Look Good Feel Better Collaborator Personal Care Products Council Foundation Response to Breast Cancer Action’s Poison Isn't Pretty Campaign

We appreciate and share your interest in and concern for women struggling with a cancer diagnosis and treatment.  In 2015 alone, approximately 810,000 women will be diagnosed with cancer.   Beyond surgical interventions, many of them will elect to receive additional treatments, such as chemotherapy, that are often accompanied by difficult side effects that affect quality of life during their cancer journey.

For 26 years, the Look Good Feel Better program has improved the quality of life and self-image for tens of thousands of cancer patients by helping them manage the changes that cancer treatments can have on a person’s appearance that affect confidence and ability to cope with the disease.  Our program and workshops address a very real issue for cancer patients, and 97% of LGFB participants rated the program as very useful or useful, with 98% saying that they would recommend the program to other cancer patients.  

Look Good Feel Better services are offered through a variety of delivery channels, including group workshops, at-home, online and virtual support.  The products used in the Look Good Feel Better group workshops are all donated by cosmetic industry companies and are offered as tools to assist patients with hands-on learning of specific techniques to help them recreate their normal appearance, or a “new normal” appearance they are comfortable with and can manage when not feeling their best.

Patients choose to participate in the hands-on, skin care and cosmetic instruction portion of the group workshop, which also covers approaches to coping with hair loss and other treatment-related appearance challenges including weight gain or loss, mastectomy without reconstruction, coping with Lymphedema, and camouflaging infusion ports.  The group support that spontaneously happens among women in our workshops is also a beneficial part of the experience.       

The safety of the products used in the Look Good Feel Better group program is of utmost importance.  The products used in the kits are all commercially available in the U.S. and comply with all applicable U.S. federal and state laws and regulations.   In addition, the safety of the products has been substantiated by the manufacturer, is subject to FDA oversight, and the majority of the ingredients in products found in the LGFB kits have undergone an assessment by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel, an independent, non-governmental panel of scientific and medical experts that is supported by industry, FDA, and the Consumer Federation of America.   Because LGFB participants are undergoing treatment, it is important for them to discuss possible adverse reactions to these products with their doctor. 

For more information about cosmetic safety, we suggest that LGFB participants and other consumers visit the following websites:  FDA:www.fda.gov;  American Cancer Society:  www.cancer.org;  Cosmeticsinfo.org:  www.cosmeticsinfo.org.

We are incredibly proud of the support, encouragement and practical guidance that the Look Good Feel Better program has offered women struggling with the ravages of cancer treatment for 26 years.  We look forward to helping tens of thousands more women to regain their confidence and quality of life during their cancer journey.