Tidbits, Tips, and Tricks
This page was last updated 02/20/2010 10:29:05 AM
This is going to be new section designed to pass on information. I feel that the only way to learn is to make mistakes, therefore I must have learned a lot! I have made so many mistakes that I have lost track and sometimes repeat those mistakes, usually through the thought that I can do better than the last failure. This area will also allow me to remind myself of the things I learned from others and always wanted to apply.
Take a look and see if there is anything that helps you in your attainment of a feminine appearance.
2/20/2010 Lace Front Wigs: My investigation is going well, I am having a ball practicing with these new wigs. I now have 5 of them and have posted pictures of the progress with them. I did experiment with glue rather than wig tape of two of them, just to find out how hard it is to remove the glue residue after wearing. The glue is persistent and must be removed because it causes the mesh to be thick and stiff and really shows the hairline. Unbelievable results with these pieces.
2/5/2010 Lace Front Wigs: I am launching an in-depth investigation into lace front wigs, only because I saw one in person that really set me back. The most beautiful CD I have ever seen was sporting the most gorgeous hair I have ever seen. I have been looking for the ability to pull hair back at the front rather than always wearing a fringe or bangs and this girl had it going on. I have two pieces on their way to me and will obviously start showing pictures as soon as I can get them figured out.
8/18/08 Breast form comparison: There is now a new page on breast form comparisons that shows the relative shapes and some size information that could be helpful if you are looking for new forms. It is located at breast form comparison
8/18/08 Breast forms, glue and remover: I now have a complete page on Breast Forms/Glue and remover here This should make it easier to locate all the information rather than sifting through all the tidbits on this page. I will add any new information to that page rather than on this page
8/08/08 Breast forms, glue and remover: A thread on Crossdresser.com has been running for some time. There I started the thread for every one involved to post their type of glue and how it works. It seems that 3M Super 77 is very popular and very inexpensive, approximately $10 per can. Each can is very large compared to the Hollisters and to date I have done approximately 55 applications from a single can and it is still half full. It also releases very nicely with the Goo Gone.
3/10/08 Breast forms, glue and remover: I stated over two years ago that I would let you know how my experimental glue and glue removal project was going. I now have worn my breast forms for over two years, many times on a daily basis for months. I am now working dressed on a daily basis and wear my glue-on forms as a matter of course. I use Hollister medical adhesive which generally costs about $20 per tiny can but which in my opinion is well worth it. I am still using the Goo Gone remover to remove the breast forms. My best method to date is to place a layer or two of paper towels on the edge of the kitchen sink, lean over so that the breast forms are almost touching and spray Goo Gone onto the edges of the forms. Gravity will gently pull the forms downward and as they loosen and you spray more Goo Gone, they tend to gently drop right onto the paper towels. The whole removal process takes me lass than a minute and I am able to stand upright and begin cleaning the forms. With the Goo Gone still forming puddles on the back sides of the forms, I take a kitchen scrubber and gently move the Goo Gone around and dislodge the remainder of the adhesive. I work the edges in particular to remove all the adhesive so that the next wearing allows the edges to sit flat against the skin and not curl under.
Then I wash them gently with dish soap and remove as much of the Goo Gone as possible. Then straight into the shower and after I have shampooed my own hair, I lather up the forms with shampoo and clean and rinse them thoroughly. Lay them outside the shower and when finished towel dry them and place them back in their holder. As I recently stated the breast forms are showing no signs of falling apart and seem to be in almost the same condition as they were when new.
12/06/07 Padding, tucking and such: We all suffer from not having the perfect feminine form, and that includes many women! While I have been working on this for years and have tried every tucking method, full add-on body pads and the like in an effort to achieve what appears to be "Apparently Female". I have been harping on weight loss for some time but this picture seems to accentuate the need for less body mass.
This is me with the "standard" breast forms but with one small addition. Notice that the butt seems to be a bit fuller than I actually have? Well it is. I have been working with foam pads and some thin silicone butt pads trying to achieve this look for a long time but somehow stumbled upon the achieved appearance. I took an extra set of breast forms that I bought on eBay for $20. There were very large and mostly flat, but had a lot of silicone in place so I forced them down into place on my butt cheeks and found that I thought I could make a pretty good presentation with them. I pulled the pants off and using two pieces of double-sided wig tape, attached the breast forms on the butt cheek, pulled the pants up and adjusted everything. I think the look works. It will face the real world test a few more times before I declare the myth a truism.
