Very Important Killer Crossdressing Makeup Tips

When you are just learning how to cross dress, the idea of sitting down at a makeup counter in your local mall is intimidating. You don't need to out yourself to learn to cross dress in style. If your goal is to learn to pass as a woman, these makeup tips are a definite start.

Wash Your Face - You should always begin applying makeup with a clean face. Be gently, and don't rub your face. Use a good cleanser and rinse well to remove it all. Apply a toner to refresh your skin after washing.

Shave - Use a good quality razor and shave as close as possible. Be careful to avoid nicking your skin. Shave first in the direction of hair grown, lather again, and shave in the opposite direction. This will insure that you get the closest shave possible.

It is best to shave immediately following a hot shower so that the pores are open. If you do not plan on showering first, wrap a hot towel around your face for the best results. Rinse your face with cool water after shaving to close the pores back up. You should wait at least 5-10 minutes after shaving to apply makeup. You skin needs time to recover from the razor.

Consider using a kaolin clay mask in addition to cleansing and shaving. Clay masks will draw out the impurities in your skin and provide a smoother surface for applying makeup. A smooth surface is the most important aspect of good looking and easy to apply makeup.

Moisturize - Dry skin will soak up your foundation fast and ruin the effects of applying makeup. Make sure to use an oil free variety. Moisturizing will provide your foundation with a base. Make sure to wait until the moisturizer is soaked into your skin before moving on to applying foundation.  If you are not allergic to scent, consider a moisturizer with a nice, feminine smell.

Apply Foundation - If you are using a liquid foundation, apply it to your hands and spread it to your face that way. Make sure to smooth foundation out with a sponge without pulling or stretching your skin, Be extra careful and gentle around your eyes where the skin is very thin.

Set your foundation with a loose powder. On hot days, foundation will require periodic touch ups.   Concealer should go on after the foundation.  You may need a heavier foundation if your facial hair tends to grow quickly.

Conceal 5 O'clock Shadow (Stubble) for crossdressers

Stubble is the regrowth of shaven hair, when it is short and has a rough, abrasive texture.


Facial


During the 1980s, facial stubble on men became fashionable. This was also known as designer stubble and was groomed, shaped, and maintained as a regular beard. Electric clippers can be used to maintain stubble on the face as a men's fashion style. 


The companies, Wahl and Philips, manufacture trimmers that are designed to maintain facial stubble. Removing the guard from most trimmers will give the user a stubbly look.




The term five o'clock shadow refers to beard stubble that is visible late in the day on men who have shaved their faces that morning. The term can also refer to a visible stubble of underarm hair regrowth on men or women who shaved their armpits that morning.




A study in the United Kingdom found that women rated men with facial stubble as tough, mature, aggressive, dominant, masculine, and as the best romantic partners, either for a fling or long-term relationship.[1]

Solution for Concealin 5 O'clock Shadow (Stubble) 

I have used a number of products and methods to remove/reduce the appearance of beard shadow.

Firstly, without close shaving no cosmetic product will work very well....

In terms of shaving, we all have different levels of beard growth. I found that wet shaving was the best solutiion for me. The routine I developed was as follows with a twin or triple balde safety razor:-

1) Apply shaving cream and shave normally down your face with the hair growth
2) Wash off and scrub with a fine skin exfoliator (the anti-spot cleansing type with small beads is best). This prepares the skin and helps stop nicks and cuts.
3) You can either leave the exfiloator on, or re-apply shaving foam as you preffer  
3) Carefully (and I mean carefully), with short upward strokes, shave up the face against the hair growth with light downward pressure on the razor. Initially you may get some redness, but with practice this will go away and you can increase the downward pressure with care.

You will probably still have to shave twice a day but the the hair will have been cut clloser to the skin.


In terms of cosmetics....

You can also use a product by Mac Cosmetics called a "Paint Stick" in
the color orange. The color orange somehow hides the dark hair better. It's a Pro
product so you cannot buy it from the Mac counter, you have to find a professional
makeup artist to get it.


