My First Ever Makeover

This is an account of My First Ever Makeover, courtesy of Femme Side Studio in Syston, Leicestershire.  I've tried to give an honest and frank account of the day and I hope you enjoy the read.

 

Let's begin... 

 

THE NIGHT BEFORE

 

With a big day ahead of me on Tuesday just gone, on the Monday evening I packed the stuff that I'd be taking with me the following day.  Two pairs of heels, a couple of dresses, the knickers that my Wife had bought me, a couple of pairs of nylons, my favourite black patent strap watch, some nice earrings and of course a sparkly necklace.  With everything packed all that was left to do was put the electric shaver on charge and set the alarm for a 6:30am.

TODAYS THE DAY

 

I actually woke before the alarm clock, maybe it was a mixture of nerves and excitement.  I got up, made myself a cup of coffee and then made a cup of tea for my wife.  After a natter over our drinks I disappeared into the bathroom with a couple of razors and the electric shaver. I probably spent a good hour in the bathroom ridding my body of hair but eventually I was done apart from my back which my wife was going to help me with.

 

With a large plastic bowl half filled with warm water and a towel in my hand, I carefully passed the bowl to my wife along with a razor and a can of shaving foam.  Then I draped the towel onto my side of the bed and sat on the edge.  My Wife who was now sat up in bed reached across and set about shaving my back for me. Once she had finished, I disappeared into the bathroom one final time for a shower prior to getting dressed.

 

My plan that morning was to pick my sister up from her house at 10:30am, make a quick stop off at ASDA to buy some black nylons, grab something food and drink for the long journey down to Syston and to fill up the fuel tank in my car.  I think I arrived at my sister's house about 10:15 and we were in the ASDA just before 10:30.

 

Out of curiosity, the previous evening I'd measured myself to see what bra size I was and it turned out I was a 42B.  So whilst grabbing some black nylons in ASDA, I treated myself to some new bras.  They didn't seem to have any in my size but I was happy to get the next cup size up so I could use my fillets with them.  I settled for a two pack of padded t-shirt bras, one black, one white and both with some nice lace detail on them.

 

THE DRIVE DOWN TO SYSTON

 

Nylons purchased, and fuel tank full we set off on our journey.  It had just gone 10:38 when we left the petrol station and soon we were on the M62 motorway heading towards Warrington.  From there it was onto the M6 to Stoke-on-Trent and then along the A50 towards Castle Donnington. At Castle Donnington we headed south along the M1 passing Coalville before picking up the A50 again and finally the A46 along the Leicester Western Bypass into Syston.

It was nice having company on the 120 mile drive down and I think I probably talked the ears off my sister all the way there. It was mostly all about my crossdressing, my daily struggles and how it almost made me commit suicide before finally having the strength to confess my 'dirty little  secret' to my wife.  

 

I could have talked all day, I had never been able to chat away so much about my life as a crossdresser before, and I felt so lucky that my sister had agreed to travel down with me, allow me to talk so much and more importantly be part of my special day.

 

ARRIVAL

 

I think we arrived in Syston, just after 1pm and parked up in the nearby Town Square Shopping Centre car park.  It cost me £3.30 for about 7 hours parking which would be well enough time. 

 

Thinking my appointment at Femme Side Studio was 2pm we headed to Costa which was just through the shopping centre on Melton Road and grabbed a coffee and something to eat.  By now I could feel the butterflies in my stomach, I was starting to get nervous.  No cold feet, just real nervous excitement.

 

We headed back to the car about 1:50pm to collect my bag of crossdressing goodies then made the short journey to Femme Side Studio next to the cafe on Brookside.  The entrance to Femme Side Studio is literally to the side of the cafe just through the steel railings and the door to your immediate left.  We knocked but there was no answer so we went back to the cafe front and waited patiently for Tracey for owner of Femme Side Studio to arrive.

 

I kind of knew what Tracey  looked like from her website and so when a car pulled up and a blondish haired woman stepped out I knew it wasn't her.   As the woman walked passed us I then realised it was Toni, the makeup artist who works with Tracey.

