Free Laboratory Love by Chrystal Wynd Page B

waiting game.
    Fortunately
I didn’t have to wait long. I was already standing when the digital gauge
finally flipped to the target temperature. It was show-time.
    *****
     
    The
color was a bright, lustrous, liquid red. Classic movie star red, but more so. I
wear very little makeup myself- I leave that to bimbos and silly adolescents-
but the teenagers would be fighting over this one and I could see why. I had
possibly struck cosmetic gold with this one.
    I
got a very thin, very fine paintbrush. I stirred the thick liquid, then nodded,
satisfied with the consistency. I positioned a small mirror on the lab table in
front of me and angled it so I could see my mouth. Then I dipped the brush once
more into the compound, took a deep breath and drew the brush across my lower
lip.
    I
waited several seconds, but there was no reaction. No burning, no odd smell, no
strange tastes, nothing. I pressed my lips together, but still no worrisome
sensations. I hadn’t expected any issues- chrystalmic had already been proven
safe for casual human contact and ingestion- but it was still an anxious
moment. Fortunately everything seemed fine.
    Mentally
shrugging, I dipped the brush into the thick color once more and then proceeded
to layer my lips with the thick, rich lipstick.
    My
lips came to life in the mirror. Matched against my raven-black hair, the
contrast made my face glow. Granted, I felt silly- bright red lipstick was not
my choice of color
ever
-
but regardless, the shade was a definite success. The spring line for Blonde
Concepts had a potential flagship color ready to go already! This was big.
    I
ran a finger gently over my lower lip, then checked my fingertip. No residue. I
did it again, harder this time. Still no color on my finger. Picking up a Styrofoam
cup, I pressed my lips firmly on the rim, then held the cup in front of me. No smeared
residue on the lip of the cup at all. Despite being fully and completely dry,
the lipstick remained looking glossy and freshly-applied.
    After
several seconds of gazing at the mirror, I finally registered a slight tingling
in my lips. Not a bad tingling- certainly not painful- but a low grade tingle
covering my entire lip surface area. I nodded and made some notations in my
spiral notebook. Something like that could be worked into marketing.
    I
finally glanced at the clock and decided it was time to go home. I had already
stayed long past my typical end-of-day.
    It
was time for the lipstick to come off. I couldn't let anybody see me wearing it
just yet. Making the compound was one thing- curiosity is at the heart of any
scientific progress- but actively testing a product without going through
protocol was a big no-no. I could let Simon see the chemical concoction, of
course, but he couldn’t see me wearing it.
    I
pulled a paper towel from a roll and folded it into a square. Despite firmly
pressing the paper towel against my lips and then wiping even more forcefully,
I was unable to remove any of the color. This shade was proving to be
remarkably tenacious. It had a chance at setting a standard for all-day
lipstick. I had really created something special here.
    Since
paper towels obviously weren’t going to work, it was time to resort to the lab
supply of makeup remover. Our business being what it was, our remover formula
was stronger than the typical over-the-counter stuff.
    Except
that didn’t work either.
    Feeling
only slight twinges of apprehension, I slathered makeup remover over my lips,
then soaked a sponge and held it against my lips to soak off the
aggressively-clinging lip color. Still no go. After several minutes of trying
without success, I gave up and started using lesser-known but generally
effective methods of removing liquid lip color.
    A
generous amount of Vaseline was layered over my lips, but that didn’t even dent
the glossy appearance. Several swipes with lip balm did nothing. I tried olive
oil and then tried some micellar water. Still nothing. I found some cold