“The key to beauty is learning something new and then
applying it to your life.”
Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos/author and 3 time cancer survivor
So, you have a hot date for St. Patrick’s Day. Great! Now, how do you face the overwhelming
challenge of applying your old makeup techniques to your new treatment-face
while in therapy? The beauty strategies you previously used went down the drain
with your hair. And green, as in how you feel after your chemo, may not be your
color of choice right now.
Now what?
How do you play up eyes that lack eyelashes for mascara,
accentuate the arches of eyebrows which no longer exist, or find that dewy glow
your skin lost during your last therapy?
How can you accept a date looking like “death warmed over?” or greener
than the holiday beer? Well, if you are reading this Death did not land, and
green is a healing , magical color, so keep going. Can you look beautiful during
treatment? Yes you can!
Here are 7 tried-and-true make-up tips.
They will help you enjoy an unforgettable St. Patty’s Day by
rising above the challenge of beauty during therapy and looking down on the bigger
picture of life despite treatment. These
tips are easy and quick enough to use even after a long day of therapy, or
every day during treatment, and beyond.
You may not look exactly the same way you did befor
treatment, because you have survivor-glow,
a result off the depth of empathy you have acquired through baptism by
ffire. This is part of your new outer
glow that is shining from within. You look better than ever before. And your glow cannot be bought in a make-up bottle.
It is unique to you and comes from survivor confidence. It is your base. Wear it with pride.
Make-up can be a challenge during many therapies, but
especially cancer treatment.
No eyelashes or eyebrows to hold beauty products in place
can make you want to give up before you start.
But as a three time breast cancer survivor, I learned a trick or two
about beauty during treatment. These beauty tips will help you resonate with
inner light while you continue to heal.
These techniques can be used with any products including
organic cosmetics available in most natural and health food stores and
marketplaces. Your skin is a leaving
breathing organ, and the first line of defense against disease.
Take care of your skin and it will take care
of you.
1.) Your face is
already dry from medications, long hours in over air-conditioned hospitals, and
dehydrating treatment so you may choose to avoid face powder. It has a tendency
to settle into cracks and, yes, crevices; the result of skin cell moisture
loss.
2.) Use brown eyeliner
to define your eyes and a lighter taupe eye shadow, applied with a small brush,
to create your eye brows. Large crayon eyeliner pencils are more moisturizing
than powder, and easier to handle if your fingers are swollen, numb or tingling
from neuropathy, the temporary condition of some chemo-therapies. If power is
still your tool of choice, wet the brush with water, dip it into the powder and
then apply it to the eye area. It will keep less powder from irritating your
eye’s dehydrate mucus membranes, and also “set it”— hold your make-up in place
so that it does not travel into your tear ducts or the corners of your eyes.
3.) Keep your cosmetics
to a bare minimum and use tons of moisturizer. A drop of liquid make-up mixed
with moisturizer creates a beautiful healthy glow. A drop of moisturizer mixed
with cream blush, and applied to the apples of your cheeks will make you the
apple of his eye. It will give you just the right amount of color to make you
look naturally healthy. A fail-safe way to apply blush is to smile and your
“apples” will stand up and wave.
4.) Pink stick or gel
blush on your cheeks, forehead and chin can give you a sun-kissed radiance no
matter what skin tone you have. Use colors that are close to your own natural
skin tones.
5.) Sprayed your face
with an atomizer of water to set your make-up. Small cans of Evian spray are
available in department stores, or make your own “spritzer” by filling a spray
bottle with purified water. Use it throughout the day to feel refreshed and to maintain
that youth-dew-splendor.
6.) Lipstick or clear
gloss finishes a healthy look, and moisturizes your lips. There are many long lasting lipsticks on the
market from which to choose. Once
applied, you won’t need a touch-up, even after eating. That little bit of color
on your face can make such a difference.
7.) There is no make-up
that can brighten your face like a smile. Beauty is only skin deep but your
smile comes from the soul. Practice
smiling in the mirror for ‘muscle memory’ and used it whenever you feel like a
wet noodle. It will change more than your looks. It will change the vibration
around you by pulling it into a higher healing frequency. Higher vibrational
frequencies attract higher vibrations. So vibrate away and draw the best to
you.
Don’t be surprised if your laughter attracts attention. A
nurse may bring someone just starting their journey of healing over to you with
the words, “Look at her, she’s glowing. See, it’s not so bad.” Your luminosity is a beacon of light to
others still searching in the darkness of crisis. Share your survivor tips with
them. Increase your healing light by giving it away. This will make you even more beautiful—from
the inside out. It is also a great way to do two powerful things at once; pay
it forward to those still in need, and give back to the universe. And, it is a
way to acquire the luck of the Irish.
Sharing joy is
universally empowering. The universe is always aware.
Laughter and smiles go together like peanut and butter, and
both are contagious. They are something you want to catch and give to patients
who have a lowered resistance during treatment.
Laughter raises all vibrational levels within ear-shot, and gives you an
inner-radiance that shines through to the world with the message, “I’m still
here. I’m more than a survivor. I’m a Thriver!” So, give someone a smile, and
laugh ‘till it heals with confidence, while you are on your Saint Patrick’s Day
date. And remember, the Leprechauns are
watching.
Do you hear those tiny bells
of laughter? They sound like the fluttering rainbow colored wings of a beautiful butterfly, or grasshoppers communicating by rubbing their long green legs together. Don't be fooled. It's the daytime disguise of the leprechauns.
‘Tis the wee-folk.
They love a good joke, and the brave who look Fear in the eye and laugh at it, sending it scurrying back to the dark corners of the earth. Leprechauns are the tiny party-animals of the enchantment realms. Do you see the green dust floating on the breeze? There is love and magic in the air.
So while you are on your date, make
a wish, and perhaps seal it with a kiss?
This article is from Kathleen’s book SURVIVING CANCERLAND:
Intuitive Aspects of Healing
Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos is
a three-time breast cancer survivor
whose
dreams diagnosed cancer missed by the medical community. She survived stage-4
cancer & penned
SURVIVING CANCERLAND:
Intuitive Aspects of Healing. Understanding dreams allows her to
thrive & be of service to others in crisis.
Kat taught Special
Education & Psychology at University of South Florida. She’s a Radio Host,
Inspirational Speaker, R.A Bloch Cancer Foundation Hotline Counselor, Q&A cancer
& dream columnist, & contributor to OM Times and heath magazines. She’s
been featured on Radio, TV, in magazines & News Papers. Learn more @
http://www.survivingcancerland.com/
http://accessyourinnerguide.com/
