Foundation of Your Face

This is the fifth in a seven-part series of posts written by Femulate Contributing Editor Susan King of Transitioning into Tomorrow fame. Susan describes how to determine your face shape and then, how to put that information to good use.

Foundation is an important makeup requirement for most of us. As males, we probably did not take care of our skin, plus we have facial hair and large pores. I remember learning how to apply beard cover and trying to match the correct foundation color to my skin. It was difficult, time-consuming and required a lot of practice.

I began wearing foundation in the early 1990's with the help of a Mary Kay representative whose husband was a crossdresser.

In the last few years, I learned how to contour and highlight my face to give it a less male look. Contouring requires adding darker tones, while highlighting requires adding lighter tones to your foundation. It helps create a certain appearance that either reduces male traits and/or accentuates female traits.

Applying foundation, blush and contouring is done based on your face shape.

The picture shows how contouring, highlighting and blush should be applied to create a more feminine look.

Below is a more detailed description for each of face shape. Once you review what is best for your face shape, then practice...practice....practice.

Incorporating some of these items into your makeup routine will have a big impact in your appearance. If you feel comfortable, try a makeover at a department store makeup counter (M·A·C or Clinique), a store (Ulta Beauty or Sephora) or a salesperson from Avon (Stana!) .

I have had two makeovers in the past 12 months One at a Clinque counter and second one at Ulta Beauty. I learned a lot from the Ulta lady as she was younger and showed me how to highlight and contour using difference foundation colors. This technique slightly reshaped my face and looked amazing. I now use two different foundations and I like the new look.

Round

• Contour: Apply to the edges of the face, from the temples to the jawline and in the hollows of the cheeks
• Highlight: Apply to the center of the hairline to the center of the forehead, down the bridge of the nose, the cheekbones under the outer corners of the eyes, and the center of the chin
• Bronzer: Apply to the edges of the face, from the temples to the jawline
• Blush: Don't apply blush on the apples of your cheek; this makes your face look wider, but instead sweep upward to give your face a lift, do the 'duck face'

Pear

• Contour: Focus mostly on the sides of the face from about the ears down
• Highlight: Apply under the eyes to the temples, bridge of nose and under your nose, forehead (but instead of going vertically, apply your highlight in horizontally) and chin 
• Bronzer: Apply to your jawline to slim jaw 
• Blush:  Apply blush along the cheekbones toward the temples or fuller area of the cheeks

Oval

• Contour:  Apply lightly along the hairline and temples and under the cheekbones
• Highlight: Apply to the center of the forehead, down the bridge of the nose, from the brow bone to cheekbones in a C-shape, and the center of the chin 
• Bronzer: Apply bronzer in the shape of 3 at the sides of your face 
• Blush: Don't apply blush on the apples of your cheek; this makes your face look wider, but instead sweep upward to give your face a lift, do the 'duck face'

Oblong/Long

• Contour: Apply to the entire hairline at the top of forehead, hollows of cheeks (make the 'fish face' to find) and bottom of chin 
• Highlight: Apply above cheekbones (a little higher than where you put blush)
• Bronzer: Apply bronzer to entire hairline at the top of forehead and on your jawline 
• Blush: Apply blush to apples of the check and blend toward the ear, almost create a horizontal line across the face

Heart/Inverted Triangle

• Contour:  Apply to the temples, the sides of the cheeks, and the chin 
• Highlight: Apply to the center of the hairline to the center of the forehead, down the bridge of the nose, above and below the outer edges of the brows, the chin just below the lower lip and to the sides of the mouth
• Bronzer: Apply to the sides of the forehead and slightly lower your cheekbones 
• Blush: Avoid applying blush too high and instead apply it slightly lower than the cheekbones or you can apply a small amount on the apple and blend it out, but remember to leave a gap at the cheekbones. 

Rectangle/Square

• Contour: Apply to the temples and from the hollows of the cheeks to the jawline
• Highlight: Apply to the center of the hairline and the center of the forehead, above and below the outer edges of the brows and the center of the chin
• Bronzer: Apply to the sides of the forehead and jawline 
• Blush: Don't apply blush on the apples of your cheek, this makes your face look wider, but instead sweep upward to give your face a lift, do the 'duck face'

Diamond

• Contour: Apply to the sides of the face starting at the temples moving down to just pass the hollows of of cheeks, no further 
• Highlight: Focus on the forehead, the cheekbones under the outer corner of your eye, and chin (apply highlight horizontally)
• Bronzer: Apply to the outer edges of the cheeks and temples, avoid the middle face 
• Blush: Apply to upper most part of your cheeks and blended toward your temples

And most importantly, feel beautiful because you are beautiful.

