Beauty Influencer!Reader x Boyfriend!Rudy Pankow Headcanons
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Rudy isn’t exactly a “sit still and be quiet” kind of guy, so getting him into a chair is the first hurdle. He’ll usually agree only if you promise he can pick the background music, which inevitably leads to him air-drumming while you’re trying to apply eyeliner. You have to hold his chin steady, trying not to laugh as he makes dramatic "tortured artist" faces at the lens, telling your subscribers he's doing this purely for love (and maybe a post-filming milkshake).
As an influencer, you know exactly what your comments section wants: content that makes his blue eyes pop. You usually reach for warm copper tones or a subtle navy smudge, and Rudy has become surprisingly educated on the color wheel because of it. He’ll look at the palette and say, “Oh, we’re doing complementary colors today? Bold choice, babe,” with a wink that definitely makes it into the final cut of the video.
The feeling of a fluffy blending brush tickling his nose is his ultimate weakness. He can’t help but scrunch his face or sneeze at least three times per session. You’ve learned to keep the mascara wand far away until he’s settled. He finds the sensation of a damp beauty blender “deeply unsettling but weirdly therapeutic,” and he often closes his eyes and starts humming because he says the “pat-pat-pat” rhythm feels like a facial massage.
After years of sitting in professional makeup chairs for Outer Banks and various film sets, Rudy actually has some strong opinions. He’ll critique your technique–usually jokingly–by saying things like, “The department head on my last film used a different primer… you sure ‘bout this one?” You usually respond by putting a massive streak of highlighter across his nose to shut him up, which he then wears with inexplicable pride for the rest of the day.
He can’t just sit there and be pretty; he has to entertain the “chat.” While you’re focused on the precision of a wing, he’s busy telling your audience embarrassing stories about your first date or doing impressions of various cast members. He treats your ring light like a stage, and you often find yourself spending three times as long on the editing process to trim out the parts where you’re both doubled over laughing at his antics.
Rudy is surprisingly protective of his skin “barrier,” a term he learned from eavesdropping on your brand deals. Before you even touch a foundation brush, he insists on a full 10-step prep. He loves the cooling sensation of under-eye patches, often insisting on wearing them for twenty minutes before the video starts, walking around the house looking like a very confused, very handsome raccoon while drinking his coffee.
Every once in a while, you convince him to do a “Full Glam” transformation. He’s surprisingly down for it, especially if it involves glitter. There is a legendary video on your channel where he's wearing a contrast eyelid look and a bold red lip, and he spent the entire night acting like a high-fashion runway model. He didn’t even want to take it off, claiming that the “confidence of a red lip” is a real scientific phenomenon he needed to study further.
Because Rudy has such a dedicated fanbase, any product you use on him instantly sells out. You’ve started calling it “The Pankow Effect.” He gets a huge kick out of seeing teenage boys in his DMs asking what brand of tinted moisturizer he was wearing because “their skin is also a bit dry.” He takes his role as “Beauty Guru’s Boyfriend” very seriously, occasionally filming “empties” reviews on your Instagram stories when you aren’t looking.
The best part of every video is when you finally hand him the mirror. He doesn’t just look; he performs. He’ll tilt his head, check his angles, and give the camera a smoldering look before immediately breaking character and making a goofy face. If he really likes the look, he’ll refuse to wash it off and go out to dinner with you still wearing a full face of “soft girl” aesthetic makeup, completely unbothered by the stares.
Amongst all the chaos and “content,” there are brief moments where the camera feels invisible. When you’re leaning in close to blend Rudy's concealer, and your faces are just inches apart, Rudy’s playful energy softens. He’ll catch your eye and give you a small, genuine smile that isn’t for the subscribers. It’s in these quiet seconds that he’ll whisper a “you look pretty today” or squeeze your waist, reminding everyone watching that while he’s a great sport for the vlog, he’s an even better boyfriend off-screen.
