After a successful career in the cosmetics sector of a large group, and the fight against cancer for around fifteen years, Valérie Lachaux puts her know-how at the service of the Belle & Bien association, which she chairs, and which offers (among other things) onco-aesthetic treatments to women undergoing cancer treatment.
- Valérie Lachaux is fighting cancer that appeared around fifteen years ago: “For 5 years, I have been undergoing chemotherapy treatment successively and relentlessly.”
- At the same time, she became President of the Belle & Bien association which supports nearly 5,000 women facing the disease each year, by offering them onco-aesthetic treatments.
- “By regaining their femininity, their former self, patients are encouraged to take better care of themselves and follow their treatment.”
“At a time when more than 430,000 new cases of cancer are reported each year, the disease can affect us directly or indirectly. Concerning me, she hit me right on the mark 15 years ago”, immediately tells us Valérie Lachaux, president of the Belle & Bien association. “When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, as you can imagine, my world rocked. My first ordeal was the mastectomy. A succession of treatments then followed: chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy and various reconstruction operations. An obstacle course, difficult pages of life. However, each step was still a victory over the disease for 10 years.”
“My illness first crumbled me, before making me more resilient and stronger than ever”
“In 2019, a relapse was a bit of an unexpected turning point. My illness has become chronic and, for 5 years, I have been undergoing chemotherapy treatment successively and relentlessly. However, this ordeal taught me and still teaches me every day that true strength is that of managing to face the obstacles of life and not being confronted with them. And ultimately, that’s what makes my life story even more beautiful, like kintsugi. Kintsugi comes to us from Japan. It is a method of repairing broken porcelain and ceramics using a lacquer sprinkled with gold powder to patch the broken pieces. So, what does this have to do with my fight? I like this analogy because this ancestral Japanese art repairs the damaged and, beyond that, beautifies it. So, a bit like my illness which first crumbled me, before making me more resilient and stronger than ever.”
Treat the aesthetic aspects linked to the disease and its treatments
“Cancer disrupts all of the individual’s benchmarks. And breast cancer treatments, in particular, can impact patients’ self-image and quality of life. So, onco-aesthetics is a discipline which aims to improve the quality of life of people with cancer by treating the aesthetic aspects linked to the disease and its treatments.”, explains the President of the association. Body care, facial care, massages, makeup advice… Onco-aesthetics brings together a multitude of services. “This includes managing side effects such as loss of hair, eyelashes, eyebrows, skin changes such as dryness, dull skin or other physical changes such as the appearance of nails, for example.”, she adds.
“To better cope with the disease and its adverse effects, it is more than important to be able to benefit more systematically from onco-aesthetic treatments”
“Still too few people weakened by the disease benefit from onco-aesthetic care in France”, regrets the activist. “And yet, to better cope with the disease and its adverse effects, it is more than important, even essential, to be able to benefit more systematically from onco-aesthetic treatments. And that’s what our Belle & Bien association offers.”
Through beauty workshops, the association therefore offers onco-aesthetic treatments to women undergoing treatment. “We have carried out quantitative and scientific studies which we are currently publishing on the occasion of World Cancer Day. These studies demonstrate that beauty treatments integrated into the therapeutic pathway have a positive effect. (…) 94% of participants believe that using skincare or makeup products has an impact on their self-confidence.”The association has also carried out qualitative research work in partnership with the School of psychologist-practitioners, which reveals that onco-aesthetic treatments allow women to reclaim their bodies, reduce the psychological effects of physical changes and thus to better accept these side effects linked to their treatment. “The body which, at the beginning, is an object of suffering becomes a body object of pleasant sensations and, by rediscovering their femininity, their former self, the patients are encouraged to take better care of themselves and to follow their treatment. So, we can say that onco-aesthetic treatments work towards better well-being, but above all better living.”
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The Belle & Belle association, whose slogan is “Taking care of yourself is therapy”, was born in France in 2001 and has since spread to 27 countries. “Each year, the association supports nearly 5,000 women who are facing illness by offering them onco-aesthetic treatments to help them regain self-confidence and self-esteem. We offer adapted services, accessible to as many people as possible and in different ways.”
Discover in pictures the complete interview with Valérie Lachaux, carried out by scientific editor Juliette de Noiron (PhD):
