Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is known globally as the month we come together to raise money to help eradicate the scurge that is breast cancer. One woman who, in my mind, has been a true front runner in championing the cause (and the symbol of the pink ribbon), and has gone as far to say that she wants her Foundation to "go out of business" is Evelyn Lauder.

Aside from being at the top of her game in the beauty world, (she is Sr. Corporate Vice President of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.) she is also the Founder and Chairman of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Since the inception of the charity in 1993, to address a crucial lack of funding for research into the disease, Mrs Lauder and her hardworking team (of which I was once a part - I spent a year learning amazing life lessons and discovering my love for beauty within the BCRF family) have campaigned tirelessly to help rid us of this terrible disease. Through continual fundraising (BCRF have raised $175 million to date) and various product initiatives, the Foundation now funds over 150 researchers across the world. I've seen first hand the passion that BCRF staff, the researchers and the many volunteers have for this cause, and it's a very inspiring, thought-provoking environment to be in.

People often moan that October has become a free-for-all for beauty brands to slap on pink ribbons willy-nilly in order to guilt people into buying products that they wouldn't normally (and that may be the case elsewhere), but I know and feel proud to say that this charitable initiative is from the heart and the experience of being part of such an amazing charity will stay with me forever.

Image 1 - The Evelyn Lauder Lip Collection (£20 - with £5 from each purchase going to BCRF's research programme at The Royal Marsden Institute).

Image 2 - Elizabeth Hurley, Evelyn Lauder and Gwyneth Paltrow.