Beauty Classes Inspire Cancer Patients

By MiNDFOOD

A beautiful young ethnic woman wearing a head wrap looks toward the camera and smiles radiantly. She is standing outdoors and there are mountains and trees in the background.
A beautiful young ethnic woman wearing a head wrap looks toward the camera and smiles radiantly. She is standing outdoors and there are mountains and trees in the background.
The side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatment are challenging for most cancer patients. But through a programme called Look Good Feel Better, women are taught practical tips for dealing with the gruelling side effects of treatment while helping empower them to face their cancer with confidence.

Fear of the unknown, coupled with physical exhaustion and nausea, are just a few of the side effects that come with chemo and radiation treatment.

Loss of hair and eyebrows are a couple more.

Brenn’s cancer experience, like many others, was a hard one, “Every appointment in my calendar was something awful,” she recalls.

But after booking a Look Good Feel Better class, provided free to anyone undergoing cancer treatment, her journey became more positive.

“For the first day in a very long time it was a happy day. I was greeted with warm, friendly, smiling, lovely faces and people who completely understood the way I was feeling,” Brenn says.

More than 250 classes are held throughout New Zealand each year, providing patients – with any cancer, at any stage – practical tips for dealing with the grueling side effects of treatment. The classes cover makeup pointers, to practical ways to feel positive when you don’t feel like facing the day.

For Brenn, like many others, the classes gave her self esteem a boost, “The make-up made you feel good – and the class gave you a sense of who you were. And that you can put a face on for the outside world when sometimes you don’t feel like facing the world at all. I watched people come out looking fabulous and smiling and happy even though they were going through a really terrible time in their lives.”

Approximately 60 people a day are diagnosed with cancer in New Zealand.

Look Good Feel Better survives on the donations of the public to keep encouraging and inspiring patients. You can support the charity’s Feel Better Month, by purchasing selected products from Farmers in July. Both Farmers and participating brands will donate $1 from the sale of selected products.

For more information, or to make a contribution, click here.

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