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shepherds-of-haven · 9 months

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Sorry if this has already been answered, I couldn't find it!

What are cosmetics like for the shepherds? Are there rules about what you can/can't use while on duty, especially for the lunar corps? There are some members (like lavinet) that seem like they would find their daily cosmetic application really important, but in missions like chapter 8's, it seems near impossible to be able to keep that up. Are there official rules for it, or is it just up to the individual shepherds discretion?

Hi there, I'm assuming you've seen this post on the different kinds of makeup commonly used in Blest!

(I'm also going to include a Q&A question from Patreon last month regarding cosmetics below the cut for those who are curious for more info about cosmetics.)

There aren't really any rules about the use of cosmetics in the Shepherds, other than that it shouldn't be so eye-catching or garish as to be really memorable during undercover missions or situations where remaining unnoticed is crucial (but anyone who would be sent on such missions would already know that just as a common sense rule, so it's not really something that has to be stated in the regulations). So long as application of it doesn't interfere with your duties of being a Shepherd (like making you late for duty, keeping you distracted because you're always fussing at your lipstick, etc.), no one cares, so there's no specific policy about it: it's just up to the discretion of your superior officers to take note of how it impacts your performance, if at all.

I'm guessing you mean Chapter 7 rather than Chapter 8, since Lavinet already had makeup on when they left for the day in Chapter 8! When she's "roughing it" for missions like the Bleakmoor, though, she doesn't typically bother with it unless they've been staying at inns and whatnot, and just gets up a bit earlier to be ready for the day by the time they deploy! There are no Shepherd officers, especially in Lunar Corps, who find application of their cosmetics so important that it would interfere with their duties, so they would either forgo it for the sake of the mission or keep it up in a non-intrusive way on the missions that allow it! Hope that all makes sense!

Hello!! I'm new here, so I'm not too sure whether this question has been asked before, but my beauty/skincare loving self needs to know: What does the average hygiene/skincare regimen look like in Blest? What kinds of products/treatments do different social classes have access to? A similar question regarding cosmetics: What kind of cosmetics do people have access to? I remember Briony mentioning something about maquillage during the Lockwood mission; are cosmetics something almost exclusively used by the upper classes or is it more accessible to the general populace (and there are just different grades of it, like today!). How do different sectors of society view the practice of using make-up/cosmetics? Are there different beauty standards? Different cultural associations around the usage of cosmetics? Sorry about the long question, please don't feel pressured to answer every single one and give out a really detailed answer! I'd be perfectly pleased with just a very general sketch. Thank you so much!!

Hi there, I talked in a bit of detail about maquillage (makeup) here! (And in case you're curious, the equivalent of each RO's skincare routine here!) I would say that wearing no makeup is more common than wearing it, at least among the everyday working class; if a "commoner" were to wear any kind of makeup, it would likely be a touch of kohl to darken the eyelashes and a touch of color on the lips, cheeks, and tip of the nose, with an emphasis on achieving a dewy, light, fresh, youthful look rather than a really dramatic, heavy, or "glam" makeup style. (I guess if we're going by the makeup archetypes as I understand them, it would be like "natural," "nude," or "ingenue" makeup.) The goal would generally be that someone couldn't tell that you were wearing makeup (among that specific class), because it's such a luxury purchase that people could easily read into you wearing it as a really obvious desire to impress them (or that you're obviously in love with them). And no one really wants that assumption being made, so makeup (or "spectacle") is generally used more as an undetectable way to enhance beauty rather than as a fashion statement on its own, if that makes any sense? Again, this is only among the commoner class!

Of course, among the bourgeoise, wealthy merchant class, and aristocracy, it's the complete opposite, where wearing maquillage every day is the standard and just as noticeable as one's choice of outfit, but I go into that a bit more in the post I linked above! It would be extremely unusual to see Lavinet without makeup unless you were literally rousing her from her bed in the middle of the night, she was in a mourning period (and would be veiled in that case anyway), or you were a close family member such as a sibling or a parent. It should be noted that wearing maquillage is equally common between all genders within the aristocracy; men like Auberon are as prone to wearing iridescent crushed pearl powder or gold dust on his cheekbones as a Lavinet would be, though lip paint is not as common with men as it is with women!

