Live Up to Your Lipstick

That title line is from Geralyn Lucas, author of "Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy," and moderator of a panel discussion of "The Lipstick Theory," on this the first morning of the Personal Care Product Council (PCPC) annual meeting. The annual report of the PCPC's Look Good ... Feel Better (LGFB) program never fails to move me and all the people in the room, with very personal stories of cancer patients learning to apply makeup so that they can appear as normal as possible during very trying times. Lucas' feisty response to her cancer diagnosis is a real inspiration, as is the great work of LGFB. She says she wasn't much of a lipstick wearer before her cancer surgery, but she wore a great red lipstick to her operation and it helped see her through.

Lucas was joined on the panel by two breast cancer survivors and LGFB graduates along with Rick DeCecca, Estee Lauder trainer, global makeup stylist and LGFB volunteer, and Eivind Bjerke, LGFB volunteer cosmetologist, wig expert and Washington D.C. salon proprietor. Their stories both of survival and of voluntering for this fantastic program were incredibly inspiring. I urge everyone who can to get involved in this LGFB program in any way you can. More information is available at the Look Good ... Feel Better web site. Whether you make it, market it or wear it, this is one way we can all live up to our lipstick.