Hair and make up was a form of visual art, Charlie reasoned, hoping that any of the more classical portraits wouldn't object to his use of their room. He had put up an announcement at the start of the week, advertising that anyone who had signed up or who was interested in helping out at the hair and make up booth should come to MARS on the Saturday, bringing with them anything they had in the way of hair grips and bands or other styling accessories.
He had some concerns about his volunteers, especially Clara. As she claimed to have no clue about the subject at hand, he wondered why she didn't just visit the booth, instead of offering to help with it. Still, not many people had signed up, so if he didn't get a lot of surprise attendees today, he might have to make do. He still planned to make today half meeting, half test though, just to see what his recruits were up to. He'd rather have a long queue and do it all himself but do it well than have his name attached to any style travesties.
“Hello, and welcome to our first meeting about the make over booth,” he greeted, once he'd let it get about ten minutes past the allotted meeting time to allow for any late comers. “This meeting is going to be for us to discuss the booth's appearance as well as make sure we're all up to the job. I think classic black and white would be a good approach – it looks classy, never goes out of style and we could easily give it a great high class salon look,” he prayed silently that those who had signed up for the booth making roles at least had amongst them someone who was doing it for the love of interior design, not just a bunch of ham-fisted construction types. “If anyone has ideas they feel would help achieve this look, or feels strongly about going in a different direction, let me know.
“In terms of resources for the booth, I have a certain number of free samples I've got from magazines. I will be sending a list around during the meeting. Please add to it anything you have that you would be willing to let the booth use – please be specific on shade and quantity.
“Today, I would like you to get into pairs or threes. I'll be moving between groups and would like to hear a brief run down of the make up you would give your client, and to see you style their hair,” he informed them. As the meeting began, he moved quickly over to Clara and whoever she was working with. He wanted to make sure that her contributions were all her own work.
Subthreads:
Serious, yes. But can be fun at the same time! by Darina Porter, Tepp
Is doing one on yourself serious enough? (tag Charlie) by Clara Abernathy with Charlie B-F-R
13Charlie B-F-RMake overs are serious business252Charlie B-F-R15
Darina was excited to see Charlie’s announcement about his meeting for his booth. There were things that she didn’t really get to talk to him about in Charms Class and even more ideas that she had since then that she wanted to see if he liked. She hoped that he didn’t think that she was being rude or anything coming up with ideas to help and such!
The day of the meeting, Rina was sure to dress her best. She wore a pair of black trousers and a pretty white shirt that sat around her waist just perfectly that by the neck was sort of flowy. On top of that she wore the fitted black suit jacket that her mother had bought her with two buttons down low. The white fabric of the slightly hanging neckline sat above the buttoned parts of her jacket. Rina had even put on makeup and French braided her own dark hair, pulling the few flyaways back with bobby pins. In her bag, she had put all of her hair ties and other hair and makeup products that she’d brought with her and even still more that her mother had sent her when she’d owled about how excited she’d been about the Fair Booth she was going to be helping with. She’d brought also her hair dryer, straightener and curling iron with her as well, if Charlie needed them.
Rina walked into the MARS Rooms and spotted Charlie. She waved over to him and smiled broadly at him. Charlie had taught her a lot the day of his pool party and she’d taken his advice since then. No crazy outfits, they didn’t work! He started speaking and she listened to his every word. She liked the older boy. Sort of like a big brother, sort of like a friend, perhaps even more than that, but the eleven year old didn’t really have any concept of all that just yet.
Charlie mentioned that he thought the booth should be classic black and white and Rina nodded to him, smiling broadly to show that she agreed. She looked down at what she’d chosen to wear that day and almost laughed out loud. She had ideas, but she didn’t interrupt him as he kept on talking. He asked them to add anything they have to let the booth use as well and then asked them to get into pairs or groups of three. Rina took the time to raise her hand, as she would in class and said, “I have some ideas on how the booth could look, classy and black and white. I also have some hair ties and makeup, some spray on conditioner and shampoo, my hair dryer, straightened and curling iron that we can all use too.”
She finished speaking and waited to see if anyone else had anything else to add. When they all finished, she walked over to someone else and said, “Want to work together on this part?” she asked, waiting for an answer.
OOC: The white shirt isn’t indecent at all, I just was having trouble describing the shirt!
0Darina Porter, TeppSerious, yes. But can be fun at the same time!0Darina Porter, Tepp05
Is doing one on yourself serious enough? (tag Charlie)
by Clara Abernathy
Clara saw the signs posted for the Make-over Booth meeting planned for that Saturday and grimaced a bit. From the information in the announcement she assumed that they were probably going to have to play with people’s hair and make-up. The hair part Clara wasn’t too worried about since she spent a lot of time doing her own when the occasion called for it. Since most of her as of late had been taken up with mostly Quidditch practice and homework, she didn’t see much use in doing anything but the basics with her curly mop of a head. It seemed kind of ridiculous to completely stylize one’s hair when you’re going to be sticking your nose in a book or sweating like crazy running drills outside. Now that her house’s match against Aladren was done and over with she supposed she could start putting a little more effort into doing her hair at least. When it came to her clothing, she dressed in whatever felt comfortable and made her happy. She wasn’t too interested in what made other people happy as far as her choice of attire went. She dressed up appropriately when the occasion called for it and found herself pondering whether or not she should dress up for the meeting. She knew that fashion wasn’t exactly something she excelled at, but she wasn’t completely clueless. Okay…when it came to what was “IN” for the season she had to admit she was a little lost there, but she was fairly decent at telling what colors looked fairly good on certain people. She was still working on the make-up aspect since she had just started wearing it herself when the mood struck her. Her Aunts Charlotte and Simone had given her some application tips while she was visiting with her grandparents the previous summer.
