Moisturizing is something men just don't do. It is something that even some women don't do, and unfortunately it shows. Your skin is the canvas that you paint on with your makeup. Like the artist painting a masterpiece in oils, you must have a properly prepared canvas if you expect beautiful and long-lasting results.

Moisturizing regularly also improves your homme appearance, if that is an issue. In your male role, you have no makeup on your face. People see your actual skin. It is what it is. If it is dry, wrinkly, crackly, peeling, it is not going to help you to make a good impression.

I could start a big argument here and give you the name of my favorite moisturizer, but I won't. The fact of the matter is, your choice of product is not nearly as important as simply deciding to use it regularly.

The American Psychiatric Association is in the process of revising the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders for the upcomng edition (DSM-V, due in 2012).

This petition is asking that Classification 302.3, "Transvestic Fetishism", be dropped in the revised version, rather than replaced with "Transvestic Disorder". The current proposal reads as follows:

Transvestic Disorder A. Over a period of at least six months, in a male, recurrent and intense sexual fantasies, sexual urges, or sexual behaviors involving cross‑dressing. [11]

B. The fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

Specify if: [12]

With Fetishism (Sexually Aroused by Fabrics, Materials, or Garments)

With Autogynephilia (Sexually Aroused by Thought or Image of Self as Female)

The petition is reproduced below, along with my thoughts on the matter:

The male chin and jaw are much larger and more prominent than the female. Obviously, for a more feminine appearance, it would help to make them less prominent. But how?

There are two ways of putting on makeup. One is the "PBN" method. (Paint-By-Numbers) This is where you follow a specific recipe, step by step, that someone taught you. The other way is to understand the underlying principles, and apply them using what resources are available to you and your own creativity.

The nice thing about having a "Drag Mom" to help bring out your inner woman for the first time is that there is so much lore and so many "secret" tricks you don't find online that you will learn from your mentor. One of these tricks is much easier to show than to explain, but I will give it a go.

Most store-bought gaffs or thongs or "dance belts" are positively awful at holding the little fellas securely out of sight. But most old-time CDs and DQs make their own, for free. The usual raw materials: one old pair of pantyhose.

First, cut one leg off. This will be the hip-band. I call it a hip-band because it rides way below the waist, and cuts down into the butt crack and dips down toward the crotch in front, when worn. From the other leg, cut the top 10" or so. This is going to be the strap part that passes underneath your crotch and holds everything uptight and outta-sight.

This was related to me by a certain WOT (Wise Old Trans) who helped me along when I was still into my first Pan-Stick. If you are troubled with beard shadow showing through your makeup, you can use an expensive product like Ben Nye beard concealer, or you can go on the cheap.

No matter what your hair color, the color of stubble below the skin surface is some shade of BLUE. Well, the opposite color to blue is a shade of orange. So try this... buy a lipstick in some shade of orange, the more yellowish the better. You don't want too much red in it. lightly dab in on the beard area... just dots here and there.

Crossdressers, or CDs, are a broad category in the greater Transgender community. In fact, by one definition, nearly every transgender person could be called a CD. A CD, in the broadest sense, is simply any person who at times, for whatever reason, wears clothing normally associated with the opposite sex.

In practice, though, we call a crossdressing person a CD if they are not a TV, (transvestite) TG, TS, or DQ (Drag Queens). We CDs are the leftovers. We are not living full-time as women, nor are we seeking medical treatment or surgical intervention to "correct" anything. We do not dress in women's clothes primarily for sexual reasons, or to compete or appear in drag shows. We just do it, and love it.