Make Up

Pre-chemo, my make-up usage was limited to expired mascara and eye pencils for drawing whiskers on my kids. Then I read “Don’t worry if your skin turns green or gray. It will reverse when chemo is finished”. My partner and I had decided to keep the cancer fairly private for our own sanity so turning green and having no eyebrows seemed… less than ideal. I read a bunch of articles and guides about foundations and primers and color matching and so many things I just knew nothing about. But across the board, they all said to do your color matching before starting chemo.

Since I didn’t know what most of the products recommended were, how to color match or how to apply anything, I went to a local makeup counter – Blue Mercury. I called them before I came and let them know why I was coming. They were extra gentle with me and didn’t do any hard sells since they knew this wasn’t trying a new look but, instead, managing my emotional health during something really awful.

I had my list of products I’d need from my cancer beauty websites and the very lovely counter person said “this isn’t going to be right for you; it’s just too much”. They had a bit of a think and came back with super simplified routine:

a tinted moisturizer,
tinted lip balm for my lips and cheeks, and,
an eyebrow pencil

They taught me how to use them, let me practice while I was there and put some notes in their system about what the makeup was for. A few cycles later, I went back for a concealer to hide my purple eyes and mottled spots. They had another think and sent me home with a color correcting primer instead because my discoloration was so odd.

Once my lack of eye lashes started to get me down, I really wanted some false lashes. But that sensitive skin? No adhesives advised. I tried some magnetic lashes with an ok result. Instead of 3 coats of the liner I needed about 15, but they were a nice treat on the nights I was able to go out. I did eventually give up on them and went for proper falsies after the worst of the chemo and didn’t have any trouble with the adhesives. The shorter lashes, 7 mm or less, looked really natural and you can find bands that are thinner than .3 mm, which means you won’t need to wear eyeliner to wear them.

I don’t think I’ll keep wearing make-up after chemo, but I definitely appreciate that I was able to use it so that I didn’t look sick as sick as I was. I think the most important product was the eyebrow pencil. You do a lot of communicating with them and a lack of eyebrows is probably more jarring in an interaction than a bald head.