𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐚 - 𝑁𝑜 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙

Island 5. Celeste And The Queen

Life was pretty normal for Celeste after meeting Sofia. Now that she knew she was supposed to a pirate in this fantasy dreamlike world, her work was a little easier.

She now knew her whereabouts. She was in Ancient Egypt which was being ruled by Queen Cleopatra. Back in her world, she had read a lot of disturbing facts about her and in reality, she was almost as the books described her. How did she know? Of course, she had met her in person after coming back from Enchantia.

"Celeste!" Someone shouted for her.

"You called for me." Celeste looked down from the board of her ship. She was busy repairing her ship these days.

"Queen Cleopatra have summoned you to a celebratory banquet with her." The servant shouted.

"I'll be there. Is there anything I need to look out for?" Celeste shouted back.

"You already know her well enough so, I'm sure you'll manage but..." The servant hesitated.

"Go ahead." Celeste had already started to climb down her boat to take the invitation.

"The Queen.... She hopes that you will grace her with the information that will allow her to restore Egypt to it's former glory."

"Huh?" Celeste had already told everyone that she wasn't from here and that, she needed to leave. She did this so that Queen won't suspect her as some intruder.

"You heard it right. Will you use your knowledge of the future?" The servant asked, interested in what her response would be.

"I could do that if I knew what I can help her with." Celeste was already down now.

"Beauty, what else? Our Queen already have everything, that included. But, I presume being more beautiful is her wish." The servant said in a proud voice.

"Then should I go early to help her?" Celeste asked hesitant. Yes, she was afraid of Queen. Just never let it show.

"You surely should. Our Queen would be pleased. Use your knowledge of the future to become the first cosmetician introducing life changing skin and hair care treatments and makeup tips. I'm sure you'll love it too."

"Then, lead the way." Celeste started following the servant.

While Cleopatra was born in Egypt, she traced her family origins to Macedonian Greece. Nevertheless, she really loved Egypt and was a great ruler. Celeste could witness it first-hand.

Roman propaganda painted Cleopatra as a debauched temptress who used her sex appeal as a political weapon, but she may have been more renowned for her intellect than her appearance. She spoke as many as a dozen languages and was educated in mathematics, philosophy, oratory and astronomy, and Egyptian sources later described her as a ruler "who elevated the ranks of scholars and enjoyed their company."

Besides, after meeting Cleopatra, it became clear to Celeste that she wasn't as physically striking as people believed. Coins with her portrait sometimes used to show her with manly features and a large, hooked nose, though some historians contended that she intentionally portrayed herself as masculine as a display of strength. But, the reality was slightly different. She wasn't manly or anything, but, definitely not enough to be called pretty. She could use makeup.

"Here you are!" A heavy voice greeted Celeste as soon as she stepped inside the castle.

"How can I help you, Queen?" Celeste asked after they were finished with greetings and pleasantries.

"I suppose my servant must've told you. We don't really lack in beauty. You've already seen that both men and women, indulge in makeup, perfume, and beauty rituals. We believe these things not only enhance our appearance, but also have magical and religious powers. But, our knowledge is so limited." Cleopatra finished with a sigh.

When she first came here, she saw that ancient Egyptians were quite the beauty enthusiasts. They'd often use this natural pigment as lipstick and cheek stain. The ochre was grounded finely and mixed with water, then applied with a brush to the lips and face.

"I'd do everything to help. Let's get started then."

Celeste wanted to make them familiar with the concept of hair removal. Such hair could be removed by using a paste of water, sugar and lemon juice. This procedure was known as body sugaring. Ancient Egyptians seemed to be the first ones to come up with this concept. But, for now, the title was Celeste'.

Coffee scrub for skin could do wonders. It reduced inflammation, puffiness; removed dead skin cells; improved blood circulation, the skin's texture, and gave youthful radiant skin. So, Celeste used grounded coffee powder to exfoliate her skin.

Now, it was time to bathe. Raw honey and milk could be used as a face mask and a body wash. The milk and honey combo cleansed, nourished and exfoliated to give a healthy glow to skin. Honey had anti-ageing properties. It was yet another reason why Celeste favored this sticky product in her beauty rituals. Salt collected from the Dead Sea could also be used to exfoliate dead skin cells. But, she wasn't going to ask Queen to go there for obvious reasons.

After the bath, she focused on makeup and perfume. Using oils was best. Oils such as castor oil, sesame oil, and moringa oil were important to fight wrinkles. She had access to more than 20 kinds of oils and she was going to put them all to good use.

Celeste loved styling hair. And like all stylists, she too faced the same problem. How to make the style stick throughout the day? In modern times hairstyles can be set by using styling gels and hair spray. But what about the ancient Egypt?

She then, developed a styling gel to keep the hair in place. This hair styling gel was made with shea butter and coconut oil. Celeste replaced coconut oil with almond oil for Queen.

Henna departed a strong color on application and also had cooling effects on the body. It could be used to color the hair and finger nails in shades of red and orange. Queen loved dark and thick eyebrows. So, Celeste used burnt almonds to fill in her brows. The burnt almonds were vitamin E filled eyebrow pencils. It was time for final touchups.

Queen had under eye puffiness which was treated with slices of avocado. She used saffron as eye shadow. Green malachite was another choice after kohl to line her eyes. She grounded the substances and mixed them with water for a smooth application.

She was going with the cat eye trend. She took out a small box from her pocket. It was lead salt. Since these salts had lead in high concentrations, she had already used to process and filter it for up to 30 days to get the lead levels lowered back at her ship. And voila, the eyeliner was ready! It wasn't only going to beautify her eyes, but would also protect against sun damage.

And the Queen was ready! Celeste watched like a proud mother when the Queen made her way towards the guests, looking so fine in the celebratory banquet. She had become a revolutionary cosmetician by this and of course she was happy.
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Number of words : 1050
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Used One Orange and One Compass
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1500 -> first island
500 -> second island
1500 -> third island

Total = 3500

Island 3 and island 5 -> (scurvy) 500 + 500 (lime + orange) = 1000

2 compass (50+50 words) = 1600

Total = 2600

Remaining = 900