My experience with Look Good, Feel Better -the beauty industry's charity

About four weeks ago, I read Le Salon de Beaute's post about volunteering she does for the Look Good, Feel Better charity which involves beauty therapists or make up artists volunteering their time to provide a make up workshop for women suffering from cancer. I was really inspired by her post, so I got in contact with the charity to offer some of my time to their excellent cause.

The charity were very quick in responding to my email and promptly it was arranged that I would go along to the nearest participating hospital to observe a workshop. I was a little nervous and I didn't know what to expect as I'd never really been around poorly people, so I wasn't sure how I'd react or cope. I toyed with the idea of sitting at the back of the room to silently watch the proceedings, however, within five minutes of arriving, seeing the room all set up and the other volunteers I got stuck in and it was my most rewarding day in a long time.

I have to say it really was an enjoyable experience and I thoroughly had a good time.  There were 14 ladies in the two hour workshop and they were all excited to be there and all willing to poke a bit of fun at themselves and have a go at applying make up.

The volunteers are on hand to help guide the ladies in applying a full face of make up from cleansing right through to lipstick. It was such a joy to see these ladies arrive with no make up and then leave happy, more confident and uplifted with a full face of make up and lots of tips on how best to do their make up to achieve the look that they want.

The ladies get a 'Confidence Kit' containing products donated by various product houses. A typical kit would have cleansing products, foundations, powders, eye products including eye cream and lip products. There are a lot of amazed faces when you say the kits are theirs to keep. Plus as a make up artist or beauty fanatic, its a lot of fun going through all the bags and seeing what products are in them. I was really amazed by the generosity of the product houses as they donated premium products and not any bottom of the barrel stuff.

Once they've checked their products, the volunteers take them through a step by step programme on applying the make up. Most of the ladies are concerned with how to emphasise their eyebrows or lashes, which is very important as they may be having chemotherapy and suffering from hair loss.  Some want to improve the colour of their skin and mask any redness or sallowness. The looks on their faces are priceless, when they realise they can still look feminine and all done up, regardless of their treatment.

I really enjoyed going round and giving the ladies tips on how to apply different products and doing mini applications so each lady knows what works best for them. As a make up artist helping people enhance what they already have has always given me great satisfaction and I felt I really put my skills to good use.

I had a sneaky peek at some of the feedback form and one comment that stuck in my mind was - 'they exceeded all my expectations.' Look Good, Feel Better are always looking for volunteers to help run the workshops or products/tools donations and its a positive experience for everyone. If you have a couple of hours to spare and you want to get involved, contact them: Look Good, Feel Better