She dug through her wardrobe for something Charlie might not find too atrocious and laid it flat on her bed while she ran to take a quick shower. While she dried off, she stuck her hair up in one of her hair clips to keep it out of her face. She turned towards her clothing and began getting herself ready. She chose the outfit that her aunt Simone had sent her for Christmas while she was on assignment in Paris. It was a two piece outfit that Clara would never have bought for herself, but she wasn’t going to upset her aunt by not accepting it. The skirt and matching peasant top were made of a flowy, gauzy material that both clung to her and swirled on its own as she moved (especially the skirt). The peasant style top had thin-ish style sleeves to it that resembled a tank top. The material gathered lightly at the collar and sat just under her collar bone. The gathering was tighter around her waist where the top ended. From the top of the skirt to the bottom, the material was wrinkled in appearance and stopped just above her ankles. The material was a deep blue that looked pretty good against her freckled skin and her flaming red hair. She finished off the outfit with her beaded sandals and a leather choker. The choker had a butterfly burnt into the leather and it tied in the back. Once she was dressed, she dug through her trunk for the hair and make-up accessories that Danielle had given her over the Christmas break. She sighed and shook her head as she pulled the two separate train cases from her clothing trunk. One of the train cases held a slue of cosmetics and nail polish that Danielle thought she might like. The other case held hair ties, colored scrunchies, clips, barrettes, bobby pins, a mini blow-dryer, a travel sized bottle of hair spray, a couple of brushes, combs of varying thicknesses and a hand held mirror. Danielle had also given her copies of French Cosmopolitan and Vogue. Clara shrugged as she pulled those out of the trunk as well. I suppose it pays to work as a photographer for Vogue she thought to herself.
Clara gathered up the two cases and the magazines and carried them with her out of the Pecari Common room and past the gardens. She made her way into the building and made her way towards the MARS rooms. She opened the door to the art room and went inside. She found that Charlie had already arrived along with her cousin Darina and Portia. She hadn’t had the chance to meet Portia yet and was glad that she would now get the opportunity. She waved hello and smiled to the other girl as she put the two cases and the magazines on the table with the other things she could only guess Charlie brought with him. She also waved to her cousin and found herself a seat waiting for Charlie to begin the meeting. He greeted everyone and then went on to explain the color scheme he would like to use for the booth. She found herself nodding approvingly. She had to admit she liked the idea of using black and white. It was classic and looked good on just about everyone. She personally avoided wearing straight white since her skin was rather pale under the dusting of freckles and it made her look like a ghost. Its partially why she wears darker colors that don’t clash with her hair and skin. Of the few things she knew about fashion that was the main one. She thanked her aunt Charlotte for that lovely piece of advice. She waited until Charlie had told them what he would like them to do before she approached him.
“Hey Charlie,” she greeted him cheerfully. “I hope you don’t mind, but I brought a whole case of hair accessories and make-up that was given to me at Christmas. I also brought some fashion magazines. They’re on the table over by your stuff if you want to use them. I was also thinking that I might do the hair and make-up portion of the meeting on myself. The way I figure it, if I can do my own hair and make-up without messing it up or poking my own eyes out I stand a pretty good chance of being able to do someone else’s pretty successfully wouldn’t you think?” she asked good-naturedly. Once she got Charlie’s opinion on her idea she went about telling him what she would do to herself if she was her own client. “I would first start by giving the clients’ hair a good once over. Take mine for example, since I have an unruly mop of spiral curls I would suggest trying to put it up in a way where it was both nice, yet functional. I would also use what ever type of hair they have to make the style work for them. In my case, I would do a semi-tight French twist, pinning it down with bobby pins and I would leave the ends out of the twist. I would add some styling mousse to the ends to make the curls stand out and then drape them around the twist, pinning them in certain spots so that they don’t completely fall out and ruin the do. She sprayed some of the styling mousse she brought with her into her palm and did her hair exactly how she described. She sprayed the finished product with a little hairspray and turned to face him. “So…what do you think?” she asked curiously. “Does it look alright?”
0Clara AbernathyIs doing one on yourself serious enough? (tag Charlie)232Clara Abernathy05
“Hey,” Charlie smiled at Clara. “Yeah, I saw them,” he nodded, in reference to the stuff she'd brought, and which he'd been giving a quick appraisal whilst he waited for everyone else to show up. He had to admit that it would come in handy, and was especially impressed with the magazines. “How on earth do you have French editions of Muggle magazines?” he asked. That was a pretty niche collection, he thought, especially as he'd thought Clara's family was almost all magical.
