My single biggest issue with my female presentation is hair. The huge lack of it on my head and the huge abundance of it *everywhere* else. The lack of hair on my head is something I've dealt with via wigs and while it's not what I want to do; I really don't have a choice and I've found a couple I really like.
The body hair, especially my face, is another story. I have "5 o'clock shadow" at 5am, much less 5pm; so it's always a concern. A good shave, and the right makeup and application of that makeup can cover it up; but only for so many hours. Now that's normally not a huge concern of mine as I normally don't go running around all day - I do what I need to do and return home. However, even if that's not a huge concern, the time and money spent on cover-up makeup does add up and could be better spent on other things. For my body, some parts are more important than others as it can really limit the clothing I'm willing to go out in. I tend to worry about my lower legs (knees down), my arms, and my upper chest the most; I'll generally do those on average twice a week; although that varies - if I'm going out "dressy" - which I usually know in advance I may shave extra; or if I have no plans leading up to when I'm going out, I may drag it out - either way I want to handle it as close to the "event" as possible. My lower chest/stomach, and upper legs - those are generally once a week as normally those parts won't show; but I don't like the feeling of the hair as it gets longer and it becomes a much bigger hassle if it gets too long. My back, well I have to coordinate that so my wife can help me as while I can reach most of it, I can't get it all.
However, the real subject here is my face. When I first started going out, it was so seldom, I tended to let my facial hair grow until I was going out - this made it easier on my face to shave; but also meant I couldn't just "up and go" if something came up. So now I do it basically every day (unless it's irritated from the laser, which I'll get to in a moment). I love a good hot bath - I know that may not be the greatest thing, but it's one of my guilty pleasures, and I can think of many worse things I could be doing. So once I get the water how I want it I'll take a wash cloth or a "bath poof" and dampen my face. Once that's done I'll apply shave gel or cream (I prefer gel, but I will use whatever my wife picks up) and get as close a shave as I can *twice*. Once with the grain and once against the grain. The upside is that I end up with a much better shave that way; the downside being that I tend to have extra redness from the added "abuse" of doing it twice.
Once I've done that, I'll then use a facial scrub and a buffer sponge (or whatever it's called) - basically it's a white oval shaped spongy looking thing - to scrub that off. Upon getting out, I'll dry my face carefully and then apply some moisturizer when I think about it - I've gotten better about this and go it virtually all the time now; but on occasion I do forget. Once that's soaked in, I very carefully check for any "missed spots" and correct those as best I can. At that point I'm ready to get dressed and get my makeup done.
Now, while shaving does work; it's not ideal for a myriad of reasons so I am currently undergoing laser treatments. I know it's not nearly as permanent as electrolysis, but with my facial hair being so thick - especially around my jawline - my hope was to clear what I could reasonably via laser and then move to electrolysis. Here I am now six sessions (and about $1500) into it and while I can see spots that appear clear; it's not nearly what I had hoped it would be. On top of that, if you read one of my recent posts (this one: http://stltg.blogspot.com/2013/10/st-louis-area-tg-experiences-part-3.html), I currently a little agitated at the business I'm using for this.
That being said, since my next appointment is still nearly two months out, I think I'm going to give my face a week or two to "rest" and I'm going to make an appointment for an electrolysis consultation. I've found a place that is *VERY* close to home (less than 10 minutes) that looks promising. I'm a little concerned about cost as their rates aren't too bad from my research; but the sheer amount of time it would likely take along with the fact that I'd likely be going (a lot) more often might make it cost prohibitive at least for now. It appears that it's $32 for the first 15 minutes and then $12 for each additional 15 minutes after that; so I guess to try it once I could probably go for say 30 minutes and if it went well then for future sessions 60 or 90 minutes if I can take that long at one sitting - obviously the longer the session the more it distributes the higher cost of the initial 15 minutes. My thoughts are that if some work could be done on my jawline then at worst it should make the laser less painful; and if it looks to be effective I could drop the laser - it would still be more expensive if I went every week or even every other week; and it might not be as quick; but it should be permanent. The bigger concern I have is that apparently you have to have some facial growth for it to be effective which means I'd be basically stuck at home for a day or two before and possibly a day or two after depending upon how my skin reacts; versus the laser which is just the time after. Once I make a decision and/or go for the consultation I'll post a follow-up on this.
Some comments on the laser - as I mentioned above my face does tend to break out. The first time it was so bad I ended up going to the Doctor a few days later. She prescribed some steroid cream that I use as needed after sessions now to address the itching and any breakouts. Even with the cream I usually avoid any shaving for at least a couple of days afterwards (and usually more than that) and as such can't leave the house. The actual laser process is fast - perhaps 10-15 minutes each session; now mine is much longer since I go for the numbing cream which adds a hour to that; but it's definitely faster than the electrolysis; although considering the drive time for where I'm going is 30-45 minutes the timing for the electrolysis - even if I went 90 minute sessions) would be far shorter.
Sorry, I realized I've sort of rambled and meandered on here; I normally try to avoid that; but I couldn't help it this time. I'll see about writing some better entries regarding this topic at a later date.
- M
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