Chanel!





A lot of us girls (Trannie, like me, or Genetic) have questions about makeup. Colors, brands, how to apply.. my goodness, there is a lot to learn. The best thing I ever did was to go the Chanel counter and let the professionals show me. It wasn't cheap, but it was certainly worth it to me. Let me tell you about it.

Like many of you, I learned about makeup through various resources. There are great web sites like www.transformation.co.uk/easy-make-up.html. Detailed instruction and examples can be found in books like Color Me Beautiful by Carole Jackson, Kevyn Aucoin's Making Faces, and Jane Campsie's Hair & Make-Up. And of course there's Oprah--I happened to catch a great segment on eyebrow waxing one afternoon, for example. These resources are wonderful for explaining it all and showing beautifully made-up faces that I would die for, but they don't talk about my particular face. (An egregious oversight on their part!) I thought I was doing pretty good with a look for clubbing etc., but when I decided to transition to living as a woman full time, I began to worry about achieving a more natural look for everyday wear. My color sense just isn't very good, so I needed help.

Fortunately, I knew where I could get that help. I had recently spent a gloriously fun afternoon with Denae Doyle of FemImage, working on my feminine poise and deportment. I remembered that Denae had mentioned a makeup expert she worked with from time to time, and that I might consider consulting her when I was ready. Now I was ready! I gave Denae a call. She told me she was thinking of Debi at the Chanel counter at Gottschalks in the Capitola Mall near Santa Cruz, where Denae's business is headquartered. I thanked her and said I would go on down there and see Debi, but Denae generously offered to accompany me and oversee the process. We arranged to meet at the mall the following Saturday. (Denae called ahead to be sure that Debi would be available.)

We planned to meet at Chili's restaurant at the mall's main entrance for lunch. I arrived a little early and did not see Denae, so I took a quick tour around the mall. Quick is right! Compared to the fabulous Silicon Valley malls like Westfield and Standford where I usually shop, this seemed like a toy mall, just a little playpen of a mall. It only took 10 minutes to walk the length and breadth of the criss-cross layout, ducking my head into a few shops, but moving along quickly so I wouldn't miss Denae. We eventually linked up, and it turned out we must have just missed each other several times. But all's well that ends well, and we had a nice relaxing lunch at Chili's, with lots of girly chit-chat.

After finishing with our lunch, we sauntered down to the Gottschalks end of the mall, window shopping along the way. We got to the Chanel counter in the department store, and Debi and her young porcelain-skinned comrade-in-cosmetics Linse greeted us with big smiles. At this point I began to understand the wisdom of trekking all the way down to Santa Cruz for this venture. I'm sure charming and talented makeup pros can be found at Chanel counters everywhere, but here in this little mall I received the undivided attention of these two lovely ladies all afternoon. At Westfield Macy's, it's an effort just to get enough attention to replenish my foundation.

Denae introduced me to Debi and Linse and they seemed genuinely happy to meet me. Other T-girls have reported similar warm welcomes at other cosmetics counters as well. I suspect the clerks spend so much time helping little old ladies select just the right shade of blue eye shadow, that they're sincerely glad to work with a fresh new face, especially one that is eager to drink deeply from the fountain of their expertise.

Denae and the ladies got caught up on their gossip a little bit, and then the focus turned to me me me! Debi sat me in the tall makeup chair in the aisle and used some potions to clean off the light cosmetics I had applied that morning. She applied some magic "restructuring" creams and moisturizing lotions which use the most modern chemical technologies to extract huge sums of money from my pocketbook, and may possibly help me achieve softer, more youthful skin. (On the serious side, I figure that if good skin care delays the need for a face lift some number of years, it will be a worthwhile return on my investment.)

Starting with this fresh palette, the first and most important task was to select a foundation. This was the part that Denae had particularly wanted to watch over, as it so important to get this just right. She had confided to me that she had gone back and forth with Debi with some "slight" differences of opinion working on certain girls, and sometimes this process could be quite lengthy. As it happened I was easy, and Debi hit my color just right on the first try with Soft Bisque Intensity 3. Denae didn't have to fight her a bit. We all agreed this shade looked very natural on me. Debi applied the foundation with a medium size brush, and I watched her technique closely as I had not been a brush-user up to this point. I was impressed with how smoothly the brush applied the foundation, and how it filled in all the pits and crevices that I deny having. I decided I would use a foundation brush from now on.

Debi dusted my face with a silky powder using a large puffy brush, just removing the shine from my skin. She used a little bit of concealer and highlighter to cover what remained of my upper lip stubble, most of my facial hair having been eradicated via laser at this point. I was amazed at how little concealer and powder she used, because I had been caking it on rather thickly. But I realized that I had developed this habit when I still had quite a bit of facial hair, and no longer needed to do that. The light application of makeup gave me a much more natural look. (The cost of Chanel's liquid makeup has also encouraged me to go lighter and lighter on the foundation lately!)

