Breast Cancer Awareness Month

We can’t deny that Breast Cancer Awareness month in October is a huge fundraiser for amazing cancer fighting causes. I’ve written before that I am always a little bit uncomfortable about how some beauty brands are a bit woolly with their donation offerings – some won’t even say what percentage they’re going to donate, instead offering the words ‘a percentage of profits’ which personally, I don’t think is enough. Others, in the small print, ‘cap’ their donations which means that even if lots of women buy a pink beauty knick-knack, after a certain level of donation, they won’t be contributing to anything other than the brand’s profit margin – and they’ll never know any differently.

I’ve written a feature for the paper about Breast Cancer Awareness month and oh my goodness, the research to try and get a cross-section of solid and fair donations, plus interesting things that aren’t going to get masses of coverage – just for variety – was lengthy. And it’s the same every single year as Breast Cancer Awareness month, for some brands, is an absolute cash-cow. Mostly, I’ve gone for the Estee Lauder companies products because they’re completely open and clear and often giving a very healthy £5 (as opposed to the woolly %age or rather measly £1) – depending upon the initial outlay of the product (the more expensive, the bigger the donation) and they have their own Evelyn Lauder founded breast cancer charity that has raised literally millions over the years. It forms a huge and significant part of breast cancer research funding today.

Of course, we can’t get round the simple fact that if you do want donate to breast cancer charities (or any charity for that matter) you don’t need to be suckered into buying a product to do it. You can give the whole price of a lipstick, body lotion or mascara or any amount you want by donating directly to charities. I know that lots of women use Breast Cancer Awareness products to treat their friends while making a donation which is a lovely thing to do – I’m not saying stop, I’m just saying check before you buy that the donation is what you expect it to be and that there is no cap, and that the percentage of donation is completely clear and open.

So this time, I’m not recommending any one thing – we all know this horrible disease that robs women of their health indiscriminately needs as much funding as is possible and it’s up to consumers to decide how they’d like to make that happen. If there’s a lipstick at the end of it – fabulous! If not, equally fabulous.