Not that these women sweat anyway. "Horses Sweat, Men Perspire And Ladies Glow," my mother always told me.

But you get the idea. A group of fashion conscious women is making a difference this Earth Day - by looking fabulous!

Okay, as a man in his 40s with more children than I can count, I had a hard time even writing the word 'fabulous' without laughing.

But there is something serious happening. Chantecaille, a cosmetics company, has said it will donate five percent of the proceeds of its new “Protected Paradise” face and eyes compacts to the Pew Institute’s Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation program, which provides a $150,000 award to each of five ocean experts around the world annually to develop solutions to critical ocean challenges.

The Pew Institute previously joined forces with Chantecaille in 2007 when the cosmetics firm created a faux-coral-adorned “Coral” compact and donated five percent of the proceeds of that limited-edition product to the Pew Institute’s “Reefs of Hope” project, which seeks to understand whether temperature-sensitive corals will adapt to survive climate change.

“The wonderful partnership between the Pew Institute for Ocean Science and Chantecaille is a natural, since both institutions care deeply about environmental protection,” said Dr. Ellen Pikitch, Executive Director of the Pew Institute for Ocean Science. “Although Sylvie grew up in France and I grew up in the United States, both of us started snorkeling when we were kids and our hearts have never left the ocean. Our passion for marine life and our concern over the threats to their environment have impacted the course of both of our lives and I’m thrilled to be working together toward change."

If you're in a buying mood for your girlfriend or wife (or both, and yes, I assume you, dear reader, are a man - have you seen our demographics? I have, and maybe 3 of you are women) and want 5% of your money to go to a cause you care about, the Protected Paradise compacts are available for $90 each at Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys New York, and other retailers none of us have ever visited.

But here's the fun part - a description of what this compact is. I did not write this next part, as you will be able to tell instantly. Marketing people can write anything with a straight face, though, so I will reproduce it here:

Each galvanized nickel compact contains brilliantly colored powders in an intricately embossed design that depicts the diverse beauty of an underwater marine ecosystem. The artfully rendered design includes: two fish, representing a host of overfished and endangered species; a school of small “forage” fish that serve as a critical food source for larger marine animals and are at risk from overfishing; a sea horse, which is being heavily exploited globally for use in aquariums and traditional medicines; coral, an integral and threatened part of the marine ecosystem that is being profoundly affected by climate change, pollution, habitat degradation and disease; and a graceful expanse of sea grass, which serves as a crucial source of shelter and nutrition for fish but is being destroyed by threats such as nutrient pollution and siltation.

Did you count those adjectives?? Brilliantly, intricately, diverse, artfully ... I could go on, but they had me at 'siltation.'

So go drop $90 on whatever a compact is if your girl is the kind who will appreciate it and you can be happy knowing $4.50 goes to save our oceans.



If you have no significant other to drop $90 on, I want you to know Chantecaille company heiress Olivia Chantecaille is hopelessly unattainable no matter how much you spend.

She'll look fabulous, you'll feel ... well, sort of stupid for not giving the whole $90 to the Pew Institute, but her looking fabulous and feeling it because you care about her looking fabulous will make that all okay. You can learn more about the Pew Fellows and their work at http://www.pewoceanscience.org/fellows/2008/, which is the most fabulous part of all.

Happy Earth Day!