Herbals? Just say “No”!
Read this: http://www.transgendercar[...]nes.htm
Taking herbals quite possibly puts you at more risk than taking regular HRT, and if you do actually want to achieve any feminisation it’s just money down the drain. As Sandra said, they are hundreds of times weaker than real hormones, and also hugely more expensive.
Although saying you are not sure if you want to transition yet, but are seeking some degree of feminisation is an apparent contradiction, I do understand it, and you are certainly not alone. However you might as well just throw your money away rather than spend it on herbals.
A safer and cheaper option would be to take a very low dose of estradiol, 1 or 2 mg per day. Any effects would be subtle (as opposed to negligible with herbals) and it would save you a small fortune. A low dose of estradiol may or may not have the same or more effect at reducing androgens than saw-palmetto. But then saw-palmetto may or may not have ANY effect at reducing androgens. Excuse the vagueness there, but no-one can accurately predict the effects of hormones; it varies considerably between individuals. It’s probably safe to say though that herbals will have little or no effect. Maybe there are herbals around other than saw-palmetto that are used for supposed androgen reduction, I don’t know, I simply wouldn’t bother going down that road if I were you.
Perhaps the best advice though is to think all this through properly and decide whether transition is right for you before taking any feminising drugs.

“herbs are less dangerous than synethic drugs”
Bit of a vague, sweeping statement that…

Estradiol is not a synthetic drug, it is a natural bio-identical hormone, and is in fact plant-derived. The same goes for micronised progesterone.
It would be false to claim that these are less safe than herbals. Many people associate “herbs” with all things natural, good for you, safe. A sprinkle of parsley on your dinner is safe I’m sure, but tablets derived from black cohosh, saw-palmetto and so on do not compare with herbs that grow in your garden. As we’ve said they can be quite toxic, certainly in the doses you’d need to get any noticeable effects. These herbals are not regulated, it is dangerous to assume that they are safe, and simply not true to say that they are safer than estradiol.
Ethinyl estradiol and conjugated oestrogens are generally considered to carry more risks than estradiol, but whether or not they’re riskier than an unsupervised herbal regime without regular blood tests, is debatable.
Your doctor probably won’t prescribe you hormones, nor would he prescribe you herbals. I don’t know the procedure for obtaining a prescription for hormones in Canada, but over here (usually) a GP has to refer you to a gender specialist, who can then authorise the GP to prescribe.
Jelly beans might be safer than estradiol, why not take those?
Seriously though Dee, you really need to decide where you want to be ultimately and what you want from hormones, and consider the practical implications of transition. The fact that you would like to see results without taking unnecessary risks is good, experimenting before you are sure about transition will set alarm bells ringing in most people, but as I said I do kind of understand that.
Please don’t waste any more money on these herbals, and please don’t assume they are safe. They are not.
xx