Hoping to give a boost of confidence to women undergoing cancer treatment, a program is giving patients a hand with some makeup and beauty tips as they grapple with their changing appearance.
In honor of #GivingTuesday, Look Good Feel Better — a public service program dedicated to boosting the self-esteem of women undergoing cancer treatment — released videos of makeovers done on six women fighting cancer, each of whom describes how the physical changes undergone during treatment has affected her emotionally.
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“It was harder to lose my hair than it was to lose my breasts,” says Jane, 57, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2014.
“Being able to look in the mirror and being able to see yourself as attractive is so important,” she says.
The program helps women fighting cancer by providing them with beauty experts who volunteer their time to provide makeup, hair and styling tips. The advice comes at a crucial time since many of the women have lost their hair or have experienced skin discoloration or texture changes because of chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
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“It’s hard enough to fight through it, but to not look like yourself anymore and how you imagine you want yourself to look? That’s a hard thing to do,” says Mary, a 39-year-old mother who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
Look Good Feel Better also aims to give back some of the control that many of these women have lost, along with their appetites, energy and strength, because of their treatments.
"It took me a couple of months to say this is happening to me. But I’m still here. It wasn’t time for me to go yet," says Michelle, 50, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2014.
The other tremendous transformations that have helped bring out each woman's spirit can be found on the website for theLook Good Feel Better program,which is a collaboration between the Personal Care Products Council, the American Cancer Society and the Professional Beauty Association.