Defiant Beauty

Beauty Despite Cancer was founded by Jennifer Young in 2013. She is the recognised expert in specialist skincare for those living with and beyond cancer.

Coming from a scientific background, Jennifer Young is an experienced microbiologist and associate member of the Royal Society of Medicine, who decided to combine her knowledge with a passion for natural skincare and wellbeing to create her own product line.

Jennifer’s entry into the world of cancer support came when she was asked by her local hospital to work with them to create a skincare line that would be safe and help tackle some of the skincare issues associated with cancer treatment.

While it’s not often spoken about, the side effects of cancer treatment can be extremely distressing and can undermine a sense of self at a time when people are already going through a lot. For example, chemotherapy and radiotherapy can cause painfully dry skin, brittle nails, skin pigmentation and chronic itching. These are the things that none of us see unless we go through cancer treatment ourselves or with a loved one.

Jennifer has also extended her mission by tackling barriers in the spa and wellbeing industries when it comes to delivering safe and meaningful touch therapies that are industry accredited and insurance approved. Through her training, anyone with or recovering from cancer can enjoy a massage, facial and other touch treatments in a way that ensures the spa or healthcare practitioner feels confident, the client feels safe and that the treatment proactively addresses their wants and needs.

There are many different types of cancer, a huge range of treatments and many side-effects of those treatments – not everyone will experience all the same things. However, many patients, about 40%, do experience dry, sore, sensitive, angry, flaking skin and fragile nails as a result of chemotherapy. Radiation treatment can also be damaging to skin, resulting in a reaction similar to sunburn.

Dry, sore, sensitive skin, chapped lips and itchy skin are common side effects of cancer treatment.

The Jennifer Young Beauty Despite Cancer Collections were created to help those living with and beyond cancer. We have three main collection ranges which are Defiant Beauty, Beyond Beauty and Well Being Beauty.

The Defiant Beauty Collection by Jennifer Young is a skincare and beauty collection created specifically for those going through treatment for cancer. The Defiant Beauty Face & Body Collections contain all of the products needed to look after your face, hand, foot, nails, and body. Here is a table which can help you decide which product could be right for your skin.

In the Beyond Beauty Collection, the ingredients have been chosen with the side-effects of treatment for cancer in mind. In addition, we aim to promote regeneration and rejuvenation. The Beyond Beauty products are face collections only, including a morning and a night collection.

The Well Being Collection provides an opportunity for holistic wellness during and beyond cancer treatment. Taking self-care beyond your regular skincare routine, Well Being Beauty products embrace the amazing qualities of natural essential oils in our blends to help balance your mood and improve general well being.

In our skincare lines we tend to use oils and balms instead of creams and lotions. The reason is because of our focus on efficacy and natural ingredients.

Where creams are made using water, which means they contain less of the rich beneficial ingredients that nourish your skin, balms are 100% hard working ingredients - there’s no filler component - at least at Jennifer Young. Water also requires products to contain an emulsifier so that the component oils don’t separate out, and its presence means preservatives are needed as well. The net result is that creams tend to be less natural in their overall composition. 

We like to keep our skincare products as simple and gentle as possible to limit the chances of any negative reactions and to maximise benefits. Skin balms are especially rich and nourishing, great for very dry and sore skin or for areas that sometimes need extra attention like feet and elbows. They work to protect the skin, with lots of beautiful ingredients to be absorbed, making them highly effective for deep moisturising as well as being very soothing.

Using our free appearance advice line we can help you to ‘Recognise Yourself’. Our appearance advice line can support you as you go through treatment. It is a freephone number - 0800 999 8518 - and calls are answered between 10.00-17.00. Callers are matched with the expert best able to help them.

In addition, you can contact us with any questions you may have, at any time.