9 confidence-boosting beauty tips for women with cancer

Finding out you have cancer is life-changing, and the added stress of the visible side effects can feel overwhelming. 

As well as the physical and emotional changes people experience when going through cancer, cancer treatment can cause challenges to your beauty routine – like changes to skin tone, redness, sparse eyebrows and eyelashes, thinning or loss of hair and brittle and damaged nails – thus impacting your body confidence.

That’s why charities like Look Good Feel Better (LGFB) are so vital. LGFB is a national charity that runs free skincare and makeup workshops and masterclasses all over the UK to help women and teenagers combat the visible side effects of treatment. The group sessions are led by volunteer beauty professionals who teach people useful techniques, such as dealing with complexion changes and how to draw on missing eyebrows. As a lot of cancer patients can attest, it’s tackling these small daily beauty conundrums that can help you feel like yourself again.

Over on social media, there’s a solid community of women, going through the same thing, helping each other. TikTok is the first place to go to spot a beauty trend and genius tips it’s no different for women sharing game-changing beauty hacks.

With World Cancer Day taking place on February 4, we’ve rounded up the best beauty tips from the volunteers at Look Good Feel Better and from TikTok.

Cleansing your skin properly is vital at any time; it removes dirt, pollution and keeps things feeling fresh and it’s a beauty step that most people practise daily. During and after cancer treatment, it’s important to use hypo-allergenic cleansing products suitable for sensitive skin and not to rub or drag the skin. A good cleansing routine includes eye makeup removal, skin cleansing and toning with a gentle, non-stripping facial toner. Balm cleansing products are particularly good as they are really hydrating so be sure to check those out.

Skin will often become drier during treatment, so it is essential to moisturise regularly. “Make sure you use gentle products and apply with light massaging movements – and don’t forget your neck,” say the pros. Be sure to let the moisturiser settle into your skin properly before applying your foundation or face powder. “Try adding a serum into your routine, these are wonderfully hydrating and can help calm the skin,” say LGFB pros.

Chemotherapy can cause high colour, flushing and blotchiness and according to the experts, using a green colour corrector can help to even out skin tone and disguise redness. “Apply a very small amount to affected areas before your foundation. Be careful as a little goes a long way – you don’t want to end up looking like Shrek,” they joke.

Drawing on missing eyebrows can seem daunting at first, but with a little practice, you’ll be amazed at the results. There are lots of products on the market including pencils, gels and powders. “Pencils are best if you have completely lost your brows and chose a shade that is the same colour or slightly lighter than your natural hair colour,” they suggest. Over on TikTok @rally.with.allie shared a clever solution she found – temporary tattoo eyebrows. You transfer them on by activating them with water, like you would with any other temporary tattoo. And if you have any brow hairs left, it’s good to use them as a rough guide for the most natural looking placement. 

Eyeliner adds instant shape and definition to your eyes and it can also help to create the illusion of eyelashes if they are missing. Using a soft eyeliner pencil, start at the outer corner of your eyelid and slowly work your way in, going as close to the lash line as possible. Use a cotton bud to gently soften the line.

Fake lashes can help make your makeup feel complete. If you’re applying falsies, just make sure to wait a decent amount of time for the glue to dry before applying them as close to your lash line as possible. Or if you have a few lashes, but you’re looking to bulk them out, @brynastrong swears by magnetic lashes which sandwich your natural lashes between two layers of faux lashes.