Look Good... Feel Better

On Monday night I attended a "Look Good... Feel Better" class offered by the American Cancer Society to women undergoing any kind of treatment for any kind of cancer.  It's a national program and here, they hold one class per month at each of St. Luke's locations.  There were two other participants at my class.  I dragged Beth along with me, too, for moral support.

The first part of the class was about wigs.  The presenter was Mrs. Idaho and she has worn wigs because she has an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss.  I'm assuming the American Cancer Society is her platform.  She explained different types of wigs, advantages and disadvantages of the various kinds.  She also showed us some ideas for using scarves and things like that.

After the wig information, the other presenter, Barbara, moved on to makeup.  I have never been one to wear a lot of makeup, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out some of the tips she shared were things I already do.  And many were things I don't do now and probably never will.  I will admit, since I cut my hair short I do have the desire to wear a little more make-up to make sure I don't look like a boy.  I'm sure that feeling will continue when I have no hair.  Although it seems like tons of makeup + no hair = not good, so I'll probably stay true to my natural look (and my look gets more natural as the day goes on because the makeup always wears off).  Also, when I say I'm wearing "a little more makeup" that really just means wearing eye shadow every day.

Barbara walked us through applying makeup, from moisturizing to lipstick and everything in between.  Her presentations was peppered with special tips related to side effects of cancer treatment.  She was quite adamant about cleanliness.  Clean your makeup brushes EVERY DAY?  Yeah, right!  Although I decided this might be a good excuse to buy new brushes.  My old ones have probably been cleaned less than five times in the last 10 years.  If I lose my eyebrows, will I draw them in?  Let's hope I don't have to find out.  I could probably handle filling them in a little, but drawing them completely I don't see myself doing.

The best part of the whole class was all the free cosmetics.  I can honestly say I came home with more stuff than I previously owned in total.  Many different companies contribute to this program so I also came home with good stuff from Lancome, Mary Kay, Chanel, Avon, Smashbox...  I learned that Lancome's concealer is so much better than the CoverGirl stick I've been using (which is probably designed for 15 year old skin).  We also got a bottle of wig shampoo, conditioner, styling spray, and a brush.  The class for totally worth it for all the complimentary gifts.

I was very impressed with the program and would recommend any woman of any age facing cancer participate.  Even if you know all there is to about makeup (or like me, don't really care) it was fun to get the free products.  Of course, if you were strained financially it would be really helpful in that respect.  The makeup was better quality than what I am usually willing to pay for, and I don't know how much the wig products cost, but I'm sure they aren't that cheap.  The presenters were both very kind and sensitive to the situation and had some useful tips.

Another thing is that it provides an opportunity to be around other women going through some of the same things you are.  There wasn't a lot of sharing between those of us at this class, but I think there is value in just knowing other people have a similar plight, at the same point in time.

I am so lucky because I have been able to talk to other people who have been through this crazy cancer crap, but not everyone has that.  Not everyone wants that either, although I have found it extremely helpful.  I've read some other blogs where the person says they don't want to hear anyone else's cancer story.  Not me... it's not a happy topic of conversation, but I find it reassuring to learn how someone else got through the hard stuff.  Hearing about their experiences has made facing the unknown of mine a little less frightening. 

Perhaps much of it has to do with the presentation of the other person's story.  My friends all have very positive attitudes and outlooks.  If they were telling me only doom and gloom and horror stories I might feel differently.  Don't get me wrong, no one is telling happy cancer stories, but they are telling me real stories.  Maybe it's kind of like after you, or at least after I, had a baby.  Suddenly I loved to hear other women's birth stories.  Now I'm interested in the cancer stories, too, although the baby stories are better!