Mac also has a foundation called "Full Coverage" that is sold at the Mac counter (or online) that is lighter
than Dermablend and works almost as well. It feels and looks great. You can also try "Studio Tech" which is
about the same but photographs better. Both need to be matched to your skin tone and coloring. 




 However please note the following hints:

1) It is quite expensive and you may struggle to find the right colour for your skin
2) You need to by the Dermablend Fixing powder to go with the colour to fix it
3) If you have greasy skin it tends to make your skin sweat underneath
4) Invevest in a good make up remover, this stuff can really clog your pores and cause spots if not cleaned off properly

BUT.... If you have perfected the art of shaving closely, or have finer facial hair, there is a really great product in the "Rio" Brand called "Skin Camoflage". This retails at about £30/$60 and is a complete kit complete with instructional DVD.

The kit contains a set of colours to blend at home, brushes, pads and fixing powder. Because the kit has multiple colours (4) you can even contour the shape your face with the product. Dont worry if the tubes look small, the coverage is fantastic from only a small blob on your finger.

The result is half way between dermablend and a normal foundation, but it can be worn all day, and is resistant to water. The only thing you need to ensure is that you have a good make up remover, as it will resist soap and water (and clubbing ).

  

6. Eye Makeup using Photoshop for crossdressers

6. Increase definition of the eyes

We have learned in our previous steps that it's important to have the focus on the eyes and how Photoshop can help us with that. In this step we're going to increase that focus by increasing the contrast in the eyes by brightening the whites and making the eyelashes darker.

Add a new layer by clicking on the Create a new Layer icon  in the layers palette.

Rename this layer to  Eyes .

Go to the menu and select Edit / Fill...

Select 50% Gray and click OK.

Set the blending mode of this layer to Soft Light: 

What we've done is creating a 50% Gray layer with a blending mode of Soft Light. This will have no effect on our image as you might have discovered. However... when we make parts of this gray layer darker or lighter it will actually effect the brightness values of the image underneath. More about this Photoshop technique can be found in my Non-Destructive Editing Photoshop tutorial.

Select the Dodge Tool in the tool bar. With the Dodge Tool selected make sure that in the options bar the option Exposure is set to 100%:

Note: normally this value would be much lower (quite often below 10%) if we were to use this tool directly on an image (without using a 50% Gray layer), but this is not the case right now. The option Range doesn't matter; you can set it to any value because it doesn't have any effect on our results.

Continue by changing the brush options of the Dodge Tool by clicking on the button marked with A.

Set Master Diameter to 2 and Hardness to 0%:

Zoom in on the left eye with 500%. Start by moving over the largest white areas while holding down the left mouse button (avoid touching the iris, eyelashes or skin). Only release the mouse button when you're done. Don't go over the same area a second time after releasing the mouse button.

Use the same approach for the right eye.

The difference will be hardly noticeable at first, but by turning on/off this layer in your layers palette you'll notice that it's quite an improvement. Again, switching layers is the best way to figure out whether you made the correct adjustments.

If you prefer a stronger effect, then can drag and drop this layer with the mouse on the Create a New Layericon  in the layers palette...

...and lowering its opacity until you like what you see.

Continue by Locking the Eyes layer (and the duplicate of this layer if you have one).

Time to work on the eyelashes. Add a new layer by clicking on the Create a new Layer icon  in the layers palette.

Rename this layer to Eyelashes . Fill this layer with 50% Gray like we did with the eyes, but this time set theblending mode of this layer in the layers palette to Overlay. I've chosen overlay, because it gives me more contrast than the Soft Light blending mode would have given me.

Select the Burn Toolin the tool bar. The brush size we're going to use is 3, the hardness is 0% andExposure is set to 100%. Again, the range option doesn't matter.

Zoom in on the left eye with 500%. Move your mouse cursor over the upper eyelashes while holding down the left mouse button. Only release the mouse button when you're done. It's the same story as with the eyes; don't go over the same area a second time after releasing the mouse button.

Use the same approach for the right eye.

