#Clearly the Maybelline people should hire me

[stopper-my-heart]

Have you considered the shenanigans happening in between episodes 4 and 5 of season 1 of Heartstopper?

This was Nick and Charlie at the end of episode 4:

Charlie had been panicking that he was behaving in ways that would reveal the secret romantic aspect of their relationship to others and that that would be upsetting to Nick. Nick was beginning to reassure Charlie, or at least to take on the blame for their predicament for himself ("I'm the one who should be saying sorry..."), when Isaac abruptly entered. Isaac then left, but it was too late: Nick beat a hasty retreat and Nick and Charlie's respective guilt was left unresolved.

Jump to where we pick up with Nick and Charlie at the beginning of episode 5:

We have Charlie between-the-lines inviting Nick to his birthday party ("Me and my friends are going bowling, and I was gonna ask you if you wanted to come, but I know you don't really know them so you don't have to."), and Nick enthusiastically accepting almost before Charlie has finished speaking. There are smiles and small touches (and arms pressed together) and fond looks...All seems well in Nick-and-Charlie land.

But why? Or, maybe, how? What happened between that...I don't want to say "catastrophic" but surely unfortunate lack of discussion or closure between them in the infirmary and the cosy happy times in their form group?

This is why I call shenanigans.

Except I think there weren't shenanigans.

Potentially even worse, I think there was wilful ignoring and wishful thinking.

I think both Nick and Charlie are choosing to ignore their issues and act like things are okay, and since the other's acting like things are okay, well, everything's okay then, right?

(No.)

For Charlie's side, I expect Nick's cut-off apology in the infirmary has left him trying to keep in mind that Nick isn't blaming him but probably otherwise very unsteady and out of the loop.

From Nick's point of view, he's likely not yet ready to make any promises to change things, so what good would randomly bringing up his conflicted and difficult feelings do? Besides, maybe Charlie understood what he was trying to get at (Nick can hope).

Not only is this relationship pretty new and feeling tenuous, but relationships in general are new to Nick, and a relationship with someone who cares about him is new to Charlie. They're both insecure and uncertain about how the other feels and what they want (while feeling and wanting a lot themselves, making it extra scary). It's easier not to rock the boat, especially if the other is acting like things are okay.

So where does that leave them? Not in a bad place, but certainly in an unresolved one. Episode 5 shows us more of that and finally brings us some resolution. (Not all, mind you, but some.)

Note that the resolution that episode 5 brings is some of the resolution missing from all the way back at the beginning of episode 4 rather than just at the end of it. Although the kiss in the rain under the umbrella went towards affirming their relationship, it seems like Nick and Charlie never had a conversation about what 'they' are, just that they're keeping 'them' a secret.

(It's reasonable to point out that the infirmary (sort-of) conversation likely happened on a Saturday and the birthday (sort-of) invitation likely happened on the Monday right afterwards, plus for the latter they're in school, so having any sort of bigger discussion in between these events would be challenging.

That said, Nick and Charlie also don't seem to have a bigger conversation during the week between Nick agreeing to go to Charlie's birthday party and the party itself, and they probably could have found time at some point if they'd really wanted to.)

More on episode 5 to come. In the meantime, want a refresher on the infirmary scene?

[asntmc5recap]

EPISODE 5: The Girl Who Make ‘It’ Happened

Well, what do you know, this is actually my favourite episode so far.

We start the episode with Tu mourning Layla’s elimination. Despite having her first FCO (and the very first for Vietnamese contestant), she still feels empty and unhappy, claiming that Layla is the only girl in the house that understand her, despite the language barrier.

Meanwhile, the girls in the ‘Bad Girls’ room celebrated the first week they don’t have any of the members of their group eliminated.

THE CHALLENGE

For their challenge, they met Cindercella, a Youtube star/makeup artist, and they were required to create a fun photo story showcasing Maybelline girl’s personality.

They were assigned into three groups - Group 1: Shikin, Tu & Valerie; Group 2: Alicia, Nametha & Veronika; and Group 3: Dorothy, Cindy, Clara & Maureen.

Each girl was given an edgy phrase that has something to do with Maybelline makeup product and they need to take a photo that embodies the phrase, which the combined, will tell a story. The winning group will get $10000 worth of Maybelline product.

