A long time ago, long before hormones, and before I became bald on top, my hair grew straight. When I became bald at age 19 I started shaving my hair and when I understood I am a woman at age 32 I started wearing wigs. (today I'm 38)

In the last year and 4 months I've stopped shaving my head and have been using wigs less and less in favor of my natural hair with a hat covering the bald part. I've noticed the new hair is wavy, and I love it because wavy looks so much more feminine to me than straight. After a shower it always becomes naturally wavy for some reason.

Could this be a change brought on by HRT?



Also, I think this is a much better solution than the previous one for me. Sure, it looks tom boyish to wear a hat, but I can make up for that with clothing choices and makeup and all the surgeries I did helped feminize my body and face. So now I can wear a wig, and when it gets uncomfortable, instead of having to grind through the discomfort to avoid dysphoria and misgendering, I just go to the nearest bathroom and switch to a hat. That way I can have the best of both worlds... look glorious with a wig while it is still comfortable, but once it gets too tight or itchy I switch to a hat and I still look feminine enough to pass most of the time, albeit in a less glamorous way.

And it's not just the physical discomfort itself, but the feeling of not being enough of a woman due to being constantly stuck in a situation where I have to choose between fighting my physical impulse to take off the wig vs. not wanting to feel dysphoria and be misgendered. It made me want to stay more at home and cut social interaction into chunks that would end before the discomfort becomes unbearable.



Just wanted to share that as another option for those struggling with wigs like I did. I still use wigs now, but more sparingly and in balance with other factors such as physical comfort and saving time and effort. My facial and body feminization plus learning to do better makeup definitely were essential for me to have this new flexibility. In fact, when I try to wear a "normal" colored wig, I seem to pass worse than I do with my own hair with a hat.

Hi Ruth, you have very nice features.  Even if you are bald, I'd say passable.  I actually made that comment when I was first starting.  I'd want to be passable enough that even if I was bald, I'd still be passable.  Then I described the girl from Star Trek the motion picture.  She's a beauty for sure and bald.  I don't think I could get there myself, but love that you have achieved it.  Hats off:)

Couldn't resist:)

Bari Jo

Thanks, Bari Jo. Without makeup and a hat with what's left of my hair I could not pull it off. I can't sport the totally bald look like the woman in Star Trek... but a hat is a lot less hassle and discomfort than a wig, plus I love what's left of my hair and love having hair I can feel vs. a wig which I can't and the more I grow what's left of my hair the better it helps me pass with makeup and a hat. I can always collect it in a wig cap when I want to wear a wig.

Thank you for the compliments! I think my nose surgeon did an awesome job.

I agree your nose looks great.  I'd love to get his info if possible. My nose is crazy big.  You offer hope for girls like me that have a high forehea with your hat suggestion.  I'm going to have my hairline restored, but it will always be high.  I love wearing hats too, so that look will be fine for me, even with straight hair:)

Bari Jo

I live in Israel. He is a local doctor in my country called Gabi Elashvily. (not sure I wrote it correctly, I only know the Hebrew spelling)

He not only made it look great, he fixed some internal asymmetry and bloating so I can breathe better than before and unexpectedly my resonance or something changed in a way that made it easier to speak higher without straining my voice, which in turn helped to talk sing songy in a range where I am less prone to backward voice projection... so he made it much easier for me to do what I learned in voice feminization.

Or TL;DR, he didn't just make my nose look great, he made it easier for me to talk in a more feminine voice.

Hmm, maybe a trip to Israel is in my future, visit the homeland:)

Bari Jo

I don't have an answer to your question but wanted to say that this is a perfect opportunity for you to play with fashion. Head scarves can look SO beautiful and girly! Also comfortable. Look at this (second one is a GIF with various looks):

Ruth,

You know that I am blunt and honest...and you look pretty and feminine in all those pics. No worries. The surgeon did an amazing job. 

I hope I can muster the courage to do this. I'm looking at so many years off of even a chance at having my own hair, it has been my single biggest issue looking towards presentation. (At least another 10 months of giving the pharmacological regimen its chance, time spent getting transplants if possible at all, a year or so for that hair to even start to grow, and then who knows how long in time for a decent length after that.)

