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TagsBY ALICIA CRUZ
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
The New Jersey Chapter of the American Cancer Society wants to help cancer patients feel better about themselves through their "Look Good ... Feel Better" program offered by ACS, the National Cosmetology Association and the Professional Beauty Association.
For more than 20 years, the American Cancer Society has been putting cancer patients with makeup artists and hair stylists in free workshops like "Look Good...Feel Better."
This program, available across the country, presents cancer patients with a donated gift bag filled with name-brand products in addition to group workshops and a one-on-one session with a professional stylist for makeover, makeup therapy.
That's where Kristin Siivonen, a New York makeup and hair stylist, comes in. Siivonen volunteers with the program and offers the women makeup tips such as learning how to draw in eyebrows and choosing the best wig.
Flordeliza Mahilum, a 50-year-old respatory therapist from Bloomberg who fought breast cancer, wound up with patches of discoloration on her face and hands then lost her hair after chemotherapy treatment. It left her feeling self-conscious so in her eyes, the "Look Good ... Feel Better" program is heaven-sent.
The native of the Philippine Islands told the Star-Ledger, "It makes you feel good knowing that you look good. You don't have to look like you're sick, just because you have this disease. I won't allow that for myself. I can't go there (to work) bald and looking really sick."
Siivonen agreed, "We all want to feel pretty."
The makeover, make-up therapy tricks Siivonen teaches to patients help them mask the effects of chemotherapy in order to boost their self-esteem thus re-building their emotional well-being.
The ACS offers similar programs targeted at men and teenagers living with cancer. For more information on these programs call (800) 395-LOOK or (973) 508-5686 locally.
