Vivacious
The latch opens with a snick. Vinnie places a trembling hand on the lid of the large makeup chest. He swallows to rewet his dry throat. Then,he lifts the lid, exposing four rows of neatly stacked cosmetics. Vinnie looks up from the chest to meet his eyes in the bathroom mirror. The overhead light flickers, one second overly bright and the next too dim. Vinnie watches as heat flushes his cheeks. He glances away quickly.
His first item is easy to find. An Elmer’s glue stick lies on its side in the back corner of the chest. Vinnie picks it up and tugs open the top. He drags the florescent purple nub along the tail end of his left eyebrow. After coating the blond hairs with three thin layers of glue, Vinnie uses the tip of his forefinger to press the hairs down flat. He repeats the same process on his right eyebrow. While he waits for the sheer purple color to dry clear, Vinnie closes the top of the glue stick and returns it to the chest.
Next, his fingers wrap around a stout glass bottle in the center of the chest. The matte surface feels smooth and familiar in his hand. He shakes the bottle once, twice, three times, until the thick liquid runs smooth.
Then, he twists open the top and tips the bottle over. Ivory foundation pools onto the back of his hand. The bottle hits the ceramic counter with a clink and Vinnie reaches for a makeup brush. The chest is full of them: an array of multi-colored handles – lilac, fuscia, silver – which gleam in the overhead light. Some of the brush-heads are thick and dense with bristles, while others are domed at the base until tapered thin at the end. But all of them are embedded with past product, dyeing the dark threads with bright powder or clumpy liquid. Vinnie chooses a flat brush and dips the head into the liquid. He then begins to stipple the product, starting with the center of his face and working his way out. He is sure to cover the smooth surface of his glued-down eyebrows, red-flushed mouth, and clean shaven jaw. The last stroke of his brush covers a dime-sized birthmark on the top of his cheek bone. It disappears under a veil of perfection.
Returning the bottle to its original place, Vinnie moves on to introducing new features to his blank slate. With small precise strokes of a wax pencil, he begins to recreate the ends of his brows. Once satisfied with the shape, Vinnie puts away his eyebrow pencil and opens a compact of contour powder. The smell of chocolate is overpowering in the small space. Vinnie carves out his face by creating shadows along his jawline, hairline, and under his cheekbones. Applied with the dark powder, the jutting-quality of his jaw recedes. To contrast the shadows, Vinnie illuminates the tops of his cheek bones and the center of his face with a cream highlight. Then, a fluffy brush is buffed into his face, diluting the harsh lines of brown and white.
Vinnie once again meets his eyes in the mirror. He can see her now. She is there in his highly-arched brows and glowing cheekbones. Her lips have yet to be lined and filled or her eyelids painted and defined. But he can still see her, and for the first time he smiles at his reflection.
