Virtual FFS FAQ's
On this page I have tried to answer all the questions that I am most frequently asked about Virtual FFS.
How accurate is Virtual FFS?
Virtuals are not and could not be 100%
accurate - they are a starting point
designed to help you get to know your face and its feminisation
possibilities, and to help you set your priorities for FFS. The accuracy of
the changes I make depend on several things:
1. What you end
up having done.
So, if the surgeon and patient decide to go for my
recommendations, and
there are no anatomical problems with the patient that limit the amount of
change that can be made to any unusual degree, then they are pretty
accurate.
2. The particular procedure I am simulating.
Some procedures are fairly predictable, for example, with brow bossing removal I could easily be say 85% accurate
(as long as you are going to a competent surgeon). Some other procedures are more
unpredictable - facelifts for example, or jaw surgery in patients who are
overweight where I might be closer to perhaps 70% accurate.
3. The number of simultaneous procedures.
For example, I can simulate
cheek implants and I can simulate facelifts, but if I simulate a facelift
(which alters the cheeks) on top of cheek implants, then you have 2 procedures acting on
the same feature in different ways and that increases the chance of the
accuracy drifting. Another example would be lip filling with a simultaneous
lip lift.
So, think of virtuals as a target more than a prediction. It’s a way of sketching out the possibilities and seeing which changes are likely to work for you and what your personal preferences are. For example, you might have a tall square chin and I might reduce the height a little and make it more rounded. You then look at the pictures and can clearly see that chin work is going to help feminise your face, however, your surgeon might say “Yes, but I want to make the chin slightly more pointed and you might say to the surgeon “Can you also make it a tiny bit shorter?” So, the virtuals showed the importance of chin feminisation for your face, but it’s a work in progress and you can continue to discuss the details with your surgeon using the virtuals as a frame of reference.
And of course, if the pictures reveal that a change is not going to make enough difference to be worthwhile, you can save yourself thousands of dollars.
Will you give a completely honest assessment?
Absolutely. FFS is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make, and it is vital that I am completely honest with you about your needs. I hope I am also polite and supportive, but I
am always honest.
Do you take an aggressive or a conservative approach?
I try to hit the sweet spot between too little to reach your potential, and more
than is physically possible or safe. That sweet spot may require an aggressive
change in one feature and a conservative change in another. So it's not
really about taking an aggressive or conservative approach - it's about
doing what needs to be done to feminise a feature whilst staying within
safe and realistic parameters.
Is it best to have the Virtual FFS done before I have a consultation with a surgeon or afterwards?
It is generally best to have them done first,
then you have them as a frame of reference during your consultation.
However, if you
have them done after, I can make sure I incorporate the changes the surgeon suggested as
well as giving you a second opinion on what they said.
Can I send you my payment through the post as a money order or a cheque?
No. I only accept payment through a
PayPal account.
Do you send the pictures and assessment by email or by post?
Everything is sent by email.
How do I know that Virtual FFS is not a scam?
The short answer is that you don’t, but there are some things you can do to help you find out - firstly have a good look through the website and hopefully you will see that it is written by someone who genuinely knows what they are talking about. Secondly,
ask around in trans groups on line and ask about me – my service is fairly well known
and you will probably come across some of my clients. Facial Team will also
be happy to recommend me.
Be aware that some surgeons will advise against using my service. That's probably because a major part of my work is to also explain to patients what procedures they don't need and why they don't need them, and that means that I can cost some surgeons a lot of money.
Do you also advise on beauty and rejuvenation?
People generally want to be as attractive as possible so, of course, I always take that into account,
but it is important to remember that beauty and femininity are different
things - femininity is objective and can be measured, but beauty is subjective.
There is an overlap though, because if your subjective feeling is that a square chin is unattractive on a female face, then feminising the chin by making it round is likely to make you more beautiful according to your own taste. At the same time, a person whose subjective feeling is that square chins are attractive on women might think you look less beautiful. What I can tell objectively though, is that rounded chins are more feminine that square chins.
Most people over the age of about 40 would quite like to look a little younger too so I can often advise on rejuvenating procedures if you want me to. Rejuvenation procedures can be feminising to some extent because younger faces tend to look more feminine than older ones. Quite often I get a client who is proud of her signs of maturity and doesn’t not want any rejuvenating procedures done. I fully respect (and also admire) this approach so just let me know if you do not want any rejuvenating procedures done. Bear in mind that it might not be possible to avoid a lower face-lift if you are over about 40 and have surgery on the chin and jaw done - this is because the reduction in bone combined with swelling can leave the soft tissues in this area a bit slack.
