I will say that once I learned to do makeup well enough that I liked the way I looked wearing it, I reached the crossdresser critical mass, and started a self-sustaining reaction of clothes shopping and taking pictures of myself. I still used to dress before that, but I'd always be embarrassed with what I saw in a mirror, and it'd be quite a while before I'd do it again. But once I could do my makeup well enough that I thought I looked pretty, I did it a LOT more.
