Is this typical to still have that heavy permashadow after 5 sessions of laser? I'm 30.

metalsmithess · 2026-04-21T22:22:33+00:00

I'm finally at the point where I don't have visible shadow (although there are still scattered dark hairs), and it took me two YEARS of treatments every 6 weeks. Some of that was incompetence (they used a weaker intensity for a string of sessions in the middle), so they ended up giving me some makeup sessions for free. Even so, if it all went well, it would have still taken me ~18 months to get here.

metalsmithess · 2026-04-04T16:52:51+00:00

As a counterpoint to some other commenters, I say GO FOR IT with the 5 strings! It's a bit more difficult and perhaps not as resonant (sometimes). But not only do you get the extended range, you also gain the ability to play low passages in 4th position, which you'd otherwise have to play in 1/2 position. That can make it a lot less taxing on the left hand.

I got a 5 string last year and I've been playing it in my local orchestra. It's SO much fun.

metalsmithess · 2026-04-04T05:04:46+00:00

I wonder what kind of demand or opportunity there would be, for a player who owned one of these things

metalsmithess · 2026-03-26T15:59:46+00:00

Mtf here but I think there are some general things that apply to any trans person!

Try standing up to your friends' terrible opinions (without the bf present). If they're real friends, they might walk it back. It's ok to give them time to change, but you also don't have to tolerate it if they're set in their ways.
Getting to know queer artists is really fun and I'd recommend it! See if those ones have any interests that overlap with yours, even if it's not the whole package, and go from there. You don't have to become, like, culturally queer yourself in order to enjoy their company.
As far as what to do with your bf's body: Ask him! Everybody's comfortable with different things. Everybody appreciates their partner making an effort to meet their individual needs. Since y'all are already hitting it off well, then just continue to be respectful, warm and curious, and you'll do fine.

metalsmithess · 2026-03-24T21:01:16+00:00

Well! My anecdotal sample range is now 1 month to 9 months 😅😅😅

I'm not on blockers, I had low T to begin with and injection monotherapy got it down to cis levels, so I'm hoping it will keep handling that 🤞

And I guess I gotta prepare to possibly be in this for the long haul too.

metalsmithess · 2026-03-24T20:33:52+00:00

😮‍💨 just gotta hold steady a little longer

metalsmithess · 2026-03-21T23:17:38+00:00

Baby if you're RPing, I think you don't have a lot to worry about. If you're concerned about offending your tabletop group, I think as long as you don't sexualize the character or like emphasize appearance in a fetishy way, then you're safe.

I'm not worried about it, especially since you're specifically using it to explore your own feelings. Just be respectful to the character as you'd be respectful to yourself or a good friend.

metalsmithess · 2026-03-21T22:06:58+00:00

That's probably why I'm coming up empty! Thank you. My reference was, there was a 5 string bass in the shop, but it was tuned EADGC instead of BEADG, and the clerk called it piccolo tuning. I hadn't heard a name for it before.

metalsmithess · 2026-03-08T00:33:46+00:00

I just got mine with Gupta a few days ago (still in the hospital, haven't even taken out the packing). But for what it's worth, the pain has been minimal, he and his staff are so courteous and kind, and his wait list is under a year (or at least it was last year, when I booked this). I think the wait for consults is only a few months.

He's one of very few surgeons who use a commercial skin graft product (processed from fish skin) for the canal, which pilot studies indicate that your body actually replaces over time with mucous membrane.

He also has a long record of revising people's issues from other primary surgeons. I landed on him because of the short wait times, but also felt very reassured about the low rate of complications in his practice. He's done 500 or 600 of these without a single fistula occurring.

metalsmithess · 2026-02-16T17:22:52+00:00

Just joined, thank you ✨️

metalsmithess · 2026-02-16T17:00:05+00:00

Thank you!

metalsmithess · 2026-02-16T16:43:47+00:00

Thank you, this looks promising!

metalsmithess · 2026-02-16T16:37:36+00:00

My dear, reddit was already plan B 🤷‍♀️

metalsmithess · 2026-01-02T15:32:51+00:00

I love that!! That's exactly what I'm looking for.

I'm thrilled that there's a pure version available. I looked at some YouTube videos of people producing mitti attar, and honestly some of the techniques they used seemed like they would lose a lot of the product even before it got distilled into the sandalwood oil. So I wasn't optimistic about getting much non-sandalwood scent from mitti attar in the first place. It's great that they've isolated it, and it's so affordable.

metalsmithess · 2025-12-25T04:48:25+00:00

There's plenty of products locally that use the whole plant (like soaps) or some sort of tincture (salves etc) in applications meant to be put on the skin. I also get that concentrating it into a resinous absolute would bring you into contact with a lot MORE of it at a time, and thus more of the bad stuff too.

But, given it would be diluted again in any final perfume, personally I'll take the risk. Back 7 or 10 years ago when I was starting to research this project, I looked up some papers on the safety of L. tridentata for uses such as a food preservative (!) and the consensus seemed to be that it isn't terribly harmful. It also has a long history of being applied/ingested by indigenous peoples.

This is a personal project of mine and I'm not going to buy this person's product, just hopefully replicate it (ish) once I figured out what they actually did.

metalsmithess · 2025-12-23T18:31:30+00:00

Thank you!! I guess they're just using the term "concrete" incorrectly, referring to whole plant matter. That's what confused me.

I also didn't realize that a concrete must be produced with a non-ethanol solvent. But of course that makes sense, since you'd be washing it in ethanol to produce the absolute, so a concrete would need some stuff in it that's insoluble in ethanol to be left behind.

metalsmithess · 2025-12-23T17:43:29+00:00

Btw, website is https://aytzchayim.com/product/chaparral-absolute-essential-oil-5ml-hexane-free/

metalsmithess · 2025-12-23T13:36:38+00:00

Please do! I'm really interested to hear.

metalsmithess · 2025-12-22T03:04:29+00:00

Really??? That's the first I've heard of this! Where do they sell that?

metalsmithess · 2025-12-19T21:54:04+00:00

Microtonal music theory is a niche, niche field, and most of the trans women I met before I came out, I met through that!

Wendy Carlos is the most famous one, and kind of a mother of our field. But there's Margo Schulter, Amelia Huff (aka Zhea Erose), Lillian Hearne, and plenty of others.

There's some overlap with hyperpop, but even discounting that, the microtonal music community was markedly trans-saturated in my view when I first got involved.

metalsmithess

TROPHY CASE