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I haven't done more than dabble with makeup, but I have definitely noticed a change in my skin with HRT. Where I previously had a more oily skin, now it is much drier... and that was particularly noticeable on my face.

Weekly electrolysis sessions certainly added to the issue, so my electrologist recommended that I start moisturizing (although never on a day I was going in for treatment) and I have noticed a big improvement.

I have been using Olay, but she had said it was more that I do it, not what I use... so I don't know if the product is the key as so much as the daily act of applying ANY moisturizer.

@jamieh
Dear Jamie:
Wow.... this is very exciting news that you shared. 

I have noticed that since your returned after the New Years site crash
that you have not posted a lot.  I am glad to see that you are again
updating and posting on your Blog thread.

Only as you feel comfortable sharing, please keep me and the rest of
your followers and readers updated as your surgery dates gets closer...
... we are all rooting for your success and happiness, and please
know that here on the Forum that we are your biggest fans.

HUGS, and more HUGS,
Danielle [Northern Star Girl]

Quote from: jamieh on Yesterday at 06:10:33 PMsooooooo yeah quick update.  I'm exactly 2 months out from SRS.  Yikes, getting nervous.  I'm a huge surgeryphobe.  Never had so much as stitches in my life. I have no doubts or anything and am getting excited but surgery itself absolutely terrifies me.  I just try to remember I'm going to take a nap and wake up with a vagina

@Shadowneya   @Just Kate   @Axis Langton   @Chris R.

Dear Members:
Everyone here on the Forum are wishing you a very Happy Birthday
                 

Be sure to check your profile for a special gift on your birthday.
Best wishes to you on your "special" day.

Warm Regards,
Danielle [Northern Star Girl]
                           

Thanks for the update. I have what I call "appointment anxiety". I get nervous whenever I have an upcoming appointment. My doctors call it "white coat syndrome" but it isn't limited to medical/dental appointments. If you and I agreed to meet for coffee, I would be a nervous wreck a couple of days beforehand.

Being nervous is perfectly normal, as you know. Since you have limited experience in having stitches or surgeries, it can mess with your mind. It is just fear of the unknown. Just relax and go easy on yourself. Like you said, you are going to sleep through the whole thing. Just imagine how wonderful your life will be once you have healed up!

I had a similar issue. The problem turned out to be powder makeup like Bare Minerals. I have since switched to liquids and apply LIGHTLY. I was taught that if you apply it with your finger, you get a more natural look. If you use a cosmetic sponge, you get better coverage, but it can look caked up close.

In one of her posts, Faith mentioned using aloe vera After Sun gel as a shaving cream. It is fantastic! And it is a great moisturizer. I apply it after a shower and let it soak in for a few minutes. Then wash it off, pat dry, and you are ready for makeup.

Maybe give some of these ideas a try. Let us know if you find something that works for you.

Hugs!

Growing up I heard so many stories about our family history. When I was in high school, my mother's mother told me that Prince Charles (now King Charles) was a distant cousin. She tried to explain the connection, but I didn't understand. I spent the next 45 years researching and documenting our family history. I have gone back to the mid-1700s and there is no connection to our family. Both my mother's and father's sides are from England. But what many do not know is the Windsors are not. They are from Germany. The genealogies of the royal families are well-documented and easily available. So comparing that to my database of over 4,000 family members in our tree, it is clear that that family story is a myth. And yet, my dad and others continue to pass it on, along with a few other myths that I was able to debunk.

"The facts, although interesting" are irrelevant."

Recently in a few pics without makeup or sunscreen on, I've noticed that my skin tone has become paler with MTF HRT.  However I have also been finding that my skin is also drier.  I've been using up the moisturizer that I have had, however I'm finding that it's not moisturizing as good as it used to.  Like on my face there's one spot where my foundation will appear flaky even after I have applied moisturizer, sunscreen (with minerals) and primer.  The rest of my face will be fine, but that one area will be flaky looking.

For my body (arms/legs/torso) I've been using Vaseline's Cocoa Radiant, while for the face I have been using some of Lancôme's Hydra Zen creams. 

So do you find there are any creams that you find moisturize good with HRT?

Quote from: LoriDee on Yesterday at 04:38:10 PMMy ex-wife's father told me a story.

His grandfather was a farmer in Illinois. Behind his farm was a battlefield during the Civil War. After the battle, the local farmers designated an area to be used as a temporary cemetery to bury the dead. The farmers all pitched in carrying bodies to the area and the local Illinois Militia arrived to help out. One of the militiamen was Abraham Lincoln when he was a young man. I have been to that cemetery. There is a monument there and only six or eight graves remaining. I had taken a picture of it which is how it came about that he shared the story about his grandfather.

Those kinds of stories, passed down through generations of a family, are wonderful.

What's actually a bit ironic about the whole Abraham Lincoln thing is, it's on my mom's side, through her maternal grandmother whose great grandmother was Abe's mother's (Nancy Hanks) sister. I believe.

The reason I say this is all ironic? Is that this wasn't a story passed down lovingly through the family... well, at least not for the first 40 years of my mom's life. She was an orphan. Her parents both lived... but her father left during the depression and her mom decided that having two kids was too much for her, so she just sent my mom and uncle to an orphanage.

I mean, could you even imagine. Her mom came back into her life intermittently ... and her dad re-emerged when I was like 16... he actually showed up for a visit after all that time. We only saw him once or twice before he died.

But over the years my mother slowly cobbled together family history, which is why the things she learned were so precious. Even last weekend, for example, one of my sisters gave me a photo of my mom as a child that I had never seen. There are, as you would imagine, VERY few of those. This one is her, with a cowboy hat, riding a pony.

We are trying to image the world where orphans got ponies... but we think it's because her mother did have money, she was just a POS person and didn't want responsibility.

Anyway, not sure why I'm sharing that, other than the fact that its a Dickens tale come to life. But it had a lovely, happy ending. My mom ended with the big family she always wanted, and she and my dad were one of the all-time great couples.

Love,
Allie