As for cosmetics/skincare, I would categorize them into a few different categories. The absolute baseline is that hygiene in Blest is more advanced than many grungier medieval fantasies and hovers around latter Victorian standards: everyone who can afford to put food on the table also uses soap and water to wash up (though the quality of soap differs depending on what socioeconomic class you belong to), plumbing and flowing water is fairly common and advanced enough that baths are regular, everyone brushes their teeth (though again, the quality of urban toothpastes versus homemade rural "tooth powders" varies), and et cetera. With that established, cosmetic and skincare products are add-ons on top of these hygienic routines, and are divided thus:

- Peasantry, rural farmers, and the poor: skincare/cosmetics/maquillage are such non-essentials that they basically don't exist or aren't accessible for the truly poor or rural. Soaps are harsh, plain astringents intended just for hygiene and cleanliness, and do not contain any additives or scents. Homemade toothpowders might involve households ingredients like salt, pulverized charcoal, cinnamon, and crushed mint.

- Common working class: Soaps most likely contain added crushed herbs, flowers, or scented oils to make you smell nice as well as clean. "Hair soap" (shampoo) and "body soap" might be distinct products in an upper-working class household, whereas they wouldn't be in poorer households. Most inns provide you with at least a wash basin if not a bathtub with plain, unscented soap as a standard. Because public bathhouses are extremely common, especially in cities, additional skincare beyond this is most likely achieved at a bathhouse: you can pay extra to have access to an herbal bath with added herbs, extracts, and essences for specific things like soft skin, glowing hair, increased vitality, etc. However, for the majority of people of this class, this would be something to save up for once a year, not something to partake in regularly. Owning cosmetic products of their own just for skincare (lotions, creams) is pretty much unheard of. Unless you're in a client-facing position like a shopkeeper who's desperate to sell things, a bar server who relies on tips, a courtesan, or a performer like a bard or tavern singer, wearing makeup every day isn't common, but things like kohl, blush, or "dew-powder" (a kind of brightener/highlighter) are also not so expensive that it wouldn't be unusual to have some tucked away for really special occasions. Like a Nessa (the barmaid at Trouble's favorite tavern) would have some kohl or blush on hand for a date with a serious suitor or a night out at the theater, but she wouldn't wear it every day at her job. Perfume and cologne are not really that common among the lower class, though cheaper varieties are sold. More common might be "scented" powders, which are basically like deodorant and tend to just absorb body odors rather than have a real scent of their own.

- Bourgeoise/wealthy merchant class: Perfumes and colognes are common. Hair oils and pomades to style one's hair are common. Wearing makeup everyday, at least for women, is fairly common: I would say half do, half don't, depending on wealth, status, age, and taste. Here is where it becomes more common to own actual cosmetic skincare products in the home: nightly hand creams, face creams, and eye creams, usually to soften the skin or reduce wrinkles, are most common, and poultices and potions to treat or conceal blemishes might be quietly purchased. Notably, a common marketing trick is to slap on the label of "Elvish-made" onto skincare products to make them sell like wildfire, because the Elves are known to appear ageless and have incredible skin as well as general heightened beauty. Unfortunately, most of the customers who buy these products aren't aware that Elves disdain products like these and would never use them (because they would never need to, not having to worry much about their appearance or aging)!

- Nobility/aristocracy: Perfumes and colognes are standard, as is wearing maquillage. Along with the skincare that the bourgeoise have access to in the tier below, the aristocrats take it to another level. Special baths for different skincare needs are had at least once a month: this might be a milk and honey situation to make the skin brighten and glow, rosewater baths to soften it, etc. Exfoliants or pumice stones might be used during the daily bathing routine. Several steps of hair products and only the finest-milled soaps are used during baths. Nightly mists to promote hair shine or growth or special serums/elixirs to reduce pore size or even promote eyelash growth are used (think toner + serum + moisturizer-type skincare plans). It's typical to wash your face once in the morning and then take a longer bath at night. Body lotion, in addition to hand creams, face creams, eye creams, and lip creams is more common. Their beauty routines tend to be really long, but not very involved, because servants are typically the ones applying all of these products for them!

Hope that's enough detail! :)

#Shepherds of Haven #worldbuilding #makeup #maquillage #cosmetics #redirect #the order of the shepherds #order of the shepherds

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