Ninja Beauty Secrets, part 1

A ninja secret is a tidbit of knowledge or a technique that is a heavily guarded secret… until now. In this column, you will learn techniques for creating a look so perfect it’ll be considered razor sharp perfect. A perfect look will only look perfect until you become more skilled in your technique. You will then use this new skill to try to achieve perfection again. Makeup is a never-ending learning process and few women, transgender or genetic, master it. It is my hope that you will study and apply the techniques that I present and use your newfound knowledge on a regular basis so that you will become a seriously good makeup ninja.

It is with great honor that I pen this column at the request of the owner and editor of TGForum. Over the years, I’ve experimented with creating a myriad of looks for myself, everything from ultra-glamorous evening to daytime city chic. The concept of being a woman 24/7 is not foreign to me and I’m sure you might have similar experiences to share on your own gender journey. If so, I’d like you to send me some of your experiences and ask whatever questions you’d like on health and beauty and I’ll do my best to answer them in this column.

So why did I call my column “Ninja Beauty Secrets”? Aside from the Japanese connotations—I’m really Chinese, but ninjas existed in China, too—a ninja secret is a tidbit of knowledge or a technique that is a heavily guarded secret… until now. In this column, you will learn techniques for creating a look so perfect it’ll be considered razor sharp perfect. In my Awesome Makeovers transformation service in Philadelphia, no client leaves my makeup chair unless they look razor sharp perfect. The lines I draw and the colors I use emphasize precision and harmony.

A perfect look will only look perfect until you become more skilled in your technique. You will then use this new skill to try to achieve perfection again. Makeup is a never-ending learning process and few women, transgender or genetic, master it. It is my hope that you will study and apply the techniques that I present and use your newfound knowledge on a regular basis so that you will become a seriously good makeup ninja.

THE EYES

Let’s start with the eyes. The eyes are the most important part of your makeup because that is the first thing most people see when they look at your face. Eyes can reveal many secrets about you. People can usually tell if you’re happy, sad, angry, afraid, telling the truth, lying, etc. Enhancing the eyes will enhance your overall beauty.

Start by studying your eyes and how they compare to the eyes of women you see in the media. Most likely you will have a lot more eyebrow hair than most of them, so the first thing to consider is tweezing your eyebrows. Most of you might gasp at the thought, but if you tweeze them properly, you’ll end up with eyebrows that look good in both your male and female selves. Mine are much thinner than a lot of women’s eyebrows, but I live with my choice every day and am happy with my decision.

Those of you who feel as if “work or family won’t let you get away with it,” maybe you’re right and the only thing to do then is to ignore your eyebrows and let a wig with long bangs do its job of covering up your eyebrows or you can do what’s known as a “paste technique.”

The paste technique involves taking a stationery store glue stick and applying it to the eyebrows in the direction of the hair growth. The hair is pressed flat against the skin. It will take several coats of glue and several minutes of wait time between each coat to get most eyebrows looking flat. Once you achieve the desired degree of flatness, gently apply foundation over the surface of the glued area. Dust with loose powder and then proceed to draw your eyebrows on top of this new eyebrowless area.

Some of you might have thick, stubborn eyebrow hair that won’t glue down. You might consider using a hair conditioner in the shower to soften your eyebrows. Dab the conditioner on your eyebrows at the start of your shower and try not to get any water on your face for at least ten minutes.

Some of you may wish to consider trimming your eyebrows. Trimming them will help remove any stray hairs. We’ll go more in-depth with trimming and tweezing in my next column.

The goal of all three of these techniques is to achieve razor sharp perfect eyebrows. By that, I do not mean black, sharp, and overly defined eyebrows, but a color, shape, and consistency amenable to your face and features. Your eyebrows must compliment the shape of your eyes. Most tgirls don’t understand this, but believably feminine eyebrows can improve your feminine appearance, and passability, quite drastically. We’ll explore the shaping of the eyebrows in next month’s column.

For more ninja beauty secrets, purchase Natural Makeup Techniques or Secrets to an Awesome Makeover from my web site (will open in a new window).

Category: All TGForum Posts, Transgender How To