9.6.8 Cosmetics
The Cosmetics trade skill is the art of crafting and applying beautifying preparations to oneself and others. From pigments and foundations to eyeliner and fake nails, a skilled cosmetician can dramatically alter a person's appearance and even their apparent age.
The skill of Cosmetics can be learned from Velvyi of Hatshero. Head to her shop, Sable and Smoulder, at v84307 and BUY COSMETICS PERMIT.
This carries a fee of 100 credits for the permit, which does not expire. Once a licensed cosmetist, you will have the basic ability in the Cosmetics trade skill. The more you train in this skill, the higher quality your product will be and the longer your cosmetics will last when applied.
The shop there also sells the base materials necessary for the craft. Suitable containers for storing your products - bottles, jars, pots, boxes, and other vessels - must be crafted by those proficient in Woodcraft, Ceramics, or Jewelcraft, or sourced from players who are.
Getting Started
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All cosmetics work begins with pigments - coloured pastes prepared from dye and graf, stored in a crafted box or jar. Most Cosmetics products require a prepared pigment to give them their colour. Use PIGMENT CRAFTABLE to see what pigments you can make from items currently in your inventory, and PIGMENT LIST to review what you are already carrying. For now, only a dyekit provides pigments, but other rarer pigments might be available in the future through other means.
A brushset is also essential, as many cosmetics cannot be applied without one so make sure you obtain one before you begin.
Once you have your pigments and brushset in hand, use COSMETISE to craft your chosen products, then APPLY them to yourself. To see the full list of available cosmetics and their required ingredients, refer to the individual AB COSMETICS entries.
To create a customized design of your own making, you must learn to expert skill in Cosmetics.
Application and Layering
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Cosmetics are applied with the APPLY command and removed with REMOVE COSMETICS, the latter requiring a prepared cosmetics remover. Some products will also interact with one another. For example: foundation's effect on your apparent age varies depending on whether concealer has been applied beforehand, and certain cosmetics such as mascara and highlighter will extend the duration of related products already active on your features. Applying cosmetics in a thoughtful order will yield noticeably better results!
Most characters may have up to four cosmetics active at once. Using a face mask beforehand raises this limit to eight.
Some items - fake nails, fake eyelashes, and adhered hair pieces - are physically worn and cannot be removed without cosmetics remover to dissolve the copal adhesive holding them in place.
Anybody can apply and remove most cosmetics to themselves so long as they obtain the product. However, to apply cosmetics to other players, you must first be a licensed cosmetologist and attain the Specialist ability (Transcendent skill rank).
Effects
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Many Cosmetics items have mechanical functions and interactions, largely revolving around your description. Some quick examples are:
- Nails/Eyelashes/Hair will show up as a worn items
- Concealer and foundation will modify your apparent age (modifies your racial description and HONORS slightly)
- Other cosmetics such as lipsticks will add characteristics (HELP CHARACTERISTICS) to your description.
For more information: AB COSMETICS
