Graciela Rojas recently was hooked to an IV for chemotherapy inside the Kaiser Permanente San Leandro Infusion Center to treat her breast cancer when she noticed a different kind of provider in the clinic.
Gina Arellano wheeled a cart with shelves full of makeup, lotions, skin-care products, and aromatherapy. Arellano is with Lipstick Angels, a national nonprofit that offers cosmetic services to patients in hospitals and cancer centers.
After chatting with Arellano about the services she provides, Rojas decided on a hand-cream treatment and head massage.
“Now I’m relaxed,” said Rojas. “What I’m living with is very stressful.”
Helping patients look and feel their best
Lipstick Angels is a nonprofit that was founded in 2012 to compassionately support and bring joy to cancer patients through beauty and wellness services.
Founder and CEO Renata Helfman-Baron said she was inspired to start the nonprofit after her grandmother battled cancer. Helfman-Baron, who worked as a professional makeup artist, remembers helping her grandmother get ready for her chemotherapy appointments.
“She was always the one leaving the house with lipstick, so it was really important for her going into those sessions feeling her best,” she said.
Helfman-Baron witnessed the positive impact those beauty treatments had on her grandmother’s spirit and started brainstorming ways to help others.
“I thought, ‘Why don’t I do for other women what I did for my grandmother?'” she said.
Thanks to a generous donation from a member, Kaiser Permanente San Leandro became the first Kaiser Permanente hospital to offer the Lipstick Angels. Beauty services are offered once a week and are free of charge to patients at the infusion center. They have services and treatments available for both men and women.
Deepa Reddy, MD, a Kaiser Permanente San Leandro oncologist, said Lipstick Angels is providing a valuable service to patients, giving them comfort and a much-needed distraction during treatments that can often take several hours.
“Our nurses are wonderful. They provide a lot of warmth and humanity to these patients, and it’s great that Lipstick Angels can provide another element to that,” she said.
Pampered by the angels
On a recent Tuesday, while receiving chemotherapy for ovarian cancer, 69-year-old Catrina Bevilacqua gladly accepted Arellano’s offer of a facial.
“I felt like being pampered today,” Bevilacqua said.
After the facial, she received an eyebrow fill and lip color. Arellano also gave her a goody bag containing some of the makeup colors they used.
Helfman-Baron said Lipstick Angels also gives patients the tools and tips they need so they can do the beauty treatments themselves and prioritize their own self-care, even when they are at home.
It made all the difference for Bevilacqua who literally called Arellano “an angel”.
“They lifted my spirits,” Bevilacqua said. “I hope they keep the service up for us. It’s really nice.”
