The Oncology Aesthetics Podcast

Makeup for Brows and Eyes

• Ricardo Fisas Natura Bissé Foundation • Season 1 • Episode 9

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Rediscovering beauty during cancer treatment presents unique challenges – particularly when it comes to facial features that express our personality. We're diving deep into practical aesthetic solutions with makeup expert Jeanna Doyle-Ruhl, who shares techniques for recreating the look of eyebrows and eyelashes during treatment.

Jeanna reveals why traditional eyebrow pencils often fail cancer patients and introduces her game-changing alternative: creating a paste with eyeshadow and water that creates dimensional, natural-looking brows that stay put. Her step-by-step guidance covers everything from brush selection to application techniques, color choices, and practice methods anyone can master. You'll discover why "sisters, not twins" should be your eyebrow mantra and how to recreate your unique brow shape even when starting from scratch.

The conversation extends to eyelash techniques, with Jeanna explaining why artificial lashes are contraindicated during treatment and sharing her artist-inspired approach using watercolor brushes for creating the illusion of lash lines. Her compassionate reminder that "these techniques will work at any stage of shedding or regrowth" offers hope and practical solutions for anyone facing appearance changes during their cancer journey. Whether you're a patient seeking self-care strategies or a caregiver helping a loved one navigate treatment side effects, this episode delivers expert techniques that enhance confidence when it's needed most. Subscribe for more episodes that blend self-care wisdom with practical strategies for maintaining dignity and self-expression throughout cancer treatment.

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Rae:

This podcast is brought to you by the Ricardo Fisas Natura Bisse Foundation produced by Lyons Creative. All the information contained in this podcast is intended only to provide general skincare guidance. The information is not a substitute for consulting with a physician or other qualified medical professional. Welcome to the Oncology Aesthetics Podcast, where we explore ways to enhance well-being, self-esteem and resilience while navigating cancer. We bring you expert skincare tips, practical self-care strategies and inspiring stories to help you rediscover strength, radiance and joy. Welcome back everyone. My name's Raejan, I'm your host and national educator for the Ricardo Fisas Natura Bisse Foundation. Today I've got Jeanna Doyle-Ruhl with me. She's one of our perfect partners. Jeanna provides educational components about hair and makeup for our oncology skin and hair care programs. Jeanna, welcome to the show,

Jeanna:

Rae. Thank you.

Rae:

It's always a pleasure, Jeanna. I want to start out with brows. You have some really great techniques and tips about them, but first and foremost, why are brows so important to us?

Jeanna:

Brows offer us both form and function. They help us by lending expression to our face. They're what we look to to read somebody's facial cues. They also help us protect from sweat, water or debris that might go into the eyes. Other words, when they're lost, it's a really outward signal that something's going on with your health.

Rae:

Yeah, I can see that it kind of gives off a pretty forward projecting, understanding that, hey, I don't have eyebrows, something's going on.

Jeanna:

Yes, and while most of us can readily wear a hat, a wig or a scarf, recreating your entire brow from scratch can be really challenging for most people.

Rae:

I'm sure even if somebody is kind of already used to like penciling in their brows, there's probably a difference right?

Jeanna:

Well, I don't recommend pencils, because pencils are primarily made of wax and they will spread on the skin as the skin gets hot.

Rae:

Okay, so if not pencils, then what do you typically utilize in your own practice?

Jeanna:

I use a technique where I use dry eyeshadow and water. It kind of creates a paste. It lasts really long and it's a very effective tool for recreating the look of brows.

Rae:

I would imagine, too, that you would have a lot of color options with powders.

Jeanna:

You will have a lot more color options with dry eyeshadow than you will with pencils, and you don't have the ability to layer with wax, because it's challenging to put wax on top of wax.

Rae:

What's the importance of layering colors? I'm not very familiar with, honestly, even doing my own brows, so this is good information for me.

Jeanna:

Well, layering adds dimension. So if you think about your natural hair, if it's one color it doesn't appear one color and that has to do with the way light reflects the surface. The proteins of the keratin in our hair kind of reflects light and gives that kind of shine look which adds dimension. When you're recreating brows from scratch, if you use one color it will look more flat and it won't be as dimensional. So when you add a secondary color in there it can give that dimension and still look uniform like your brows. It's just going to look less artificial.

Rae:

Okay, that actually makes a lot of sense. So the dimension aspect itself gives a little bit more believability to it. Absolutely, I love that. So, within color choices, what do you typically recommend people utilize? If they need to add those layers to have that dimension, what do they need to look for?

Jeanna:

For most of us, we can do a medium, neutral brown to a rich brown, Even if your brows appear to you black. I wouldn't use black for makeup as it turns blue on the skin. So stick with a really rich dark brown. That's going to give a more believable hair-like look.

Rae:

Okay, that makes a lot of sense. This is honestly really great tips, even for me, while I'm trying to do a little bit more to my own brows. But within application, how are you actually applying these techniques to the area? Are you just drawing on the?

Jeanna:

brow. I use a thin tapered ink brush, but it's firm, so it's very, very small, takes up a narrow amount of space, has a nice point to it. I will dip that into water, wipe it on a clean Kleenex tissue and then I will cut it through the shadow, the dry shadow. Then I just hold it in my hand like a pencil with lots of control and start making hair-like strokes.

