Saturday October 22, 2016 - Playing with dolls in the closet.

This is a repost from March 2015. Its over 18 months ago. This post is not about playing with dolls, but is about being the the closet and learning how to satisfy your dysphoria.

Many of us are still in the closet and suffer because we can not get out and express our femininity. However there are some practical things you can start today that will not only express your female self but get you ready for the time when you can go public.

For many years (decades), I was well hidden. But I developed, over time a way to express my inner girl and it became part of my everyday life. Doing these things made me feel that I was slowly moving forward.

Shaving
I started shaving my legs in the 1980's. At first, I use to shave twice a week. Now I shave once every two weeks. In the 1990's I started shaving my face and in 2000's I included shaving everything else. So start shaving. Over time increase the area you shave. No one  ever asked why I have shaved legs. It became normal.



Body Cleaning Routine
I started taking showers, twice a day by added an evening shower before I go to bed. After each shower, I developed a routine to further clean and lotion by body. It make you feel nice, soft and smell good.
See my detailed post about this routine.

Eyebrows
You can begin to slowly pluck your eyebrows. If asked, just say you are keeping them under control. You do not need to add an arch, just keep the longer lashed cut down and cleanup the bottom lash line, keeping the line straight across. I went to an electrologists in the 1990's and had the bottom and top lash lines straightened. I then had an arch added by having her permanently clean the bottom lash line with an upward swing. No one said anything over the year it took to do it. My youngest daughter use to say in high school that she wished she had eyebrows like mine.

Nails
I learned to take care of my finger and toe nails. I keep them cut. I buff my nails to take out the ridges and clean under my nails. I have had women state that my nails look clean and nice. Now I add clear polish. My father use to use clear nail polish because as a doctor, it made his hands appear cleaner. He use to get a manicure to keep his hands very clean. Who wants a doctor with ragged and dirty nails?

Now I do my own manicure but pay for a pedicure. I had a young man ask me if I got manicures. I said no and then he asked me how I kept my finger nails to nice. We talked about 10 minutes about my routine.
Click here for a detailed post on this routine.

Scalp Hair
I do not add anything for my scalp hair because I lost that back in the 1980's. I have a severe case of male pattern baldness. I knew that would happen early because of my maternal grandmother's brothers were bald. They all had male pattern baldness and it began early. Signs began with my front hair line while I was in high school. My crown started losing hair in college.

So I must wear a wig and therefore, I do not have a routine for hair except to shave off what little hair I have.



SUMMARY
Over time you can add any of these items to your everyday activity. It's fun learning how to do them and then adding them slowly to your daily or weekly routine. Its adds to my feeling of femininity when I do these things and I lean more about what women go through everyday.