Right after my 29th birthday earlier this year, I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. I completed my eighth and final round of chemotherapy in July.
The biggest challenge I’ve had through this whole process has been trying to maintain a sense of “me.”
Chemo aggressively tried to strip that from me, but I found ways in which I could maintain my spirit and look like myself.
Makeup was one of the ways I was able to keep my morale high, even as I lost my hair. It helped me feel like I still fit into my former life.
As much as these are all cosmetic/material issues, they matter a lot, and they help me keep my spirits up in the pursuit of finding a deeper sense of self-love.
With the help of one of my best friends, Laura McMillan, I put together a makeup tutorial video, which takes you from the start — where I have no hair, eyebrows, or eyelashes — to the very end of my process, where I can recognize myself again!
For those of you watching that are currently going through chemo, I hope you find it helpful and uplifting.
This post and video originally appeared on Bay Street Hippie. Video was directed, filmed, and edited by Laura McMillan.