Helping People Feel Like Themselves Again

Beauty for Hope is personal to me.

My mother and my aunt were diagnosed with breast cancer very close together. They are two very different women, and they each found their own way through treatment and recovery.

My mom has always been very creative, with a strong green thumb, resourceful and is never discouraged by hard work. Through her cancer treatments, preexisting arthritis was then accompanied by numbness and tingling in her hands, making her hobbies difficult to participate in. When treatment led to her parting with her naturally dark, curly hair, she sought out wigs but found them itchy, hot and uncomfortable. Instead, she chose bandanas and hats. Following a unilateral mastectomy, she opted for mastectomy bras rather than reconstruction.

My aunt took a very different approach. An accountant with an incredible sense of style, she embraced wigs, took makeup classes, and eventually chose reconstruction following her double mastectomy.

Their choices looked completely different, but underneath them was something very similar. They both wanted to feel like themselves.

I remember my mom telling me how tired she was of being asked about her health. She didn't want cancer to become her personality. It had already taken enough from her and she didn't want it to define how everyone saw her, too.

That stayed with me.

When I discovered cosmetic and paramedical tattooing, I was blown away by what was possible. I could create the illusion of eyebrow hairs for someone who had lost theirs. I could create a customized areola tattoo that appears 3D following breast surgery. I could provide permanent eyeliner for someone who found applying makeup difficult.

These may seem like small things alongside everything that comes with a cancer diagnosis and treatment. But sometimes feeling a little more familiar when you look in the mirror matters.

That's what drew me to this work.

After 10 years in the industry, helping people regain that sense of familiarity, confidence and normalcy is still one of the most fulfilling parts of what I do.

That's also why being invited to participate in this year's Beauty for Hope fundraiser means so much to me.

Throughout October, New Aura will donate 20% of proceeds from eligible cosmetic and paramedical tattoo appointments to Beauty for Hope, supporting the Waterloo Wellington Breast Centre at Waterloo Regional Health Network. Beauty for Hope has helped provide equipment, tools and resources that support breast cancer care here in our community.

For areola restoration, I wanted to contribute in a different way. Rather than taking a donation from those appointments, New Aura will offer 20% off areola restoration throughout October, allowing that support to go directly to someone seeking this restorative service.

My mother and my aunt taught me that there is no single right way to navigate life after breast cancer. What helps one person feel like themselves again may be completely different from what helps another.

I'm grateful that my work allows me to offer one of those options, and honoured to support an initiative helping people in our community receive the care they need while finding their own way forward.

 

-Sabrina Bruno

Owner and Technician 

New Aura Cosmetic & Paramedical Tattoo