“When we start treatment, we always look beautiful. It’s afterward that it subsides,” says Raymonde. The sixty-year-old has been fighting the disease since 2002. Cancer which recurred eight years ago, after a long period of remission. And that leaves traces, of course. “The skin dries out everywhere,” slips the neo-Briochine, arriving from Alsace. So, this Wednesday, January 7, Raymonde took part in the second onco-aesthetic workshop organized at the Saint-Brieuc hospital. A moment to “regain a little self-esteem” and from which “we come out with a smile”.
For two hours, five participants were able to benefit from the advice of Natacha Saad, marketing and communications manager at Pinceaux Raphaël. With training in aesthetics, the young woman comes to meet patients once a quarter as part of a partnership set up in the fall between Yves-Le Foll, the Belle & Bien association and Pinceaux Raphaël, SO. The first hour is devoted to treatments, the second to makeup.
“Little magic tricks”
Participants relearn good gestures and become familiar with a “healthy glow” routine to reproduce at home. The objective? “Boost self-confidence and create a bubble of well-being within this very medical world,” explains Natacha. It’s always good for morale. They appreciate their reflection in the mirror more, they no longer see just the face of a sick person.” The volunteer can also give tips for redrawing an eyebrow line or erasing loss of eyelashes, for example.
“At the beginning, patients are often reserved. But the better things go, the more comfortable they become. There may be a few slip-ups but they enjoy it and manage to let go.”
So many “little magic tricks” that makeup allows, which hides skin which dries out and becomes dull, or visible blood vessels. And offers the opportunity to “escape a little, to think about something other than the illness,” says Katell Lecroc, caregiver. “Make-up and skincare touch on a very personal sphere. At the beginning, patients are often reserved. But the better things go, the more comfortable they become. There may be a few misses but they have fun and manage to let go,” observes Sarah Lory, director of the cosmetics division at Pinceaux Raphaël.
-Escape
At the end of the session, each woman leaves with a kit validated by a scientific committee and containing the ten products used during the workshop. Lip balm, foundation, powder, moisturizer, lipstick… and brush, the Raphaël company having donated 640 pieces to Belle & Bien, which operates in around forty establishments in France.
Currently, only four workshops are scheduled per year. But appointments could be more frequent if a volunteer beautician were to join the program. “We are trying to find as many solutions as possible to offer sick people an escape,” summarizes Brigitte Pérignon, communications manager at Yves-Le Foll. The hospital is also a place where we can take refuge, with professionals who go beyond the care provided and offer that little extra that changes everyday life.”
Contact
Clément Charles, program manager for the Belle & Bien association: [email protected]; 01 56 69 67 71.
