Smiling is not always easy. People suffering from debilitating diseases know this all too well. And to bring a smile to women waiting for their chemotherapy session, this morning, on Valentine's Day, a makeup room was set up on the second floor of the Naples Cancer Institute. Here, beauticians Ida Marseglia and Claudia Cannella made up a dozen patients for free, offered them Baci Perugina chocolates, donated heart-shaped balloons, scarves and bands to cover the pics, and gave advice on how to treat the skin during chemotherapy or how to redraw eyebrows lost due to medication.
The initiative was a great success: "There is a sense of femininity and corporeality that needs to be recovered, this is a service that helps women. Patients are reacting with tremendous enthusiasm. Some have decided to get makeup and others have only accepted advice on which creams are best suited to cover spots and wrinkles, how to hide premature skin aging caused by medication," says Carmen Pacilio, a breast specialist on Michelino De Laurentiis' team and promoter of the project, a project aimed at improving patients' quality of life and made possible thanks to Anna Napolitano, a patient of Pacilio's, who has always been involved in volunteering.
"I launched the idea months ago to my doctor who immediately accepted it. The idea takes into account the sensitivity and desire of patients, often tested both physically and psychologically, to still feel like a woman and therefore to restore a reassuring appearance despite the disease". The beauticians were also supported by kinesiologist Loredana Loperco, who taught relaxation and breathing techniques.
The team's task this morning went beyond makeup, revealing small tricks on how to arrange scarves, wigs, and turbans when hair falls out and eyebrows thin under the effect of medication. "The camouflage effect - say the two beauticians - serves to attenuate dark circles, to mitigate the opacity of the skin that has lost brightness". For the oncologists of the Institute, makeup also takes on value to hide one's state of mind, the fear of no longer feeling like a woman.
The goal was reached when one of the made-up patients said, smiling: "So made-up I can't go home, I have to drag my husband to take me out".
The next makeup appointment before chemo is set for March 8th.