When the head of the local chapter of Girls Inc. called Jessicurl’s Jessica McGuinty for a donation, she was glad to help out.
Conair donates 15 percent of the net proceeds from its Mini Metal Pro dryer to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Ouidad recently unveiled the limited edition pink ‘Curls for a Cure’ Deep Treatment Intensive Conditioner. She is donating 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale of each bottle to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation during October 2005.

Ouidad recently unveiled the limited edition pink ‘Curls for a Cure’ Deep Treatment Intensive Conditioner. She is donating 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale of each bottle to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation during October 2005.In addition to donating hair product, McGuinty offered to serve as a volunteer for the organization, a national nonprofit youth organization that provides vital educational programs to millions of American girls, particularly those in high-risk, underserved areas. She was asked to put together gift boxes for five at-risk girls about to graduate from high school.

“I came up with the theme of ‘Nurture Yourself: Body, Mind and Soul,’ ” McGuinty says.

She solicited help from other business women in the area, and 35 stepped forward to donate products for the boxes. As a result, the gift boxes were loaded with a huge array of jewelry, soap, lotion, perfume, bubble bath, journals, clothing, note cards, slippers and other gifts.

“I’m totally blown away at the generosity these women have shown,” says McGuinty, who is always the first to donate her time and money to worthwhile organizations. ‘It’s an amazing example for these girls to see how warm and kind women can be.’

It may seem that the beauty industry focuses only on outside appearances. But many manufacturers — from homegrown companies like Jessicurl to large corporations like Redken — have made it a priority to give back to society, whether in the form of time, money or hair product.

They give back in a variety of creative ways. Conair, for example, donates 15 percent of the net proceeds from its special pink Mini Metal Pro dryer to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. John Paul DeJoria, the head of John Paul Mitchell Systems, chopped off his signature ponytail for a $50,000 donation to the Red Cross Tsunami Relief Effort.

Redken Fifth Avenue has partnered with bcause, a not-for-profit organization that advances the charitable causes of salon owners and beauty industry professionals. To support the program, Rekden has distributed bcause labels to salon owners and beauty professionals to be placed on the canisters and plastic bags that consumers can use to collect additional money atevents, including gay pride parades in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Chicago.

Christo of Christo Fifth Avenue is planning a huge fundraiser this fall for the National Women’s Alliance, a national nonprofit organization that focuses on the needs and concerns of women and girls of color. Some of the top names in the beauty and fashion industry have donated time and products for the beauty day, and all proceeds will go to the Alliance. Christo plans to make it an annual event.

“It’s a way of giving back to people,” Christo says.

At Zotos International, makers of Bain de Terre and Nucleic A, employees have raised $30,000 for Noel Foundation, a Fairfield, Conn.-based organization that provides money for people who are going through cancer treatment

In some cases, the cause may be deeply personal. Ouidad, the Queen of Curl, was diagnosed in 2002 with breast cancer — the same disease that took her mother. Fortunately, Ouidad was treated and made a full recovery. But she vowed to never let her recovery be the end of her battle.

This summer, she unveiled the limited edition pink ‘Curls for a Cure’ Deep Treatment Intensive Conditioner. She is donating 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale of each bottle to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation during October 2005. With each 8-ounce bottle, customers receive a wide-toothed comb and a pink silicone bracelet with the

phrase ‘Curls for a Cure.’ The conditioner retails for $50.

In others, it comes to down to a sense of social responsibility — doing what is right.

“That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day,” says Denis Simioni of Toronto-based Ojon Corp.

Before Simioni discovered the benefits of the ojon nuts, the Miskito Indians of Central America sold ojon oil to others in the region on a very small scale. In the mid-1980s a non-profit group called Mopawi helped them to promote the product on a national level, in hopes of generating income for the producer families in the region. In the 1990s, they were selling less than 2,000 liters (about 2,500 small bottles”> of ojon oil a year, generating approximately $5,000 a year. This meant an income of less than $67 per producer each year.

In the 1990s, Ojon President Simioni expressed an interest in marketing the product internationally after seeing the haircare benefits of the oil. With the consent and assistance of Mopawi, Simioni placed his first order of ojon oil with the Indians in mid-2003 –- 4,500 liters (about 6,000 bottles”>. In order to ensure that the Tawira would gain a better quality of life from the venture, Ojon offered to pay 230% of the previous market price for the raw oil.

In 2004. production totaled 30,000 liters, providing the Miskito Indians with an increase in income of 450%, benefiting more than 5,000 people.

In addition to providing a market for their product, Ojon has set up an Ojon Scholarship Fund to benefit disadvantaged school children in the production area. The fund is designed to encourage youth to further their studies and develop leadership skills. In the first phase of the project, the fund will help them to access secondary level education; in future, a higher education. A local Community Committee will administer the Fund, granting scholarships to the most outstanding students based on school records and guided by a scholarship regulation system. Books and materials also are provided for schools in each village.

“We don’t want to change them,” Simioni stresses. “We want to improve their way of life.”

In the coming year, expect more charitable ventures from the haircare industry. Lorraine Massey of Devacurl hopes to set up S’Hair, a non-profit organization that would encourage stylists around the country to donate a portion of money from each haircut to local charitable causes.

“The money would go toward different charities that would be chosen each year,” Massey says. “It could really add up.”

Massey also envisions a huge gala each year called the Hair Ball, where participating stylists from around the world would gather to celebrate.

“It’s something that’s been missing from the industry,” Massey says.

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