 

As Toni opened the door to the Studio I approached and asked if Tracey was about as I had an appointment with her.  Toni told us that the appointment was booked for 2:30pm not 2:00pm and that's when I realised that I'd got the time wrong in all the excitement. Toni also mentioned that it would be her not Tracey doing my makeover and photoshoot which I was a bit surprised by as I had been under the impression that it would be Tracey doing it.

 

That unsettled me a bit because one of the reasons for choosing Femme Side Studio was due to the positive feedback I'd received from a few girls on the Crossdresser Heaven Forum about Tracey's work.  They all had nothing but praise for her and so I was kind of hoping it would be her doing my makeup and when it wasn't I felt deflated.

 

We offered to come back as Toni said she would need a bit of time to set up the studio but she said we were welcome to come inside and wait whilst she got things ready.

 

TREASURE TROVE OF GIRLY GOODIES

 

It felt like a little treasure trove of girly goodies inside the first floor studio.  Just up the famous staircase was the reception area and to the left was a desk where Toni had set up her laptop.  

 

Facing the desk there was a kitchen sink with facilities for making hot drinks and to the right of the sink facing the stairs was a nice comfortable cushioned chair which would be my sisters seat for the next four hours.

 

Toni showed me around the studio.  Standing at the top of the stairs, to the right is a room adorned with items that every girl loves, dresses and heels.  All different styles, sizes and colours.  It was like being a small child in a sweetshop, so much nice stuff right there in front of your eyes.

 

Also in the room was a small sofa and what appeared to be a small bed with loads of pretty cushions on it.  I assume it was for posing on during photo shoots.

 

To the back of that room was another small room with a shower in, presumably a changing room of sorts.  There was a moment of brief excitement too as I eyed  up several Wedding Dresses hanging up in there.  Maybe there would be a chance to fulfil an ambition of mine later in the day. 

 

However, when I hinted to Toni about the wedding dresses she replied that they take an awful long time to change into and I took that as meaning today wasn't going to be my day for becoming a beautiful bride.

 

Moving back into the  reception area just passed the desk on the left was a small store room which appeared to be crammed with all kinds of stuff including box upon box of wigs.  

 

Finally just past the storeroom was the makeup room.

 

 

The makeup room was fairly big with mirrors everywhere and a small sofa under one of the windows which looked out onto the local park.  My immediate concern was that anybody outside could see in but Toni closed the blinds over for me and I felt safe.

 

There was a pink film director style chair personalised with the words Femme Side and in front of the chair were some wall mounted mirrors, one which was illuminated all around the edge with small white light bulbs.  It was the kind of illuminated mirror typically found in makeup salons.  

    

There seemed to be makeup and makeup brushes everywhere you looked and on the left of the wall mounted mirrors was a counter littered with costume jewellery such as rings, bangles and bracelets.

GETTING STARTED

 

Once Toni had finished setting up she told me what the plan would be for the 4 hour long session.  It would start with me getting undressed down to my knickers and putting on a nice silky robe.  I would then be taken though to the makeup room where Toni would then spend time working her magic on my middle aged male face.  After that we would see what wigs worked best and then she would do my nails and then it would be dress up time followed by some serious posing for the camera.

Back in the changing room I stripped off and put on the knickers that my wife had bought for me.  I then put on the silk robe that was hanging up on the back of the door, fastened it up and then walked barefooted back across the studio to the makeup room..  

 

Toni asked me to sit in the signature 'Femme Side' chair in front of the wall mounted makeup mirrors and she set about the task of doing my makeover.  She started with the eyes and as the primer went on, I looked at myself in the mirror with unease.  Seeing my male self looking back at me, dressed in a girly robe, I began to hate myself.  I didn't like what I saw looking back at me, it wasn't me at all and looked hideous. 

