Brilliant Organisation: Estee Lauder

Every year I get a Debrett’s/Estee Lauder Pink Ribbon Diary – and love it. Perfectly proportioned, it’s actually a rather good read too, since the back section contains a wealth of information such as international clothing conversions, where to buy a nice cake and where to go if you want to see beautiful sculptures. It’s priced at 45 pounds, 25 of which goes straight to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation – it’s a decent enough amount and sets it apart from the other ‘breast cancer fund raisers’ in the beauty world which frankly make me slightly uncomfortable. Using breast cancer as a marketing tool to boost sales needs to be carefully thought out; I’m uneasy with the ever increasing beauty products that ‘donate a percentage’ of profits to breast cancer charity. How much are they donating exactly? It’s often rather woolly – and beware of those who donate 5p or similar silly amounts unless it’s a beauty giant likely to make huge sales. Largely, the charities would do better if you just made a straight donation and don’t get side-tracked by confusingly worded promises. The Pink Ribbon Diary is exclusively at Selfridges.