Okay, so I admit I'm no style magnate.  I wondered if any of you from Toronto/GTA have had any good experiences involving outside help with your personal image.  I'm mainly concerned with my hair at the moment because it is starting to get unruly and I don't know what direction to go with it.  I need a 'transitional' style which works well androgynously until I get around to bigger changes next year.  Perhaps this is a tricky thing but I hope I can find a stylist with enough vision to trim with growth in mind towards a more feminine look.  My hair takes ages to grow out unfortunately.  Can't exactly afford too many experiments gone wrong.

I'd love to also find help nailing down the basics and colours for makeup so I don't end up looking like a drag queen.  Not exactly keen to sit at a public cosmetics counter, especially if I don't know much about the particular person's experience.  There's a place in Toronto called Take A Walk On The Wildside (www.wildside.org), but I'm not sure what to make of them.  Are there any other businesses or individuals who might have experience in this area / are considered trans-friendly?

Any suggestions appreciated!  Stories of personal triumph or tragedy also welcome.  (And, no, I'm not asking you to analyse my image yourselves which is why I'm not posting a photo.  Let me put some more work into it first.)

Violet

I went to a gal here in Portland, who works with TS/CD clientele, for a make over and a few lessons.  And it was a great place to start.  Then I began watching makeup videos on YouTube, both drag queen and normal makeup.  And the drag queen ones had some great information.

Once you find your skin tone, you can begin to practice and have some fun. 

I had a good experience with a cosmetic counter, so don't throw that away so easily.
Just bring someone else for moral support!

Quote from: ShiningStar on June 16, 2012, 10:48:32 PM
I had a good experience with a cosmetic counter, so don't throw that away so easily.
Just bring someone else for moral support!

Not counting it out, but it would be a rather big step for me.  A friend helped me with make-up once and the results were surprisingly good even though she was no expert.  Then she got all jealous because "I looked better in make-up than she did"   Perhaps I just need to plan some sort of day out around it with a friend and it'll just gell in my mind better what I'm doing.  Not expecting perfection in these early days but I don't wanna look silly.

I've played around with the Mary Kay virtual makeover online and done some simple but effective smoothing effects with my basic Photoshop skills.  The key elements seem to be hiding stubble (obvious!), evening skin tone, and blending out the spots on my face where bone structure causes excessive glare and shadow.  I've noticed that I look best with soft frontal light and worst (even as male) under overhead flourecent lighting.  On the up-side of things that will help me stay male-ish for a while at work, but may not work so well at the typical cosmetics counter.  Maybe having the worst lighting for a cosmetician to work under will force them to produce the best results. ~Shrugs~

Anyway, I gotta get my hair in order before I stick stuff on my face in public.  At the very least it's critical for covering up my hairline and forehead.