 

Bit by bit Toni transformed the eye area using various shades of eyeshadows giving me a nice neutral look which wasn't over the top.  She then applied some false eyelashes to my upper lids and I quickly discovered that my daughter was correct when she told me that your eyes feel heavy when you wear false lashes.

 

After the False Eyelashes came the brows and Toni did a good job of making them look more feminine.

 

Next was the foundation, she began with a layer of orange concealer to hide any beard shadow.  This was followed by foundation cream and setting powder.

 

Foundation done, next step was the contouring.  Jaw, then cheekbones, then some highlighter on forehead/lower cheeks. Then some contouring of the nose followed by highlighting of the line down the centre and on the tip of the nose.

 

Finally were the lips.  Lip liner first to create some fullness followed by lipstick and gloss. 

 

Looking at my reflection, I was extremely happy with what Toni had done.  I'd never achieved results like that before and I finally liked what I saw despite not yet having a wig on.

 

Makeup done, it was back to the room with all the shoes and dresses and time to dress.  It started with a girdle, which pulled in the tummy and created an hourglass figure.  Next a pair of bum shaping knickers, then over that a pair of hip shaping knickers and then the nylons I'd brought with me, a pair of Capezio Ultra Shimmery Tights. I was ultra careful with those and got them on without laddering them.

Finally Toni brought over a black bra and helped me put it on before stuffing it with some fillets.

 

Now I was ready for a dress and Toni asked if I'd brought any clothing with me. I showed her one of the two dresses I had in my bag.  It was a dress from New Look, a pretty black belted wrap dress with red and blue butterfly print.  One of my all time favourites and  one that I can finally get back into after recently losing weight.  

 

I checked myself in the mirror again and I was rather pleased with how the dress looked on.  I had shape at last and the dress hung well and wasn't too short. To finish off the outfit I put on the pair of Black Patent Ankle Strap heels I'd brought with me.  

Now dressed it was back to the makeup room to try on some wigs. I was looking forward to this part as I was keen to see if a lighter wig would suit me better now.  I'd always gravitated towards really dark wigs but knew that as I got older I needed to go lighter.

 

I sat on stool facing a different wall mounted mirror and Toni brought in 5 wigs for me to try. First she put a wig cap on my head and then carefully placed the first wig onto my head.  It was a dark brown wig and I really liked both the style and colour.  

 

As I looked in the mirror finally I saw the inner me looking back for the first time in years.  It was a very special moment and one that I'd waited such along time for.  I didn't cry but I did feel quite emotional.  It's hard to really explain but I felt like something inside of me had woken.

 

Toni stood in front of me with her mobile phone and took a close up shot so we could compare wigs once I'd tried the others on. The next wig was a much lighter brown colour but similar style and one I also liked. Again Toni took a photo on her mobile phone before we tried out a couple more wigs, blonde ones.  One I liked and one I didn't, colour wise it was okay but I just didn't like the style.

 

We spend several minutes comparing the wigs and I eliminated the ones I didn't like.  We whittled it down in the end to three.  Two brown wigs and a lighter, blonde one. 

 

All that was left now was to have my nails done.  This is where I was left feeling a little more disappointed.  I'd been under the impression that I was going to be pampered today and would be getting my nails painted in a colour of my choice.  However, instead of getting them painted I was shown a selection of various coloured false nails and was asked to choose a colour.

 

I had been looking forward to perhaps getting a French Polish Manicure but sadly there weren't any in that style and so I had to opt for some light purplish/pink nails instead.  They were quite pointy too and not really my cup of tea but I went with the flow.  They were stuck to my fingernails using little sticky pads and became a constant source of irritation as they would keep coming off during the photoshoots.

 

Nails done we were finally ready for the camera and we headed off to the room with the sofa and bed and Toni set up a light to use with her camera.

 

LETS POSE

 

She got me to sit on the edge of the sofa and tried her best to get me posing in the best possible way but I felt odd, I was rusty at this, and the harder I tried the more I felt uncomfortable.  She encouraged me to smile but I don't do smiling really and when I tried it felt artificial and forced.

