From the Cyrsti's Condo Archives: Jessica Lam

This is a positively ancient Larry King video from 2007:

What the Hell is Pinterest?

As Pinterest pertains to the public as a whole, it is a fun place to literally "scrapbook" your pictures and swap images with like minded folks.

Of course, as in most things involved with our community, if you haven't explored Pinterest, have tons of time to view what seems to be thousands upon thousands of pictures of cross dressers, trans women, fakes and transsexual porn stars.

Along the way, through osmosis, I began to use and think of my Pinterest in a different way.  First of all, I use it for my smart arse comments, and on a serious nature attempt to spotlight transgender women and men in our world who are making a difference.  Then, I began to notice the quotes which show up there. You have seen a few of them here in Cyrsti's Condo.  Then, I began to "pin" any item I list in my Etsy shoppes to my Pinterest boards.  Then, I began to add my other interests (such as vintage pinups) - among other things such as recipes.  In other words, not related at all to the fact I am a transgender woman.

All of the sudden, I have "civilians" repining some of my non trans related pins to their boards...which means at some point, they might look at my whole page which still is heavily accented with transgender activity.

I'm wondering now, if in some way, I have found a different means to educate another person in the world or two that there are many of us who are just regular people- with many different interests other than all the other thousands of pictures they see. They have no way of knowing the differences in our community and it's natural to lump together most of the crazy pictures of the guy down the hall in a dress.

Of course, I will never really know, but at the least I wonder if the person who pinned one of my vintage garden tool posts will think "Hey she's a transgender woman and she has the same interests as me! I love her taste in recipes, vintage art, antiques and even tattoo's!"

It's just a brief moment for me to show them , I'm so much more than just a trans woman.

Don't be a Boob?

As expected (in a good way) our breast discussion around here in Cyrsti's Condo continues on it's merry ol way.  After all, no matter how you view them, breasts have a major impact on how a woman views her femininity and how a man views her period.

JAlanaS though, came up with a whole different perspective:  While having an appropriate chest size is key to decent feminine presentation, I find proper chin hair is even more important. Let's be honest, the biggest fail is showing up as the "Bearded Lady" That'll get you ID'ed/outed quicker even if you do have a good sized rack. I "augment" my natural A's with A-to-B filler pads. So that said, I'd spend my money on electrolysis long before the silicone implants, although a D-cup would look about right on my frame.

I'm with you JAlana.  In fact, I have shopped around for electrolysis prices a couple of times.

"Bearded Lady Miriam"

I'm fortunate though because I don't have a lot of facial hair and most of it has turned gray. The good news is, with a close shave, and a little foundation - I'm ready to go. The bad news is, I'm not a candidate for laser hair removal because of my gray hair. **Hint- If you haven't found it here on the blog, there is a before picture of me with a goatee.

My problem is, I dearly hate to wake up in the morning with the same old scratchy stubble on my face when the rest of my body is clearly feeling the effects of HRT feminization. As of yet, I have been unable to "scratch" (no pun intended) up the money yet to begin my planned electrolysis. 

Finally, my only comment to JAlana's is, style wise, most certainly go to your strengths. (Stana's legs.) But don't over do it and try to "manufacture" too many strengths. Example?  If you are going with big breasts and good cleavage-don't pair the look with a short leg baring skirt. (And look like a street walker!) Plus most certainly, I would not go under the knife for breast enhancement before electrolysis either.   

Cyrsti's Condo "Makeup Moment"

If you saw me most of the time, you would probably think "she must have taken only a moment to put that makeup on and maybe she could have spared two moments?"

Regardless of all of that,I always read with interest a review or two on price/quality deals from makeup pros which fit my budget.

This one comes from Yahoo and covers 47 dollars worth of products including this one from New York Color:

INDIVIDUALEYES CUSTOM COMPACT

Discover NYC New York Color IndividualEyes Custom Compact, the all-in-one compact with everything you need for a complete eye look: primer, illuminator, applicator and complementing shadows. With four colors, specially coordinated to intensify and enhance your eye color, you can create a look as individual as you are. Make your eyes pop! $4.99

Here was the review:
This modestly priced product is a potential powerhouse. “It has great matte colors, a highlighter cream, and also an eye shadow base. That base could take away some dark circles on the inner corner of the eye and the highlighter could be used on the tops of the cheekbones,” Dubroff (makeup artist) says. “This was a happy discovery!” 

