In a Nutshell
For those of you who are in a hurry or who don't want to go into too much detail, I have created this page to give you a quick overview of the differences between male and female faces and the procedures that can feminise masculine features. If you want more detail then please follow the links on the left to the individual features.
Here are an average female and male face to illustrate some of the differences I describe below.
1. Hairline:
A feminine hairline is higher in the middle, lower in the corners
and has a rounded shape. A masculine hairline is lower in the middle, higher
in the corners and has more of a square or "M" shape. Filling the corners of
an "M" or square hairline to make it rounded can be achieved with
transplants. Cutting and stretching the scalp to fill the corners doesn't
generally work and leaves visible scars.
2. Forehead:
The masculine forehead usually has a bony ridge running across it
at about eyebrow level called brow bossing, It also tends to have vertical
ridges either side of the forehead ("temporal ridges") and often has a bump
on either side of the upper forehead ("frontal eminences"). The feminine
forehead is smoother and flatter with less pronounced ridges and bumps, and
it usually has either no bossing, or very little bossing.
3. Eyebrows:
The top edge of the eyebrows for both sexes is at about the same
height but feminine eyebrows are thinner with the bottom edge of the eyebrow
sitting in a higher position. This creates a bigger gap between the eye and the eyebrow.
Plucking along the underside is usually the best way to thin them. Eyebrows
usually go a little higher with forehead surgery. It is possible to lift
them beyond their natural position with a brow lift, but that can look
unnatural and can leave you with a permanently surprised expression if it
isn't done carefully.
4. Eyes:
Females typically have larger eyes in proportion to the face, and the eyes have a more open expression. Female eyes
typically also have a little more of a downwards slant from the outer corners to the inner corners. You can't make the eyes bigger with surgery,
and I advise against surgery to pull the corners up as it can look very
unnatural.
5. Cheeks:
The fleshy part or "apple" of feminine cheeks contains more fat than
masculine cheeks and is therefore fuller and rounder – masculine cheeks are much more hollow here. Solid implants can build up the area under the cheeks or fat can be harvested from another part of the body and injected into the apple to fix the problem directly.
Fat is generally a better option because it carries a much lower risk of
complications. Estrogen usually makes the apple of the cheeks fuller, so
give them at least a year to work before you consider cheek enhancement.
6. Nose:
The male nose is typically larger than the female nose. From the
front, the nose is narrower in females with smaller, less flared nostrils. In the profile view, the base of the female nose has more of an upwards angle and has a shorter, more blunt tip than the male.
Various rhinoplasty techniques might be used to feminise a nose, depending
on the nature of the masculinities and the patient's own anatomy.
7 Mouth:
The female mouth typically sits in a higher position than the male
mouth, and when her mouth is open, her upper incisors are more likely to be
exposed by a few mm. A lip lift can raise the top lip, shortening the lip to
nose distance and exposing more tooth. Feminine lips tend to bulge forwards a little more than masculine
lips as you can see in the profile view. Injectable fillers and soft
implants can make the lips fuller.
8. Chin:
The female chin is usually vertically shorter, narrower and more rounded than the
typical male chin. A masculine chin is more likely to have a square shape
and to project forwards just a little more than the typical female chin. The chin can be made shorter
and rounder with surgery. It can also be set back a little but this is
generally unnecessary and can make the soft tissues under the chin more
slack.
9. Jaw:
The male jaw is usually vertically taller and has squarer corners at
the back than the female jaw. However, the width of the jaw relative to the
width of the cheeks tends, on average, to be almost exactly the same for
both sexes. The jaw can be reduced vertically with surgery, and the corners
can be rounded off. It can also be narrowed if you have an excessively wide
jaw or would just prefer a narrower one. If the width is due to bone, this
can be reduced by working through incisions inside the mouth, and if the
width is due to large chewing muscles, these can be reduced safely with
botox. However, keep in mind that women who are considered unusually
beautiful tend to have relatively wide jaws, so narrowing is not always an
advantage. Hormones can reduce the chewing muscles.
10. Adam's apple:
Men typically have a visible Adam's apple. However, despite what many people believe, women often have a small but visible Adam's apple too. The
Adam's apple can be surgically reduced and the incision should never be
placed in front of the Adam's apple - it should be placed under the chin
where the scar is less noticeable. Hormones may make the neck a little thinner by reducing muscle
but I don't have direct proof of that.
11. Skin:
Female skin is paler than male skin in all ethnic groups and has a softer texture. Male skin is thicker and more oily than female skin. Hormones soften the skin and may make it more pale.
12. Beard:
Males generally have a beard shadow. The beard can be removed with electrolysis
and/or laser if the hairs are dark.