Make-up

A pair of tweezers, make-up brushes, and powders in an extravagant amount of colors line the dresser. Pencils for the eyes and pencils for the lips lay discarded, caps off. Instructions for the perfect cheekbones, smokey eyes and pouty lips from beauty sites are scattered underneath the mess. Get the Best Doe Eyes, Do Red Lips Right, What Color Blush is Right for You? Eyeliner is smeared across the mirror. Lipstick is swiped across the hand to determine which shade would look best for today. Red, a favorite. Mascara goes on eyelashes, a dash of gloss. Perfect. No blemishes visible, eyes shiny like magazine pages and lips sticky with a candy-like sheen. The make-up, she had decided long ago, isn’t to hide her face, it’s to show who she feels she is. She feels like a red-lipped beauty, a shiny-eyed star. The make-up is just to help other people notice that as well.