11/19/07 "Less is more": I have now been styling and cutting hair for about 6 months and am convinced that "less is more". I kept hearing this term in beauty school and now finally understand it. What I mean is that the least amount of effort now seems to be the norm. I cut gorgeous heads of hair everyday that the owners want to be able to step out of the shower, shake their head, maybe apply some product, and go about their day. I was shopping in the middle of the day last week and I was wearing one of my typical updos that probably exhibited more effort than 99% of the women out there want to put up with. Every single person that I talked with that day asked me if I was going to a special event or a wedding because of my hair. Very interesting. Not too many years ago women took great pains with their hair and worked on it for what seemed like hours just to go to the grocery store. Not the case today. Many of the styles I now wear come out of their storage bag, go on my head and with a few flicks of the wig pick I am ready to go. Just a thought...
11/19/07 Breast forms and Goo Gone revisited: This is actually an update that re-hashes my 10-25-05 remarks about the use of the Hollister adhesive and the Goo Gone. I have now used 13 cans of Hollister adhesive for a total of approximately 230 applications. I examined the surface of the breast forms that is attached under high magnification and can find no degradation to the surface whatsoever. After every wearing I carefully rub the Goo Gone all over the adhesive surface and remove all remnants of the adhesive. I then take them into the shower with me and clean them again with shampoo since it removes most if not all of the petroleum products from the forms. I take them out and dry them off and put them back in their boxes. So far so good.
7/27/07 Weight loss (yet again): I am still harping on the weight loss issue now that I have been through Cosmetology school with 55 under 20 year old girls. Watch your eating habits and learn to control your addictions. I definitely have a sugar addiction that really runs rampant. I have completed school and am now working in a salon with yet more young girls. Guess what? Their eating habits are actually worse than the teens that I was in school with previously. My best advice is to learn to be somewhat hungry, it really doesn't hurt. I am still able to maintain my weight and yes, I do feel hungry now and then but my current pictures show what I look like.....
6/22/07 Breast forms and Goo Gone: Breast forms are still going well with the use of Goo Gone to remove the adhesive. Still using the Hollister spray from a can.
12/25/05 Tools: There is a new section in the How To area called Tools. It is designed to pass on information that may help under adverse circumstances. Take a look.
12/22/05 Weight loss (again): I have been harping about weight loss and realize that it is not an easy thing to achieve and maintain. I am working every day at holding down my consumption and have realized just how strong old habits are. The fact that you feel hungry does not mean you have to eat to stop the feeling. Remember, if you are feeling hunger, you are losing weight! Sometimes easier to say than to do, but the thought is always there. Make new habits of exercising daily and learning to raise your metabolism. It really goes a long way toward maintaining your weight and making you feel better about yourself.
10/25/05 Breast forms and Goo Gone: I have had a number of people write and ask if the Goo Gone that I was using to remove my glued-on breast forms was damaging the silicone forms. I decided to do my best to wear them as often as possible (believe me, a real sacrifice but if I must...) and to really examine them to see if there has been any damage so that I could inform others before they had problems with their forms. Well, I have worn my breast forms over 90 times and taken them off with Goo Gone each time. I have used hot water and Dawn detergent to dissolve the Goo Gone residue and to remove any makeup or other residue on the silicone forms. I have examined the front and the back side of the forms and can find no scratches, gouges, tears or punctures on the forms. They are holding up very well to the dissolving qualities of the Goo Gone. The breast forms are Triangle Transforms and I have had them for over three years and worn them many, many times. The last two years they have been glued on every time so that I could dress without bra lines.
My procedure now is to lay out some paper towels on the floor, not carpet. Standing on the paper towels, I spray a line of Goo Gone on the top edge of the form and let gravity drag it down under the forms. As the Goo Gone becomes saturated with dissolved glue I add another spray. By bending over just a bit the Goo Gone does not run out the sides or bottom and the form slowly starts to peel off from the top. (One 8 ounce bottle of Goo Gone has lasted almost 6 months for this use only) You need to support the form so that there is not too much weight hanging on the remaining adhesive. The forms are usually off in under 2 minutes with no skin abrasion, no pulling or pain. What a great relief. You can do this in the hot shower, but realize that Goo Gone is a petroleum distillate and can get very slippery on the shower floor and can cause some damage if you are on a septic system.
