Oklahoma City seminar's makeup tips make cancer patients feel better
Hospitals give women free cosmetics

BY ANN KELLEY Comments 0
Published: November 13, 2009

Susan Adair is bound and determined not to wear the worry of cancer on her face.

Susan Adair of Oklahoma City learns makeup and cosmetic tips from Nicole Johnson.

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Beauty program offered for cancer patients

Nov 13The beauty seminar provides women undergoing cancer treatment with...

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Upcoming seminars

→1 to 3 p.m. Wednesday at OU Medical Center. Call Susan Nagelhout at 271-5885.

→3 to 5 p.m. Dec 8 at Deaconess Hospital. Call Dulce Bramblett at 604-4298.

→2 to 4 p.m. Dec. 17 at Mercy Hospital. Call Trisha Quarle at 752-3694.

To learn more

For more information about Look Good...Feel Better, go to lookgoodfeelbetter.org.

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Adair confidently abandoned her wig and makeup Tuesday for a makeover at the Look Good ... Feel Better program.

She was one of about a dozen women who attended the free American Cancer Society seminar at the Troy and Dollie Smith Cancer Center at Integris Baptist Medical Center.

"It’s going to be fun. I’m looking forward to see the new and improved me,” Adair joked.

She was seated at the edge of a long conference table after agreeing to be the model for the day’s demonstration. Her 29-year-old daughter sat nearby for support.

In about an hour, Adair’s face was flushed with vibrant colors and her head tastefully wrapped in an elegant scarf.

Look Good ... Feel Better is offered at hospitals across the metro area. The beauty seminar provides women undergoing cancer treatment with free, top-of-the-line cosmetics and tips from a certified cosmetologist.

The cosmetic kits contain about $250 in name brand products with every beauty essential from moisturizer to eyebrow pencils. Along with makeup tricks for dealing with changing skin and eyebrow loss, the women get instruction on wig care and creative scarf tying.

"It’s an opportunity to remind women to pamper themselves and show them they can still look great while they’re undergoing treatment,” said Gayle Johnson, American Cancer Society community manager of health initiatives.

The seminar also is a chance for them to connect with other women who are facing similar obstacles and share their experiences, she said.

"We’ve had participants make lifelong connections,” Johnson said.

"It’s a positive environment for them to open up, talk about their cancer and have a few laughs too.”

The course Tuesday was taught by American Cancer Society volunteer Nicole Johnson, a licensed cosmetologist for eight years. She said two of her family members have battled breast cancer, which has influenced her passion to help woman with the disease.

She isn’t shy about encouraging women to step out of their normal beauty routines and load themselves up with color.

"The main thing I try to do is to remind women they’re beautiful, no matter what,” Nicole Johnson said.