Do you charge extra for showing different stages of FFS?
Generally no. I typically send more than one set of pictures showing various stages and alternatives.
Can you show the effects of hormones on the face?
Yes, but not always completely. Hormones change the face in several ways. They make the cheeks fuller and give the skin a
softer texture. They can also help with the width of the jaw at the corners because they reduce muscle mass and therefore make the
chewing muscles smaller. I can show these changes but there is a certain subtle softness that comes from hormones that is hard to emulate. It is also not possible to predict the exact degree to which hormones will affect any particular person (everyone’s different)
so there is some guesswork involved.
Should I wait until I’ve been on hormones a while before I have FFS or Virtual FFS?
Waiting a year would be ideal. This
allows the hormones to achieve most of their effect on the face, and if you
find you start to pass reasonably well or feel a lot better about yourself,
you might feel that you don't need as many procedures as you first thought.
However, this is not always possible or practical, and if you have
significant bone masculinities like heavy brow bossing or a big square chin,
it is often clear that these will always be a problem. In that case, it
might be perfectly reasonable to have FFS or Virtual FFS before you have
started HRT. The area hormones affect most is the cheeks, so it's almost
always a bad idea to have any cheek enhancement until hormones have had
their effect. And the chewing muscles can reduce a little on hormones if
they are large, so that's another area to be cautious about. See my page on hormonal effects
for more on this.
How much do you charge for revisions?
Occasionally people do ask for a revision and I’m
generally happy to do them free of charge. I only start to charge if it gets into multiple or very complicated revisions.
What if I disagree with your suggestions?
You are very welcome to disagree with me, and I invite my clients to say if they have concerns about any of my suggestions. I never take this personally and there is always an element of personal
judgment in FFS. My job is to help you towards a face you will be comfortable with, so it is very important that you feel very free to express your honest opinion about my suggestions.
Do you work with cis women?
Yes. There are many cis women who feel their
faces are too masculine and are in exactly the same situation as many trans women. All the same principles and surgical possibilities apply.
Do you work with cross-dressers?
Yes, that’s no problem at all.
Can you work with different ethnic types?
Of course. And although facial features vary across different ethnic groups, the same male/female differences are common to all ethnic groups.
Do you work with trans men?
Occasionally but it is different, and there are no masculinisation surgeons out there as such (as far as I know). What I can do for
trans men is advise them on the key areas that are important for their face and hopefully give some advice on corrections that could potentially be made.
Do you work with non-binary
people?
Of course - regularly. I can work with anyone whose facial gender
characteristics clash in some way with their gender identity.
Can you advise on androgyny?
Yes, but it's complicated. It can be difficult to "half-do" a surgical
procedure, but I can discuss which procedures are likely to have the
strongest effect on facial gender. My general advice is to be aware that
androgyny, at least in a social perception sense, is typically achieved
through a mixture of physical characteristics and styling. However, this
can all be very variable depending on exactly what the patient is trying
to achieve and what they specifically mean by androgyny.
Can you still assess my face if I am overweight?
Yes but the assessment will be limited to some degree. Fat can disguise the shape of the cheeks and hide an adam’s apple, but it particularly affects the jawline and chin. I can make an educated guess as to what the underlying structures are likely to be like but it is important to understand that to some extent I am guessing.
Can I send my Virtual FFS
simulations to surgeons or take them to consultations?
Yes – please do. Many FFS surgeons welcome them and are very familiar with my work.
They can be a valuable reference point for consultations.
Can I share my pictures and
assessment on support groups and social networks like Facebook?
Of course – the pictures and assessment are yours so you can post them wherever you like.
Can you remove beards?
I cannot remove a full beard
realistically, but I can greatly reduce beard shadow if you are
clean-shaven, and I usually do this as standard.
Why can’t you add hair?
Technically I can, but adding hair is amazingly time consuming as I first have to find the right hairstyle on another picture in the right colour and with the right lighting
and photographic qualities. I then have to match the texture of the photo and this all takes a long time.
However, I can work on pictures where you are wearing a wig, but speak to me
about this in advance so we can work out the best way to approach it.
Can you add make-up?
Yes. I sometimes add some light make up in cases where I feel it’s going to help illustrate the possibilities.
Can you pluck eyebrows?
Yes, it's often the first thing I do when I'm working on a face.