5/22/05 Weight loss (again): I have been harping about weight loss for some time now and have found that keeping the weight off is relatively easy if you don't fall back into old habits. I found that having chocolate raisins and almonds even in the house was too much for me. I gained a couple of pounds and traced it all to the poor eating habits I had fallen back into. I did not have to eat something every time I sat down at the computer. It seems that I could down a full bag of chips or pounds of chocolate stuff without even tasting it while working on the computer. I also ruined a number of keyboards from the crumbs, liquids and stuff I dropped into them. Now I have water in squeeze bottles available and every time I think I need to stick something in my mouth I take a drink. Amazing! Yes, I do have to get up fairly often as the bladder pressure builds, but the result is that I have maintained my weight and even lost an additional 3 pounds and have been able to wear a few size 3 jeans lately. don't allow the old habits to take over again, I realize just how hard it is, but the results in better health and appearance is well worth it. Thank you Dr. Phil!!!
3/25/05 Breast forms, one more time: I have been wearing my forms glued into place as I explained below. I am noticing that the forms show through the more sheer tops and you can sometimes see shiny nipples and forms. I cut the shiny appearance now by dusting them with baby powder before I put on the blouse. The powder smells good, causes the form to lose it's shiny appearance, and allows the blouse to slide a bit, if it is not too tight. (Have I ever worn a blouse that was too tight?)
3/23/05 Padding: This seems to be a tough topic for many. We all collectively seem to think that we can add padding in the right places and miraculously look like women! I have tired and tired and all I ever came up with was a very large well endowed look, but the waist and the rest were never small enough. (This ties to my weight loss section pretty heavily, so to speak...) After losing weight and then padding, the results are starting to get pretty good. I have been experimenting with padding and started making my own new ones. I cut one inch polyfoam until the floor was littered with shreds of foam. One of the things that really worked to minimize a bulge line at the edge of the padding is to cut a strong angle off one side and turn the angle to the body, not the other way around. The cut off section lies against the body and the smooth outer surface gently blends with the body to form an almost invisible padding line. I will start a section in the How To's on padding shortly and take pictures to show you what I mean, but check out the newest pictures in the Hip Hugger and Really Short hair sections. Click on the photo below to jump to the hip hugger view.
3/20/05 Breast forms, again: Someplace recently I wrote about gluing your breast forms on and how to remove the adhesive as so on. Well, I have stumbled upon the easiest method of removing adhesive ever. I am embarrassed to say that the stuff is very cheap, less than $2.00 for 16 ounces, smells great, doesn't hurt your skin or the breast form, and works very fast! The stuff is called "Goo Gone" and it can be found in WalMart or any other department type store. I found out about it after buying some plastic bottles that needed to have the previous labels removed. The adhesive was tenacious and the seller of the bottles told me to use "Goo Gone". Said it would work great. Long story short, the next time I had worn my forms and was standing slowly adding very expensive adhesive remover to the stuck edges of the form with a Q-tip, I remembered the Goo Gone. I wiped up the Body Off remover I was using and grabbed the Goo Gone. I sprayed the edges of the forms at the top and they immediately started easing away from the skin. I sprayed more under the edges and the forms started dropping downward under their own weight. In under 2 minutes I had them off, my skin was still intact, and there was no damage to the forms. I washed the forms in nice warm water with dish detergent to get all of the Goo Gone off and dried them and put them back into their boxes. They were cleaner than they have ever been. Since then I have used Goo Gone about a dozen times and it exceeds my expectations more each time.