 

We moved around the room trying different poses and Toni snapped away before suggesting we do some shots on the stairs.  She told me where to stand and how my legs should be positioned and then returned behind the camera to take more shots.  I tried my best to be girly but I was struggling big time.

 

After a few minutes we went back to Toni's laptop and she took the memory card from the Sony camera and placed it into the side of the laptop.  The root directory of the memory card popped up in Windows Explorer displaying all the photos Toni had taken.  She got the first one up on the screen and as soon as I saw them I felt downbeat.  They didn't look right, maybe it was the lighting or perhaps it was the camera itself but compared to the photos Toni had shown me of me trying on wigs they looked inferior.  

 

As she quickly went through them on the screen with me,  I became slightly concerned that I may leave afterwards without any decent photos whatsoever.

 

Previewing the photos done, we headed back to the sofa bed room and it was time for another outfit.  This time I opted for the other dress I'd brought, a black vinyl puff sleeve dress.  It was still in its polythene bag from when I'd bought it from Asos back in October 2023   It was the same size as the New Look dress so hopefully it would fit me like a glove even with all the shapewear on.

 

Miss Selfridge 

Vinyl Extreme Puff Sleeve Mini Dress

 

Due to the style of the dress, it wasn't going to be possible to wear the black bra Toni had put on me earlier so she went and fetched a breast plate.  It kind of worked but it meant I'd have to wear a back and silver necklace to hide the edge of the breast plate around my neck.  The necklace wasn't really to my taste so that began to irk me.  In hindsight I'd have probably been better not bothering with the breast plate and just posing flat chested instead.

 

The heels were changed at this point to some black patent high heeled stilettos and I gave my sister a few giggles as I tried to get around the studio in them.  It was obvious that I was out of practise walking in heels that tall and I was scared of pulling my calf muscles.

 

Once changed Toni got behind the camera again and I posed for another round of photos.  She got me to pose in the doorway so the back of me would be reflected in the mirror inside the room.  The idea was good but my execution was poor.  We tried the stairs again and Toni clicked away as I tried my best to pose in a feminine way.  Soon we were back at the laptop checking out the next batch of freshly snapped images.  

 

Again I felt downbeat, these didn't look any better than the last ones, and she went through them I kind of lost interest and just wanted to go and change into another outfit.

 

I didn't have anything else to change into and so was now relying on Toni to provide something from the rack for me to wear.  There were lots of dresses hanging on rails, including some lovely sequin ones but I don't think there was much in my size.  Eventually Toni appeared with a purple dress which sparkled.  She helped me put it on and then we went into the makeup room and took some photos of me in front of a tall wide mirror.  Then I sat on the mat in front of the mirror with my heels next to me and Toni snapped away again.  Finally it was back to the stairs for some more shots there.

We reviewed the photos on the laptop one more time but I was already downbeat from the last two viewings so wasn't looking forward to seeing the photos from the third and final session.

My sister had sat for the best part listening to music on her headphones and checking in on her Facebook account but towards the end of the four hours  I think she had picked up on the fact that I was struggling with my poses and did her best to offer words of encouragement.

 

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END

Time seemed to pass so quickly and before I knew it it was time to say goodbye to Lotte once more.  Off with the stick on nails, off with the dress, off with shapewear and into the shower to remove all traces of the makeup that Toni had spent so much time applying earlier in the day.

 

As I got dressed back into the clothes I had arrived in I started to reflect on my time at Femme Side Studios. On the whole, I'd enjoyed the experience, I had been extremely pleased with how Toni had done my makeup, I'd tried out various styles of wig in various colours and I had found a style and colour that I believed suited me best..  Most important of all though I'd finally been able to see the real inner me looking back at me in the mirror and not some middle aged man in a wig.

 

There was however slight disappointment regarding the photos I'd seen on Toni's laptop of our photo shoots taken with the Sony camera. I didn't feel any joy upon seeing them, and for the majority of the photos I briefly viewed in-between the dressing sessions I felt unhappy about them.  Compared to other photos I'd seen on Femme Side Studio's Facebook page mine didn't seem as good quality. 

