Four years ago 20 year old Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend were savagely attacked and left for dead simply because they looked 'different'. Sophie later died of her injuries.
What a disgusting tragedy.
I'm sure anyone hearing Sophie's story would be deeply saddened and horrified by it. Unfortunately it is not an isolated incident. Personally I've been on the recieving end of both verbal and physical attacks because of my appearance.
While it's really very little consolation, at least from the ashes of the tragedy a phoenix of hope has risen in the form of the SOPHIE charity. The aims of the charity are to educate people that, no matter what culture you belong to, people are just the same inside and to stop what happened to Sophie from ever happening again.
You can learn more about the charity on their website or by watching the videos below:
The BBC made a radio program about Sophie which you can listen to here
To donate to the charity you can either do so directly or through buying a SOPHIE eyeliner pencil or wristband from Illamasqua.
Sophie was a beautiful young girl who died needlessly, but at least she will be remembered and her legacy will help others. Thanks for reading.
Showing posts with label charity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label charity. Show all posts
Friday, 26 August 2011
Friday, 11 March 2011
Japan
I'm sure noone needs to be told about the absolutely horrible natural disaster that has occurred in Japan in the last day. To anyone who has family or loved ones in Japan my thoughts, and I'm sure everyone else reading this, are with you and I hope with all my heart nothing bad will happen.
I found out the best place to donate to help is here or here if you're in the US (not sure where's best if you're international) but here seems legitimate too.
Also I was going to have a blog sale soon anyway but will be getting it up as soon as possible so I can donate a portion of the profits to the disaster fund.
Thanks for reading everyone.
I found out the best place to donate to help is here or here if you're in the US (not sure where's best if you're international) but here seems legitimate too.
Also I was going to have a blog sale soon anyway but will be getting it up as soon as possible so I can donate a portion of the profits to the disaster fund.
Thanks for reading everyone.
Sunday, 1 August 2010
Final Mac + Rodarte Update
Once again i have only just got around to writing this when the information has been out for days, so you probably all know about it anyway... but still:
Mac are now going to donate ALL the profits from the collection to charity to try and help the women of Juarez and raise awareness of the problems there.
You can read more here
So we did it everyone!
It's nice to know that consumers can change things if they work hard enough and really care :)
Mac are now going to donate ALL the profits from the collection to charity to try and help the women of Juarez and raise awareness of the problems there.
You can read more here
So we did it everyone!
It's nice to know that consumers can change things if they work hard enough and really care :)
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
My thoughts on the Mac + Rodarte update
Most of you have probably seen (from good bloggers who write things in a decent amount of time) that Mac and Rodarte have announced new statements responding to the outrage their collection caused recently (and, in my opinion, rightly) across the 'blogosphere':
Mac have said:
My feelings?
Rodarte's statement is pretty pathetic in my opinion. They apologise and say they realise the situation needs action but are not ofering anything. They're not planning on doing anything and that is a huge shame. They say that helping the women of Juarez is a priority for them, but what have they EVER done to help before? Other than use them as inspiration and make money from that, for themselves? Their statement seems to be missing the point. They did wrong and should do something about it. instead they act almost as if they've done something great, thanking people for commenting on the situation, as if they brought it to our attention themselves.
They've completely lost any respect i had for them.
As for Mac's...Well... $100,000 is a big sum of money to most people. I imagine it could do a lot of good. However, I must say I'm disappointed in Mac again. This is a gigantic company who must make millions of dollars a year, and because of that the sum seems a bit paltry. Beauty Mouth wrote the following in her post on the subject:
'MAC's number 1 door in the UK turns over around £4.5 million a year. ONE outlet. £86538 a week. £12363 a day. £1236 a working hour.'
So one outlet makes £4.5 million in a year, that's over $7000000 and again this is ONE outlet out of, how many in the world? I imagine there are at least a hundred freestanding Mac stores, and then even more counters in department stores, and then online shopping. So when you take this into account $100000 really sems like nothing.
