This is the second part of the Daphne chapter, as you may have guessed from the title. Do you guys like makeup, and hearing about how it's put on? Good, I was hoping so. Also, I'd like to make a couple of notes real fast. First off, this is one of the first times where I'm actually ahead of my posts, so I don't have to frantically write up something the day before or of when I need to post it. Secondly, I've moved towards typing this up directly on the computer, rather than writing in my notebook first. It seems to be working better for me. (Read: I'm actually writing more.) As always, enjoy.
The slave responded curtly, “Yes Domina.” She approached whilst snatching a cloth off of the table next to where she had sat, quickly setting to work, wiping away the tears from her face and generally wiping it clean. Gently caressing her face with the cloth, she asked, “How soon do you need to be presentable? Dominus is leaving soon, is he not?”
These words, as harmless as they may have been at face value, cut like a knife into her heart, a reminder that he was soon to leave, a reminder of what she dreaded most. She almost stuttered out her response, “S-soon.” She clenched her jaw reflexively, trying to swallow the pain away.
“My apologies, Domina. I did not mean to salt this wound while it was still so sore.” She stepped back a bit, examining the face of her lady. “Come. Sit here.” She gestured to the chair in which she had just sat a moment before, to which Daphne strode towards and quickly plopped down. Meanwhile, Doula grabbed a comb made from the bone of an auroch, two deer leaping towards each other carved into the handle. She with deliberate, practiced strokes swept through Daphne’s hair, producing uniform waves flowing down the back of her neck. Hair brushed, she made two quick braids on either side of her face from her foremost hair and then tied them to each other behind her head with a red ribbon, keeping all of her hair from her face.
Next she set to the makeup, taking a small bowl that was filled with a white paste, composed of white marl crushed down into a fine powder, orris root, and some animal fat. She swiped some up with her fingers and began to blend it onto her lady’s face, whitening it into an even pale shade. Next she approached another table where a near empty bottle of wine sat and put the spare cloth to the lip of the bottle, flipping it upside down to catch the dregs and obtain the red colour, applying it lightly to her cheeks to give a nice, rosy colour. Her eyelashes were highlighted by a small bone rod dipped in water and then kohl, and given eyeshadow from a crushed malachite mixture to give a green colour.
“And now the finishing touches, Domina.” She took a small glass container and smeared on to her neck on both sides small amounts of a paste made from animal fat, but blended into rose petals and cinnamon to give a pleasant aroma. At last she took a large necklace, a Usekh collar made of many sections of beads and some precious stones, and put it about Daphne’s neck, as well as some gold and silver bracelets and a gold torc for each arm. Finally, she was ready.
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