If you prefer to do the lower eyelashes too (hardly visible, so I wouldn't advice it), then do this on a new layer, again filled with 50% Gray and a blending mode set to overlay and lower the opacity of this layer, because the effects are probably going to be too strong. Of course you can also consider to lower the opacity of the layer with the upper eyelashes.

Lock the Eyelashes layer.

Notice that the difference is minimal, but that's mainly caused by the low resolution and quality of the original image. You'll have better results with other images that you edit in Photoshop.

7. Fix Hair

We going to fix the hair to hide her right ear. First let's look at the following image:

The line A-B marks the length of the ear. With hair it's important to clone with large strokes, as if we're painting strains of hair, this to avoid patterns and in the end gives the "new" hair a more natural look. In order to be able to make full strokes between A and B (the full length of the ear), we need to set the source of the Clone Stamp Tool somewhere close to C. It is preferred that the distance between B and C is slightly larger than the distance between A and B so that we're able to cover the complete ear.

Add a new layer by clicking on the Create a new Layer icon  in the layers palette.

Rename this layer to  Hair .

Select the Clone Stamp Tool in the tool bar.

Now compare the settings in Photoshop's options bar with the ones I used:

Make sure that you have the same settings (the hardness of the brush is 0%).

Some might wonder; instead of using an opacity of 100% why not use something like 30% and cloning over the same area several times? The reason is that cloning over the same area with a 30% opacity tends to blur the fine strains of hair. A lower opacity however can be used at a later stage to fine tune the results after using the Clone Stamp Tool which was set to a 100% opacity.

With the Clone Stamp Tool selected, hold down the Alt key (Option key on the Mac) and move the cursor to the area marked with C in the previous image of the hair. Press and release your left mouse button (which will mark the source area for the Clone Stamp Tool) and release the Alt key (option key on the Mac).

Zoom in on the ear with about 200% and start at the left, place the cursor on the lower part of the ear, press the left mouse button and move the cursor upwards under the same angle (parallel) as the other strains of hair and release the mouse button when you've covered the top of the ear and repeat this whole process again, but this time start slightly to the right:

It should be possible to cover the ear in 3 or 4 strokes. When you're done, look for patterns and fix them with the same Clone Stamp Tool and change its size (remember the [ and ] shortcuts) or source if you have to. Turn the layer off /on a few times to get a feeling how well you're doing. You might also need the Burn orDodge Tool to control the brightness levels in some areas, but make sure that you select a pretty large size and rather low exposure setting in the options bar like 10% or lower if you do so.

I can't show you a straightforward Photoshop technique to clone hair, because quite often there are many steps involved. All I can advice is to experiment and to be patient. Also remember that to combination of the Clone Stamp Tool with other tools is highly recommended (if necessary).

Lock the Hair layer.

Next: Sharpen Images using Photoshop for crossdressers

Learn How to Cross Dress

Tips for Men to Learn How to Cross Dress

Learning how to cross dress for the first time is and exciting and nerve-wracking experience! Learn the tips that you will need to successfully pass as a woman and release your fears of cross dressing. Whether you are considering plastic surgery and hormone therapy or not, these are the top tips to learn how to cross dress.

These are the beginning - many people spend years perfecting their female self.
Remove Body Hair - Especially Right Before Dressing

The first step in learning how to cross dress is hair removal. Genetic males tend to have much more body hair then genetic females. Invest in a good razor. Consider laser hair removal as well if you want to cross dress more frequently.

You can also try waxing and plucking. Both of these will be painful when you start cross dressing, but it gets better over time.

Give your skin some time to adjust, when you first start waxing and plucking, your skin may get irritated and makeup or perfume will tend to make this worse.

Find a Gaff

A gaff is a contraption similar to a jock strap that allows you to hide your "goods" and provides considerable smoothing for the pelvic area.

A gaff is a "must have" for cross dressing and passing as a female. Some methods of taping and pinching may not be safe and may result in considerable pain or a very uncomfortable moment when they fail!