Wearing Fate.

Yasumasa Morimura

Aunt Transforms Nephew into Niece

UPDATE: Thanks to some knowledgeable readers, I now know that this video clip was too good to be true. The boy, who was supposedly transformed into a girl, is really a girl. No aunt transformed her nephew into her niece. By the way, the clip was taken from a Mexican television show called An Angel in the House (1998-1999).

ORIGINAL POST: A few weeks ago, I found this short video from a Spanish language television program. I wonder if anyone knows its source and what is the plot of this particular episode of the show.

YouTube suggests the source might be Mexico. The short description accompanying the video reads, "boy comes home dressed as a girl by her aunts. His father is frightening and terrified"

My take is that the boy's aunt took her nephew shopping for a female outfit. Looks like she even took him to a beauty parlor to get his hair done and his face made up.

The short clip shows the aunt and nephew returning home after shopping to reveal the boy's new look to his family. His mother and brother seem very pleased, but his father, not so much.

My Spanish is not good enough to interpret what is said in the video. Anybody have a clue?

Don't you wish you had an aunt like this lucky boy's/girl's aunt!

(Susan King's series on determining your face shape and what to do with it resumes tomorrow.)

Wearing DressBarn.

Aunt transforms nephew into niece in a Spanish language television show.

Top Off Your Look With a Hat

This is the fourth in a seven-part series of posts written by Femulate Contributing Editor Susan King of Transitioning into Tomorrow fame. Susan describes how to determine your face shape and then, how to put that information to good use.

I do not wear hats because I must wear a wig and I think that the circumference of my head with a wig is too big. But I have learned that the opposite maybe true, if you wear the correct hat (style and size). As in the previous post, its about the shape of your face. You can change the shape of the face, feminize your face by adding a hat with curves/movements and you can add to your overall image and style.

I have very limited knowledge of hats. Here is a great article about hat styles and their history. Seventeen different styles are discussed in a very concise format.

Here is a short video on how to measure your hat size.

Lauren Valenti from Marie Claire describes the best hat styles for the major face shapes.

The goal is to slim the forehead to make it appear more narrow. Any brimmed style that is medium in length will achieve this.

You'll want something with a little width and a shorter crown that will balance out the length of your face. A medium-sized floppy, cloche, crusher, or bucket style would work best.

You can pull off pretty much any style. Go for something cool and more fashion-forward like a fisherman cap or boater style.

The goal is to create length, so something with a tall crown will give you that height you need. Look for medium to long brim fedoras, porkpies and trilby styles. Avoid anything low to the head and rounded — this will only accentuate the roundness.

You'll want to soften the angles. So anything with a curved silhouette will do the trick. Floppy's, cloches, or bowler styles will help to round out your features.

I am going to try some hats next summer. This summer was so hot and I need to find cover from the sun. I hope you add a hat or two to you wardrobe.

Happy shopping!

Wearing Scarlett (top).

Femulating South Korean pop star Kangnam

Loving All Earrings

This is the third in a seven-part series of posts written by Femulate Contributing Editor Susan King of Transitioning into Tomorrow fame. Susan describes how to determine your face shape and then, how to put that information to good use.

I love wearing earrings because they feminize, add color and balance my face. It's fun trying to match the correct style and color with my outfit.

I used to wear clip-on earrings only because I could not pierce my ears. Then a few years ago, I learned how to wear pierced earrings without piercing my ears and how the shape of your face can assist you in choosing the proper earrings.

I now wear colorful stud earrings without pierced ears. I even have a few dangling earrings. I cut off  the stud from the earrings and use nail glue to attach the earring to my ear lobe. It works great as ou can see here.

I still buy earrings based on color and design and now I have so many more choices. The only determining factor is the shape of my face. This past Friday I wrote a post about determining your face shape. Mine is oval, but it's changing due to my HRT. My face is thinning which is changing my shape from oval to oblong. 

Based on the two earring guides below, there is not much difference in the choices for oval and oblong. The first guide has a few differences and the second guide does not include oval, so I consider oval in the oblong group.

In the second guide, the "Oblong and Rectangle" group represents my current pierced earring styles. Again, I cut off the stud and glue the earring on my lobe. Once I remove my earring, I can wash or rub off the remaining glue.

I found this nice storage bin at Goodwill and use it to hold my chip-on earrings. I still use them, but I mostly use my stud-less pieced earrings.

I love shopping and wearing earrings that match or highlight my outfit and the rest of my jewelry. The right jewelry can enhance that outfit. 

