“At Comfort Zone, we believe in the joy of beauty for everyone, at every age, and in every phase of our life,” says Barbara Gavazzoli, director of communication and education for Comfort Zone. “We all have the right and the responsibility to care for the way we look and feel, and to assist those who need our support; sometimes this is easier, sometimes this gets very challenging for many different reasons. One of those reasons is cancer.”
To address this need, Comfort Zone has created a new programme called Beauty Reloaded, which includes a spa facial and body massage for cancer survivors, as well as a professional educational class.
Gavazzoli points to statistics that show 40 per cent of the population will suffer from cancer at some point during their lives. “Challenging and undesired as the situation can be when facing cancer and its effects, we know today, more than ever, that medical care is key to recover good health, and that professional spa care can be a valid support in again attaining serenity, energy and a revived glow,” she explains.
Gavazzoli first met Julie Bach, chair of Wellness for Cancer, at the Global Wellness Summit in Morocco in 2014, when Bach called for spas to stop turning away cancer survivors and instead, provide comfort, solace and positive recovery paths. Bach has been working closely with Comfort Zone on the Beauty Reloaded programme since.
The Beauty Reloaded programme includes one facial and one body treatment, as well as the educational session, which helps therapists learn to adapt their protocols to the different guests’ needs when they have been through a cancer-related care or surgery.
“The name ‘Beauty Reloaded’ fully expresses Comfort Zone’s understanding that the skin is a mirror of one’s physical and emotional wellbeing, and at the same time recalls what Wellness for Cancer stands for,” says Bach.
“When someone goes through cancer treatment, the physical effects are very visible on the skin, but what’s worse is the damaging psychological effects on their own body perception and the sense of ‘lost beauty’.
