LGFB History

During 1987, the daughter of the owner of a large privately owned American cosmetic company realised what a little bit of make-up could do for cancer patients. After losing all her hair, eyelashes and eyebrows during cancer treatment, and feeling that she had lost her identity, she received a morale boosting makeover from her firm raising her spirits immensely. Wanting to bring the same benefit to other women patients, she independently approached the major cosmetic companies to enlist their support to set free cosmetic/skincare workshops for cancer patients. Look Good Feel Better was born.

The same programme has been running in New Zealand since 1992 when it was founded and developed by the Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association of NZ (CTFA). The CFTA donate more than $2 million of cosmetics each year which means that we are able to help thousands of New Zealand women cope with the trauma of cancer treatment. The workshops are run in 23 regions of New Zealand. Last year, more than 180 workshops were held throughout the country with more than 2770 women receiving the benefits of the programme. The aim is to help more than 3000 this year.

Look Good Feel Better is a registered charity and relies on self funding and community donations to help keep the programme operational in New Zealand. The workshop programme is available in all main oncology centres throughout New Zealand.