I saw that there was a strong need for something like this
in the trans community and I decided to just
Hair removal is a really important service for trans people
and it's a thing that can be challenging to access in the UK.
It's very expensive,
and then when you can afford it, sometimes it can be
I’ve had close friends of mine be
directly asked to leave a clinic and told that
they don’t treat trans people there.
So I decided to train as an electrologist and set up my own place in Manchester.
It's partly about creating a space where someone can feel safe,
and feel understood,
and that would allow each trans person
to choose the rate that they were able to pay,
to make it more financially accessible.
There's this thing growing on your face, you can't stop it.
I'll have to shave two or three times a day
in order to meet customers at work
and just go about my day-to-day activities.
Facial hair is one of the first things that people see.
It's one of the first things that people use to unconsciously decide
whether they're looking at a man or a woman.
And you can make all the effort in the world
in terms of clothes and make-up and hair
but at the end of the day, if you have a 5 o'clock shadow on your face
that can be the difference between being called a ‘Sir’ or a ‘Miss’ in the supermarket,
and that might seem like a small thing
to a cis person, to have that mistake made
but it undermines the person's entire sense of self
it draws attention - if you choose to correct that person in that moment
that could be very dangerous.
I decided to have electrolysis because my skin tone and hair colour
is too pale for laser, and laser wouldn’t work.
Laser-based treatments target the pigment in darker hair on fairer skin
so there's inequality of access there, for people with darker skin
or people with blond or white hair.
But electrolysis can be used on any skin type or hair type.
So the process of electrolysis is to take a tiny probe about the size of an eyelash,
and I'll insert it straight into the follicle of the hair
And then I'll discharge heat, which cauterises the blood supply to the hair
stopping that follicle from being able to produce another hair.
So electrolysis is a long, drawn-out painful process
but every time you feel one of those hairs die it makes you feel happy.
I’ve had about 50 hours of electrolysis so far,
and I am noticing a difference,
but it’ll still be at least another
100 hours before I see a significant difference
and where I don’t have to wear make-up every day.
So I set up a wish list online of pieces of equipment
a couch to treat on, a trolley, the machine, things like that.
Friends of friends, and complete strangers
were buying things to make the space happen.
It was so exciting,
it was really magical to see people that I don't even know,
think that this idea is useful and good.
When I started transitioning I was a student doing my PhD
and had no money,
I’m now in a position where I can pay the full price,
and that helps her to fund people who struggle to pay.
It's important to have affordability because
trans people generally struggle to find work, or maintain work.
I just wanted to make it as affordable as possible.
So that people, even on the lowest incomes, can afford some treatment.
Often trans people can feel trapped
waiting years to see a Gender Identity Clinic
and this is a thing that can help make that process much more bearable
because you can feel like you're taking control of your body
and you're doing something to make your life better.
We've set up the Trans Healthcare Initiative
an ongoing fund-raising project
supporting trans people to set up trans healthcare businesses.
And in the future we’d like to have trans electrologists everywhere,
and just keep building this community of trans healthcare workers.
And it’s an amazing thing to be a part of and I’m really excited by it.