Beautiful despite the ugliness of the disease .. "makeup box" treatment forgotten in the face of cancer

Farida Ahmed

After the shock of diagnosis, persistent pressures and anxiety about medication, diet and treatment sessions that are expected to eliminate the disease, and almost certainly to eliminate the psyche of women with its ugly side effects, make-up box becomes a therapeutic supplement to fight cancer, and appearance care becomes one way to cling to life.

Increasing cases
There is no known date known for the first training workshop for cancer patients on the use of cosmetics, but now there is hardly a country without these workshops, which train patients to care for their skin, and make-up lines ranging from colored moisturizer to eye shadow, eyebrow and eyeliner and mascara, and often donated With those brand products.

According to the Global Fund for Cancer Research, 8.5 million women developed cancer in 2018, the most common breast cancer among them, contributing 25.4% of the total number of new cases diagnosed last year, and cervical cancer contributed 6.9% of the total number of cases in the same Year.

Beauty workshops
Beauty care workshops have proven effective in alleviating the depression that accompanies cancer patients during treatment, raising the quality of life by reducing distress, boosting morale and self-esteem.

An article in the European Journal of Cancer Care emphasizes the importance of cosmetic programs specifically designed to help cancer patients deal with side effects associated with appearance, such as hair loss and skin irritation and pallor which may lead to psychological and social distress, especially as medical evidence confirms the improvement of the patient's psyche Her view of herself also strengthens her confidence in her femininity and respect for her body and self, and becomes more positive when receiving treatment.

Well-being is essential
The psychological effect of having a cancer patient in front of a mirror after applying some cosmetics to her skin encouraged Egyptian beauty experts to volunteer this service in cancer hospitals, such as Abeer al-Najjar at the Bahia Breast Cancer Hospital in September.

As well as providing tips for skin care and attention to hair and how to deal with the fall, such as the initiative "Ante Ajmal" launched by the beauty expert Rasha Bahig.

20-year-old Noura Samir tells Al Jazeera about the effect of make-up on the psychology of her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer seven years ago.``I was a child when my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, '' she said. Many times whenever she saw her face in the mirror, "After three years of illness, Nora completed her 16th year, and with her first make-up, she decided to beautify her mother." She also persuaded her to wear light touches of makeup, painted her hairbrush, and put her blush and some blush. On her lips, I saw my mother smiling in front of the mirror, and persevered T. on that act day after day, and her psyche is improving, and talk to me and my brother and laugh after having been cut off laugh for years.

Nora says her mother, who died two years ago, was getting better by her make-up. "She died because her age was over, but I saw her happy when she looked in the mirror and recognized her beautiful features after she had avoided her before."

"Cancer treatment can greatly affect a woman's self-esteem and body image," Stacy Lewis, CancerCare's Women's Cancer Program Coordinator, said on the organization's Web site. "Sometimes these concerns are not addressed directly." That program is a way to address these concerns. It allows women to know that treatment may make changes, but there are cosmetic products we can use to help alleviate some of those concerns to boost self-confidence.

Beautiful face disease
Be Beautiful is the first Arab initiative to beautify cancer patients, launched in the Gulf region in 2012, and moved to Lebanon in 2015 and then arrived in Egypt in November 2018.

Her story began in 2013, when the two sisters Hanadi and Huda Al-Imam traveled to Canada after the latter became ill with cancer.There they attended a workshop to decorate cancer fighters using simple cosmetics, but their psychological impact on the patients was like magic.

The initiative originated, as Huda was alive, because of the absence of these workshops in the Arab countries, and three years after her death, Hanadi established an institution that commemorates the name of her sister, including the emergence of the campaign "Be Beautiful" and began to give workshops inside hospitals and treatment centers to fight cancer on how to put basic makeup Simple to hide the effects of chemo and boost their self-confidence.

When the campaign arrived in Egypt, two parts were added, one of which is good nutrition tips, and the second part is the psychological part. The campaign collaborates with international beauty companies, and its employees beautify women in various workshops and teach them to beautify themselves.

The Foundation is aware of how the patient's shape positively affects her mental health and improves her health.He stresses that the patients at the beginning of the workshop are silent, and during the development of cosmetics begin to laugh and talk and exchange views on their new appearance, which gives them the strength to overcome the difficult stage.