A cosmetics brand is donating the profits from its lipstick sales to help families who have gotten separated at the US-Mexico border.
Lipsl*t, which was created in the aftermath of the November 2016 presidential election, offers a shade called F**k Trump — a liquid, matte, nude pink lipstick.
Usually, 50 per cent of the profits from the sales of that particular shade go to a civil rights organization picked by customers. But after more than 2,300 children were separated from their families due to the Trump administration’s policy, the retailer decided to change its policy.
Raising funds: Cosmetics brand Lipsl*t is donating 100 per cent of the profits from the sales of its F**k Trump lipstick to help families separated at the border
Acting: Usually, Lipsl*t, which was created by college students in San Luis Obispo, California, saves half of the profits from the sales of the F**k Trump shade to support civil rights
Now, Lipsl*t is giving customers who purchase the F**k Trump shade the option to select ‘fight zero tolerance’ at checkout.
When they do so, they signal to the retailer that they want the entirety of the profit from the sale to benefit migrant families who have been separated.
Lipsl*t will thus donate the money to several advocacy groups, including the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, and Al Otro Lado, as the brand told Bustle in an email.
The operation will continue through July 19.
Ordinarily, Lipsl*t, which was created by college students in San Luis Obispo, California, saves half of the profits from the sales of the F**k Trump shade to support civil rights.
Customers’ votes determine which organization should receive the funds.
Choices include the ACLU, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood, She Should Run, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, or Women on Wings, depending on customers votes.
Each time a customer purchases the shade, they get to cast a vote for which charity should receive the profits.
Outrage: On Tuesday, after several weeks of outcry over family separations at the border, President Donald Trump signed an executive order halting the practice
‘With every lipstick purchased comes an opportunity to submit a vote for your favorite charity,’ the brand explains on its website.
‘At the end of our campaigns we’ll tally the results, and winners will be announced by popular vote. We’ll send out donations thereafter. Please understand that your choices may not be selected, and that all votes are treated equally.’
The F**k Trump lipstick is cruelty-free and vegan according to the brand, as is its F**k Hollywood hue, created in November 2017 to support victims of sexual assault.
This is not the first time Lipsl*t has launched a fundraising campaign in response to recent events.
Back in August 2017, the company raised $40,000 to support victims of violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
On Tuesday, after several weeks of mounting outcry over family separations at the border, President Donald Trump signed an executive order halting the practice.
Trump, asked on Thursday whether families crossing the US border with Mexico will continue to face prosecution, said the government must maintain a ‘tough policy’ to prevent millions of people from coming in.
Also on Thursday, First Lady Melania Trump boarded a flight to a facility housing migrant children separated from their parents wearing a jacket that read ‘I really don’t care, do u?’
Shelter: Asylum seeker children from Mexico and Central America are pictured playing at Juventud 2000 migrant shelter in Tijuana on Wednesday
Message: Also on Thursday, Melania Trump boarded a flight to a facility housing migrant children separated from their parents wearing a jacket that read ‘I really don’t care, do u?’
The green hooded spring military jacket has the words written graffiti-style on the back.
When asked what message the first lady’s jacket intended to send, spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said: ‘It’s a jacket. There was no hidden message.’
Melania wore a different pale yellow jacket when the plane landed in McAllen, Texas, for a visit to the Upbring New Hope Children’s Center, which houses 55 migrant children.
The first lady met with the facility’s executive director, a case manager, a medical care coordinator and others as she began a tour of the facility.
She was told the children there, most of whom are between the ages of 12 and 17, are usually ‘distraught’ when they first enter. Their physical and mental states are immediately assessed, and they are given orientation.
Program Director Roy De La Cerda told the first lady that the mostly Guatemalan children typically stay at the center for an average of 42 to 45 days. He says staff have ‘a tremendous passion for working with these children’ and the center is ‘their home’.
Third-graders at the facility housing migrant children separated from their parents welcomed the first lady with a large paper American flag they’d signed.
Visiting another classroom, Melania asked children where they were from and how long they’d been at the center. She told children to ‘be kind and nice to each other’ as she left another classroom.
The first lady said she wanted to lend her support to the children, and asked staff to reunite them with their families as quickly as possible.