Breast Cancer Awareness

October 16, 2011 in Misc

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Yes indeed, it’s not just Halloween this month. Everywhere you go you will see companies raising their pink banners and… raising… money for breast cancer research and awareness. Cosmetics counters, department stores, grocery stores and supermarkets, jewelers, hardware stores, auto parts manufacturers and even on-line only shops are all jumping on the bandwagon in recent years. (Now let’s be clear, when I say bandwagon it’s not necessarily a bad thing. If the wagon is headed in a good direction then why shouldn’t we all jump on board?)

Just a few things to keep in mind:

Every manufacturer and retailer handles donations differently – Most giving a percentage of profits earned to a charity or organization (it’s worth pointing out that every charity and organization handles donations differently as well). All it takes is an extra few seconds to glance over the fine print on a product to find out how much they are donating, what charity they are donating to, and whether or not there is a cap placed on the amount of money they will be donating (many companies will donate a certain percentage of each sale on an item to a cause but they will also include a cap of “up to this dollar amount”).

Of course, if you have the extra dough and you really want to donate, there are easier (and frankly, better) ways. Many organizations take donations via their websites now (I can’t think of one that doesn’t actually). But I know… you want your lipgloss and you want to eat it too. So let’s talk about some of the products offered this month:

I know right off the top of my head that Aveda is selling a 5oz tube of their Hand Relief hand moisturizer and donating $4.00 from each sale to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (but they DO cap their donation amount at $270,000). I know they are doing this for two reasons: 1) I’m a total nutjob for Aveda and I stalk them like a craze person and 2) They do this every year. BTW it’s also a product worth checking out; it kinda happens to be my own personal favorite hand moisturizer OF ALL TIME (in fact I reviewed it here)

They aren’t the only Lauder brand that’s donating though – The Estée Lauder companies always pull some impressive numbers for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in October. Bobbi Brown, Donna Karen, Clinique, Bumble and Bumble and more are all offering special products that donate an amount to the cause. Estée Lauder of course, also has a collection of products (some of which I bought and one of which I already reviewed here). View a list of Mama Blue’s offerings this year here.

I haven’t SEEN brands like Illamasqua or Urban Decay jump into the picture this year. Some other products that I have seen kicking around this October though:

• Stila is selling a “Positive and Pretty” Palette and donating $1.00 from every sale to the Foundation for Living Beauty. I took note of this mostly because it’s not the type of orginization that you would usually see a company donating to (but not one that’s any less valuable or necessary).
• Philosophy is offering two products with two different organizations benefiting from the proceeds.
• Shiseido is donating $5.00 for each purchase of their Iron Maiden Shimmering Lip Rouge. This is available through Sephora, but I don’t know if the donation ONLY applies to purchases though Sephora or not.

So it’s really easy to donate. Most companies make it difficult NOT to this time of year. I’m in the habit of rounding up to the nearest dollar amount every time I go to the grocery store. It’s only a few cents so I don’t notice the pinch, but I go to the grocery store at least once (sometimes twice) a day… Little things like that add up when everyone starts doing them.

Further reading?

Temptalia has a MUCH better post than mine this month! Check it out here: http://www.temptalia.com/breast-cancer-awareness-2011
You can also learn more about the Estée Lauder Companies and their campaign for 2011 here: http://www.elcompanies.com/Pages/bca.aspx

Check out my review of Estée Lauder’s Pure Color Crystal Lipstick in Lavish Pink.
Part of their Limited Edition Pink Ribbon Collection.

2011, bca, breast cancer awareness, charity, donate, october