I do a small favour for my friend
who decides to teach me a new skill in return

Suzanne’s cousin Clare:
and how she changed my life

by Louise Anne Smithson

Chapter 1

A first lesson

Mid November can get quite cold and miserable in London, especially if there is driving rain. It was just such a Saturday morning when I pressed the intercom button at the flat of my friend Suzanne Fisher in Westbourne Park. I heard it buzz inside, but knew from experience that it would be a minute or more before I received any answer. Suzanne had severely impaired mobility and could not walk easily without crutches, and so I waited patiently, hunched against the rain. At last the speaker phone crackled into life.

‘Who is it?’ asked a confident sounding female voice.

‘Hi Suzanne, it’s Tom Evans, I’ve brought your shopping.

‘Tom, you’re a lovely young man, please come in.’

She pressed the button to release the front door and I entered into the lobby of the building and then her flat on the ground floor. Two minutes later I was unloading her purchases on to her kitchen table and placing some of the items in the refrigerator.

‘I’m afraid you’ve caught me just as I was doing my makeup’, she called out from an adjoining bedroom. ‘I hope you won’t mind if I finish doing my face; I won’t be too long. In the meanwhile you can take the money for the shopping from my purse, pour yourself a coffee and come and talk to me in the bedroom if you like.’

Suzanne was in her mid-twenties three or four years older than me, and was my only real friend in London. We’d met six weeks before when she’d allowed the battery of her electric scooter to go flat, and I’d had to rescue her from a local supermarket, and we’d been friends since. As I entered her bedroom she was sitting at a dressing table with a wide assortment of makeup products spread out before her. Two crutches were leaning against the wall. She motioned me to a small bedroom chair adjacent to her, whilst she continued to put mascara on her eyelashes. I sat down and watched for a few moments.

‘Are you just going to sit there staring without saying anything?’ she asked as she continued with her face.

‘Sorry, but I don’t think I’ve ever watched a woman putting on her makeup before,’ I commented for want of something to say.

‘Really?’ she said with an obvious note of surprise in her voice.

‘My mother was a 1970s feminist who used to wear dungarees and bovver boots who rather looked down on women who wore makeup.’

‘I know the type,’ commented Suzanne. ‘Does she still feel the same way?’

‘She died last year.’

‘I’m sorry about that. But didn’t you have any sisters?’

‘No, I was the only child.’

‘Me too! But you must have had girlfriends in the past who wore makeup?’ she said as she put the finishing touches to her eyes.

‘No, I’m afraid not,’ I said blushing faintly at my admission.

I suppose one of the reasons that Suzanne and I got on well together was because there was never any question of a sexual relationship between us, which rather cleared the decks and enabled us to be good friends. It was something that we both knew without having to think about it. Suzanne appeared to sense my embarrassment at her last question and so changed the subject.

‘I love wearing makeup, and used to teach women how to use it properly. It’s the one thing that makes me still feel like a woman since I’ve been confined to a wheelchair and crutches. I may not be able to wear high heels or go out dancing these days but at least I can still make up my face to look healthy and do my hair nicely,’ she said.

‘Yes, you always look great whenever I see you,’ I said.

‘Thanks, but that does involve a certain amount of effort to achieve.’

‘So I see! That’s quite an array of products you have there,’ I said, referring to the top of the dressing table.’

‘I’m afraid those are only the tip of the iceberg,’ she said smiling as she opened two drawers both of which were full of cosmetics.

‘My goodness, what on earth are they all for?’ I asked.

‘Oh they all have their different uses,’ she replied smiling.

---

Suzanne was now brushing her hair, but she turned to look at me.

‘What are you doing for the rest of this morning Tom?’ she asked.

‘Nothing, I’ve no particular plans for today.’

(My weekends in London were always pretty lonely, that’s why I was happy to volunteer to do Suzanne’s shopping for her.)

‘In that case why don’t I give you a makeup lesson, to help broaden your education?’

I hesitated before answering not knowing what to say, so she continued talking in an authoritative tone.

