Mother. Sister. Client. You. Breast cancer affects every beauty pro, whether you’re personally battling this dreaded disease, or supporting others while they’re fighting for their lives. But thankfully, with the billions of dollars being spent on research, treatment advances and early detection, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
It’s truly counterintuitive for beauty pros to simply stand by as the battle of good (healthy) versus evil (breast cancer) rages around them—particularly when this disease strikes at the very heart of every salon’s business: women. But true to their natural proclivity for beating the odds and doing good, the personal efforts of many involved in the pro beauty industry are supporting causes that work to make deaths caused by breast cancer a thing of the past.
At the grassroots level, beauty pros are a spunky, passionate lot who’ve already proven themselves to be elite fighters, survivors and caregivers. Thousands of dedicated salons, stylists, nail techs, and estheticians are striving to beat breast cancer through fundraising, supporting product companies with pink-ribbon programs, and caring for those in the throes of battling this ugly disease. Your efforts are many: skilled, cancer-centric skincare treatments; advanced lymphatic drainage to alleviate lymphedema after breast cancer surgery; expert wig styling for those suffering from hair loss; restorative scalp and hair treatments; and, equally important, your personal healing touch.
Today, thanks in part to the efforts of beauty corporations, salons and stylists, 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States remain victorious against this life-threatening disease. And incidences of breast cancer have been steadily dropping since 1990. But make no mistake about it—there’s still much work to be done and many more battles to win before this enemy is beaten for good. Underscoring the need to continue waging a no-holds-barred war against this killer are two sobering facts: According to the American Cancer Society, by year’s end there will be approximately 182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in the United States and, sadly, an estimated 40,480 women will die of the disease.
One of the ways in which you can help to beat the disease is by retailing (or using) the products featured on the following pages. By supporting these companies you, in turn, aid the many charitable organizations dedicated to eradicating breast cancer.
—Jeryl E. Spear and Alyson Osterman