 

On some, my poses didn't look right, on others my face looked too square and manly and on the majority of them I felt my smile looked overworked and artificial resulting in me looking like Charlie the Chimp.  I'm not sure I can blame Femme Side for most of the above, a lot of the issues with the photos are my fault.

 

Maybe it was because I'd seen the photos of myself on Toni's mobile phone earlier on as we compared the different wigs, but I couldn't help feeling that those photos were of much better quality than those taken with the Sony camera. The lighting, sharpness and colour saturation was way better and I felt that the photos taken on Toni's mobile showed a much more natural and true Lotte.

 

I tried to remain upbeat as I packed away the things I'd brought, carefully making sure I hadn't forgotten anything.  I kept telling myself that the photos might look much better on my monitor at home but the photos I'd seen and disliked earlier on Toni's laptop were now flashing by in my head.

 

We said our goodbyes to Toni and headed back to the car for the long 120 mile drive back up to Merseyside.

 

As I entered the north bound slip road onto the M1 motorway I suddenly got a sick feeling inside.  Despite my best efforts to carefully pack I realised that I'd forgotten my Butterfly Print Wrap Dress that I'd worn first. 

 

It sounds silly but I began fretting about it and couldn't get it out of my head for several miles. Now with the worry about the dress and the disappointment of how the photos had turned out I started to feel a little downhearted.  With regards to the dress, any other one I wouldn’t have been bothered, but this one was one of my favourites and one I’d spent ages tracking down..  My sister told me to stop worrying about and to email Tracey when I get home.

 

We spent most of the journey home reflecting on the day,  discussing the good bits and what had gone well and also the not so good bits and what we felt could have been done better.  I kept thinking about the photos I'd seen on Toni's laptop from the Sony camera and those that I'd seen on Toni's mobile phone.  I couldn't help thinking that I much preferred those on the phone and said that when I email Tracey later about the forgotten dress I will ask if Toni can kindly send the photos taken on her mobile phone to me.

 

By the time I'd arrived back at my sisters house it was almost 9pm. I give her a big hug and thanked her for coming with me and said goodbye.  I arrived back at my own house around 9:15pm.  It had been a long day, I was tired and I'd gone past being hungry so crashed on the couch, emailed Tracey and then began typing up an account of my day with Femme Side Studios.

 

I'll give Tracey her due, she replied back pretty much straight away telling me not to worry about the dress and that she would post it the following day and around the same time I received the photos from Toni's phone and upon seeing them almost cried.  I couldn't believe how nice they were. It felt like the inner me was truly showing though on a couple of them and straight away those photos alone had cheered me up and made the long trip there and back seem all worthwhile.

  

The following day Toni emailed me a selection of photos she had picked out and edited and as I looked through them I just couldn't bring myself to appreciate them. 

 

I much preferred the more sombre looking me taken whilst trying out wigs. My gaze and facial expression seem more genuine on those and it is how I like to see myself when I'm dressed as Lotte.

 

Since then I have started to appreciate the photoshoot photos a little more each time I view them to the point where I no longer dislike them and think they’re okay.

 

Below are photos from the day. The first three are those taken by Toni on her mobile phone and the following three photos are the ones taken during the actual photoshoot sessions and edited and emailed over to me by Toni.  

 

See what you think of them, which are your favourites?

 

Photos taken by Toni on her mobile

phone of me trying out different wigs:

 

My favourite photo of the day

 (The 240 mile round trip was worth it for this one photo alone)

 

 

 My second favourite photo of the day

 

My third favourite photo of the day 

 

Images from the actual Photoshoots:

 

1. The Sassy Look

(my own Vinyl Puff Sleeve mini dress from Asos) 

  

2. The Glamorous Look

(Femme Side Studio's glittery dress) 

 3. The Everyday Look

(My own Butterfly Print Wrap Dress from New Look)