I'm still on the fence about whether or not to transition, but even if I stay a male, I still kind of like the idea of having a clear face because shaving SUCKS! Heck, I'd like do the my entire body. I'm sick of buying expensive razors and still getting nicks and cuts every morning, razor burn, and red blotchy irritation marks. Look at my avatar. I shaved one hour before that picture was taken, and I even tried to cover it with foundation and the permanent 5 o'clock shadow never goes away.
I'm just wondering if this is a battle worth trying to fight? I've only done limited research on laser treatment so far, but it seems like a lot more guys would be doing this if it were as easy as getting a laser treatment every 2 months for the next year or so, no? What's the catch, besides it not working on those with light hairs?
I don't think it's odd. I know the laser tech assumed I was a cis male until I told her otherwise, and she said she did "lots of guys" and just wanted to be sure I knew it was permanent.
I think the catch for cis guys is that it IS permanent, and many seem to want to preserve the option of growing facial hair later on. :)
No even if I didn't want to transition (I knew as a young teenager so this maybe irrelevant). The one thing I envied was men who could get that total clean shaven I have no trace of facial hair look. No matter how close I shaved you could always see evidence that I had a beard so it was the first thing going once money came my way regardless if I could afford to transition physically emotionally and financially
I don't think it's unusual at all, not here anyway. I had some laser under my chin to try and remove the beard there, but it didn't work as it's too grey/white now. Am seriously thinking of electrolysis.
I hate shaving with a passion, I can't stand looking in the mirror, so I mostly have a beard and every now and again I shave it all off. Of course if I'm going out dressed (very rarely), then it comes off. :)
Shaving kind of sucks, but no way I can afford any means of permanent hair removal at the moment. It was really awful in the beginning. I had a beard until I was 26, just because I was scared of dragging a razor across my face. Luckily, once I finally tried it, it wasn't nearly that bad, but still... Like the OP said, irritation, cuts, and I just wasn't very good at it in the beginning. My technique has gotten much better over time, though. No more irritation, very few cuts, takes less time and I can get a closer shave. The shadow is still somewhat visible, though. That's the curse of having black hair and light skin, I suppose. It also means I have to listen to people gush about how I've got the perfect combination for laser. Yeah, if I had the money to spend on it. *sigh* For now, I'll just have to deal with it the old fashioned way.
But back to the original topic. I'd imagine a ton of cis guys simply don't know it's an option. Maybe the cis guys in other places do. Not the ones where I live, though.
My laser tech didn't think it was weird at all. Some guys' beards grow so thick and fast that they need to shave several times a day. Here we have a lot of models and actors whose skin gets irritated by shaving too frequently. Also, some guys go because their SO can't deal with the "beard burn" from making out.
I told mine that I was trans on the second session and I'm really glad that I did. She wouldn't have gone as far up the sideburns if I didn't tell her. It was also nice that she said that I wasn't the first nor last transwoman she'd seen. I presented female from the third session on, and everyone there was awesome. They even changed my name on everything and told me how awesome they thought I was.
No, it's not weird at all for a guy to get laser. If that's what he wants, then go for it. Though, I like a little scruff on a guy, so I prefer men not permanently removing hair.
In any case, I feel like everyone at the laser place knows what's going on with me. Just the way they are with me ad the smiles I tend to recieve from the girls. It's harmless though it does make me feel awkward. However, that doesn't mean that every guy that guys is seen as a transexual or something as it's perfectly normal for a guy to do laser.
LHR FTW. I did it long before transition. I lasered almost every hair below my eyebrows and nobody cared. Body/facial hair sucks.
Well I doubt anyone will notice, if anything you might look a little bit younger.
If you are going around telling people how you are lasering your beard off, it might raise a flag if you are trying to stay under the radar.
I think it's a great idea if you never want to have a beard. And then that way if you decide to transition you will already be somewhat done tackling one of the hardest parts! It takes a long long time!
My father in law asked about getting laser (he's cis-male) simply because he is tired of shaving all the time. So I don't think it's that unusual. However, my electrologists and I were talking about how any male body person willing to go through the pain of electrolysis is either transgender or just plain crazy, LOL
I get my laser done by a company that makes lasers, there are always 6-8 operators there when I have it done and they sometimes chat about men getting it done for sport of for body building or just because they want to. Obviously not as commonly as women but there are enough of them.
