A Polish Problem: Essie Joins the Fight Against Breast Cancer

Friday, October 9, 2009

Essie Joins the Fight Against Breast Cancer

10/09/2009 02:44:00 PM | Posted by Megan (A Polish Problem) | Edit Post

I received this yesterday from Essie's PR Department:

ESSIE COSMETICS SAYS ‘YES WE CAN!’ TO WINNING THE FIGHT AGAINST BREAST CANCER

Introducing the Limited Edition Polish

‘Yes We Can, Pink!’Wear pink this October…on your fingers and toes in an effort to raise breast cancer awareness. To join in the fight against the powerful disease, essie cosmetics has created Yes We Can, Pink!, a new nail color, for which a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC), a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering women affected by the disease.

“There’s no better way to empower women than to make them feel beautiful,” says Essie Weingarten, founder and president, Essie Cosmetics. “Yes We Can, Pink! is inspired by the soft, pale pink color associated with breast cancer awareness and will help to remind those wearing it that there is hope.”

To commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, 10% of the proceeds from essie’s limited edition polish, Yes We Can, Pink! will be donated to Living Beyond Breast Cancer in a collaborative effort to raise interest, awareness and funds for women coping with the disease.

Living Beyond Breast Cancer is dedicated to giving women the information and education they need to live as long as possible with the best quality of life. The organization offers specialized programs and services to women affected by the disease as well as their family members, friends and healthcare providers.

Yes We Can, Pink! is available at http://www.essie.com/ and fine spas, salons and beauty stores nationwide beginning in October 2009. SRP $8.00 USD.

I don't have pictures of this myself, but I did happen to find swatches on Mary's blog.

It's a nice idea, and I do applaud Essie for contributing to LBBC, but come on... do we need another sheer pink, especially from Essie? Most of the women I know who are currently fighting breast cancer or who have fought breast cancer, and especially those who succumbed to the disease were not "pale pink women". They are fighting or have fought breast cancer with every fiber in their being. They are bold, bright, "hot pink women". I realize that pale, soft pink has become synonymous with the Susan G. Komen foundation and the fight for breast cancer in general, but it's also associated with shyness and meekness, IMO, and when you are fighting for your life, you are neither of those things. I read that pink was chosen as the color for breast cancer because it represents femininity at a time when a person dealing with this disease feels their least feminine. I get all that, and I think it's a wonderful idea, and I'm definitely NOT disparaging companies for creating pink products in an order to help breast cancer research. What I do have a (small) issue with is why everything has to be pale pink. Why not bold, hot pink, ala Essie Pink Parka? For me, bright pink is far more empowering than soft pink. And as much as I want to support breast cancer research, since I have yet to see a nail polish created specifically for the cause that interests me, I will support the cause in other ways.

I hope my little soapbox rant did offend anyone, because I do understand the idea behind the color and I have no problem with companies creating products to help the cause, I just wish they put a little more thought into it that producing yet another pale pink.

Labels: Essie, pink

1 comments:

Lucy said...: I think it's a great idea to use a bold pink. I just think Essie's should have a little more color to it.; October 14, 2009 at 3:09 AM