Rae:

Okay, that seems doable, all right. And then you kind of mentioned the tools. Are there any other tools that somebody might need to use? Is that the best type of brush, or do they need multiple brushes?

Jeanna:

This brush and a couple colors of dry eyeshadow work, great, amazing.

Rae:

If someone wanted to practice drawing their brows on, what do you think is the best way to do that?

Jeanna:

I like to start out with my hand, the back of my hand. You're never going to get a perfect brow because there's no eye there, but you can get the relationship of water to shadow. If when you draw on the back of your hand, it pools up, there's too much water. If there's kind of flakes, then it's too dry. So you want that paste consistency. It'll dry down very quickly and stay in place.

Rae:

That's great information Should the brows look exactly the same as each other?

Jeanna:

Well, they say sisters, not twins, for a reason. This is why I also don't love using a stamp, because our faces aren't symmetrical, so we'll have a high side and we'll have a low side. So if you're free handing your brow, you have the ability to make those kind of subtle changes so that they look cohesive, but not like a cookie cutter stamp. To me, that's a much more natural look.

Rae:

Yeah, I can get that. Now, when it comes to recreating brows, I feel like most of us are kind of used to filling in where there is already brow hair, but how does someone gauge where to start that process if they don't have any brow hair at all anymore?

Jeanna:

Typically, if the brows have shed, there are still some guideline hair still there. They may be soft and fine, but if you will look into the mirror and raise your forehead, you'll kind of see indentions where the brows go. And most of us have had our brows. Let's face it our whole life we've been looking at our face and seeing our brows, so we kind of know our brows and what we want them to look like. I like to start on the underside and then I work the temple area a little bit on top and then that inner corner. This this kind of gives you the ability to adjust as you go so you're not locked in on one corner if you start right at the inside, by the nose.

Rae:

Okay, that seems doable. I really like how digestible and applicable these tips are. But let's talk about lashes as well. This is something that I've seen you do and I'm always awestruck by it, because you're fantastic at creating the look of a lash line. So tell us a little bit more about that.

Jeanna:

The lash line is very similar with the dry eye shadow to water, but you'll want a longer, softer brush, and the reason for this is we're not making short hairline strokes and we're not on the brow bone anymore, we're next to the eye, so we want something that's soft. I find watercolor brushes from an art supply store that I absolutely love, so it's a longer, softer brush, still angled. You'll wet it, you'll put it in a shadow, and here's where I like to use that rich dark brown, not a black. And here's where I like to use that rich dark brown, not a black, no matter what color hair you have, because you're mimicking the way your lash line would look if you had on mascara. That's going to give you the biggest impact, so that rich dark brown won't turn on you. You're going to start and you're going to from thin to thick, as close to the lash line as possible, and don't go into the water area of the eye. You want to keep it on top, above the lash line, just to avoid any irritation at this time.

Rae:

Okay, what about artificial lashes? Is that a good thing to recommend, or is that a no-go during treatment?

Jeanna:

It's contraindicated for a couple of reasons. For one, your lashes are shedding at this time and artificial lashes, whether they're magnetic or they're the strip with a glue, are designed to go on the base of your lash line, which is shedding. So it's like building a house on a sand cliff. It's something that's going to shed, it's going to exacerbate it. The other thing is, with the loss or thinning of your own lashes, you don't have the same ability to blink out little dust particles or the fumes from the glue. The other thing, as you know, is the skin is super reactive at this time, so putting glue on that spot over and over again can be a non-starter. The eyebrows and lashes kind of return at a rate of anywhere from 60 to 90 days and while these lash techniques won't give you the projection, it will give you the overall illusion of a lash line, and having the brow can be all you need until your own return.

Rae:

OK, well, these are some really great tips and techniques and understandings of this. Tell me just, maybe, a little bit more about how someone could practice these techniques so that they feel a little bit more comfortable. You know, before they're trying to put on some brows or their lash line before a big event, they want to get some, you know, practice down. How can they do that?

Jeanna:

These techniques will work at any stage of shedding or regrowth. So, from you know, the moment you're diagnosed all the way to like life and recovery, these techniques will work great for you. The sooner you can start them, the better. So, before your lashes have shed or thinned, it's a great idea to kind of work because you have a guideline to start with. But I always tell people sit down, take a moment to do this, don't be in a rush. This could be something that you look forward to as a makeup routine. Give yourself some patience when you're trying something new and again, start out on the back of your hand and make sure you have that consistency down before you start with the eyes.

Rae:

I love that, Gina. Is there any other expert advice that you can give us on brows or lashes?

Jeanna:

Just remember that it's makeup and it will wash off. I say these techniques are simple and easy comes with practice. So your speed and the ease of which you do these will come when you give yourself, you know, time and start practicing. But just be nice to yourself when you're starting something new.

Rae:

Absolutely. That's very important. Gina, thank you so much for all of these wonderful tips and tricks. We so appreciate you being here today. Thank you for having me. Thank you for joining us. We hope you found this information helpful. It's your reviews and feedback that help make this podcast even better. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review and share it with someone who might benefit. Until next time, take care, stay radiant, and we'll see you soon. Thank you.