Go shop and have fun.

Wearing Neiman Marcus.

Jai Rodriguez femulates on a 2011 episode of television Harry's Law.

SaveSave

Two Trans Passing in the Night

Wearing Intermix.

Tim Smith of The Prancing Elites

Glasses for Your Faces

This is the second in a seven-part series of posts written by Femulate Contributing Editor Susan King of Transitioning into Tomorrow fame regarding how to determine your face shape and then, how to put that information to good use, for example, how face shapes and hairstyles get along. 

In yesterday's post, I provided ways to determine your face shape. This is important because, knowing your face shape will help you choose items that can feminize your appearance just enough to make a difference. Over the next six posts, we will discuss some of those items and how knowing your face shape can help you make better buying decisions. 

Today's post will discuss eyeglasses and the correct eyeglasses to wear based on your face's shape.

Not everyone is an eyeglass wearer. I have worn glasses since I was about 7 years old. I could never get my head around contact lenses and putting something in my eye. I have enough trouble putting glaucoma eye drops in every night. 

Back in the 1990's, I had two pairs of glasses. One when in boy mode and a second pair when out as Susan. My current pair are woman glasses. I went shopping for glasses (including the eye exam) in "Femboy" mode and it did not take long for the clerk to show me female glasses. I wear these glasses all the time and no one ever mentions anything about my glasses.

When it comes to finding the perfect fitting glasses, a lot depends on your individual face shape. Different frame styles can either play up or play down your unique facial contours, so learning what works best for you is key. Whether your face is round, square, heart, oval or triangle, the following guide highlights what you should and should not focus on when it comes to shopping for the perfect glasses.

Round Shape

Square/Rectangle Shape

Triangle

Heart

Oval/Oblong

(Source: Coastal.com)

Here is a nice infographic showing seven face shapes with suggested frames... 

And a video that discusses which frames work with which facial shapes. 

Along with your face shape, there are three other characteristics to remember about your glasses:

Contrast — "The shape of your frame should contrast the shape of your face, so if you have rounder features, you want more angular glasses, and if you have more angular features you want to soften them with more curved shapes."

Proportion — "In general, you want your frames to be in proportion with the rest of your face. It's different when you are shopping for sunglasses, which tend to be larger for greater coverage, but what looks good as a sunglass will not necessarily look good in optical."

Color — "Choose a color that compliments your features. Black is always good for highlighting and outlining your eyes. Glasses that contrast the tone of your face and hair will stand out more, but it's up to you how much of a statement you want your glasses to make."

(Source: Harvey Moscot, the fourth generation owner of 100-yr old optical brand MOSCO)

I hope this helps for those who need glasses and have decided against contact lenses.


Good luck and have fun shopping!

New York City street style, September 2016

Goan Fragoso, male womenswear model

On the Radio

My friend and Fantasia Fair sister, Melissa Loucks, inaugurates her new transgender news radio show, Out & About, on the air this Friday afternoon at 1:50 PM EDST on WNHH. In the local New Haven area, you can hear the station on 103.5 FM.

It's also online at www.newhavenindependent.org. You can also listen to it on demand by clicking on this link.

(Note that WNHH is a low power, 100 watt, FM station and unless you are in the New Haven area, you probably won't hear it, so use the Internet option. FWIW, I am 12 miles from the transmitter and all I hear on 103.5 is an FM station in Long Island.)

How to Determine Your Face Shape

This is the first in a seven-part series of posts written by Femulate Contributing Editor Susan King of Transitioning into Tomorrow fame regarding how to determine your face shape and then, how to put that information to good use, for example, how hairstyles and face shapes get along. 

Knowing your face shape can help you project a more feminine look by matching your face shape with glasses (if needed), hair style, hat, earrings, eyebrows and blush placement. Using these items to create a pretty look may seem difficult at first, but it is fun and will help you create a more feminine appearance. Remember, this is more art than science. We are going to create a guideline and helps you to choose the items that may work the best. Your mileage may vary, so feel free to make changes to suit you.

I have found nine different face shapes. Most articles and videos cover less than nine by merging some of these together.

I have four ways to find your face shape. Two are based on charts and two using videos. Figure out which technique is best for you. You may want to try different ones to see which works best for you.

Good luck and have fun. Sometimes we are too serious. Being a girl is fun!

By Measuring

By Flowcharting

By Liplining a Mirror

as described in this video.

By Measuring 

as explained in this video.

Wearing Nine West.

Reputed to be femulating father and son, but I am not so sure about the son.