M.A.C. AIDS Fund: Look Pretty for a Good Cause

Admittedly, this idea stemmed from a conversation with Mom. How often these things do! She mentioned on the phone that she had found a "To Die For" shade of M.A.C. lipstick that I had to own, a bold and gorgeous pink from the Viva Glam collection. I knew immediately she was talking about the Gaga shade, named after my favorite pop star today, Miss Gaga herself. I'd been meaning to try the color forever anyway, so I hightailed to the M.A.C. store and picked one up. I wasn't disappointed.

Maybe you are not ready to take the Pepto pink plunge with your lips this fall. I get that, I really do. But you've lucked out because there are other great new options for contributing to the M.A.C. AIDS fund. I honestly have grown fed up with cosmetics and fashion companies who do a quickie campaign for some cause or another and then throw 10% of proceeds at it, pocketing the rest.

Established in 1994, the fund donates every penny of sales towards affected men, women, and children worldwide. On their site, macaidsfund.org, you can find lots of fun stats on where your money is going. One lipstick, for example, equals two hours of childcare for an HIV positive women so she can go to her doctor's appointments, or eight individually tailored, nutritious meals, or one pair of school shoes for an affected child. The list goes on and on, and the stories are so inspiring.

So, if you're not ready to go Gaga, there's always the standard Viva Glam shades and this fall, in honor of M.A.C.'s new Tartan Tale collection (which you should also check out, and invest in, just 'cause it's all so cute) they are offering Sir Teddy, too. This little tartan guy makes a great gift for your favorite kid in support of AIDS and is part of the Kids Helping Kids outreach that M.A.C. AIDS fund is supporting. They even have these great HIV-positive-kid-designed note cards to offer as well.

Check out maccosmetics.com for full product lists, pricing, and to shop online. And yeah, pat yourself on the back for buying some cute garb and helping out really deserving people all over the world at the same time.