How important is beauty and appearance for women with cancer? Very important, doctors and experts agree. Cancer therapy causes women to lose not only their hair, eyelashes and eyebrows. The skin also becomes paler and the face bloated – so the disease is visible to everyone. Especially for women this situation is very stressful. In addition to anxiety and pain, they often suffer from feelings of inferiority due to their disease.
Makeup tips for the well-being
Simple make-up tips help cancer patients to feel more comfortable in their skin again. After all, feeling good also promotes recovery. In cooperation with hospitals, cancer counseling centers and medical facilitiesbietet the non-profit society “DKMS-Life” cosmetics seminars for cancer patients throughout Germany. But even without a seminar, women can use a few makeup tricks to conceal the external consequences of their disease and boost their self-esteem.
Complexion despite cancer
Due to medication, the skin of people with cancer is often dry, pale and very sensitive. Therefore, only very mild skin care products should be used for skin care. First of all, it is recommended to clean the face thoroughly with a cleansing lotion and remove dirt particles. A moisturizing cream is suitable as a make-up base. It not only has a caring effect, but also freshens up the face. In summer, the cream should always have as high a sun protection factor as possible, as the skin is even more sensitive to sunlight. For an even and radiant complexion, apply makeup with a makeup sponge or the fingers to match the natural complexion. Women with very dry skin should rather use liquid make-up and avoid powder. Women who tend to have oily skin can fix the make-up with powder. Rouge is used to make the face look fresh and lively. It is spread on the cheekbones from the outside to the inside, so that the contours are emphasized. Blush can also be applied to temples and lower jaw bones, so that the individual facial features are emphasized.
Eyebrow makeup
The loss of hair often makes the eyes appear larger. Therein lies an opportunity for women with cancer. Appropriately made up and emphasized, the eyes can attract attention and thus develop a beauty all their own. First of all, it is important to make up the eyebrows, which often become thinner after a few therapy sessions, as naturally as possible. This is best done with an eyebrow pencil. Admittedly, this requires a sure touch and a good eye. If the eyebrows have not fallen out so much, the brows can simply be redrawn accordingly, so that they roughly correspond to the natural course. If the eyebrows are completely lost, it is easier to redesign them with brow powder. There is a basic rule here: by about two-thirds, the brow should rise, and then fall a third slightly finer. Most brow powder products come with stencils. If these fit, these should be used quietly.
Beautiful eyes and eyelashes
To give expression to the eyes, it is best to make up the eyelids in a dark shade. To do this, a neutral foundation powder is first applied to the eyelid. The inner part of the eyelid is then covered with a light eye shadow, the outer part with a dark eye shadow. For particularly radiant eyes, it is recommended to use the complementary color of his eyes as a lighter shade of eyeshadow. Blue tones suit brown eyes, dark pink and purple tones suit green eyes, and copper or apricot tones suit blue eyes. The effect is enhanced if a light shading is applied under the eyebrows. Once the eyelids are made up, the eyelid line is traced over the upper and lower lash lines with an eyeliner or kohl pencil. Missing eyelashes can be visually replaced by applying small dots at the edge of the eyelid. This makes the eyelashes appear denser and the eye is framed. If there are still enough eyelashes. mascara is used, which makes the eyelashes look powerful and dense.
Make up the lips
Similar to the eyes, the mouth can also be made up to attract attention. Due to radiation and chemotherapy, the lips often become chapped and dry.Regular use of moisturizing products such as glycerine is therefore recommended and also serves as a basis for lip makeup. A contour pencil is applied to the center of the lips and the lip contours are traced from the inside out. At the corner of the mouth, the line is gently blended out with the fingers. This gives the mouth a beautiful edge and prevents the lipstick color from running. The lips are then painted with a matching lipstick. Lipstick and contour pencil should have a similar shade and also match the eye shadow. The rule here is: have the courage to use color. Red lips look healthy and strong. Even if you may not feel that way, the sight of such a reflection does you good.
Hair and jewelry
Women suffering from cancer feel most scarred by the loss of hair. No wig, no scarf, no matter how good, can replace their own hair. But for the transition, wigs, scarves, hats and caps are still suitable to hide the bald scalp. And here, too, there is a lot of potential for experimentation: Make-up and a corresponding scarf can be coordinated with each other and additionally combined with matching earrings. There are no limits to the imagination. In this way, many women discover completely new sides and types of themselves and, even after surviving therapy, deal with their appearance in a much more open and creative way. In 2008, the young Dutch woman Sofie van der Stap caused an international sensation with her autobiography “Today I’m Blonde. In it, she describes how she bought nine different wigs during her chemotherapy and used them to create nine different roles for herself. She wanted to show that despite cancer, you can still laugh, feel beautiful and dress up.
