Chemo Makeup Tutorial: A Natural Glow When You’re Feeling Low

When you’re fighting cancer, keeping a positive attitude is a must. But that’s easier said than done when you’re exhausted, worried about cancer, and you can hardly recognize yourself in the mirror. When your hair is falling out and your skin is looking paler than you’d like, it’s hard to just say “suck it up buttercup” and put on a smile.

Audrey felt the same way. This mother of two from the UK was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer at 35. She felt isolated because she didn’t see a lot of other women her age going through treatment. She started her social media channel, cancerwithasmile, as a way to connect with other women her age (as well as younger and older) who were going through breast cancer.

At the time of the video below, Audrey had gone through a lumpectomy, radiation, four rounds of chemo, and had another round of chemo scheduled.

But that didn’t keep her from wanting to look and feel her best—she just changed up her strategy! Below she shares some simple tips for creating a natural, glowing makeup look tailored especially to folks who have gone through chemotherapy.

Audrey says that, when she’s not filming a video, her makeup routine takes her about 5 to 10 minutes, but she’s clearly very practiced! She uses basic makeup techniques and tools that you can pick and choose from while enjoying her sweet voice and listening to snippets of her story.

The tutorial is filled with chemo-specific makeup tips, like that eyeliner will give you the illusion of lashes if you’ve lost yours in treatment. Now that Audrey has no hair, she says her look is, “all about the eyebrows.” She goes a little dark on the eyebrows, but reminds us that they’ll look lighter once she has her head covering on. She also has practical tips about how to measure the right length for your eyebrows and how to tie a headscarf that anyone can benefit from.

She describes her look as: “Nice and fresh. Makes you feel good about yourself when you’re maybe not feeling the best inside.”

We hope her tutorial helps you feel as fabulous as you are—regardless of how much makeup you do or don’t use. Please note that the tutorial starts about 3 minutes in, so skip ahead if you’d like! Keep smiling, friends!