‘Take off your jacket and come and sit here so that you can see what I’m doing,’ she said moving from the stool in front of the dressing table mirror, to the bed.

‘You want to put some makeup on me?’

‘Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt. You’ve quite an attractive face you know, but it could do with some enhancement.’

‘Won’t it make me look like a girl?’

She laughed at my naivety.

‘Yes, I should think so, and quite a pretty one at that, but don’t worry I won’t tell anyone,’ she said.

I hesitated for a moment before obeying her instruction.

‘Alright then, but you’ll have to promise to help me clean it all off afterwards.’

‘Of course I will.

---

She asked me to pull up the chair that I’d been sitting in so that it was next to the stool in front of the mirror so that we could sit next to one another and so I could either face her or the mirror and began carefully inspecting my face.

‘You have a nice bone-structure and no trace of any beard or Adam’s apple, which would be the main obstacles. You also have a clear complexion and lovely long eye-lashes for a lad. With your face you should really have been a girl.’

‘Thank you for that boost to my male self-confidence,’ I said with a note of sarcasm.

She ignored my comment and continued to scrutinize my face.

‘Alright we’ll begin the lesson by using a cleanser just to make sure there are no traces of grease or makeup left on your face,’ she said rubbing my cheeks with cotton pads soaked in a pink liquid.

‘But I’ve never had makeup on my face before.’

‘I know that; I was just telling you that for next time. Now I’m going to put on some moisturiser, it’ll help to plump up your skin before we put on the foundation.’

I watched in the mirror as she gently spread dabs of white cream over my cheeks, neck and round my eyes and then smoothed them into my skin. It was a pleasant relaxing sensation. Suzanne continued her running commentary on what she was doing, and why.

‘Before we put on your foundation, I think you’ll need a few dabs of concealer under your eyes, and along the bridge of your nose, that way you won’t need to use as much makeup to achieve a nice even skin tone. We’ll have to find a colour that suits your complexion as you’re a shade or two lighter than me.’

She found what she was looking for in the drawer.

‘How come you also have colours that don’t suit you?’ I asked.

‘I used to run a beauty salon before I became sick and had to sell the business. We were always getting free samples of new beauty products. I’ve kept them because you can sometimes mix two colours to create one that does suit.’

‘Oh, I see,’ I said, for want of any more intelligent response.

‘So now we come to the foundation, which is probably the most important cosmetic for any girl. Choosing the right shade can be hard to do on your own. If you’re not sure then you should always seek advice from a friend.’

‘But why is she referring to me as if I were a girl?’ I thought to myself, but said nothing.

Suzanne began to apply some dots of a skin-coloured liquid on my forehead, nose, chin and cheeks, and gently began to blend them together using a small sponge. She then told me to continue with the task.

‘You won’t need to apply much foundation, but it’s important to blend it in evenly to begin with. Work from the centre of your face outwards paying particular attention to your hairline and jaw-line,’ she said as she demonstrated the technique.

‘Do I really need to know all these details?’ I asked.

She sighed.

‘Just humour me, Tom; it takes me back to the time when I was fit and healthy and gave makeup lessons.’

‘Alright, I’m sorry, I won’t interrupt you again,’ I said, feeling a little guilty about my complaint.

‘In any event, the knowledge might come in handy to you sometime.’

‘I doubt it.’

‘Now take your time and make sure that you do it properly. Once you’ve blended it in, gently press the tips of your fingers over your face - the heat will help the blending process.’

She showed me what to do, and then asked me to try it for myself. I followed her instructions.

‘That’s good, now I want you to take the hand mirror over to the window and carefully check your face in the natural light, as it’ll show up any lines or other problem areas.’

I went over to the window as instructed.

‘My skin looks evenly toned to me,’ I answered, at last entering into the spirit of the exercise.

‘Great, now before you sit down again, I would like you to open that cupboard for me, inside you’ll find a brown wig on a block.’

I found what she wanted and handed it to her. She put it on one end of the dressing table.

