This entry (nor any future entries) will be nearly as long as those as at this point I'm trying to chronicle experiences as they occur for the most part rather than trying to catch up over a year of outings. Also with this entry I will on occasion "update" my thoughts on places I have previously written about if something has changed, etc.
UPDATE: Above I removed the links to posts 1 and 2 in this series and added a link to the "page" with all posts in this series. Additionally, I've went back and added more links and made some updates to some of the individual entries below since over time some things have changed.
Services:
- *UPDATE* - Infinity Laser (Clayton, Missouri) - I just had my sixth session there yesterday and while it went fine - in fact less painful than my prior session despite the power of the laser being increased - I do have a bit of a concern/agitation I thought I'd discuss. Now first off, I had previously mentioned that the numbing cream lasted four sessions - well it actually lasted through yesterday's as well. I appreciated the effort on that as that meant I got five sessions out of the $48 tube when they told me up front it might be as few as two. Even at two it would've only been $24/session; but at five it reduced that to $9.60/session which was nice. Now that being said my agitation. When I was paying the $249/session, they wanted me to come in every six weeks which was/is fine. However, my prior session (number five) was the last one at $249/session as I previously detailed. As we were completing that session the topic of my next visit came up and I felt I was being nudged to come in at eight weeks instead of six weeks. Now I do see noticeable progress, but my hair was so thick to start with there's still *a lot* there so I decided to stay at the six week interval for this session which I did. Well this session, it was the same thing, except this time I was told that she was "booked solid" at six weeks; but would have no trouble working me in at eight weeks. I went ahead and booked for the eight weeks and decided to have the back of my neck done as well starting at that next session; but as I drove home it really started to agitate me. Maybe I'm wrong; but it just seems like as soon as I started getting the lower price, that they weren't nearly as interested in doing the work. That frustrates me since even with the reduced price, I'm still paying as much as the friend who referred me was for her first five sessions and even if it takes them a half hour for me (which it doesn't) that works out to nearly $300/hr and I think that's a pretty good rate for what they're doing. Yeah it's not the nearly $500/hr they were making; but these are also *THEIR* pricing policies - not mine. If they don't want to do the work for the reduced price then they shouldn't offer that. It's agitating enough that I'm not sure if I'll continue after my next session - I may, I may decide to go somewhere else, or I may switch to electrolysis. As I said, this is really speculation on my part and even if it's accurate I'm not sure if that's coming from the owner or from my technician (I would really hope not as she's really nice) - but it's definitely something I'm going to pay attention to on my next visit.
Retailers:
- *UPDATE* - Shop-n-Save (Dardenne Prarie, Missouri) - I continue to have great experiences at this particular store and it's to the point that unless it's something they don't carry - well I won't grocery shop anywhere else.
- Ann's Bra Shop (Wentzville, Missouri) - I labelled this as Wentzville since that's the location I had intended on going to; but my interaction (or lack thereof) were actually via email. A few months ago when the estrogen started doing it's thing it was time to actually try and find some bras that fit correctly. My research showed that a lot of stores do bra fittings; but most of those stores don't cater to somebody with a band size as large as I would need. Sure they could probably give me a size; but they wouldn't have any for me to try on and/or buy so those were viable options. Ann's seemed like a good solution since they specialize in bras and they're a local business and when possible I do like to buy locally and support those businesses. My ex-wife "M" has been in there a few times so I mentioned it to her and she suggested I check with them first since she said they were a little "stuck up" so to speak. I figured email was the best method since if I called I'd be putting somebody on the spot and I didn't want to do that. I sent two separate emails two weeks apart explaining my situation and what I was looking for and did NOT receive a response to either; just to be sure that the email account was actively monitored, I had "M" send a bra question a week after the second email and she had a response in less than 24 hours. If they weren't comfortable with dealing with a TG person there are many ways they could've tactfully handled that and I would've been fine with that. But to simply up and ignore not one, but two inquiries - I found that unacceptable. And considering how expensive they are there per "M", they left a fair amount of money on the table up front and going forward as I will never visit one of their shops at this point and personally would discourage anyone I know from doing so either. That's simply my opinion, but I stand by it.
- Lake Saint Louis Wigs & Cuts (Lake Saint Louis, Missouri) - I should've touched on this business in first two posts, but somehow forgot about them. The reason I thought about them today is the above critique of Ann's Bra Shop. Early on after the decision to transition was made, the single biggest issue I had was that I needed a good wig as I don't have enough hair of my own. I had some cheap "Halloween quality" ones, but I wanted something better than that, but with what they cost I hated to try and guess via the Internet. "M" ran across this business which is only a few minutes from home and traded emails with the owner. She made arrangements for us to come in right at closing time one evening so she could work with us. Now I got the impression that she was doing this more for her benefit than ours - but even if she was at least she was willing to work with us and didn't simply ignore things like Ann's had done. We popped in and she spent plenty of time with us - I have a larger head so that meant she only had one or two in the shop that would fit me; but that was enough to determine that an Estetica Wig should fit and at that point we went through their catalog with her help and found one that I liked. She took a deposit and ordered it for me. When it came in we went back - this time she wasn't as concerned about when we came in - it was still later in the day but not at/after close - I guess she had relaxed a bit. She again spent plenty of time making sure it fit well, showing me how to wear it (I was pulling it too far down in the front), and how to take care of it. All told I probably spent about 25% more than I would've had if I had ordered the same wig off of the Internet; but the money was well spent. I would strongly recommend them to any Trans (or CIS) woman looking for a wig.
Guess that's about it for now, thanks.
- M
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