Wear a Bra with Silicone Breast Forms

When beginning to cross dress this is the most comfortable and economical option available. There are elaborate taping methods around, but these tend to be fairly painful. A good quality breast form that adheres to the skin can make you feel sexy!

Silicone breast forms were originally created to replace a woman's natural breasts after a mastectomy. They are the closest thing available to the "real deal."

Stockings or Hose?

When you first learn how to cross dress, stockings are probably the easier of the two as pantyhose are very delicate and will run faster than Michael Phelps can swim. Especially if you are still learning how to walk confidently in your new shoes, I would steer clear of hose. Stockings are a sturdier option that present a feminine appearance without the hassle of constant danger of running.

What Outfit to Wear?

When choosing an outfit to wear, keep in mind that overly tight clothes will reveal things you don't want seen. Choose outfits that are complementary to your body type - for example, if you have broad shoulders, don't wear something with shoulder pads as this will make you look more like a football player and less like a woman. Wear clothes that are age appropriate. The latest teen fashions may be hot, but if you aren't a teenager they won't help you pass as a woman.

Shoes!

Walking in heels will take a while to get used to. Heck, many genetic females can't do it in style. However, anyone who is trying to pass as a woman will tell you that the shoes make the outfit. Choose something that accentuates your outfit while still allowing you to remain standing. If you have large feet, it may be difficult to find shoes locally without special order. The internet is your friend.

Don't Overdo Your Makeup

Probably the number one mistake people make when they learn how to cross dress is believe that more makeup is better. If you overdo it, you will stand out and get unwanted attention. Its better to invest in hair removal or a good razor than to continue piling the foundation on. Consider consulting with a makeup artist when you are just starting to cross dress as they can give you expert advise on how to match your skin tone and choose feminine colors that will complement your complexion.

Wigs

Choosing a good wig is vital to passing as a woman. Too perfect and you will stand out. On the other hand, if your wig looks obviously fake, so will you. Learn to cross dress in a manner that creates an illusion of your feminine self - the wig you choose, like your outfit, sets the tone for the entire illusion.

Other Tips to Help You Pass As a Woman

Smell like a woman - choose soaps, shampoos, conditioners, and body sprays or perfume that have a feminine, soft smell. Don't overdo the perfume, a little goes a long way.

Carry a mirror with you - when you first start passing as a woman, you will be amazed at how many things can "go wrong" with your look. Hair gets blown out of place, makeup is moved around or removed, etc. You will need constant touch up when cross-dressing.

How to Hide Masculine Features With Makeup

Hide Masculine Features With Makeup

For men who like to cross-dress or who are pre-op transsexuals, learning how to use makeup to hide masculine features is one of the essential keys to "passing" as a woman. The wonders of makeup today offer an array of options to help hide the aspects of a man's face that make him look most masculine. What follows are some helpful steps to take to conceal masculine features and enhance feminine ones.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Invest in a heavy-duty foundation and beard cover. The beard and mustache areas are hard to cover with makeup, but there are several great "concealer" products out there designed to provide maximum coverage.
   • 2
     Acquire a very good powder that matches your concealer/foundation. To attain the best results, you want your face to look as natural as possible. Hiding masculine features is key, but you also want to blend the makeup so that it doesn't look like you are hiding anything. Having a top-end concealer and a matching powder is the first best tool in your makeup arsenal.
   • 3
     
     Use eye makeup to obtain maximum femininity, but try to use it sparingly. The eyes are arguably the most beautiful part of the face, so you should enhance them with a nice shade that accentuates your own eye color. Opt for some top-end mascara that does not clump and try to avoid overkill. If the eyes look too heavily made up, they look fake and downright garish.
   • 4
     Pluck your eyebrows or, better yet, have them waxed. Very few women can get away with thick eyebrows. To achieve maximum femininity, you want to shape and groom them by tweezing or waxing.
   • 5
     Select the perfect lipstick and lipliner. This varies depending on skin tone, hair and eye color. If you are a brunette, you might try something in the plum line. If you are blond, you should consider pinker tones. The main point is to keep the lips subtle while still drawing attention to their beauty.