Devlyn - what a remarkable achievement! 38 years is incredible!! That's nearly 13,900 instances of taking it one day at a time as well... and that sounds even MORE impressive!

Hope you allow yourself to feel the pride of accomplishment you so richly deserve!

Love,
Allie

Thanks, Ashley!

Hugs, Devlyn

I recently indulged myself and got me a pair of silicone hip pads. They are rather heavy and are self-adhering, as long as they are cleaned after each use and there is no moisture between the pads and the skin. They add about one inch on either side. With tight fitting clothing, like leggings, tight jeans or pencil skirts they can be worn as is, with more relaxed clothing I'd recommend wearing some shape wear or nylons over them, just to make sure to keep them in place, especially when some moisture starts to build up.

Putting them on for the first time was eye-opening. I hate my rather boxy frame with broad shoulders and narrow hips and everything about it screams 'man'. But when I wore them for the first time, I really saw a woman's shape in the mirror for the first time and that was instant gender euphoria.

Here is how they look:




Some downsides are that they show a little when wearing shorts or mini skirts, and they are uncomfortable in the restroom since they might fall off when sitting down after pulling down all clothing items that help hold them in place (when sitting they are bent a little which tends to pull them away from the skin on the front side of the thighs).

In conclusion, I love them, but they are not an everyday item, as much as I would like to have exactly that padding permanently attached en nature...

Hugs,

Heidemarie

On other forums, there are many threads of mtf not passing and I mention that I should not passs but I do. I explain how to observe cis women and their mannerism and copying them (practicing first) and being confident goes a very long way to passing. It's speech patterns, it's hand movement, it's head position, it's the way one sits. It works for me.

One can look perfect but if one still has male mannerisms then it's quickly picked up whereas as the visual range of cis-women is so large, mannerisms become the divide.

An analogy was an advertisement in the UK. A beautiful perfect sophisticated looking woman that could grace high society talks with a cockney accent.

Hugs
Jessica xxx   

Looking good, Courtney!

I'd like to know about the carbon dye you use. I have two IPL machines that I have used on my legs, but with a gray beard, it didn't work. I am like you that I get so frustrated shaving only to have whickers pop through. I was advised once to use concealer with a pink tint to cover the shadows. I found that a light touch of pink lipstick works, then use a sponge to work it into the area and spread it out so it blends in. Dyeing the whiskers to use the IPL is something I considered, but I didn't think it would get deep enough into the follicle to work. Please share your wisdom oh great wise sister.

Quote from: LoriDee on Yesterday at 04:41:08 PMAllie, that is fascinating!

I am not really into cultural cuisines, but I like the history lessons!

Hey Lori - I'm very much NOT one of those people who say things like "Oh you just HAVE to try x, y or z"... etc. No one has to do anything in this world. 😘

But I will say this - It has been my experience when people say things like that they haven't really had much exposure to world food cultures in their lives. World foods can span spicy, sweet, savory, vegan, vegetarian, starch-heavy, protein-forward, focused on sauces, rich and fatty, or very light.. and everywhere in between.

So if there are foods you've experienced that you haven't liked, please don't write off all ethnic foods. By all means, don't eat anything you don't like, or don't challenge yourself if you don't like to be challenged by food (sometimes I think people go a bit crazy with that - I want to enjoy food, not "overcome" it 🙄). But my guess is that there are some kinds of ethnic foods that align with exactly your tastes and would be new favorite foods for you.  It's a big world after all!  ❤️

Love,
Allie

Quote from: davina61 on Yesterday at 03:14:57 PMVery interesting mistress Allie (you have to say that with the right accent)

😂

I'm so fortunate to have new gal pals like Ashley, Gina, Athena, Brooke, Caela, Jessica, Heidemarie and Sara in my life these days. We support and lift each other up. It's a wonderful little group. I'd love to get us all together to break bread someday.

I'm 3.5 months post hair transplant and it's really starting to thicken. I'm very fortunate to have not lost all of the transplanted hair, which is unusual. But I did lose a bunch and those lost ones are just starting to sprout. In the meantime, you can see my scalp through the hair in the transplanted area, so I tend to fixate on that. I can't wait for the other hairs to grow in. I suspect it will starting looking very good over the next couple of months. This is like a dream fulfilled and it gives me a confidence boost regarding public transition.

I spent last week growing my facial hair out so I could wax it Thursday, shave Friday morning, and zap the roots with my IPL (I use carbon dye to darken the grayed roots). It grows very slowly these days. This whole facial hair thing is the biggest and hardest project for me right now. It's hard for me to wear makeup when I just see the whiskers screaming through. Anyway, I got my face pretty cleared up so I decided to put my nice wig on. I purposely put it right below my "new" (post transplant) hairline because I wanted to get an idea as to how much forehead I'm dealing with. It's not the lowest hairline but I think it's pretty reasonable.

I didn't look bad, so I put some concealer, foundation, powder and lipstick on and boom, there she was again. I was quite surprised, as it's taking less effort to look female these days. Kinda gives me hope.

I didn't spend much time like that, but I felt that same calm come over me that I experienced during Keystone. It's a very telling feeling. But I don't think I'm ready to go out in public like that, aside from maybe a drive somewhere.

Baby steps. They're the only steps I'm able to take.

I can attest - you're looking great, Gina! And I'm super excited about your upcoming surgery. I so happy that the day is almost upon us. Looking forward to visiting while you recuperate.