Karen’s cover-ups (From The Northern Echo)

Karen’s cover-ups

10:35am Tuesday 8th December 2009

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Former cancer patient Karen Anderson has launched a range of headscarves for women who have lost their hair to chemotherapy. She talks to Ruth Addicott about why it is important to give something back.

AFTER surviving breast cancer twice, Karen Anderson, from Whitley Bay, knows exactly what it is like to lose her hair.

She got through it, but it drove her to tears, knocked her confidence and made her look at life from a new perspective.

Karen is now hoping to help other cancer sufferers do the same, by drawing on her skills in textiles to design a new range of headscarves.

“When you’re in that situation, it’s all about feeling good about yourself.

Anything that makes you feel good is worth doing,” she says.

Karen first developed breast cancer in 2003 and had to have a mastectomy.

Then in 2005, she was diagnosed again and lost her hair as a result of the chemotherapy.

“It was a different way of life for a while,” she says. “I had one big cry the night my hair first fell out in clumps in the shower, but after that, I picked myself up and carried on. I was frightened, but you get on with life.”

Karen was determined to lead as normal a life as possible but one of the biggest difficulties she faced was finding a suitable headscarf.

“I’ve always loved gorgeous fabric and a lot of the scarves I found were quite drab and disappointing,” she says. “I ended up wearing fabulous wigs instead. I had a straight blonde one which I loved because my hair is never straight. Then I got a curly one that was even longer. People used to say ‘I like your hair!’ – they didn’t realise it was a wig.”

Karen, 53, now works part time at Key Enterprise, a charity for people with mental health difficulties in Newcastle. She runs the sewing department and it was there she came up with the idea for making the headscarves.

“We’re always looking for new projects and it’s nice for me to be able to help people who are going through the same thing I did,” she says.

The scarves come in a range of styles and colours and have two ties at the back to keep them secure.

“They are all made with lovely fabric and pretty prints,” says Karen.

“They have cotton on the inside so they feel soft when your head is sore and they have a piece of elastic at the back so they can be adjusted to fit.”

KAREN has more than 30 years experience in textiles, after working for many years as a pattern cutter in the North-East, designing for high street brands such as George at Asda, Warehouse and Next. When the contracts moved abroad, however, she took jobs with a teaching agency and at HM Prison Low Newton in Durham, where she ran a sewing class for inmates. “I was working full time and became very stressed. I am sure that’s one of the major causes of getting cancer,” she says.

“But I think having cancer did change me as a person. Things that used to niggle me before no longer seem important – like being splashed by a car when you’re waiting to cross the road or getting riled because you’re in the wrong queue. I’ve become a lot more serene.”

Karen is now in remission. She is much happier working for the charity and has been overwhelmed by the response to the scarves. “There was nearly fisticuffs the other day when two ladies both wanted the same one,” she says.

The Freeman Hospital treats 400 cancer patients a day from the region, and no one knows better than Karen the difference a simple headscarf can make.

“My message to anyone suffering from cancer would be to just go with it, go with everything as it comes along,” she says. “You have got to stay positive and think I’m going to get through this.”

■ The scarves cost about £10 each and are on sale at the new Charlie Bear for Cancer Care shop at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

Feel like a party princess with Christmas deal

THE one thing no one tells you when you have your first pedicure is this: bring flip-flops.

It might not seem obvious to the uninitiated, but think about it – who wants to squeeze those freshly polished, painted and moisturised toes straight into a pair of unsuitable high heels, potentially ruining the whole effect just as the Christmas party invitations start rolling in?

Luckily Caroline Brown, beautician at Saks on Scotch Corner, is a true professional, and by the time I jumped back into my car (feet squashed into – you guessed it – a pair of unsuitable high heels) my nails were perfectly dry, and survived the journey home.

I had never had a manicure or pedicure, having laboured for years under the misguided belief that I could do just as good a job myself. I was wrong.

At Saks, Caroline greeted me warmly and showed me through to the treatment room. After I’d chosen the shade of varnish I wanted – a particularly dashing pillar-box red – Caroline set to work removing every last trace of my previous nail-painting attempts.

After soaking and moisturising my nails, she filed and buffed them before applying a layer of clear base coat.

The red was then painted on, with breathtaking precision, in two very thin layers. On top of that went another layer of clear top coat, and then a dollop of fast-drying solution.

Caroline then moved onto my hands, massaging my fingers with silky lotion and soaking each nail before gently filing and buffing them into shape.

Once she had finished with me, an hour or so after I arrived, I felt like a million dollars.

I now know there is a world of difference between my slapdash daubings and Caroline’s high-precision techniques. And having previously been an advocate of DIY nails, I’m now a total manicure/pedicure convert.

It’s not just the end results that dazzle – which they do. But like a facial or massage, a manicure/pedicure is a quick fix that instantly boosts your self-image and therefore your mood – perfect for the party season.

Though perhaps not so perfect for the party season are those flip flops.

For best results, ditch the beachwear and team with a pair of fabulous, open-toe strappy heels – and lots of attitude.

Philippa Weighell ■ Philippa’s treatment, the Pre- Christmas Pamper Treat, includes a manicure, a file and polish for toenails, as well as an eyebrow shape and eyelash tint. It costs £45 and last an hour and a half. It’s available at Saks Northallerton (01609-771477) and Saks Scotch Corner (01748-850101)

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