Also i'm a little suspicious to be honest. At first they announced they were going to donate an unspecified amount of the profits from the collection, then this was dropped and turned into a flat rate of $100000.
Now I don't know how much they were expecting to make from the collection. If the estimate total profit of the collection was $200000 then they would be donating 50%, which is pretty good. However if they were expecting to make $1000000 from the collection it would only be 10% which is not great at all.
I am glad they've changed the names, and the donation is nice, if not overly generous, but there's so much more Mac could have done and honestly i can't believe they would do something so insensitive and offensive in the first place. As i've said before i've had mixed thoughts about Mac before but this has really put me off them as a company. I am not going to boycott them, though they don't actually do much i'd want to buy at the moment, but my whole outlook on them has completely change. Before i would not have hesitated to recommend them, now i think i would feel quite dirty doing so.
Whatever your feelings on the matter are i would urge you to sign this petition. it only takes a minute. If you are disappointed like me then this will help. And if you didn't have any problem with the names and inspiration behind the collection then wouldn't you still rather buy a product and know all the profit is going to charity? It only takes a minute and could do real good.
Mac have said:
'We understand that product names in the M·A·C Rodarte collection have offended our consumers and fans. This was never our intent and we are very sorry. We continue to listen carefully to the comments we have received and have the following plans to address concerns:
- We are committed to donating $100,000 to a non-profit organization that has a proven, successful track-record helping women in need and that can directly improve the lives of women in Juarez in a meaningful way.
- We are changing the product names in the M·A·C Rodarte collection.
As we have done in the past, please be assured that we will communicate details regarding our progress in this matter.'
Rodarte's statement:
'We recognize that the violence against women taking place in Juarez needs to be met with proactive action. We never intended to make light of this serious issue and we are truly sorry.
Helping to improve the conditions for women in Juarez is a priority for us and we are thankful for all the comments calling attention to the urgency of addressing this situation.'
My feelings?
Rodarte's statement is pretty pathetic in my opinion. They apologise and say they realise the situation needs action but are not ofering anything. They're not planning on doing anything and that is a huge shame. They say that helping the women of Juarez is a priority for them, but what have they EVER done to help before? Other than use them as inspiration and make money from that, for themselves? Their statement seems to be missing the point. They did wrong and should do something about it. instead they act almost as if they've done something great, thanking people for commenting on the situation, as if they brought it to our attention themselves.
They've completely lost any respect i had for them.
As for Mac's...Well... $100,000 is a big sum of money to most people. I imagine it could do a lot of good. However, I must say I'm disappointed in Mac again. This is a gigantic company who must make millions of dollars a year, and because of that the sum seems a bit paltry. Beauty Mouth wrote the following in her post on the subject:
'MAC's number 1 door in the UK turns over around £4.5 million a year. ONE outlet. £86538 a week. £12363 a day. £1236 a working hour.'
So one outlet makes £4.5 million in a year, that's over $7000000 and again this is ONE outlet out of, how many in the world? I imagine there are at least a hundred freestanding Mac stores, and then even more counters in department stores, and then online shopping. So when you take this into account $100000 really sems like nothing.
Also i'm a little suspicious to be honest. At first they announced they were going to donate an unspecified amount of the profits from the collection, then this was dropped and turned into a flat rate of $100000.
Now I don't know how much they were expecting to make from the collection. If the estimate total profit of the collection was $200000 then they would be donating 50%, which is pretty good. However if they were expecting to make $1000000 from the collection it would only be 10% which is not great at all.
I am glad they've changed the names, and the donation is nice, if not overly generous, but there's so much more Mac could have done and honestly i can't believe they would do something so insensitive and offensive in the first place. As i've said before i've had mixed thoughts about Mac before but this has really put me off them as a company. I am not going to boycott them, though they don't actually do much i'd want to buy at the moment, but my whole outlook on them has completely change. Before i would not have hesitated to recommend them, now i think i would feel quite dirty doing so.
