Defy Cancer by Redefining Yourself

In 2017, Look Good Feel Better honored actress Krysta Rodriguez at its annual BeautyCares DreamBall, the beauty industry’s philanthropic event that honors industry leaders, legends, heroes, advocates and survivors in support of LGFB. Krysta’s public battle with breast cancer played out before our very eyes. She not only inspired us with her cancer-meets-high-fashion blog, she also played a television character undergoing cancer treatment onscreen while simultaneously undergoing similar treatment in her real life. Krysta’s unvarnished honesty is rivaled only by her infectious energy and passion for life. She has been a staunch advocate for the Look Good Feel Better program and the people it serves. Today, we are honored as she shares and reflects on her story and cancer journey and are grateful for her continued support:

Defy Cancer by Redefining Yourself

By Krysta Rodriguez
Actress and 2017 Look Good Feel Better “DreamGirl”

It’s hard to imagine that it has been almost seven years since my breast cancer diagnosis. It feels like a lifetime ago. And it feels like just yesterday.

Emotions came in waves. Fear. Anxiety. A deep sadness that I was somehow hurting others in my life because I had cancer. Like: I was making my parents suffer so much worrying about me!  Yes, cancer really does affect more than just your internal organs. It is a whole mind and body disease, and it affects those closest to you.

For someone like me, harboring childhood dreams of a life in the spotlight and blessed with the good fortune to see those dreams come true, a breast cancer diagnosis was not in the script. At just 30 years old, I was focused on doing the work that I love: singing, directing, acting – putting on makeup and costumes to take on different personas and personalities.

Cancer forced me to confront who Krysta really was.

Was I going to be the tough fighter who always gets back up off the mat? The fearless adventurer who’s not afraid of what lurks behind the next dark corner? The rebellious youth who swims furiously against the tide, defying all conventions and expectations?

Turns out, I was a little bit of all of them. 

Unlike most people, I lived my cancer journey in front of cameras, having been cast as a cancer patient going through chemotherapy for a TV series, while I was going through chemotherapy in real life. I’d be on set one day, connected to fake machines and wearing makeup to give me that chemo-pallor under the lights, only to be in my real chemo room the following day: no stage makeup required.

At the suggestion of my mom, I started a blog – ChemoCouture – smashing together my love of fashion and makeup with my reality. I wanted to inspire other young women like me, facing an unexpected and life-altering diagnosis, to be courageous, fearless and fabulous. I didn’t mask the hard stuff. Rather, I embraced the rebellious fighter within and shared my story with those who cared to listen.

Those followers became part of my inner circle. I soon learned the hidden truth about cancer: it is a solitary disease that makes you part of global a community. Every feeling, every experience, every emotion is at once your very own and shared by thousands of others just like you.  Knowing that you are not alone, that others have been through this and not only survived but emerged as stronger, more confident, more resilient individuals is inspiring.

That’s what’s so important about a program like Look Good Feel Better. Yes, the workshops and makeup tutorials are important. Learning how to rock a wig or a turban can instill instant confidence. But the community aspect of the program – the sharing of stories and experiences that only people who are on the cancer journey can understand – is more powerful still. 

People emerge from a Look Good Feel Better program with a glow. Not just because of the products they learned how to use, but because they have been embraced and welcomed into a powerful community.

Cancer tests you. It tests your will, your resolve, your stamina. It shifts your perspective. As a survivor, I can look back now and see past the negatives – the treatments, the surgeries, the side-effects – and embrace the positives. I have been redefined from the inside out.

Yes, I still harbor those same childhood dreams of acting and singing and directing. I relish every opportunity to share my art with others – despite the pandemic. Still, I am more than just the fighter, the adventurer or the rebel. I am Krysta, the survivor, the nurturer, the proud member of the cancer community.

If you know someone going through cancer, understand they are transforming as well. They are on a journey of self-discovery – defining who they will be once they are no longer a “cancer patient.” Be there for them. Support them. Love them. And if you think they might benefit from a Look Good Feel Better workshop, introduce them to this amazing program and the community it fosters.

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Statement by the Personal Care Products Council and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association on the FDA’s Proposed Administrative Order for Sunscreens

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS:       

Lisa Powers, (202) 297-1232, powersl@personalcarecouncil.org
Mike Tringale, (202) 429-3520, mtringale@chpa.org

Washington, D.C. – “Sunscreens are a crucial and well-recognized tool in the fight against skin cancer. The dangers of excessive sun exposure are clear and universally recognized by public health professionals, including prominent dermatologists. As part of the revised regulation of sunscreens, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed Administrative Order today, largely mirroring provisions made in its 2019 Tentative Final Monograph (TFM). These include revisions and updates related to maximum sun protection factor (SPF) values, active ingredients, broad spectrum requirements and product labeling.

“As part of today’s proposed Administrative Order, the FDA is reiterating its request for additional data for some sunscreen filters currently approved in the U.S. to further evaluate their status as generally recognized as safe and effective (GRASE). Importantly, sunscreens made with these ingredients are not considered unsafe by the FDA and will remain on the market to be used as part of consumers’ sun-safe practices while more data are collected. Not all of these ultraviolet (UV) filters are used in formulations marketed today.

