Smashing Smashbox!

I love Smashbox Cosmetics. They make quality products, invent new make up bag staples year after year and they give back to the community- AMAZING.

Today I have to give a little shout out to the new Smashbox 2009 Holiday Collection. Not only are there some fantabulous finds in this year's event (hello 8 awesome choices - I am loving the Smashbox Sampler Kit myself!) but with each purchase a donation goes to the Children's Miracle Network.

So go ahead - get a beautiful gift for a friend and something special for yourself. It's a charitable donation right? Tax write off!! (Hehe- just kidding...)

Keep looking fabulous!
BGND

Charity of the day....

So in light of the fact that we don't always need to focus on products (nor do we want to)...today I thought I would talk about one of my favorite charities that you may or may not be familiar with.

Look Good...Feel Better (From the American Cancer Society)

LGFB is one of my all time favorite organizations. LGFB was founded to help women suffering from cancer feel their best and their most beautiful at the most difficult time in their lives. Volunteer beauty professionals teach these brave women how to deal with skin/nail care, make-up application, dealing with hair loss and how to overcome the appearance related side effects of cancer treatment.

It is such a cool foundation and you do not have to be a licensed Cosmetologist to volunteer. (If you are - that's great - they need you!) But if not, there is always room for those who simply believe in the cause and want to help out.

For more information and to see some inspirational before and afters - check out the website...

www.lookgoodfeelbetter.org.

Have a great Thursday and keep looking fab,
BGND

Color for a Cure

I know that sometimes in my personal life, it is hard to get my you-know-what together and volunteer/donate/do something good for others around me. If you are like me - in other words- love beauty products and are a busy bee....I have a fantastic opportunity for you.

Pureology Serious Colour Care is doing its part to help in the fight against cancer. Throughout 2009, Pureology will be hosting 19 NOCC (National Ovarian Cancer Coalition)Walks to Break the Silence on Ovarian Cancer. Pureology will be there as the hair care and styling premier sponsor and will be on-site at each walk, distributing reusable travel kits containing Essential Repair Shampoo, Essential Repair Hair Condition and a teal Pureology bandana to walk participants.

Like I said, there are 19 (!!!) walks being sponsored by Pureology this year so there is bound to be one that will work for you. For all the details on these events and Ovarian Cancer - click here.

Keep looking fabulous!
BGND

Donation of the Week - December 4th, 2008

So as you may be able to tell from the title of today's post there isn't a POTW this week - sorry all! Instead, as a nod to this time of year and the fact that as much as I love the products and I am often extolling you to rush out and buy something new, for the month of December I am dedicating my POTW blogs every Thursday to something nice we can all do in order to help others this holiday season. So today I give you my first "donation" of the week. But not to worry, this is actually something we all can do that costs only the amount of a postage stamp and should easily fit into your holiday shopping schedule.

The Macy's Believe Campaign

Macy's is teaming up with the Make-A-Wish Foundation this holiday season to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses everywhere. The Macy's campaign is called "A Million Reasons to Believe" and it is beautifully simple and easy to take part in. Simply write a short letter to Santa and then drop off the stamped letter addressed to Santa at the North Pole in the official RH Macy Santa Mail Letter Boxes in all Macy's stores. For every letter stamped and addressed to Santa at the North Pole, Macy's will contribute $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation (up to 1 million dollars). To see the official MAW website dedicated to the Believe campaign - here you go : http://www.wish.org/help/macy_s_believe.

A actual sample letter from a child:

Dear Santa,

This is Emily. I can't wait for Christmas this year! My cancer is gone and I have great presents to give to my family.

Christmas is always about how much you get, but how much you give. There are not many things I want this year because I already received the best gift.

I can't wait to see all the lights and Christmas trees! This time of year is so beautiful and magical!

I hope no one's been naughty this year!

from,

Emily

That last line is classic! I a big supporter of MAW and have seen firsthand what they are capable of doing and how they change the lives of children with life-threatening illnesses and their family and friends. Sadly in recession times, charities and volunteer organizations often lose a lot of funding since to many who donate and support these organizations the funding they give is an "non-necessity" expense and something they can eliminate in hard times.

So get out there and write a letter to Santa. You can drop it off on your way to the MAC counter and it is a great, low cost way for you to make a difference.

Keep looking fabulous,

BGND

P.S. Here is the link to the Macy's Believe website : http://www.macysbelieve.com/#/Home?ga=MakeAWish

Put your online shopping addiction to some good..

It is the holiday season folks and we are all going to be avoiding long lines at all costs in favor of some good old fashioned-in your pajamas- online shopping. Oh who are we kidding, we love online shopping all year long especially for our beauty products! Well thanks to REAL SIMPLE magazine I have some good news for all of us BGND gals. Whenever you shop online, instead of feeling guilty that you spent another $75 online at Sephora, you can feel great that your money is at least partially going to charity. How you ask?

Well in this month's REAL SIMPLE they mention the fabulous site - http://www.goodshop.com/. Goodshop.com will automatically donate a percentage of your total purchase to the charity of your choice. AMAZING.

You simply go to their website before your shopping binge and pick your favorite charity and then from the goodshop.com website you can link to many many sites- including Sephora, Drugstore.com, Target.com, Walmart.com and many many more!

So yay for guilt free online shopping at Sehpora and all your other favorites....

Keep looking fabulous!

BGND