Whatever your feelings on the matter are i would urge you to sign this petition. it only takes a minute. If you are disappointed like me then this will help. And if you didn't have any problem with the names and inspiration behind the collection then wouldn't you still rather buy a product and know all the profit is going to charity? It only takes a minute and could do real good.
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
Pedigree Adoption Drive Video 2
The continuing part of Charlie's story
Please watch this, Pedigree donates money for every view the video gets :)
Please watch this, Pedigree donates money for every view the video gets :)
Saturday, 8 May 2010
Pedigree Adoption Drive
One of my dogs is adopted and had a terrible life before she was rescued. For years she was just tied in a field with a heavy, tight iron collar around her neck tethering her. When we first got her she was very shy and scared of her own shadow, anytime we raised our arms or walked up to her she would cower, thinking we were going to hurt her. One of her ears is weird and crumpled which the vet said was caused by her getting an infection and it never being cured and she only has a few teeth and they are rotten and often broken into odd shapes (we think she was probably kicked in the jaw).
Years ago we had another dog, Patch, who we had rescued from Battersea. He had been abandoned and before that must also have been abused. Everytime anyone picked up a newspaper to read, or a stick to throw for him he would start trembling and cower. My parents rescued him when he was about 1 and at the time i was a 1 year old baby. I grewup up with him at my side until we were 14 and he had to be put to sleep because he had cancer. He was the sweetest, most beautiful dog.
Minnie too has grown from that scared, sad little thing into a beautiful mischievious, greedy little hound. Despite being quite an old girl (around 8) she has tonnes of energy and loves rolling around playing with Digby or racing across the park and always comes and sits on our laps for cuddles.
So adoption is a cause that is incredibly close to my heart. Lots of people are hesitant to adopt animals because they worry the animals might be agressive or damaged permanantly in some way. While of course on occaision this can be true (i know this myself but i haven't been put off adopting. Thank god) the majority of the time these animals have done absolutely nothing wrong, they are simply either abandoned or abused, or just come from loving families who, for whatever reason, can no longer take care of them. So i feel a huge amount of love, honour and respect for anyone who works in animal sanctuaries or adopts animal, when i am more financially secure i will certainly donate money to them and if i can get over my phobia it would be wonderful to volunteer.
Anyway, why am i writing this? Well i saw on Tanya's Blog an amazing post that alerted me to a brilliant thing the big brand Pedigree are doing. Pedigree have launched 'The Pedigree Adoption Drive 2010' to try and bring awareness to the public about how many dogs are without proper homes right now. There are many ways to get involved such as donating or adopting yourself, but of course not everyone is in a position to help like that. So Pedigree have made something that everyone can do. They have made a video about the drive and for the first 100000 views they will donate £1 per view.
(i took this info from Tanya's blogpost who in turn took it from the youtube channel)
"Last year over 107,000 dogs were abandoned in the UK and one abandoned dog was put down every hour. This year Pedigree wants to change this fact.
Help us by adopting a dog, donating money or simply by making sure as many people as possible see this YouTube Channel page.
Paste a link into your facebook status, tweet it, email it or send it as a text message.
We're looking to improve the lives of thousands of dogs across the UK - not to mention the dog in the video. For the first 100,000 views, we will donate £1 - see below for details.
*For every viewing of an episode of Charlie's story, Mars Petcare will donate £1 to the PetPlan Charitable Trust (Registered Charity Number 1032907), up to a maximum of £100,000. Terms and conditions apply - please visit pedigreeadoptiondrive.com."
Friday, 19 March 2010
Illamasqua Week - Medium Pencil Review
Today's review is on Illamasqua's Medium pencils, so named because they also have a larger 'fat' pencil and a very thin 'fine' pencil. These are about the same size as your average lip or eyeliner pencil, come in over 30 colours and retail for £12.50. I only have 2 colours so far but love them so much i am desperate for more.
