Here’s my favourite picture of her.

Lol it was 85% confident I was “female”

I’ve never heard of progesterone cream, but I definitely wouldn’t trust any from Amazon. I take oral progesterone and am very happy with the results

My partner (jokingly) refers to themselves as a “recovering alpha male” because their testosterone levels were also super high

That tracks. I thought I was going to break the mold and escape COVID without realising I was trans! Figured it out like a year in lol

Ooo I second the Nevada recommendation, and also recommend Small Beauty by Jiaqing Wilson-Yang

Welcome to the party! You have a lot of choices ahead of you, and the best part is that you get to make them. I don’t know where you live, but if it’s a large, reasonably progressive city, there is a good chance there will be some kind of local transgender advocacy and education organisation. They’ll be able to provide support and recommend trans-positive therapists, doctors, etc in your local area, and you should absolutely talk to them. On the odd chance you live in Canberra, shoot me a DM and I can give you recommendations directly!

If you want to medically transition, you want to look into Spironolactone (which blocks testosterone) and Estradiol (girl juice). Medical transition is popular, and I personally love how it has changed my body, but it isn’t required. You aren’t more or less of a girl because of it. There are also options like Laser to remove unwanted body hair or, on the longer term, as well as various gender affirming surgeries. Socially, you don’t owe anyone a coming out. Do it on your own terms and at your own speed. Just be mindful that it can get pretty exhausting to live two lives.

Early in transition was pretty scary for me. I am not a very confident person, and transitioning requires bucket loads of it, even more so when you’re a new to the whole thing. It gets easier though, especially as you build up a community around yourself and your transition helps you feel more comfortable socially. Nowadays I’m happier than I have ever been! I went from a boy who had suffered from severe depression, anxiety, and social disconnection his whole life, to a woman who loves herself and looks forward to the future. That’s my favourite part of it to me. I have so much agency over my future, and I am happy in a way I never thought possible. And I have great tits!

As you should. Don’t come out till you’re ready~

I recently came out to my family and found out that they had noticed nearly immediately and just hadn’t said anything

I just spoke to my parents about it and apparently they would have named me Emily anyway lol

Well you could apply makeup to contour your face, or you could chew a lot of gum which some people say strengthen your jawline?

Interesting, I always assumed your name had a connection to Ada Lovelace!

It’s probably at least a little curly in that case. You should be able to wrap a strand around your finger and see it hold a curl or wave.

At some point in high school, before I was even considering that I might be trans, I just thought about how it was a cute name. It stuck in my head for a reason I couldn’t figure out for like 4 years after that, until the reason slapped itself in my face and I started transitioning.

This is a decent introduction, but I’ll summarize the basics.

First, you want to avoid shampoo and conditioner with sulphates and silicone. These chemically relax your hair and build up over time. They work great for people with straight hair (i.e. the majority of the white population that beauty companies target), but not for people with curly or wavy hair. My products of choice for this are Shea Moisture Coconut and Hibiscus Curl and Shine Shampoo, as well as the Conditioner of the same range.

Once you have these, you want to cleanse your hair of any built up silicone. This will take quite a while (took a few months for me), because the other main thing to remember is that you should only really be washing your hair once a week. Most people with curly/wavy hair just don’t need to wash it as often as straight haired people. You should also only be brushing your hair while it is wet in the shower.

Then there is technique, which I’ve found isn’t as important but does help. When you dry your hair, you’re supposed to do a thing called “plopping”. You put a towel on a flat surface, plop your hair onto it, and then tie it up into a headwrap thing.

Finally, the rest of curly girl is just experience. You will get to know your hair and how much conditioner and care it needs. It takes a while but is very rewarding!

Also, another hair tip, for facial hair this time. Try out safety razors. Shaving with a safety razor gets the closest shave and is dirt cheap.

To shave, partially fill the sink with some hot water (as hot as you can manage (without scalding yourself obviously)), then wet your face with it. Exfoliate (using shaving soap is a great way to do this, since the brush doubles as an applicator and exfoliator). Then shave with the grain. Against will get a closer shave, but at the cost of bumps and razor burn. After some practice you can shave in just a couple of minutes with minimal artifacts.

If you have curly hair, follow the curly girl method!!! My hair went from a mess to being my most feminine features that makes others jealous.

To put it in list form, my recomendations are:

• Nevada, Imogen Binnie
• Small Beauty, Jia Qing Wilson-Yang (a favourite of mine)
• Honeybee, Craig Silvey
• This Is How It Always Is, Laurie Frankel

The classic trans fiction book is “Nevada”, by Imogen Binnie. That is more by trans women for trans women though. My personal favourite in the genre is “Small Beauty” Jia Qing Wilson-Yang. It’s a very floaty book about a mixed race trans woman dealing with the death of her cousin, to whom she was close. It’s really good, but again more for trans-women.

“Honeybee” by Craig Silvey is very good and is more written for a general audience. It follows the journey of a trans person coming to terms with their identity. Although it was written by a non-trans author, it is still well written, sympathetic, and decent representation. “This Is How It Always Is” by Laurie Frankel is another good one about parents of a trans child. Very sweet, and obviously written by the parent of a trans child.