I'm right there with you Ellie.  I go for restoration next month, can't wait.  I know I'll never have a full head of hair, but every little bit helps.

Bari Jo

Muster the courage to do what? Grow the hair you currently have and wear hats? How does that contradict doing hair restoration at the same time?

Quote from: Ruth Ruthless on October 17, 2017, 12:56:45 AM
Muster the courage to do what? Grow the hair you currently have and wear hats? How does that contradict doing hair restoration at the same time?

Courage taking the wig off while presenting as female while waiting on hair restoration. Even just alone in my room it kills me right now to see myself dressed up without it on (I rely on the wig for 99% of my feminizing at the moment). But it's so very uncomfortable.

That's why I prefer wearing a hat most of the time over a wig. I can always put on a hat before standing in front of a mirror.

Actually, recently I suddenly noticed I actually like how I look without makeup. Maybe it's because it's been a year since my rhinoplasty and things finally settled in. I think I had a whole lot of purple around my eyes and that a year later most of it is gone and now it is back to the level it was pre-surgery. After my rhinoplasty I felt I *have* to always go out with makeup.

http://ruthruthless.com/2017/10/23/pictures-without-makeup/

You look great without makeup!

I'm FTM, but I can attest that after about six months on T, my slightly wavy hair (somewhere between type 2a and 2b) turned straight (type 1c.) Not a dramatic change, especially with short hair, but noticeably easier to manage. Because HRT affects the texture of your hair, it makes sense that it could also affect how curly it is.

This happened to me. I was balding up top and wore wigs to hide it, and my hair was short. The bald spot  has sorta grown back somewhat. More than I thought would come back. While my hair was pretty straight before, it is now curly. I never shaved it off. It just has natural curls now. I get out of the shower and towel dry it off, fluff it up and add in some curl cream and I am done.
The next morning if I don't shower, I just wet it and fluff it and the curl comes back. I am SOOOO glad this happened, I was not looking forward to 20-40 minutes a day using an iron.

Quote from: Ruth Ruthless on October 15, 2017, 05:35:48 PM
A long time ago, long before hormones, and before I became bald on top, my hair grew straight. When I became bald at age 19 I started shaving my hair and when I understood I am a woman at age 32 I started wearing wigs. (today I'm 38)

In the last year and 4 months I've stopped shaving my head and have been using wigs less and less in favor of my natural hair with a hat covering the bald part. I've noticed the new hair is wavy, and I love it because wavy looks so much more feminine to me than straight. After a shower it always becomes naturally wavy for some reason.

Could this be a change brought on by HRT?



Also, I think this is a much better solution than the previous one for me. Sure, it looks tom boyish to wear a hat, but I can make up for that with clothing choices and makeup and all the surgeries I did helped feminize my body and face. So now I can wear a wig, and when it gets uncomfortable, instead of having to grind through the discomfort to avoid dysphoria and misgendering, I just go to the nearest bathroom and switch to a hat. That way I can have the best of both worlds... look glorious with a wig while it is still comfortable, but once it gets too tight or itchy I switch to a hat and I still look feminine enough to pass most of the time, albeit in a less glamorous way.

And it's not just the physical discomfort itself, but the feeling of not being enough of a woman due to being constantly stuck in a situation where I have to choose between fighting my physical impulse to take off the wig vs. not wanting to feel dysphoria and be misgendered. It made me want to stay more at home and cut social interaction into chunks that would end before the discomfort becomes unbearable.



Just wanted to share that as another option for those struggling with wigs like I did. I still use wigs now, but more sparingly and in balance with other factors such as physical comfort and saving time and effort. My facial and body feminization plus learning to do better makeup definitely were essential for me to have this new flexibility. In fact, when I try to wear a "normal" colored wig, I seem to pass worse than I do with my own hair with a hat.

You are looking beautiful as the way you are right now. You don't need to change anything.

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HI,

Just wanted to say, on testosterone my hair was straight and on oestrogen it is very curly; I think its really quite a common thing after talking to some of my girlfriends about it earlier this month? At least 2 confirmed it happened to them. & damn I hate curly hair :-)
Hugs
Sarah xx

I love curly and wavy hair too! Right now its too short to say how it will turn out and i just started hrt.


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