Ask Amelia
Thank you for continuing to send us your questions! As always, below we are sharing with the intention to be helpful. We encourage you to continue to send us your comments and questions through contact us.
What is your best/go-to beauty routine?
In terms of a skin care routine, my three steps are:
Cleanse using Simple Skin Cleansing Cloths
Apply small amount of coconut oil under eyes, on laugh lines and lips
Apply Kiehl’s moisturizer (Ultra Facial Moisturizer SPF 30 during day, Ultra Facial Moisturizer for night)
In terms of a makeup routine, my five steps after cleansing and moisturizing are:
Lightly apply eye-base and concealer to entire eye area
Apply Ogee blush (from their trio collection)
Draw eyeliner and eyebrows
Dab loose powder over face with brush to set
Apply lipstick.
How should I wash my head w/no hair?
I think it is very important to nourish your scalp. In 2019, when my hair fell out with my first chemotherapy routine, I continued to treat my scalp as if I had hair and in fact, was even gentler with it than before. I continued to wash my scalp with shampoo and apply conditioner and rinse, just as I did when previously washing my hair. I also applied coconut oil and massaged it into my scalp at night. I felt this was both soothing to my scalp as well as to me, because it would relax me and help me cope with the loss of my hair. Whenever I went outdoors, I always applied sunscreen (@least SPF30) to ensure I was protecting my scalp. I also wore a hat, headwrap or other head covering to help prevent any sun damage.
Eyebrows are really hard to draw. No matter how hard I try, I end up looking sad. What did you do?
One of the best comments I heard early on from someone who was helping me with my eyebrows was: “eyebrows are sisters, not twins”. I loved that comment! And from that moment on, I began to approach drawing them back on with less “need for perfection”.
Two tools I have found very helpful are
Using an eyebrow stencil that helps you sketch the shape and see which eyebrow shape is most flattering for you and
A very good eyebrow pencil — with a sharp led so that you can truly draw it on in strokes. A tip I received early on is to draw it in strokes as if you were brushing your eyebrows up and thus it will fill in the shape and look very natural.
In our upcoming Spring Toolkit, we will demonstrate a few tricks to drawing them on so that they look natural and last throughout the day, so be sure to check back for our toolkit release.
I’ve begun chemotherapy and last week noticed that my nails are turning dark. Did this happen to you?
Yes, unfortunately this is quite common, especially with the first rounds of chemotherapy. When this happened to me, I began to paint my nails darker shades and/or polishes that had a more cream-based finish so that it colored in the full nail, versus polishes that are sheer or even semi-sheer.
With love,
Amelia O.
