I had very pale skin with millions of freckles as a kid. At about age 16 i started tanning on the beach with friends. Throughout my twenties i spent years at the beach, weeks at a time, all day long surfing. I never once used sunblock and laughed at people who suggested i should. Now im 28 and on hrt fpr one year, since i decided to transition all sun exposure stopped, and i began using spf's and finally moisturizing. My skin has now returned to its previous lightness but i have fine marionette lines and other random lines on my face that bring me to tears. As a man i never cared, but now as a female i kick myself for so carelessly damaging my skin.

Hopefully goodskin care now and from here on out will help. But the sun also discolored my upper lip giving me a perma stache even tho the hair has been removed.

Protect your skin. Its thw only skin you get this entire life, and this life goes on longer than you think.

  Only my arms, face and neck are exposed.  I was never a stripped down tanner, I always wore jeans.  One reason that my skin on my legs are smoother, even pre HRT, than the women my age that did expose them.  The skin on their legs resembles the HRT smoothed skin on my arms.  Also, the tan on my arms are a ruddy brown than the sallow brown from before.  I do use the sunblock now, especially working out in the garden in 100 degree heat! 
  Also I noticed that the skin on those females who have olive or dark skin is more often lighter than the man she married of the same skin type.   
  Joelene

I'm not getting any paler - except in patches. The HRT seems to have triggered vitiligo, which I inherited from my mum - this is a loss of pigment in small areas, and is more noticeable in summer when theoretically I tan (except that English summer is now officially 'monsoon season' so there's no sun, humph).

I definitely burn more easily (thinner skin) and bruise more easily - my last laser session burned me, so this next one I have to remember to ask her to take it down a few notches .

I've got some really nice moisturiser from Lush (called British Nanny) - it includes SPF30, and is great, since HRT has made my face really dry.

Quote from: Alainaluvsu on July 03, 2012, 10:58:24 AM
The very top layer of the epidermis (Stratum Corneum layer) becomes smoother. This is one of the very first changes your skin will make (that you can see at least).

Your lucky! My skin is as hard as nails! even after more than a decade of HRT. I moisturise and have tried various skin treatments like micro dermibrasion often to try and soften my skin but it still looks very hard and more like male facial skin. My facial skin has got paler though as mentioned in the first post. My body skin is much softer but the main problem is my facial skin.

Weirdly my skin is actually gaining colour - not brown though, blue and pink as my skin goes more and more translucent and veins and blood glow through. And if I step outside for more than a few minutes without SPF I turn red and peel. Turning into a true English rose.

Quote from: Sarah7 on July 05, 2012, 07:41:24 AM
Weirdly my skin is actually gaining colour - not brown though, blue and pink as my skin goes more and more translucent and veins and blood glow through. And if I step outside for more than a few minutes without SPF I turn red and peel. Turning into a true English rose.

LOL I know how that feels like .

Yesterday I made a big mistake and went to the beach with a friend of mine, before HRT I was pretty insensitive and could be in the sun for days without burning.. But this time.... Well..... 3hrs on the beach and ouch!!!! I went red all over :S.


Lesson learned... Never go out without SPF  when the sun is showing .

My skin is getting paler since starting hrt, but it was already quite pale to start with.  At 33 years old I have been very luck in regards to my skin.  It is very soft, softer than my ex wife's skin, and hers is very soft!  Lol

Also I have neve been one to care about tanning, so there hasn't been any damage to my skin from the sun over the years.  I'm using a facial sunscreen all the time now and its spf 60.  I use a spf 80 sunscreen for the rest of me and i have not a single wrinkle or line on my face.

With proper skin care and avoidance of the sun, your skin can be in great shape well past my age.  I see teenagers with skin that's no more youthful looking than mine, so I suggest wearing lots o sunscreen and avoid the sun as much as possible.   and moisturizer is good too

I knew texture would change on HRT but this is the first I heard about color. Though I enjoy a nice tan in the summer, I would welcome paler skin overall...yet another thing to measure once I start in October!!