St. Patrick’s Day During Cancer

by Kathleen Kanavos

“The key to beauty is learning something new and then applying it to your life.”

–Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos, author and three-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 seven tried-and-true make-up tips.

7 Make-Up Tips for Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day

They will help you enjoy an unforgettable St. Patrick’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 do not look exactly the same way you did before treatment, because you have survivor-glow, a result of the depth-of-empathy you have acquired through baptism-by-fire. This is part of your new outer glow that is shining from within. You look better than ever before. Your radiance cannot be bought in a make-up bottle. It is unique to you and comes from survivor confidence. It is your new 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. Remember, 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.

[dropcap]1.)[/dropcap]  Your face is already dry from medications, long hours in over air-conditioned hospitals, and dehydrating treatment. Therefore, you may choose to avoid face powders. It has a tendency to settle into cracks and, yes, crevices; the result of skin cell moisture loss.

[dropcap]2.)[/dropcap]  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 of it 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.

[dropcap]3.)[/dropcap]  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 to the correct parts of your face is to smile. Your “apples” will stand up and wave.

[dropcap]4.)[/dropcap]  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.

[dropcap]5.) [/dropcap] Spray 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.

[dropcap]6.)  [/dropcap]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. One less thing to worry about while on your date. And, that little bit of color on your face can make such a difference.

[dropcap]7.) [/dropcap] 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. It is also 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, while you are on your date, give someone a smile, and laugh ‘till it heals with confidence. And remember, the leprechauns are watching.

Do you hear those tiny bells of laughter? They sound like the fluttering of the rainbow colored wings of a beautiful butterfly, or grasshoppers rubbing their long green legs together. Don’t be fooled. It’s the daytime disguise of the leprechauns. ‘Tis the wee-folk watching…. 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 smile at your date, make a wish, and perhaps seal it with a kiss?

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About the Author

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-four cancer and penned SURVIVING CANCERLAND: Intuitive Aspects of Healing. Understanding dreams allows her to thrive and be of service to others in crisis. Kat taught Special Education and Psychology at University of South Florida. She is a radio host, inspirational speaker, R.A Bloch Cancer Foundation Hotline Counselor, Q&A cancer & dream columnist, and contributor to OMTimes and heath magazines. She has been featured on radio, TV, in magazines and newspapers. Learn more at: http://www.survivingcancerland.com/ and  http://accessyourinnerguide.com/