Self-adhesive breast form report
Girls,
I have purchased breast forms from www.breastformstore.com several times before, and always had an excellent experience. When I decided to buy another pair this week, I looked around and noticed that the vendor set has increased somewhat. After some research, I decided to buy a pair of forms from www.truekare.com, their asymetrical model, size 8. Since they had these with an "imperfect" discount, I ordered these.
The big difference between these forms and those I've had in the past is the adhesive back. The back is protected by a piece of plastic, which peels off to reveal the entire sticky back surface.
I went for the truekare forms because of the price -- a savings of almost 50% versus other vendors -- and had rather pooh-poohed the notion of self-adhesive forms. The vendors themselves, as well as others in the TV/TG/TS community say that it's unlikely you can go braless with these forms; the adhesive is "merely" useful to keep them in place inside your clothes.
So, I wore them a few times with the plastic backing in place, and of course, they sent me straight to transgender heaven, as forms always do in comparison to cheap alternatives, like water balloons. But, after a few hours, I figured it was time to try the adhesive, and see how it performs.
I did this with some fear and trepidation. I'm totally closeted; wife and family away for a week or so, but my chest is rather hairy, and I was a little concerned about what the stickum would do to me. "Well, no guts, no glory," I thought, as I peeled off the plastic from the forms. "How bad could it be, after all?"
I stood in front of the mirror and carefully placed first one form, then the other, on my front. I was rather surprised, then delighted, then ecstatic about how well they stuck. For the first time in my 40-something-year transgender life, I got to experience what it was like to put on a bra over my breasts, as opposed to putting one on so that I could stuff it with them :). Oh, yes, more transgender heaven.
I tried on a variety of bras, bathing suits and braless clothing options, and was delighted with the results. The forms will start to peel off around the edges if they're not supported, no doubt about it -- so the vendors and community are right to discount the totally braless option. I'd certainly not go out dancing in a Little Black Dress with nothing holding me together but this adhesive. But, the effect is far superior to non-sticky forms with those pads stuck on the back of them.
Several of my outfits provided enough support to go braless, including a stretchy tank top, a bathing suit with a built-in bra, a very tight teeshirt (oh, yes, wait till you see yourself with a wet teeshirt!). A filmy negligee didn't work; the forms would clearly separate if I slept in them without a bra.
Oh, and before some of you ping me about not sleeping with my forms on -- been there, done that. Having lived with a rather well-endowed GG for 20-something years, I know they don't sleep on their front, because it just doesn't work. Neither do I, en femme. But, waking up in the morning in a nightgown is worth the potential risk of breaking the forms -- which I've never done or heard of.
So, finally, the moment of truth -- taking the forms off. I prepared for the worst, imagining a painful extraction, and seeing their back surfaces covered with my chest hair. But no! Peeling them carefully off my chest, they separated cleanly and took virtually none of my hair with them. AWESOME!
This is the reason I'm starting this thread. I've avoided sticky forms for years because of what I assumed they would do to my chest hair, and that I can't shave without outing myself. Turns out, at least with me, this was not an issue.
And, ladies, the effect of having the forms being a "part" of you, even inside a bra or bathing suit, is easily worth the price of admission. Have you ever tried to do a "shimmy" with loose forms in a bra? Doesn't work too well, because the forms jump around, faithfully obeying Newton's second law of motion. But the adhesive forms are part of your body a lot more than the others, and "I can shimmy like my sister Kate" and everything stays where it oughta.
Bottom line -- self-adhesive forms turned out to be a way better idea than I thought they might.
Other input -- the TrueKare "imperfect" forms I bought were fine. I *think* I can see the imperfection -- a little fold on the underside of the left -- but clearly no big deal.
Hugs,
Susie
Followup on the (dreaded) 3M adhesive spray
Ladies,
After a month or so of enjoying my TrueCare breast forms, I discovered that the adhesive has deteriorated somewhat.
I wash the backside of the forms every day of wearing (which is absolutely necessary to avoid an icky skin rash) -- I think the washing kind of wears away the glue.
So, a couple days ago, I'm sitting around on my sundeck, in a little yellow dress, a lycra bra holding everything together, and I think of the 3M Matte Adhesive I have in the drawer, for mounting photographs. In particular, I think of how much better that dress would look without the bra, and decide it's time to take the next big risk -- the 3M glue.
There's been a lot written in these pages about the 3M adhesive. Some girls say it's terriffic; others complain of rashes; still others say we're being foolish even to try it. I use it periodically to do photographs, and inevitably get it all over my arms in the process, so I can't believe it's that horrible for the skin.
I peel off the bra and the forms, get out the 3M spray, and apply a generous coat of the spray to the backs of the forms. Put them back in place, put the bra back on, and wait for five minutes. Then (drum roll, please) remove the bra.
The forms stay firmly in place. I've crossed another transgender boundary; I can feel the weight of my boobs as they drape off my chest! Fantastic! The yellow dress did look all that much better without the b-straps. So did the bikini!
The forms stayed firmly attached for about an hour, until (I believe) perspiration began to undermine the adhesive. It became more and more "risky" to lean forward, and finally I peeled the forms off again, as they were beginning to separate.
Now for the bad news: the 3M adhesive formed a new layer of skin over my chest that took a couple days to remove. It wasn't all that painful or unpleasant, but had I been given an opportunity to have my chest seen au naturel by anyone, serious questions would have been asked, and I would have had difficulty answering them. Now, a couple days later, with repeated washing, the adhesive has worn off and I'm back to normal.
I tried using some "Goof-Off" on one side, but it didn't seem to make much difference at the time, and with experience of a couple more days, the places I applied it, and those I didn't, seemed to get free of adhesive about the same time. The "Goof-off" contains Xylene, and I'm just as intimidated by that as I am the adhesive, so I used it sparingly.
Bottom line: breast forms are transgender heaven -- if you haven't tried them, you should. Go for the kind with the sticky back, as long as they're no more expensive, because you'll like the way they're "part of you". Your chest hair is safe; the glue that comes with them seems to take only a very small amount of it. And, the 3M adhesive does make forms stick hard, solid, for some period of time. But, there's definitely a price to be paid for that last part!
Hugs,
Susie
What breast forms look like
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GINA-CD
Would it be too much asking for pics? I'm interested on looking how natural they look with a tank top or a bikini maybe.
Gina,
Not at all too much to ask, but no, I don't do pictures. (A), I don't want to worry about someone stumbling on to them who might recognize something in the background, and (B) at my size and shape, I am not the least attractive as a female!
However, your query inspired me to add a postscript to my post -- what do these breast forms look like? The answer is, well, silicone breast forms! They most certainly don't look like the "real thing". Their surface is rather shiny, they are not as flexible and bouncy, and they have distinct "edges" that cannot be hidden. So, for those of you who have never tried them, I should point out that you're not going to be entranced by how they look -- rather, how they feel. I'm somewhat nearsighted, and if I put them on with a bra, stand in front of a full-length mirror at about 15 feet, and take my glasses off -- well, the cleavage is mildly believable. Having several beers beforehand also helps the illusion :).
So, I've taken to wearing clothes that have high necklines, and with these, the forms are in their element.
There are monstrously expensive forms out there that are supposed to look extremely natural, as well as feel correct. Notorious on this list is the British vendor, transformations. They offer some photographs that look so great that folks think the models are really GG's. I must say I've never seen a breast form that came anywhere near looking that convincing.
Hope this helps! I'm still a huge fan of wearing forms. Nowadays they are so relatively inexpensive -- much less than a cocktail dress from Macy's, for instance!
Hugs,
Susie
