I was delighted to be asked
to write for Rani’s excellent blog and grateful to be offered the opportunity
to tell you all about BeautyDespiteCancer, the website dedicated to helping women maintain their appearance
throughout treatment for cancer.
At the moment the site is
mainly a shop for Defiant Beauty products, a skincare collection formulated for
‘chemo skin’.
In a few weeks the site will
offer more products, a Defiant Beauty Hair Care range, cosmetics and self-tan,
all created for cancer patients to use as they go through treatment. The
changes are not just restricted to the products on offer – the site will become
an online magazine with a team of about 30 writers, all experts in their fields
and all providing information to help cancer patients maintain their appearance
as they go through treatment. The magazine will also cover other subjects of interest to the cancer community such as insurance, finances,
well-being and exercise.
Chemo and radiotherapy can
damage skin as well as nail and hair growth. Prior to Defiant Beauty there were
no UK skin care products developed specifically for chemo skin*.
Many ladies undergoing
chemotherapy found themselves unable to tolerate brands that they had
previously enjoyed as there skin was now so sore, sensitive and itchy. They
want something to soothe and moisturise as well as moisturise their dry skin.
I became involved in skincare
for cancer patients as I was asked by some of the women that had already been
through treatment at my local hospital if I could develop something to help
patients as they went through chemo. Women do not stop being women when they
are diagnosed but, on the whole, beauty is denied them, and the team at my
local cancer centre wanted to change that.
I met with patients,
survivors and the lead nurses from chemotherapy and radiology and they told me
of the ingredients they they advised patients against using. We decided upon
some objectives for the range – something for body,
face, nails and lips that
was suitable for sensitive skin, natural, organic where possible and fragrance
free.
I decided upon a few more
restrictions after having done some research and so the skincare collection is
now oil based (no lotions or creams), fragrance-free (with the exception of a
couple of products where appropriate essential oils have been included for
their therapeutic properties), anti-oxidants at a level that will benefit only
the product and no plant oestrogens.
I spent a long time
developing the products – all of those restrictions made it difficult for me to
achieve those objectives and keep the price low.
Cancer patients have very
little income as they go through treatment, finances are a big concern for them
and we had to keep our prices as low as possible. I was asked to provide organic and natural
products that helped with some very specific conditions and keep them fragrance
free – no wonder it took a long time.
The first version of the
Defiant Beauty Collection went into the hospital for feedback and further
development. Luckily, not much more work was needed and the Defiant Beauty
Skincare Collection went on sale from a specialist salon on the Chemo ward of
University Hospital North Staffs in September 2011 and have been helping cancer
patients ever since.
......
*there is an American range
but their ingredients do not meet the criteria set out by my local NHS lead
team for skincare for cancer patients