As I said there are more ideas here.

Certainly, getting the most bang for your buck is important when any woman (transgender or not) is shopping for makeup but getting a great deal is a bigger plus for the beginning cross dresser.  Unless you are one of the rare CD's who has access to a make up "mentor" to get you started, experimentation is very important. These ideas give you an idea of how to purchase a few "essentials" without spending big money to do it!

From Russia with Love

Cyrsti's Condo "Quote of the Day"

Cyrsti's Condo "Cover Girl" of the Day

Our feature cover today is yet another gorgeous Mtf transgender Brazilian woman  Lavinia Moraes.

Buying A "Girl's" Car

As always is the case, when I think I have a little bit of extra money set aside for whatever, whatever came down quickly in the form of needing a different car.

I ended up buying a used hatchback which I know I have way too much expectations of.  The one thing I do know about it is-it looks like a girl's car.  You may ask, Cyrsti, how do you define a "girl's car?"


The extreme example is on the left and while my car is a far cry from that, it's also not a diesel full sized pick up truck either.

I have grown used to buying "girl's cars'" I guess.  Back in the 70's when I got out of the Army, I brought an VW Beetle (not pink) back from Germany where I was stationed.  But those were the hippie days and no one called it a "girl's car".

Surprisingly to me, after I drove a series of pick up trucks and SUV's, my next "girl's car"  was a Porsche Boxster I bought when I had money.  All the time, I thought it was a "mid life crisis man's car" until I was told by one of my nephews it was a "girl's car."

By the time I had to get rid of the Boxster, I was loosing everything and I was only concerned with a vehicle which started, had storage space and was "winter" worthy.  I found a small SUV, drove it to work and someone asked "who was driving the girl's car?"

I suppose I should be complimented, right?  Yes I was driving a girls car...because...just because.

Keeping A Breast of the Situation

Today, I'm following up on a post we did yesterday here in Cyrsti's Condo which discussed breast size obsessions in cross dressers and transgender women. To be fair, genetic women are right there too, with the amount of "boob jobs" being done these days.  My brother's daughter in law got one a year or so ago.

Yesterday, as I was updating my insurance on the car I just bought, the 40 something woman behind the counter was a picture perfect ideal of how a woman her age could look.  She was wearing a low cut top of some sort which showed enough cleavage to make her whole outfit seem "interesting" but far from sleazy. Perhaps she was showing off her new breasts?

From Google + yesterday I received this comment from Michelle Hart (no relation-I don't think) :

"It's amazing just how fixated some CD's get with having breasts that are way too big for their body structure. I know that some do it to try and make others believe that they are ultra feminine while others do it for the shock value. Most trans women will be told by their doctors to have breasts that will actuate their bodies but it is up to the individual as to what size they will want to be."

Thanks Michelle!  Here is my simple formula I came up with when I was sleeping through geometry:  "Guys like big Boobs.  If I become my "own girl" I want to have big boobs too.  Then more guys will look at me too." (You see now why I flunked geometry!)

I have used the beautiful Gigi Gorgeous above who is publicizing her new breasts along with the pronounce- ment she wanted them bigger, but the doctor couldn't do it.

Finally, where I think many cross dressers, transgender or genetic women miss the breast boat is...there is a breast size which fits your body size properly.   For example, on a torso such as mine, to naturally "fill out" fashions I would need to grow from my current "C" to a "D" cup.  As HRT was working it's magic, I still had to add to my cup size as I went along.  Now I'm to the point of having a "little help".  Plus, let's not forget the plethora of push up bra's on the market.  "Back in the day" I too resorted to the painful taping you see on many cross dressing pictures.  My problem was (on top of the discomfort) was the more time I spent out in the world, the more the tape began to "slip" and I was back to zero again.



What the world sees as "feminine" certainly is defined by breasts to a large extent.  The woman yesterday was defining hers to an extent but her hair was done, she was dressed office casual too.  Most cross dressers I see make an effort of missing the overall point of where they are trying to get to.  Unless of course, their goal is a big boob shot on line.