October Special at Arbonne Benefits Women

From now until the end of October, Arbonne, a luxury green skincare company, is donating 100 percent of their profits to Women's Equity in Access to Care and Treatment (WE-ACTx). WE-ACTx provides and increases access to health care for women and children.

They began work in Rwanda in 2004 primarily to give victims of genocidal rape and sexual violence HIV testing and treatment. "In the 100-day genocide of 1994, an estimated 250,000 Rwandan women experienced multiple episodes of brutal rape, torture and violence. Many of women contracted HIV, likely as a result of the this brutality. In late 2003, the women learned that the perpetrators of their rapes who were jailed while waiting trial at the International Tribunal were receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART), while their victims died of AIDS." You can read the rest of the story of how they began here.

How does Arbonne figure into this? It all started with Lara Lauchheimer, a yoga teacher in New York City. Lara has been selected by WE-ACTx to embark on a three-month volunteer trip to Rwanda to teach yoga to the women and children there. In order to make this happen, Lara has to raise $10,000. Lara called her cousin Danielle at Arbonne, and Danielle made the generous offer of 100 percent of a whole month's profits! I guess they're serious about being green. You can help by buying some stuff at Arbonne — it's stuff you're gonna buy anyway. They have shampoo, conditioner, face wash, mascara, shave gel, and all manner of things. We recommend you take this opportunity to stock up on holiday gifts (click Holiday '08 on the left sidebar) like the Shea Butter Hand Care Collection or one of the luxurious scented candles. Register as a client and order online here.

And who knows? You might end up sticking with Arbonne's products. All products are botanically based, vegan, hypoallergenic, dermatologist tested, never tested on animals, and formulated without mineral oil, dyes, or chemical fragrances. The products are formulated in Switzerland at the Arbonne Institute of Research and Development (AIRD) and made in the USA. We like all that. If you'd rather just donate directly to Lara's program, leave a comment here and she will contact you. Thanks, and be well!