[Closed] Facial hair

Eva,

I had a mustache for years.  Finally I shaved it off. I just got tired of mustache hairs getting in my food and coffee. Don’t miss it.

Shaving the beard was the first thing I did when I made the decision to start dressing again - it had to go (I’m not feminine enough to work around that.) After the beard, the chest hair went, then the pubes, lol

I used to have a mustache and goatee. Then I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and needed a CPAP machine. Originally I had a strap that went on to my chin, which made my goatee hairs grow in a slanted manner. Off comes the goatee.

I get your wanting to maintain the male look when dressed in drab and if you've had the beard for many years, it can be hard to let it go. When I finally decided to come out to my wife about my desire to cross dress, I made a personal decision to shave off the mustache. My view is that if I'm going to dress up and wear make up, I want to present as much of a feminine look as possible. For me, that's part of the allure and makes it fun. Hearing my wife give me positive feedback on how good of a job I did dressing and applying make up makes losing the facial hair worth it.

Beards grow back. I say shave it, it will feminize your look. If you dont like that, grow it back.

Most of my friends and associates had never seen me without a beard.  I was sick of it though and would've shaved it off even if I wasn't trans.  I was surprised by the many compliments I got.  The rest of my body hair went next!

/EA

I had a mustache all of my adult life then I shaved it to see what AnnaBeth would look like. But it was such a dramatic change for me, I then grew a beard trying to deny AnnaBeth. After three years AnnaBeth re-emerged stronger than ever and I decided to come out to my wife, now I will never grow facial hair again. My wife told me she likes me without the beard anyway and several people have told me I look younger, so win win.

I don't have facial hair, but I can empathize.

I had a friend in the transformation business, and she told me one time that when men with facial hair would come in and want to look feminine, but were unable to shave their hair, she would use a handheld Chinese style fan to hide the facial hair, and focus on the eyes and eye makeup for photos.

I had a beard for many, many years and decided to shave it off after I fully embraced Jen. I don't miss it at all and I like the freshly shaven look, anyways. I'd say shave off your beard and grow it back if the clean shave doesn't work for you.

Hi Eva,

I have a mustache and beard and no immediate plans to shave either. I appreciate you raising this subject and in solidarity I’ve changed my profile picture to my real face.

While my facial hair is incompatible with passing as Wanda, I’m very happy with the amount of femininity I am able to express in public. It’s also the amount my SO is comfortable with me expressing so it all works for us.

I do like the idea of a fan for photos. In college one of our acting profs insisted the whole class learn to use a fan as a prop —- Southern Bell style, not Asian but still… Thanks for mentioning that, Alison.

You aren't going to appear like a woman while sporting a beard. You can be a man without one.

Just get rid of it before the summer sun arrives.

Madeline, perfectly put - thank you for simplifying it!

I have never had a beard and have never wanted to have one but I agree with Madeline's comment - you don't need a beard to be a man. You could always try alternating, as one of my girlfriends does. She sports a beard from time to time but when she wants to be really feminine, she shaves it off. If others get used to you swapping between having a beard and being clean shaven, it simply won't be an issue for you to shave when you want to. xxx

Hi Eva, well, back the last time facial hair was in vogue (or the time before that or the time...too many times now) I grew a mustache and then a full beard. Never liked either at all but times being what they were... And put my dressing desires on hold. Then I took a short 'vacation' trip, shaved it all off, started more serious dressing and never looked back.

As others have pointed out, somehow it all keeps trying very hard to come back. So , like previous suggestions, if you really want to try for a more complete fem look, go for it. Those pesky facial hairs will still be there if you ever want to go back.

Hugs ChloeC

Many thanks, girls!  I really appreciate your thoughts and opinions.  My new lavender bra is arriving today - I'm very excited! My plan is to shave my legs and underarms, so their smooth and girly, put my new bra on, with my blue dress and bask in the pleasure of my fabulous bra and my smooth legs!  And hopefully, my inner woman overrides my insecurity of hiding my girlishness, under drab facial hair.

Love and kisses!

Eva