Together against cancer: Judith has been supporting DKMS LIFE for many years. The non-profit organization offers cosmetic seminars in which girls and women with cancer learn to better deal with the external changes of therapy. In an interview, managing director Ruth Neri explains why such seminars are important, especially in Corona times.

Ruth Neri: Of course, at first they are afraid; after all, cancer is often a matter of life and death. After the initial shock, many people switch over and become very pragmatic: they really develop a fighting spirit and don't want to let themselves be defeated. But for many it is still very stressful when their hair, eyelashes and eyebrows fall out during chemotherapy. We women often find this particularly bad because our appearance is simply part of our identity. As a result, many women lose self-confidence and courage to face life. Every look in the mirror reveals the illness and makes normal everyday life impossible. That's why we support with ours „look good “feel better”Cosmetic seminars help women cope better with their new appearance. Despite everything, you should feel comfortable and find yourself beautiful - that is part of the healing process.

Of course, it's about decorative cosmetics, how to thicken eyelashes, make up eyebrows and emphasize lips. But the most important thing is the motivation boost: the participants gain self-confidence with us. When you feel bad, a lipstick in a good mood color works wonders. And of course the community is also healing: the women compliment each other, most of them are smiling from ear to ear. You can literally feel how your life energy is coming back. As if they wanted to say: Now I'm not going back to bed, but rather to the hospital cafeteria or out for a walk.

Exactly. Normally we organize them „look good feel better“-Cosmetic seminars in clinics or other medical facilities, but of course that's not possible right now. So we do the two-hour workshop online with a maximum of ten participants. Beforehand, we send everyone a training package - a bag with a manual, tips to read and of course the products. We always start with a detailed greeting: Where are you sitting? What do you see when you look out the window? This is how we strengthen the feeling of community – we are together, even if we are in different places.

Each seminar begins with facial cleansing and care. We don't just want to show how women can best use cosmetic products. It's about well-being. The participants do something good for themselves and massage the creams and lotions in thoroughly. We call this self-care: simply taking time for yourself. We pay particular attention to the eyes and eyebrows. When eyebrow hair has fallen out, it can be difficult to find the right spot to trace. But you can measure the face quite easily. There are also some tricks for eyelashes that are falling out: For example, you can put small dots with an eyeliner where eyelashes are missing. And of course draw a delicate eyeliner to give the lash line volume. Hair replacement is also an issue. Many women wear wigs because they want to decide for themselves who can see that they are sick.

This is incredibly important. The more people talk openly about cancer, the more the disease loses its horror: in our society everything is supposed to be perfect, people just don't like talking about illness and death. It is all the more important that people who are in public show: Look, listen, the topic doesn't just have to be scary. Quite the opposite – our program encourages you. Judith also supports us with cosmetics, which we provide to seminar participants free of charge. A great gesture, as some patients would find it financially difficult to purchase these themselves. And secondly, we want our cosmetics seminars to have a long-term effect. Thanks to the product donations, the girls and women can regularly use what they have learned at home even after the workshop. In doing so, we give them a piece of normality, new self-esteem and joy in life.