‘That’s for you to wear after we’ve finished with your makeup.’

‘I’d assumed as much.’

‘Alright, now we’ll brush on some loose powder to set the foundation, and apply a little blush later on, but only after we’ve finished doing your eyes and lips. Are you alright to begin again?’

‘I suppose so,’ I replied, and once again took the seat in front of her mirror.

‘Now Tom, applying eye make up properly takes practice and there are a few things which you’ll need to bear in mind when deciding which colour eye shadow to wear.’

I didn’t respond not knowing what she wanted me to say. But she continued with her lesson regardless.

‘You have grey eyes, like me, so we’ll look out for a combination of three colours to suit them. Choose your primary colour first. This will be the one that you apply to your eyelid, but remember you don’t want your eye shadow to deflect attention from your eyes themselves, which is a mistake that some girls make, so we’ll go for a medium shade.

She selected a pastel grey-blue eye-shadow cake.

‘Now shut one eye, and using the eye shadow brush apply the colour to your eyelid, working upwards from the lashes to the crease of your eye’, she said demonstrating as she did so.

‘Would you like to try with the other eye?’

‘Alright then’

I did my best to follow her instructions.

‘That isn’t too bad, but I’ll just need to finish off for you.’

She neatened off my initial attempt.

‘We now need to apply the lightest shade to the outer half of your brow bone just below your eyebrow. It’ll open up the look of your eyes. If possible the entire area should be covered in one movement.’

Again she demonstrated on one eye and let me try on the other, but once again she had to neaten off my attempt so that each eye matched the other.

‘Don’t worry everyone is a little ham-fisted to begin with.’

I didn’t respond, not knowing what to say, so she continued with her commentary.

‘Now shut and then open each eye in turn.’

I did so.

‘Do you see the crease? We can deepen your eyes by applying the darker eye shadow to that crease.’

Once again she demonstrated on one eye and handed me the applicator to do the other.

‘Applying eye shadow is a skill you have to learn and will take you a little while to perfect.’

‘So I see,’ I said as she again repaired my last clumsy effort.

‘Now I’m just going to darken and shape your eyebrows a little, and also pluck out one or two stray hairs.’

‘Please don’t do anything that’ll still be noticeable after I’ve taken it all off.’

‘Don’t worry, nobody is going to notice if you’re missing a few eyebrows and they’ll soon grow back’ she replied.

‘I hope you’re right.’

---

Having removed a few hairs with tweezers she went over the remainder with an eyebrow pencil, darkening them and giving the brow more of an arch shape. My eyes were beginning to gain in definition and stand out more.

‘Next comes your eyeliner, which is available in both liquid and pencil form. I suggest that you use pencil to begin with as you can end up putting on too much liquid if you’re not careful. You need to draw a thin line as close to the base of your eyelids as you possibly can. You should start at the inside corner of your eye and work outwards. It can be rather fiddly at first, but if you find it difficult to complete in one line, short strokes can be used. I’ll do it for you today as we don’t want to spoil your eyelids, but you can do it next time.’

Next time?

I followed her instructions to close each lid in turn whilst she drew the line.

‘For the bottom lids you go in the opposite direction to the top eyelids. Again I’d better do it for you on this occasion, but if you promise to be careful I’ll let you put on your own mascara.’

‘That is big of you,’ I replied with a note of sarcasm which she ignored.

‘We use the mascara to give your lovely long eyelashes a fuller look and make them stand out. Insert the wand in its container and turn it a couple of times before pulling it out, making sure there are no blobs or lumps. Now carefully apply it by running the brush along your top and bottom lashes, away from your face.’

Again I followed her directions and appeared to make quite a good job of my eyelashes. In fact it was quite a pleasurable sensation.

‘Good, we’ll give your lashes a few minutes to dry and then you can apply a second coat to help to make them appear thicker. Afterwards, we’ll gently go through them again with an eyelash comb to separate any that have stuck together and remove any clumps that may appear.’