12/29/04 High heels: It seems that if you wait long enough all good things come around again. I have been a high heel fan for many years. I purchase and practice (something that should be done to really make an attractor work) all the time or anytime that I can. during the recent Christmas holidays I was in a number of malls and looked at a lot of examples of feminine fashion. In Southern California I saw more high heels than I have seen in many years. a number were very high very thin 5 inch heels! I was elated!! Many of the younger ladies and a lot of the older ladies were at apparent ease with their very high hells and were very receptive to positive comments made about them. I was cautioned by a young high heel wearer when I was purchasing some gorgeous white heels not to let too much of the heel show when wearing pants. The bottom of the pants should come as close to the floor as possible without actually hitting it. I later bought new hip huggers by wearing my newest heels and finding the right length. Buy and wear what is in fashion and what fits your approximate age. One of the young sales girls in a trendy young shop told me that trying to wear something that was too young looked worse than something really out of style. She actually helped me with my selections and kept me from looking like I was trying to look like my daughter.
12/11/04 Attractors: Rather than allowing people you come in contact with to see those things that you may feel are apparent male traits, attract them, or distract them with something else! Last night I was shopping in Bon Marche when a salesgirl came around the corner and did her 3 nanosecond appraisal. She did a very quick hair to face to bam, right to the jewelry I had hanging from my belly piercing. She keyed on that item only and kept right on her mission. When I bought two tops from her later she was nothing but smiles and very friendly. I did notice that her eyes kept diverting to my belly jewelry. My hair, makeup, face, clothing were of no real interest to her, she had keyed on an obviously feminine characteristic and stayed with it. To see the whole look go here.
12/10/04 Perfection: Many of us spend untold excess hours attempting to look perfect before going out. It can be a negative! Try stopping short of having every hair in place and every skin flaw totally covered. Look at the women you see in malls or in social gatherings. They are put together but haven't spent near the amount of time we do. True, a lot of it comes from practice, which I definitely advocate, but the reality is that when they reach an "acceptable" point they stop their preparation and go! My practice lately has allowed me to be ready in less than 2 hours, some hair out of place, some skin flaws showing, etc., but I am out and fitting in with others. It seems almost too simple, but it is something to be worked up to.
12/10/04 Female appraisal:: I have written about it before but if bears repeating. When a woman encounters another women, she automatically drops into her "who is the most desirable woman" routine and does a quick appraisal of the women she is meeting. In many case it takes less than a second, a quick up and down, what looks good and what doesn't, a quick comparison to her own features, a mental note, a re-ordering of the pecking order. Now she feels she knows where she sits in the pecking order and she knows whether to be pissed or to shine. I have verified this with many women who admit the characteristic. Males do the same thing but tend to appraise women from a slightly different point of view....
12/6/04 Breast forms: Buy good silicone breast forms. You will enjoy them for years and they look so much better than anything else. A few years ago I was attending a big drag show in San Francisco. One of the attendees told me she had spent $500 on her hair and over $1000 on the gown. She was beautiful!! Later that night I stepped on some sort of seeds on the floor. I later found that the person I had been talking to had used bird seed in bags as her breast forms and they had sprung a leak. I went shopping with her the very next day for some silicone forms. I happen to use the triangle forms, many of my friends use the teardrop shaped forms. I have used both and really find very little difference as long as they fill the bra.
12/6/04 Human hair wigs: Never buy a human hair wig. They are so over-processed that they are more fragile than any growing human hair. They will not stand up to virtually any use, they will not hold a style, they will break at the knots, and they will be so brittle that curly styles will droop after a short wearing. Ever wonder why some human hair wigs are advertised so cheaply on the Internet? There is a reason. I have worked on so many human hair pieces that cost their owners so much that I felt really bad for them when I had to tell them their favorite hair piece was truly gone. I actually have fond remembrances of a gorgeous waist length straight light brown human hair wig. I wore it 3 times and felt it needed to be washed, I hadn't when I got it and 2 of the times I wore her she absorbed a lot of smells. She was carefully washed and actually laid over a sweater drying net to dry. She looked great the next time I wore her but kept dropping pieces of hair. It was breaking off at the weft. Within a month she looked like a moth-eaten wool sweater. Synthetic wigs are so inexpensive that I suggest to my clients that they purchase more than one if they really like the style and color.
12/6/04 "Buy only the best you can afford: Whoever says this to you is foolish with their money. Excellent products are available at much lower than many name brand over-priced products.
12/6/04 Weight loss: Jump over to my new article on my own weight loss and pick up a few tips on how it can be done and maintained..