While Group 2′s completed the task smoothly, Valerie and Shikin from Group 2 had some disagreements because they’re both ‘bossy,’ as Valerie put it. Honestly, I just think Valerie was letting this whole “I know a lot about social media” gets to her head. Shikin knew what she wanted and stuck to that decision. And gurl clearly knows her thang considering she got the highest challenge score.

But what they went through was nothing compared to the conflicts going on between Clara, Maureen and Dorothy in Group 3. First, Maureen took too long to finish her makeup. Dorothy was annoyed (and it showed) but it was Clara that just couldn’t shut up about it, much to Maureen’s annoyance.

And then, of course, Maureen “failed” to take beautiful picture of Cindy and Clara called her stupid. 

You know, Clara got A LOT of hate on social media for her antics, but seriously, am I the only one who LOL-ed the entire time. It’s Clara being Clara. Not an ounce of hate or anger coming from her when she called Maureen stupid. Of course, I’d like to see her act more matured, but let’s just enjoy this while we can, no? It was fucking hilarious. Why all the hate?

Anyway, they put it all behind them when they won the group challenge. I mean, nothing brings women together than beauty products, am I right?

They got back to the house and Shikin was surprised she got the highest score, considering that her group didn’t win the challenge, and she thanked Valerie for taking an amazing picture of her.

And thank her she should. This is amazing. I agree with Cindercella. The highlighter really stood out in this photo. Told you gurl knows her thang.

But my favourite has to go to Dorothy’s. This is amazing. I love the creativity behind this. I mean, if this was Maureen’s idea, then she should really put all her animosity towards her behind and go give that woman a hug.

Nametha got the lowest score. She and Veronika suspected that it was because she refused to use heavy eye makeup for her photo. I think it is more because she failed to show any makeup in her photo. It was a challenge to sell makeups anyway.

Overall, I think this challenge makes more sense than last week’s challenge, which I think is extremely stupid. I get that to sell a brand on social media, you more or less have to be social media famous in the first place, but last cycle what they did was go through the contestants’ Instagram and tell them how they can improve it, instead of asking them to take part in some dumb internet challenge.

THE PHOTOSHOOT

For the photoshoot we have the delightful slice of sweet, fluffy rainbow cake, Nigel Stanisalaus, who’s the creative director of Maybelline New York.

In this shoot, the girls embodied the NYC “It” girl, running around the city while the paparazzi take pictures of them. The girl with the best photo will stand the chance to be featured in a Maybelline campaign.

The girls were assigned into groups and each group will get a distinctive look that Nigel himself had come up with.

Clara, Cindy and Valerie got the ‘Uptown Princess’ look, with simple makeup, dewy skin and matted lipstick. 

Dorothy, Nametha and Shikin got the ‘Downtown Edge’ look. They’ll be using strong colours, smoky eyes and bold lipstick to make them look like rockstars.

Last but not least, Maureen, Tu, Veronika and Alicia got the “Midtown Girl” look. They would have to embody a woman who are confident, chic and fashion forward, with their bold makeups and smoky eyes.

JUDGING PANEL

What a delightful panel of judges. I hope Nigel make constant appearance in this show. His insights were interesting and his remarks were HILARIOUS. Heck I think he even brought out a little bit of cray in Cindy (but she claimed it was the leather).

Shikin slayed, yet again. Boy, put this girl in a potato sack and she’ll make it werk. I kinda wish she had Nametha’s outfit though. Alicia, again, had the worse. I’m starting to suspect even the wardrobe department don’t know how to dress her body shape. That top is just atrocious.

Now moving on with the pictures!

MY BEST

1) Dorothy, 4th place, 40.3 points

SHE. FUCKING. KILLED. IT

Now I’ve seen her Colgate commercial (can’t seem to find it on the internet) and it was terrible. But it isn’t her fault. She’s a girl with attitude and in that commercial they just dress her up very beauty-pageant style and ask her to smile and sell her product (as it should be). It’s not her and I stick with my opinion that the job should be given to the prettiest, sweetest contestant - Maureen.

This is not my favourite photo this week, but I try to look at it from the perspective of a Maybelline director, who hire Gigi Hadid to sell their product. This picture embodies “It” because being an “It” girl is not just about looking pretty in front of the camera, but it’s also about having attitude. And like May from last cycle getting the best photo for showing attitude, I think this one deserves an FCO too.

