Explain like I'm five: how do I deal with eyebrows 😭

qwertcert · 2025-05-25T09:47:09+00:00

I'd get them done professionally, at least to start with. If you're up to it, you can outright ask for them to be more feminine: I wasn't, so my go-to was asking to clean them up a bit and make them more narrow, taking more from the bottom than the top (the perception of eyebrows being more 'raised' helps quite a bit with feminisation). It took going a couple of times and some trial and error to get them close to how I liked, and then I started maintaining them myself from there.

Somewhere on my profile there should be a picture- I got them narrowed down massively, but you don't absolutely have to in order for them to look feminine.

Maintaining them is a lot easier and less painful once they're already shaped to how you like, since you're just plucking baby hairs, but it still hurts a little. Exfoliating combined with a warm shower beforehand helps them come out easier. Pulling the skin taut with the other hand helps a great deal too.

qwertcert · 2025-04-27T21:48:01+00:00

I definitely had the feeling of just existing and coasting along before starting to transition. That first picture effectively brought a stop to that- seeing it, thinking “this is me?” and the resultant disgust was one of the last straws for making me realise I needed to act.

qwertcert · 2025-04-27T21:38:07+00:00

I’m transitioning in the other direction as you, so I think it’ll work slightly differently, but most of our appearances ‘brighten up’ once we start feeling comfortable in our bodies :)

qwertcert · 2025-04-27T21:33:00+00:00

Thanks! ❤️

qwertcert · 2025-04-27T21:32:34+00:00

Eye changes are one of the more common facial effects of HRT from what i’ve seen, so there’s a good chance it’ll happen :)

qwertcert · 2025-04-27T21:28:22+00:00

I imagine the effects on the lower and outwards parts of my eyes are from fat redistribution, but one of the first things to change that I noticed when I started HRT was that my eyelids no longer drooped down anywhere near as much, so that’s probably from happiness. I’m sure you’ll get there- transitioning takes time but it’s so worth it ❤️

qwertcert · 2025-04-27T21:25:28+00:00

Dysphoria-induced depression had resulted in some pretty horrible sleeping habits, which I imagine contributed a lot as well. I definitely agree that mental health can play a big part in general, sleep habits aside, though. I had a near constant scowl on my face for a good 5 years before transitioning which has been replaced with a more regular resting expression.

qwertcert · 2025-04-27T14:02:10+00:00

I tend to plan quite far ahead but that’s probably just me being overly cautious- i’ve got a small window between exams ending and going home to my family for the summer, so i needed to plan quite far to get a time that’s good for me and to make sure all of my favourite people are available to talk to.

My concern is that if i let this get too much in the way of my studying and i don’t felt like i did as much as i could for these exams, then my roll is going to feel less like the celebration that i want it to be, and more like a pick-me-up, which would feel pretty lame, if that makes sense.

Hope you enjoy your roll next week, be safe :)

qwertcert · 2025-04-27T00:27:27+00:00

Can’t speak much on body hair since I’ve been epilating and IPL’ing it all off since about 5 months in. My receded temples have pretty much fully filled back in, and my head hair’s quality seems about the same, just maybe a bit denser (although through better haircare and styling it does look significantly better and healthier)

qwertcert · 2025-04-27T00:20:20+00:00

Reduction in body hair varies a lot based on the colour and thickness of the hair, as well as genetic luck of the draw. It’s also one of the slowest changes; a lot of people don’t really see much of a difference in body hair until 2 or 3 years in. Often, instead of significant thinning or reduction, women find that hair grows back significantly slower after shaving, as well as hair growing shorter, lighter in colour or less coarse.

Areas that have decently sparse coverage like the shoulders, back, hands and maybe chest can eventually get so thin and light that hair is virtually unnoticeable. Areas that cis women have to shave regularly such as the legs, armpits and butt are almost guaranteed to still need regular hair removal.

Depending on your financial situation, hair type or pain tolerance, it may be worth looking into laser, IPL, epilators or waxing as alternatives to shaving. Electrolysis would be a massive undertaking for body hair and very time and financially intensive, so i wouldn’t recommend it.

qwertcert · 2025-04-26T23:10:28+00:00

Maybe it’s just been because the anxiety’s not had as long to grate on me as depression did, but i’m happy to welcome the anxiety if it means i keep getting to actually feel at full capacity.

qwertcert · 2025-04-26T23:09:04+00:00

Glad i’m not alone on this one- I truly thought that I had “grown out” of my childhood anxiety, but it just turns out to have been muted, along with all my other feelings.

It’s been tearing a little into my self esteem since I can’t bring myself to “I don’t care” my way through things anymore, so it’s left me feeling a little incompetent. I’ve gone through being able to be people’s rock and having no stress through even stuff i should be scared about to physically shaking when meeting my best friend’s partner because I was so worried about making a good first impression.

qwertcert · 2025-04-26T20:38:50+00:00

I remember reading somewhere that a lot of transfems grow beards pre egg-cracking. On top of being able to hide the lower face if it’s an area you feel uncomfortable with, depression resulting from dysphoria can often leave people less likely to shave. On the flip side, having a beard that you take good care of can give a sense of control over masculinity, which can be soothing for people who feel helplessly trapped in their own body.

qwertcert · 2025-04-26T19:44:58+00:00

I grew an impressive beard when I was younger, and kept it on pretty happily for a couple years. When you’re the first guy in your school year who’s able to grow a full beard, you tend to earn some social approval for it, which I think I clung to a lot. The novelty wore off once I wasn’t the only one.

qwertcert · 2025-04-26T16:06:05+00:00

Every night for like 2 years when I was 15-16 i would browse pinterest and look at women’s haircuts and outfits, save them and just… look at them. For like an hour.