“It would be a start,” he replied hesitantly, in response to her comments about being able to do hair and make up on herself. “Doing it on someone else requires different skills though, especially for make-up.” There were a lot of things that were harder on oneself, but certain things around the eyes, such as liner and mascara, were – apparently – easier on oneself, as it was much easier to judge what a dangerous distance was. Besides, you could easily learn what suited you but it wouldn't suit everyone else. If Clara was now claiming to know this, having previously claimed total ignorance, he guessed she'd mugged up or got some advice over the holidays. That didn't mean she had proved her skills were adequate.
In spite of his reservations, she proceeded to talk about and demonstrate what she would do with her own hair. Charlie figured he may as well let her finish and check it over before unleashing her on someone else.
“It's fine,” he nodded, when she had finished. “Portia, may I borrow you?” he called. He figured she was the best bet. Firstly, with her long sheet of silky dark hair, she was very different looking to Clara. Secondly, she wasn't related to her, so couldn't have prepped or primed her before the meeting. When the Crotalus had come over, he turned back to Clara.
“Portia's hair type, colouring and general style are nothing like yours. What would you do with her hair and what sort of make up would you give her?” he asked. He didn't like to be harsh on people and he hoped Clara didn't think he was being. He was simply asking her to do what he'd asked everyone else in the room to at the start of the meeting, so he wasn't singling her out in any way. And he had a good reason for it – he needed to know what his work force was capable of.
OOC - I have Portia's author's permission to include her in this way.
13Charlie B-F-RIt shows you can style yourself...252Charlie B-F-R05
True, now lets see what I can do with someone else
by Clara
Clara was glad that Charlie had had the chance to take a look at the stuff Clara had brought for the meeting. She grinned sheepishly at the mention of the magazines. “About those,” she began. “They were a gift from my dad’s new girlfriend,” she told him. “She found them while she was traveling for work through Paris and thought I could use them. I’m not quite sure where in Paris she found them, but thought they might be able to help me since my skills are seriously lacking. I can manage with myself, but she thought they might give me some ideas on what to do with someone else since I told her and my dad that I had signed up to help you with this.” She had managed to glance through them briefly since she got them, but she still wasn’t sure she completely understood what they were talking about. She figured now was as good a time as any to find out.
Charlie watched her patiently as she completed her own hair (minus the make-up) and he seemed okay with the end result. She did have to admit as simple as it seemed to do her own hair she was going to be really testing the advice she had gotten doing someone else’s for them. Despite her skill level she was pretty confident she could do something nicely enough. She had no idea what Charlie would think, but until she did it she wouldn’t know. She smiled slightly pleased with herself when he said she did alright with herself, but found her stomach knotting just a little when he asked Portia to join them. She let out a deep breath and tried to keep smiling. Oh gods…he’s having me do Portia’s hair and make-up? she half fretted to herself. She nodded silently as Portia came to join them. Clara listened to Charlie’s question carefully, giving Portia’s face a thorough going over. She found her mind going completely blank as he asked what she would do with Portia’s hair type and what make-up she would use on her. Clara began to silently panic as she realized she might be in way over her head with this. She kicked herself for being chicken and forced herself to focus. Maybe I’m better at this than people give me credit for she told herself still looking over Portia’s hair and face.
An idea slowly began to blossom in her mind and she decided to go with it and see where it took her. Since Portia had such long, dark hair Clara couldn’t help wondering what a classic thick bun and really simple make-up would look like on her. She remembered seeing one of the models on the cover of one of the magazines with it and thought it might look nice on Portia. “Excuse me one second,” she told them as she half ran over to the table where she left the magazines. She shuffled through them fairly quickly looking for the one she wanted and plucked it up when she found it. She went back over to where Charlie and Portia waited and showed them both her idea. “Sorry about that,” she apologized. “I needed a visual aid.” She smiled at them both, showing them the cover page. “I was thinking that this might be a good look for you,” she told Portia, showing her the picture. “It’s simple, elegant and classic. You don’t really strike me as someone who would go really extreme with hair and make-up,” she commented sincerely. She was a little proud of herself just then. The advice her aunt Charlotte and Danielle gave her was starting to show a bit. She might actually not be as bad as she thought…maybe.
“So if we were to pull your hair up and put it in a slightly messy bun or even a tight one, it would make your face stand out more,” she told Portia. “What do you think Charlie? Slightly messy or tight bun with light eyeliner, mascara, blush and a lightly tinted lip gloss for her?” she asked him. She turned back to Portia. “I mean, it would be like the make-up here in the picture only I wouldn’t make you look so white,” she told her smiling. “This chick looks like a ghost with too much blush on. If she had more coloring to her face with the make-up she might not look so bad,” she said jokingly. “Should we go ahead and give it a try?” she asked them.
0ClaraTrue, now lets see what I can do with someone else232Clara05