Once my eye lashes were finished and scrutinized by Suzanne I stared at myself in the mirror, and was amazed at the difference in their appearance.

---

My teacher now turned to the matter of my lips.

‘We’ll have to think carefully about your lipstick colour and finish. I think darker tones should complement your overall colouring. Matt lipsticks give a muted finish for everyday makeup, but on this occasion we want you to look glamorous and so I suggest a satin finish.’

I shrugged my shoulders, I’d now gone beyond the point where arguing or even contributing an opinion would have been any use.

‘I suppose you know best,’ I said.

‘You should begin by dabbing on a small amount of lip balm to give your lips a little moisture,’ she said handing me a stick.

Once I’d finished, she selected a dark red container from one of the dressing table drawers.

‘I’m going to draw a thin line along the edge of your lips with a lip liner that is a shade darker than your lipstick. Notice how I start at the centre of the upper lip and work outwards. I’m keeping to the outer edges to make your lips look fuller. When we’ve finished I’ll apply your lipstick to the remainder of your lips using a small brush.’

‘Alright then.

‘Now purse your lips so that they are both coated evenly,’ she said, indicating with her own lips what I should do.

‘Do you mean like this?’ I asked.

‘Good girl! This is another thing that’ll become second nature with a little more practice,’ she said.

Finally she handed me a tissue to blot the lips removing excess colour and to even out the texture.

‘Remember you’ll probably need to touch up your lips after having a meal or a cup of coffee.’

‘Do I put on the wig now?’ I asked, beginning to be anxious to see the overall effect.

‘No, not yet, I’m just going to put some blusher and give your nose a dab or two of face powder, but we have to be careful not to overdo it at this stage.’

She used a large makeup brush and lightly stroked the blush over my cheek bones, and then gently applied some loose powder to my nose with a puff and then brushed off the excess.

‘Face powder is another thing we have to keep an eye on during the day, especially your nose, which can appear to become shiny after a while. That’s why we carry powder compacts in our handbags, so we can do a quick repair job as necessary,’ she observed.

She really was treating me like one of her former customers.

---

At last it was time to secure the wig. I had a respectable amount of hair of my own, and so Suzanne provided me with a nylon wig cap to hold it in place. Then she held the wig from the back and carefully drew it over my natural hair until it sat neatly in place.

‘This is synthetic wig, but quite an expensive one, so it looks and feels like the real thing, but also holds it style after it has been washed.’

‘I would never have known that it wasn’t real,’ I commented.

She adjusted it to make sure it was straight and then adjusted the Velcro straps under the hair at the back so it sat firmly in place.

‘That should be secure enough indoors, but you can always clip it to your own hair if you ever go out on a windy day.’

She proceeded to brush the long brown hair into a style.

‘Alright madam, I think that is you done, so what do you think?’

I stared at my image for nearly thirty seconds in the mirror before responding.

‘It’s amazing,’ I said.

Suzanne smiled triumphantly. ‘Yes you have turned out looking much better than I imagined.’

‘But I look just like a young woman’ I commented.

‘You don’t ‘look just like a young woman’, you look like a photographic model,’ she commented.

I blushed but also had to smile at my reflection.

‘In that case would you mind taking a photo of me with my mobile phone before I get cleaned up?’

‘No, not yet. We can’t leave the job half done when you look so good. Let us stop for some lunch and then I’ll find you some of my clothes to wear this afternoon, and maybe we can do something about your finger nails as well. Once that is done I’ll take some proper photographs of you with my digital camera.’

I thought for a moment before agreeing to her plan.

‘Very well then, I suppose I have no other commitments today.’

‘Good, you’ll find there’s some ham and grated cheese in the fridge. If you’ll kindly make us a couple of toasted sandwiches and a fresh pot of coffee, I’ll start sorting out something for you to wear this afternoon. By the way, what shoe size do you take?’ she asked.

‘Six, I’ve always had rather small feet.’

‘Brilliant, you take the same size as I do. See, I told you that with your looks you should have been a girl.’