You get 1.5g of pencil and they are rather simple looking, ordinary wooden pencils with a clear lid and shiny black handles and, like all other Illamasqua products, come in a shiny black cardboard box with cream writing. The packaging is practical but could be a little more interesting. Still it looks fine so i am not put off at all. The colours range is amazing with several shades of pinks, greens, blues, greys, yellows etc as well as basic reds, black, white and brown. These pencils can be used anywhere, they are equally good for lining your lips or eyes or even just drawing freehand on your face or body. To me it's wonderful to find a product that actually is designed to be used on both eyes and lips. Usually you can use an eyeliner as a lipliner or vice-versa but i do find problems (eyeliners usually are harder and 'pull' more on my lips and lipliners are often unsuitable for use around the eyes because of non eye-safe ingredients) but these are specially made to be safe, and work well anywhere you choose to use them.
The two colours i own are Deonair, a bright, cyan blue and Whiplash, a yellow lime green:
The colour payoff of these pencils is amazing. They're incredibly pigmented and rich, but also so so creamy and soft. This makes them a dream to apply, especially on the lips. But once they are on and have dried a little they are, while not entirely smudge-proof, pretty good at resisting smearing and pretty much entirely transfer resistant. As a lip or eyeliner i find there is little to say about these that differs from most high quality eyeliners. They last very very well and resist smearing, the colour is true-to-life in one stroke and they are easy to use. For me the true test of a liner is on my waterline. I've used many different liners in the past from drugstore to high end (Barry M, Mac, Urban Decay, Estee Lauder etc) and never found one that lasted well on my waterline. I don't know if i have watery eyes or something, but colours usually fade or smudge off my waterline after less than half an hour. Urban Decay 24/7 pencil lasts for maybe 2 hours on me (one of the best), but these pencils have become my Holy Grail eyeliner because my god do they ever last on my waterline!
Above is Whiplash freshly applied. Oddly this looks like i've barely applied it, but it was much brighter in real life. I think you can see it better in my FOTD pictures in my last post.
This is after about 4 hours. It actually looks brighter than in the first photo, but in reality it was basically exactly the same. It has hardly faded and wasn't patchy.
And this is at the end of the day, after about 10 - 12 hours. As you can see it has faded a bit now, but is still hanging in there!
I am incredibly impressed. By the end of the day the colour had faded only a tiny bit, it was still noticeably lime-green and the colour had not smudge or travelled to my lower lashline at all!
Here is a blurry photo of my eyes doing a very unflattering about-to-blink look, but it shows the colour off really well:
Can you believe that's after at least 10 hours of wear?
So, i can honestly say that these are the best eyeliners i have ever used for the water line. Debonair Works just as well, i was going to take photos of it too but ended up having a huge cry-fest that even these beauties couldn't stand up to. Though to give it it's dues there was still a very pale blue colour on my waterline after a solid half hour of hysterics :P And they work equally well, if not better than, other lip and eyeliners when used on the lids/lips.
I highly recommend you try these. £12.50 might seem a bit expensive but i honestly think they are well worth the price. I need want so many more colours of these. If you are into black liner then i highly recommend their SOPHIE pencil as every pencil sold in this colour donates £3 to the S.O.P.H.I.E. charity. That's the next one on my list :)
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Haiti Appeal
Here's the link to donate to the (Disasters Emergency Committee) DEC:
http://www.justgiving.com/youtubersforhaiti
You can read about the DEC here:
http://www.dec.org.uk/
Here's the link to donate to Doctors without Borders:
http://www.firstgiving.com/youtubersforhaiti
You can read about them here:
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
ALL money raised will be donated to the charities directly.
Please give anything you can, no matter how small.
I've heard that the public of the UK has already donated over 12 million pounds, which is amazing, but there are so many people who still need help.
I've already donated myself, but as i don't have too much to spare right now i have also decided that as i wanted to do a blog sale anyway i'm going to donate a portion of the proceeds. I can't afford to give it all away but every little helps.
I'm going to try and get that up as soon as possible so i can donate the money we raise together quickly :)
Thank you for reading this and please spread the word when and where you can.
xxx
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