“In the U.S., sunscreen products are regulated by the FDA as non-prescription, over-the-counter (OTC) drug products. Our industry has long supported OTC monograph reform, and our member companies remain committed to working with the FDA to further demonstrate the safety of UV filters in sunscreens – avobenzone, oxybenzone, octocrylene, octisalate, octinoxate, homosalate, ensulizole and meradimate. These filters are approved globally in Europe and other regions around the world and have been used in formulations in the U.S. for decades.

“Numerous nonprofit health organizations and government agencies worldwide, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) and Skin Cancer Foundation, recommend continuing to use sunscreens as part of a safe-sun regimen. The FDA noted in its announcement of the proposed Order, ‘Sun safety is important for everyone, regardless of your skin tone. Americans can reduce risks from sun exposure with continued use of sun protection measures including broad spectrum sunscreen.’ Ensuring consumers have access to sunscreen products containing UVA protection is an important contribution to the FDA’s public health mission. 

“The personal care and consumer healthcare products industries have a long history of working to improve the well-being of the people who trust and rely on our products every day. Our goal is to provide consumers with access to a wide variety of safe, effective and innovative sunscreens to meet the differing needs of individuals and their families. Sunscreen products protect consumers from harmful UV rays that can cause premature aging and skin cancer. We hope that using sunscreen becomes as much of a health habit as putting on your seatbelt.”  

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About the Personal Care Products Council
Founded in 1894, the Personal Care Products Council (PCPC) is the voice and advocate for 600 member companies representing the $450 billion global cosmetics and personal care products industry. PCPC’s members represent approximately 90% of the U.S. beauty industry and are some of the most beloved and trusted brands in beauty and personal care today. As manufacturers, distributers and suppliers of a diverse range of products millions of consumers rely on every day – from sunscreens, toothpaste and shampoo to moisturizer, makeup and fragrance – PCPC’s member companies are global leaders committed to safety, quality and innovation. For more information on cosmetics and personal care products, please visit www.CosmeticsInfo.org.

About the Consumer Healthcare Products Association
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), founded in 1881, is the national trade association representing the leading manufacturers and marketers of consumer healthcare products, including over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, dietary supplements, and consumer medical devices. CHPA is committed to empowering self-care by ensuring that Americans have access to products they can count on to be reliable, affordable, and convenient, while also delivering new and better ways to get and stay healthy. Visit www.chpa.org.

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Let’s Dream Big Together

by Keech Combe Shetty
Executive Chair, Combe, Inc., and
Board Chair, Personal Care Products Council

As the third-generation leader of the business started by my grandparents, I feel a certain sense of duty and obligation to embrace and perpetuate their dream that inspired Combe more than 70 years ago. Because they approached our business as a family, I have never known a reality where the company, and the personal care products industry, was not deeply intertwined with my nuclear family.

As such, I hold the same hopes, dreams and aspirations for my company and our collective industry as I do for my own family: that we reach for our highest ambitions; that we treat one another with kindness, dignity and respect while achieving those aspirations; that we live and work for a purpose greater than ourselves.

That’s why Look Good Feel Better is so important to me. I know how challenging a cancer diagnosis can be for families, because I’ve lived through the experience alongside my lifelong best friend, Reshma. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer, our intertwined families felt the impact. Her struggles became our struggles and fears. Her strength and determination to reclaim her health fostered our hope.

Standing with Reshma through her journey invigorates my passion about Look Good Feel Better and the incredible support that we as an industry provide to women in cancer treatment. Over the past 18 months – in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic – Look Good Feel Better has not wavered from its mission. When the pandemic rendered hosting in-person workshops impossible, Look Good Feel Better was there, ready to expand its LIVE! virtual workshop platform and provide a vital means of connection and support to women already feeling isolated and vulnerable because of their diagnosis. 

Responding to this challenge has become Look Good Feel Better’s greatest opportunity. We all know the transformative power of digital media to fundamentally change the way we do businesses. This year, Look Good Feel Better expanded its virtual presence beyond its core beauty workshops to include new content geared for every woman who wants to feel better. This exciting new content strategy, paired with its core beauty content, is enabling Look Good Feel Better to reach more women than ever before.

And reaching more women means helping more women. 

As leaders of the personal care products industry, we can do our part by supporting Look Good Feel Better’s annual BeautyCares DreamBall, which will be held virtually on Sept. 23, 2021. This year’s DreamBall will honor legends, advocates, heroes and survivors, including Leonard A. Lauder, chairman emeritus of the Estee Lauder Companies and honorary chair of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, with the inaugural Legacy Award; Esi Eggleston Bracey, COO and EVP of Beauty and Personal Care at Unilever, NA, with the Passionate Leadership Award; and television personality and author (and two-time breast cancer survivor) Bershan Shaw with the Survivor Advocate Award. 

When we rally the collective will and resources of our industry to help Look Good Feel Better, we are helping our families, our friends and our colleagues in the process. There truly is no limit to what we can accomplish. 

Please join me at this year’s DreamBall (from the comfort of home, in your best cocktail attire!). Donate generously to support Look Good Feel Better’s mission to help women rediscover their self-esteem, confidence and hope in the midst of a life-threatening illness. Your participation and generosity will enable us to serve many more women who need our help. 

Thank you for your continued support of Look Good Feel Better and its ambitious mission to serve women anywhere and everywhere. I look forward to seeing all of you online on September 23!

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