And wtf was Yu Tsai rambling about her nose and shit? Taking ‘modelling H2T’ way too far there buddy.

2) Shikin, 2nd place, 41.8 points

THIS. Just, THIS. From the moment she stepped out of the building to the set, right until the end, everything about the shoot, and her photo are PERFECTION. She was rightfully sad about not getting the FCO despite all the positive feedbacks and getting the highest score for the challenge, but I get why Maybelline might not want someone “too edgy” to represent their product. (What, you think the judges are the only ones making all these decisions? Hey, they sponsored it, so... You know.)

3) Nametha, 6th place, 35.3 points

A lot of people don’t like this picture but I have to side with Nigel on this one. That is a million-dollar slouch right there. Based on her performance this past few weeks, I think she produced the best photo when she has this “I’m tired of your shit” kinda attitude. Girl needs a cheerleader on the set, but instead of lifting her spirit, she’d be there to say things that piss her off.

4) Valerie, 3rd place, 41.3 points

None of the judges talk about how posey this looks. I know it’s not easy to model while getting out of the car, but her left hand could’ve looked more natural. And she was doing the jaw thing too, although maybe not as obvious as her twin. Other than that, I agree with the judges - this looks expensive as fuck.

5) Maureen, 1st place, 45.3 points

I don’t know why the judges seem to be pushing her to adopt this “badass, don’t care” attitude. It’s not working with her. I don’t like this picture. It’s not a bad picture, but it doesn’t look like her at all. The makeup was terrible (sorry, Nigel) and everytime she tries to give attitude, she ends up looking bored. She tried Christy Turlington (sexy) at the field, it didn’t work out. Now she’s doing Naomi Campbell (fierce, badass) and it still doesn’t feel right. I hope she’ll try to embody the spirit of Linda Evangelista (fearless, free-spirited) in the next photoshoot. I mean, if THE HOLY TRINITY can’t help you, nothing else can, darling.

MY WORST

5) Veronika, 8th place, 34.0 points

Yeah, the jaw was quite bothering, but the rest of it I find pretty non-offensive. Loving the cheekbones, btw.

4) Cindy, 7th place, 34.3 points

What I find amazing about this picture is how she can look like she’s trying too hard and not trying at all at the same time. The first thing that comes to my mind when I saw this was “lazy.” But the more I look at it the more it seems... forced. From her finger to her facial expression. 

3) Alicia, Eliminated, 32.0 points

Alicia’s another one that seem to try too hard during her photoshoot this week. Kinda cringed a bit looking at how hard she tried to look all sexy and alluring in her photos. I think she’d do better had she got the “Downtown Edge” look. This high-society, art-of-the-seduction thing is just not for her.

And for the love of humanity, I wish she had just throw away that stupid handbag. Because it’s fucking stupid.

2) Tu, 5th place, 38.9 points

This is just bad. I don’t see whatever it is that Nigel saw. (Bar owner? Really?) The angle is bad, her mouth looks awkward and her pose isn’t doing her gorgeous body any favour. And give her her big hair back, for god’s sake!

And my worst, of course, you already know it, goes to...

1) Clara, Bottom Two, 32.4 points

Funny how Clara protested having to work the “Uptown Princess” look when she’s basically “The Princess” in this cycle. As for the photo, well, she was just standing there. I agree with Yu Tsai. This looks “too real.” This doesn’t belong in Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar, it belongs in a tabloid magazine.

“An heiress to a wealthy oil tycoon seen leaving her hotel with a cheap-looking handbag! Our 10-page cover story inside!”

Goodbye, Alicia.

So adios, Alicia, you beautiful, beautiful thing, you. They didn’t do right by you, hun, I swear to God.

While it’s hard for me to see her go, I totally understand why the judges decide to eliminate her. Her performance had been lackluster these past few weeks, and despite showing promises in the third week, her photos continue to be at best, forgettable.

But damn gurl had the most graceful exit in the show history. That’s some #attitudegoal right there. I can’t recall such amount of wisdom, maturity, professionalism and poise coming from any contestants from earlier cycle. And for that I say, brava Alicia. I genuinely hope that your attitude will carry you very very far in the modelling world.