Debi selected an auburn pencil to fill in and define my eyebrow arch, and she and Denae decided I definitely needed a waxing there. "Yes! yes!" I eagerly agreed, as this was something I had been longing to do but had not felt comfortable about as long as I was still doing guy-mode. Denae and I ran over to her manicure parlor and got this done right after we finished at Chanel that afternoon.

From a Tamises Trio eye shadow kit, Debi used a light, almost invisible shade over my whole eye-lid all the way up to the eyebrows to set off the arch. Then she added a dark blue--almost a gray--on the lower portion of the lid, just on the outside halves to make my eyes look a little wider apart. For eyeliner, a dark purple shade replaced the black that I had been using. Debi made a much thinner line than I had always done, and smudged it so that it was nothing more than a shadow. I thought this would not leave enough color to bring out my eyes sufficiently, but when she curled my eye-lashes and coated them with a dark brown-black mascara, I had to agree with the ladies that my baby blues looked plenty cute!

I think I mentioned to Debi that I had never been able to find a mascara I was completely pleased with. They never seemed to go on quite right, being too clumpy, or gluey, or too thin, or whatever. I was pleased to find out that I love the Chanel mascara. It seems extremely thick, yet it goes on very smoothly and looks quite natural. The Chanel foundation also strikes me as substantially richer and nicer looking and feeling than what the ladies disparagingly referred to several times as "drugstore cosmetics". As for the rest of the products, I haven't really formed an opinion as to whether they are or are not substantially better than less expensive alternatives.

Denae had previously cautioned me against red red lipstick, which had of course been my idea of "with it" up to that point. Debi chose a light sienna lip liner and lipstick for me. I noticed that the lipstick matched the liner exactly, and I recalled that Kevyn Aucoin claimed that the dark liner/lighter fill look was out of style. (Of course Kevyn also says there are no rules!) I also saw the control Debi was able to achieve using a tiny brush to apply the lipstick, and I resolved to become a brush gal in this also.

Debi finished me off with blush high on my cheekbones of a gold hue with peach undertones. She swept the blush up higher toward my temples than Denae thought prudent, but when we saw how subtle the shade was, we agreed it worked well. Finally a deeper plumb blush was used to sculpt in my cheeks just a bit. Debi blended the blush thoroughly with her fingers, so that it transitioned smoothly and looked simply like a trick of the light.

The girls all picked at my hair to fluff it up a bit, and declared I was a beauty. I wasn't inclined to argue!



When I got home that evening I snapped a few photos to get a record of my make-over. Unfortunately I am lousy photographer, but the accompanying photo (the head shot with the rose jacket) can give you some idea of the results. I like all of the colors and products Debi helped me with that day, and that is what I continue to wear now, several months later. However I thought that Debi overdid me just a bit, for my tastes. A little too much blush, a little too much extension beyond my natural lip lines. So I tone things down somewhat in my daily wear, more like the photo of me in the gray suit. For clubbing, especially on Goth or fetish nights, I go back to the red red lipstick and black black eyeliner!

All this expertise, attention, and love did come with a price tag. Actually you are not obligated to buy anything when you have a makeover at the cosmetics counter. But the ladies work on commission, so it would be rather rude to take up their time and not compensate them. In my case I had deliberately let my makeup supply run down in anticipation of this event, and I let Debi know that as we got started. When we finished, lovely Linse presented me with a big drawing of a face which she had annotated with the exact descriptions of all the products which we had used as we went along. Debi asked me what, if anything, I wished to purchase. I told her, "I need everything. Load me up!" In this, I was not to be disappointed! I had been forewarned by a girlfriend that this could be a pricey experience. She told me she had spent $300 at the cosmetics counter on one of her initial trips. So I thought I was prepared. I asked Debi to ring me up but don't even show me the bottom line--I just signed off the credit card slip. So it was not until I got home that I saw the damage. Are you ready for this? It was not quite one thousand dollars--but it did reach that by the time I picked up a couple of things that they had not had in stock just at that time! I was glad that I had not seen this bottom line in the store, because it did rather shock me! But I decided that I do not regret a nickel of it. Let me explain that this included not just cosmetics, but a complete set of brushes, and the complete line-up of those very pricey high-tech skin care products. Also Chanel is no doubt the top of the line, most expensive cosmetics you can get. I am fortunately in a position where I can afford it, so why not the best? I figure it is like cooking--use the very best ingredients, until you get good enough that you can achieve the same results with more economical ones. I would encourage other girls to take advantage of their local make-up counters, Chanel or others, and don't be put off by the money. You don't have to spend anything like what I spent--but do buy aat least a few things to compensate your gals (or guys) for their time.

This little adventure took place over Christmas break last season. If I had any regrets about the money I spent, they would have disappeared once and for all at 8 am on January 2. That was the moment when I walked into the lobby of my new job, working for the first time as a woman, and told the receptionist, "Good morning, I'm Elaine!" Because whatever other doubts and uncertainties were facing me that morning, at least I had confidence that my makeup was fine.

Luv,
Lannie
4/2002


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