I'm 20 years old, haven't started HRT yet but oh my god I'm so glad I found our account because it has been utter hopefuel for me. Did you get facial-masculinization surgery by any chance or does testosterone change your facial structure that much? Do you have any tips in regards to masculinizing facial features and the voice? Godspeed, sir.
Here is 26 (pre-T -- I started at 33) vs 49:
No facial surgery. But the sum of small changes from my transition is greater than their parts.
1) T won't change your bone structure, but it will redistribute fat and help create muscle (my neck size went up 2").
2) T causes the hairline to change. It will usually recede and shift to an "M" shape at some point (and possibly go further into baldness).
3) T will also make the skin tougher in texture.
4) T may make your eyebrows denser.
1) I am 49. I've noticed my cheekbones have become more prominent, and my cheeks have hollowed a little. I now have those vertical planes at the sides of my face that tend to read as masculine. My eyes are a bit more sunken, which can make my brow look larger.
1) I style my beard (which, of course, I can grow now) in a way that lengthens my face and gives the illusion of a larger and sharper jaw.
2) My haircut - tight sides and longer on top - gives my skull a squarer shape.
3) I like to layer clothes, which adds bulk to my neck and shoulders.
How you style yourself (along with posture, discussed further down) can make you look like a different person. I joke that I transitioned into the middle slider of 2 different cis men because I am good at shaping what I have to work with into certain resemblences. Cosplay is loads of fun for exploring how much range you have, physically.
My tips for masculinizing the face and voice pre-T come with the huge caveat that what makes you feel euphoric or lessens dysphoria may not help you pass and could even clock you as some flavor of queer. Being visibly trans or GNC shouldn't be a bad thing in a perfect world. But passing as it pertains to "invisibility from the judgmental cis eye" rewards certain types of bodies over others and comes with the threat of violence for the sin of non-conformity.
"Ideal masculinity" is also extremely fickle. You will give yourself flavors of body dysmorphia you never knew you had trying to pass 100% -- just see what the looksmaxxing bros have done to themselves.
Go for gender euphoria, tempered with risk assessment when in primarily cishet spaces.
1) Experiment with male makeup contouring and even fake facial hair. A cosplay or other costume environment is great for this, as it's the most forgiving if you don't get it quite right + no one will comment on visible makeup.
2) Play with your haircut. You may want to slightly sharpen your hairline or play with different silhouettes. Go to a queer barber that won't try to feminize what you ask for. Also consider shaving your peach fuzz - it often softens the face.
3) Work out, if that's right for you. There are lots of trans masc coaches out there these days that can help you with your fitness and transition goals.
4) See a vocal coach that works with trans masculine people. There will be degrees of resonance, pitch, and vocal fry that tend to come only from T. But training now can add qualities to your voice that you may want, nonetheless -- maybe you want to speak with a different cadence or in different parts of your register.
5) Your facial and overall body posture can change how your features are read - how much tension you carry, where you place your jaw, where your shoulders sit, how you hold your head, how you smile, etc. I like to play around by seeing how much I can copy a character's vibe through my posture. Small changes can become a new habit if you like what you see. (This can get dangerously into looksmaxxing territory, so please be careful with your self-image. I prioritize changing my posture to ease tension above all else.)
I hope this is helpful for you. At 20, part of what you yearn for may also be just to look *older*, and as a trans masc person, that can take a lot of patience for time to do its thing.