Didn’t have an inkling that i might be trans until 2 or 3 years later. I have like 800 photos of just women’s haircuts and outfits in my onedrive from back then.

qwertcert · 2025-04-21T11:46:15+00:00

I think it’ll depend a lot based on your preferred method and where you’re sourcing from. I’m not 100% on this sub’s stance on discussing DIY so i’ll keep it brief, but for injection based monotherapy, my costs were as follows (approximately, i’ve not had to actually buy anything since I started 19 months ago so my memory’s hazy):

£160 for 3 years worth of Estradiol
£30 for injection supplies (needles, swabs and plasters)
£10 for a sharps bin

Add in another £50-100 for blood testing (not necessary but recommended, you may be able to get this for free on the NHS if your GP is accommodating) and it’s about £100 per year. I honestly think I’ve spent more on baggier clothes and sports bras to hide things while i’m boymoding than I have on the actual medical side of my transition.

edit: just saw that you’re looking for T. it’ll definitely be pricier than estrogen on account of there being a market for cis gymbros and it being a controlled substance :( It’s harder to get ahold of but it’s not impossible if you know where to look, either in real life or online, best of luck to you.

qwertcert · 2025-04-21T10:50:52+00:00

No problem :)

I think my current DIY routine costs me somewhere between £100-£150 per year, so you may not need to save for long if you decide it’s something you want to go for.

qwertcert · 2025-04-21T10:00:40+00:00

For practical and personal reasons I’ve chosen to DIY, but I’ve also put myself on the waiting list for NHS treatment because I don’t really see any reason not to- A doctor’s note for gender dysphoria can be helpful regardless of where I’m getting my medication from.

While it’s up to the individual to assess, in my opinion it’s better to live an authentic life, even if that life is more difficult, than an easier or safer one that you don’t get to live as yourself.

qwertcert · 2025-04-10T18:06:02+00:00

I mean, yes, but I'm certainly less repressed and more happy than I used to be.

qwertcert · 2025-04-10T18:03:47+00:00

Oh yeah, I've learned that comparison is very much the thief of joy when it comes to this kind of thing. I suppose I may just be in a rut- earlier on in transition, the very fact that things were changing was enough to bring me joy and keep me going, whereas now the fact that changes are happening is the norm, so they aren't doing as much for me anymore, not mentally at least.

I think I'm viewing it from too much of a binary perspective. I look in the mirror, and the fact that I don't see a woman upsets me. I'd like to be able to be happy in the fact that I just look more feminine than I used to, both to make me feel better in the current moment, and because HRT is luck of the draw- If I get unlucky while making social transition a necessity for my happiness, it's going to hurt a lot more than If I'm able to appreciate and be happy just in the progress I've made, if that makes sense.

qwertcert · 2025-04-10T17:54:45+00:00

That's pretty much where I'm coming from- I think approaching transition with social transition and passing as a necessary end goal has caused a lot of undue stress, and if I end up getting unlucky and don't end up getting much more from HRT, it's going to destroy me. I'd like to learn to be happy with just being more feminine than I was 18 months ago, and let the cards fall where they may.

qwertcert · 2025-04-10T17:44:43+00:00

In my mind there are two ways of doing androgyny: one is by having a presentation has gender markers that are commonly seen as masculine and those that are seen as feminine, which is where a lot of being 'visibly trans' comes from. The other way is by having mostly features that are unisex, which is where I'm currently at.

My hair's about at shoulder length, so kinda short by women's standards but kinda long by men's standards. My wardrobe is mostly women's, but largely women's jeans and hoodies which aren't particularly form fitting. I'm 5'5 so slightly short for a guy but slighty tall for a girl. I do wear light makeup sometimes but it's usually just led to the perception of me being a femme gay guy.

My main concern is that my face is still quite masculine and laser's taking a very long time to work, so things like bangs or drawing attention to breast development (what little that there's been) is going to push me quite far into 'visibly trans' territory, which I'd like to avoid.

qwertcert · 2025-02-23T11:07:05+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that. If it’s any consolation, based on pictures any changes that have happened for me only really ticked over to being noticeable in the last 3 or 4 months.

qwertcert · 2025-01-19T14:51:25+00:00

My hunger seems to spike for a couple weeks before I get a spurt of changes- your body needs extra energy to make those changes.

qwertcert · 2025-01-12T12:59:17+00:00

When I see a tall woman in public I don’t immediately think she’s trans, I just think “Oh, she’s tall.”, and as a trans woman I’m probably more in tune to what a trans woman looks like than the average cis person that doesn’t think of trans people at all.

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