Quote from: TiffanyT on April 10, 2014, 01:46:07 AM
LHR FTW. I did it long before transition. I lasered almost every hair below my eyebrows and nobody cared. Body/facial hair sucks.
Do you mind me asking how much it cost you to do your whole body?
Quote from: Jessica15 on April 11, 2014, 01:01:19 AM
Do you mind me asking how much it cost you to do your whole body?
I haven't done my whole body, my post was inaccurate. I am down to my pubic line. So face, neck, chest, arms, abs, etc. it cost a lot, but it was something that I indulged in. Like my sessions were my vacation time. I also went to a dermatology clinic, not a salon, so it was more expensive. I haven't kept a tab but I would guess I spent in the 5K range.
But I started when I was male and I can't tell you how awesome it is to not have to think about that now. It was like setting a foundation. Before I started transition I still felt so good about not having this ugly hair everywhere.
5K still doesn't seem that bad. The cost of razors over a lifetime would probably add up to more than that, so it's an investment that pays for itself in the long run. And lets not forget the time savings as well!
Hi Jessica,
My guess is that most cis guys (or MtF folks on the fence about transition) think "but what if I want to grow facial hair one day"?
This is what I was also asking myself for a while - until my wife said "Honey, I've known you for 15 years and I've only seen you wear facial hair for one month. Ya really think you're going to keep a beard now, regardless of gender?" I laughed and I went looking for a laser clinic.
In retrospect, holy smokes, how did I put up with applying a blade to my face every day all these years?
I'm planning to get electrolysis on my neck. I have very little facial hair but the ones on my neck are the ones that tend to get ingrown. Plus it's a nice, clean look even if I did grow facial hair, though I won't because mine sucks.
No, it's not strange at all to have facial hair removed as a guy.
I had electro done and my face fully cleared and I haven't transitioned. I went in, said I was sick of shaving and dealing with all the crap that went with it, and I wanted it all gone.
They didn't blink an eye, and didn't ask whether I was trans or gay.
If you make a big deal of it, that's when people start thinking that there may be something else going on.
Quote from: Jessica15 on April 09, 2014, 07:10:53 PM
I'm still on the fence about whether or not to transition, but even if I stay a male, I still kind of like the idea of having a clear face because shaving SUCKS! Heck, I'd like do the my entire body. I'm sick of buying expensive razors and still getting nicks and cuts every morning, razor burn, and red blotchy irritation marks. Look at my avatar. I shaved one hour before that picture was taken, and I even tried to cover it with foundation and the permanent 5 o'clock shadow never goes away.
I'm just wondering if this is a battle worth trying to fight? I've only done limited research on laser treatment so far, but it seems like a lot more guys would be doing this if it were as easy as getting a laser treatment every 2 months for the next year or so, no? What's the catch, besides it not working on those with light hairs?
I am trying to learn to present androgynously but stay male because I want kids, regardless of how I feel on the inside about my body, but even still hair removal is normal. My brother is as masculine as you can get and got his removed. I have a lot of hair on my shoulders, back, beck, feet/hands and even a bit of a monobrow (to my utter dismay) and I think some of that at least even cis people would want removing
I've been getting my beard removed with a Lightsheer laser. My third session is next week! This is one situation where I still present as a guy and I found the people at the clinic I chose to be very friendly. I didn't get any strange looks or comments when I said I wanted my beard gone. I simply explained I hated shaving and wanted to avoid all the hassle, on top of that I told them I didn't like the rough feel of the stubble and my partner chimed in and said she supported my decision 100% regarding multiple .. face to body scenarios!
So from my experience it isn't common to see men get it done, but no one questioned me (apart from making sure I understood it could be permanent!) as there are so many good reasons to do it.
In Sydney they have a salon set up specifically for male hair removal (waxing and laser, no electro) - Face of Man. The staff are all women and very professional. No doubt they get some clients who are trans women who are still presenting as male (HRT or not) but the majority of their clients are cis men.
A lot of people indicate that they skirted the trans issue with their laser clinic.
For me, I just came right out and said that I like to present as a female, and my goal is to lose the blue beard shadow. They were super friendly - I should think so, since an MtF trans person means major $$$ for the clinic. We probably get way more removed than a cis male, and we have way more stuff to remove than a cis female.
We're basically their dream customer. I have never heard of any cis people dropping 12-15k on hair removal.