The next morning.
The players in the hall were each busy with their own activities.
Huang Shengjie, Lu Qi, He Qinyun, and a few other players gathered around Zhou Wanlin, listening to her talk about makeup knowledge.
"Actually, I’m not a professional makeup artist myself, I can only share with everyone based on my own experience and insights.
"While practicing, if you find it doesn’t suit you, you can also try and adjust according to your own preferences.
"Makeup is something that can’t be fully explained in a short time. If everyone is willing, I can teach a bit every week at this time, and you can gradually practice and improve.
"Today is considered the first lesson. I will start with the pitfalls I encountered when learning makeup, which can also be seen as common misconceptions in the makeup process.
"The first pitfall: don’t be an equipment enthusiast.
"This means not pursuing a complete set of makeup products right from the start. Just like learning an instrument or painting, those who strive for a complete setup from the beginning are unlikely to persist until the end.
"They often ignore learning specific techniques, placing more energy on researching equipment, leading to the phenomenon of ’poor students having a lot of stationery.’
"From my personal feeling, skill-learning paths are quite similar, and when it comes to makeup, whether or not it can be done well depends on a few factors:
"First is aesthetics, which should account for more than half.
"Having a clear framework and general direction in your mind from the start is most important, whether drawing it beautifully or realistically.
"Second is technique, which takes up about thirty percent.
"For instance, understanding how to hold and use these various tools, applying force, and the order of using different makeup products.
"Third is the equipment, accounting for about twenty percent.
"For example, whether foundation or concealer is better, and the strengths and weaknesses of products when targeting different outcomes. These are all details that can be further improved.
"The types of makeup products in the Community are quite diverse. I’ve also tried some gradually, and I will give you a more detailed introduction later..."
Everyone listened attentively, especially Huang Shengjie and Lu Qi, who were even more serious than when attending school classes.
The first lesson Zhou Wanlin seemed to focus on theoretical knowledge, primarily sharing her experiences and pitfalls, but ended by detailing how to apply base makeup.
Of course, it sounds simple, but it’s actually more complicated than everyone imagined.
The whole process includes moisturizing, primer, concealer, foundation, etc. Huang Shengjie had to jot down many details in his notebook, otherwise, he could hardly remember them all.
The entire class lasted about an hour, with the first 30 minutes mainly explaining related theories and the latter 30 minutes covering the practical application of base makeup.
It’s clear that Zhou Wanlin tried her best to reduce what needed to be covered, but even the reduced amount of content was still quite substantial due to its sheer volume.
Huang Shengjie flipped through his notebook somewhat wistfully: "...I feel I need to review these things a few more times over the next few days, or by the same time next week, I’ll probably find my notes incomprehensible.
"I’m a bit curious, Sister Wanlin, how much of the total content did we cover today?
"Is it about one-tenth?"
Zhou Wanlin thought for a moment: "I’m not too sure, but it’s probably one-twentieth.
"I’m planning for each session to have a similar setup, with the first half focusing on theoretical content like aesthetics and product selection, and the latter half on specific techniques.
"Regarding specific techniques, besides the base makeup covered today, subsequent steps can be divided into several categories, including face shape correction, eyebrow styling, contour analysis, eyeliner, eyeshadow, lipstick, hairstyles, etc.
"Also, there are several specific overall makeup types, like analyzing suitable basic makeup for each person, youthful-looking date makeup, formal occasion interview makeup, etc.
"To cover it all, I think... about fifteen sessions should roughly complete the basics?"
Lu Qi was also surprised: "Fifteen classes? With our current pace, learning one class per week, it would take fifteen weeks to complete? That’s four months...
"It’s unlikely we’ll finish by the end of the second stage, and by then the third stage may almost be over.
"Can we really stick it out until then..."
Everyone was somewhat dejected.
Lu Qi’s original intention for learning makeup was to better handle role-playing games later on. It was apparent that for any role-playing game, appropriate makeup could enhance one’s performance.
But she clearly underestimated the difficulty of learning makeup.
What Zhou Wanlin taught was just general makeup, not professional stage makeup, yet there’s still so much to learn. And even if they mastered this content, it wasn’t guaranteed to be useful in role-playing games.
After all, it’s not uncommon for newbies to end up looking like a car accident scene.
If they don’t do well, it could result in a penalty, making it more disadvantageous than beneficial—better not to wear makeup at all.
Moreover, makeup takes up time that could be used for reading the Setting Book and strategizing before the game starts.
More importantly, no one knows when the second stage will end or what changes might occur in the third stage.
Four months is a long time for everyone, during which accidents could happen at any moment, making it all meaningless in the end.
Zhou Wanlin comforted: "There’s no need to think too deeply, nor should the survival pressure make everything in the Community seem so utilitarian.
"Thinking like that quickly leads to feeling that nothing done in the Community has meaning.
"Just treat it as experiencing life, learn skills you didn’t know before, whether you use them or not, it’s a way to keep yourself occupied in the Community.
"Some people might have a natural talent for makeup and learn faster than I expected. They can ask to have one-on-one sessions to speed up the process."
Huang Shengjie nodded seriously: "Alright, Sister Wanlin, it seems I am the one with a talent for makeup, and I will definitely work hard!"
Everyone was amused by Huang Shengjie’s humor, thanked Zhou Wanlin, and then dispersed.
And Zhou Wanlin didn’t forget to remind: "Remember to practice once each evening before bed and each morning when you wake up. I’ll check your assignments tomorrow morning."
Huang Shengjie walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, carefully reviewing the contents of his notebook, reading over key details several times to ensure he remembered them clearly.
He let out a sigh; honestly, no matter what you learn it’s tiring, and even lifestyle skills like makeup aren’t easy to learn.
Next comes practicing morning and night.
With makeup settled for now, Huang Shengjie rested briefly before looking toward Lin Sizhi who was also reading by the window.
He suddenly got an idea and sat opposite Lin Sizhi.
"Lawyer Lin, what book are you reading?"