Seleste Lucas hasn’t had much time to herself since her 12-year-old son Nicolas was diagnosed with leukemia last year.
“It’s not that being with him (Lucas) is hard,” Lucas said Wednesday, “but that there are times when I don’t have time to comb my hair or put on makeup because sometimes I have to stay with him all day in my pajamas.”
But Wednesday, a special event at the Oxford Academy of Hair Design gave Lucas and other women affected by cancer a reason to relax and pamper themselves.
The Oxford Academy of Hair Design, located in Seymour, gave free beauty treatments to women affected by cancer as part of a town-wide Seymour Pink day to raise money and awareness for breast cancer.
Kellie Steeves, Oxford Academy’s owner, collaborated with Michelle Davignon, who provides Paul Mitchell products to the school, to host the event.
Both women lost their mothers to cancer.
“I just lost my mom to cancer so this is an honor to support an event like this,” Davignon said. “I love this and the students’ enthusiasm.”
Lucas, who was one of the first women at the salon on Wednesday, said she appreciated the special attention.
Her son recently underwent a bone marrow transplant, and is now in remission.
“This is the hardest thing we went through as a family but Nicolas made it extremely easy for parents,” Lucas said. “ He never gave us a hard time with medication or during surgery.”
Cancer patients, family members and care givers were treated to nail, hair and makeup treatment by students dressed in pink T‑shirts, pink hair bows and pink neck boas. One student even wore pink leggings and pink Converse sneakers.
Pink lemonade and pink champagne were served along with food.
Throughout town Wednesday, other groups, businesses and residents wore pink and held fundraisers for the cause as part of Seymour Pink Day, a community-wide effort to do something for breast cancer awareness.
Steeves said she plans to donate 100 percent of proceeds Wednesday to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which raises money for breast cancer research.
Davignon donated Paul Mitchell products in raffle baskets to raise additional money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Steeves said giving free beauty treatments to people affected by cancer was a natural fit, because so often they don’t have time for themselves or even lose their hair during treatments.
“Sometimes we are the first person they see after they go to chemo and they decide to have us shave off all their hair before it all falls out,” Steeves said.
