Last month I attended a beauty workshop at the QE run by the charity "Look Good, Feel Better". You may have heard of them already. They run free workshops manned by volunteers for cancer patients to teach women who have had or are having chemo or radiotherapy which has affected their appearance to make themselves look normal by the clever use of make-up. It was a really invigorating experience.
About 20 of us met in the boardroom of the post-graduate center at the QE, with about 5 trained beauticians, one demonstrating on a volunteer patient. As you arrive you are shown to a seat at a large table with a place-mat printed with a 12-step make-up programme, a large mirror and a large white "sponge-bag" in front of each chair. First step is to open your goodie-bag and place everything in front of you, then begin with cleansing, toning, through concealer and colour corrector, foundation, loose powder, eye shadow, eye liner, eye brow pencil, mascara, blusher, lip liner and lipstick, a choice of 2 in each bag. There is also a large bottle of shower gel, a lip balm and a blending brush. All the cosmetics in the bag are free for you to use at the session and then take home with you. The brands are a mixture of budget, mid range and luxury, but all suitable for sensitive skins. There are 4 skin colours available, so there is a pack to suit everyone. My bag contained some lovely brands, Simple, Boots No 7, Max Factor, Clinique, Clarins, Dior, Rimmel, Lancome and Diesel shower gel, their "Fuel for Life" flavour, which I thought was an inspired choice of name, never mind what it smells like ! I did some price checking on the web later and the retail value of my bag was over £200.
Tea and coffee or water are available during the session which lasts about 2 hours and we had great fun, chatting, making friends, some swopping of cancer experiences was inevitable, but in camaraderie, not mine's worse then yours. It was lovely to all be girls together with a common bond, ages ranged from 20's to 70's I would say. One lady said it was special to have those 2 hours exclusively for herself, instead of always having to be the strong one, keeping her family together. Most people had had or were still having chemotherapy so I felt a bit of a fraud, no-one had heard of NETs or carcinoid, so I didn't make a big deal of it, just referred to it a rare type of bowel cancer that had spread to the liver but was fortunately slow growing, and left it at that. I did check before I booked a place if I would be eligible, but the advisor in the Patrick Room told me the only qualification was to be being treated at the Cancer Centre. There are 60 centres around the country at the moment with more planned. The sponsors are the Cosmetic,Toiletry & Perfumery Foundation. The web address is:
www.lgfb.co.uk. So come on you ladies out there, find out if you too can experience this lovely treat and have a wonderful time. They do also arrange sessions for chaps and teenagers when they can get sufficient numbers together, different goodie-bags, obviously !
Best wishes to all of you, Linda
