NOVEL WEB Sub Count: Still 30
Hunter thought about asking his mom about makeup before remembering that she didn’t really seem to usually wear any, and he could have gone to a store in the mall but that just sounded super embarrassing and awkward.
So he ended up ordering a bunch of makeup online. He couldn’t manage to figure out exactly what his foundation color was so he tried his best to guess and ordered several similar colors. This one website had a tool where you put in a photo of yourself and it showed what you’d look like with different shades, so that at least helped narrow things down.
Things ended up costing basically his whole paycheck for the last few weeks but oh well, sometimes you had to spend money to make money. It was an investment, like the memecoins his friend Erik was always telling people about.
He decided to postpone his next stream until the makeup arrived later that week, and spent the freed-up time watching makeup tutorials on YouTube. It was kinda annoying that most of the videos seemed to assume everyone watching was a girl, but whatever. He was pretty sure he at least understood the basic principles.
A few days later, while at work he got a notification that his package had arrived. Rushing home after his shift, he didn’t see it on the porch where it had been left. Fuck, did someone steal it? But then he went inside and saw it on the kitchen table.
His mom must have heard him get home. Coming down the stairs, she shouted, “Hunter, you got a package! I put it on the table!”
“Thanks, mom, I already saw it!”
He rushed up the stairs with the box, saying a quick “hi” to his mom as he passed her. “Wow, someone’s in a hurry,” she remarked to no one in particular.
Tearing the box open, he pulled out all the tubes of foundation and lipstick, the compacts of blusher and bronzer, and the palettes of eyeshadow. All matte, of course--he didn’t want to look overly shiny on camera.
He already had a ring light that he used during streams, and he had found a small circular mirror in the attic. So he got settled into his DX RACER gaming chair, switched on the ring light, and got to work.
It bothered Hunter to think about people watching his stream and coming away thinking he was bad at things. Like, if he wasn’t good, wasn’t that basically just broadcasting his own cringiness to the whole world? What kind of person streamed themselves doing something they sucked at?
But he knew that practice was the only way to get good. That’s why he always ran through games, almost obsessively, before he ever streamed them. And that’s basically what he was doing now, but with makeup.
His first several attempts weren’t great, frankly. The makeup either looked way too obvious or like it was doing nothing. Rewatching some tutorials and scrutinizing himself, he realized he hadn’t been blending nearly well enough and it made the contouring look bizarre.
But after trying again and again so many times he lost count, he was starting to look pretty decent. In the end, he only stopped because he’d run out of makeup wipes. Or “cleansing towelettes” if you listened to the package.
He had to admit, the makeup did make his face look a little more interesting and inviting. His eyes and lips stood out in a way that drew your attention to them, making his face seem more expressive. His skin looked smooth, free of any distracting or off-putting blemishes.
No wonder k-pop boys wear this stuff, he thought. Maybe this’ll actually get girls interested in me.
Glancing at the clock, he realized it was already almost 3 AM. Fuck, I have a shift tomorrow at 9. At least they let us have free coffee.
Lying in bed, his pulse remained fast as he envisioned a future where he was a successful and popular streamer. After lying there for what felt like hours, he eventually calmed down and fell into sleep.