Quote from: alice89 on August 26, 2012, 12:15:17 PM
I tried to get some more pictures with a little makeup on
....
You are looking really good. There is far greater variation and variety in ciswomen than most people realize, and you already fit on the woman side of the gender chart. Time is going to do wonders for you, I would second, that taking care of facial hair with laser or electro if you haven't already done so, would come before FFS (if you need it at all).
Women have developed an entire art form of using hair to enhance and highlight the features of the face. It pays to find a stylist who can help you discover what makes you look terrific. You have great hair to work with. Not only get a cut, but also pay to have them teach you how to style it, preferrably with a couple of styles that you can do with the same cut and length depending on what you intend to wear and what your activity is going to be.
Women have developed an entire art form of using makeup to alter the contours and appearance of the face to enhance each woman's natural beauty. You have a very symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing face, which makes the artist's work that much more powerful. Find a good makeup artist, and have them teach you how to do a full makeup face and a light makeup face that you can use depending on your activity and dress. Every woman can look fabulous, especially you.
Clothing and accessories (including earrings, rings, bracelets, necklaces, scarves, etc) do make the woman. Eventually you will appear as a woman to every stranger even exhausted, with dark circles under puffy eyes from crying, on a bad hair day, wearing men's jeans and boots and a dirty t-shirt, and spitting tobacco. But early on it sure helps people to give them enough clues up front that they see you how you want to be seen. Women use clothing to create the silhouettes that most flatter their form and suggest the image they want to create in those who see them. Dressing is a whole art form of self-expression and self-enhancement.
And finally, work on your attitude - how you carry yourself, how you look at the world, how you radiate. I was
much less feminine appearing that you are now when I went full time, with only 8 weeks of HRT, extreme hair challenges, a mixed face, and a grab-bag of ill matching makeup with zero experience. What I did have in spades was absolute radiant joy at finally being able to live openly as the woman that I am. As long as I took care of my hair, my makeup, and feminine accessories and clothing, my attitude took me the rest of the way.
One more thing: As long as you are safe and in an accepting environment, there is nothing wrong with not passing. Some transgender people for physical, medical, financial, or personal reasons can't or don't want to pass as cisgendered; you can still give people enough clues that any decent or polite person will treat you as the gender you are presenting as. It can be hard on the ego, believe me, but it is a perfectly fine way to live. Then attitude becomes everything, as everybody loves a person with an infectious smile and infectious sense of humor. Getting out of your bubble and making friends, putting others at ease, being a blessing in the lives of others, you can do this as your unique self whatever your appearance may be.
