

She opened another palette, this one marked “Brow.” She pulled a tiny brush from inside. One end looked like a miniature paintbrush, the other was a small set of bristles. She looked at Flash then down at Sunset. “Which did we agree on? Number two?”

“Three,” Sunset replied. “It goes with the dress better.”

Rarity nodded, then looked back up at Flash. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any blue to match your eyebrows, darling. So we’re going to cheat a bit and turn them darker so everything works well together, all right?”

“I guess?” Flash replied, not really understanding what Rarity was asking. He found out in short order when Rarity dipped the paintbrush end into the pallet and began using it to put the makeup on his eyebrows. She worked swiftly, applying it with precision, then she flipped the brush over and used the bristles to run it through the tiny hairs. Flash felt an odd scratching sensation as she worked, but it wasn’t exactly unpleasant. It felt like those times when his hair wouldn’t cooperate when he brushed it out in the morning.

“There!” Rarity said, satisfied. “What do you think?”

Flash looked in the mirror and blinked again. His eyebrows were popping out against the rest of his skin, a dark, almost jet black. They were sharply defined and made the blue of his eyes stand out.

“Wow,” he said quietly. “I may start doing that to them on a regular basis.”

Behind him, Rarity and Sunset smiled at each other.

Comments

[shortskirtsandexplosions]

I truly appreciate how straight-forward, realistic and calm this is. No strings attached. And the girls are girly without being grating or stereotypical.

This is also a supremely educational chapter~

[Damaged]

Just gonna quote your own writing back at you.

"Wow"

[Daedalus Aegle]

I like this story and hope to see more of it.

[CapNTilfy]

Is this being written from a place of personal experience?