Holiday Gift Guide Day 1: Fresh Hesperides Grapefruit Fragrance & a-Thread Funfetti Sweater!

Ho ho ho, hoes! The holiday season is upon us! And while some boring-ass contrarian types may balk at an entire month devoted to consumerism, I say FUCK THEM -- GETTING PRESENTS IS THE BEST THING (besides carbs and white wine). Those Dismal Doras deserve no presents and should never know the joy of latkes or Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You." 

Spend that money on yourself since they're so unappreciative. 

This month, I'm bringing you some of my favorite holiday gift picks for any fun chick (yourself included) on your shopping list. Check out some of my favorite apparel, accessories, beauty products, shoes, art, and experiences, plus some cool charitable organizations so you can give back as you get.

$38, Fresh, Sephora.com

I recently discovered Fresh's Hesperides grapefruit fragrance, and there's probably no turning back for me. It's a fresh (duhr), crisp, clean, reinvigorating fragrance that's made me realize that sometimes it's just as nice to smell like a fruit as it is a flower. Plus, I'm pretty sure I now smell like one of those people who juice ALL THE TIME.

Bead For Life Sustainable, Fair Trade Jewelry: All I Want For The Eighth Night Of Chanukkah!

For all of the coveting, overconsuming, and product worshiping I indulge in here on FashionBinge, it's nice to flex my Mastercard muscle and do some honest-to-goodness good once in a while. Which is why, for the last day of my Chanukkah gift guide, I'm taking a break from being totally self-indulgent and ostentatious (and from effusing joy over products WAY out of my 99% lifestyle) to share my passion for BeadforLife, which is a nonprofit organization based in Boulder and Uganda. BeadforLife educates, employs and builds a sustainable income for impoverished Ugandan women (many of them are war refugees) who create beads and beaded jewelry out of recycled paper. BeadforLife provides Ugandans aged 16 - 26 with vocational training as well as malaria and HIV treatment.

I Bought It Files: Nicole Miller Indego Africa Fabric Bracelets

I hardly need an excuse to purchase anything under $50.

HowEVER.

Proceeds of these perfect-for-me fabric wrap bracelets, co-designed by Nicole Miller and Indego Africa, go right back to the female-run co-ops of Indego, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit fair trade social enterprise that sells accessories and home décor products handmade by Rwandan artisans. Indego Africa sells the co-op's goods at more than 40 retailers in the U.S. and online.

$25, Indego Africa x Nicole Miller

Another selling point, if I've not yet sold you: the bracelets are $25.00 for a set of three. Free shipping too!

Check out the Indego store. All of the proceeds from the goods sold in their store go back to the artisans who made them.

Buy Tickets To Pay It Fashion Forward Fashion Gives Back's Annual Summer Event -- It's For A Good Cause (Not Just Fashion)

People! If you've got some spare dollar bills laying around and want to pick them up and put them toward a good cause, there are still tickets available for tomorrow night's Fashion Delivers 4th Annual Summer Event honoring fashion industry leaders who give back: Steven Alan, Mickey Boardman, Coco Rocha, Rachel Roy, Mary Alice Stevenson.

Fashion Delivers is a non-profit organization that mobilizes retail and fashion companies to donate their excess inventory to those in need in the US and across the globe. In less than five years, Fashion Delivers has raised over $75 million in product donations, and has garnered the support of over 500 retail companies.

Tomorrow night's charity event honors five leaders in the fashion industry for their positive work within their communities: designer Steven Alan, Paper Magazine's Mickey Boardman, model/activist Coco Rocha, designer Rachel Roy and stylist Mary Alice Stephenson. (I will be there, but I am not being honored. Maybe next year...)

General Admission (maybe you?): $80 (includes 3 hour open bar provided by Asahi, Honest Tea, The Patron Spirits and Perrier; snacks provided by popchips; option to Make Your Own Havaianas and create a customized electronic postcard via the Keshot internet photobooth; $30 is tax deductible)

VIP (ballin'): $200 (includes General Admission items plus bottle service, passed hors d'oeuvres, red carpet access, VIP entrance at 190 Allen Street , VIP giftbag while supplies last; $150 is tax deductible)

You can also make a donation by distributing donated apparel and home goods for the southeast tornado and flood victims.

Purchase tickets here.

Pay It Forward Fashion Gives Back:
Thursday, June 16, 2011
7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
SHANG at Thompson LES
187 Orchard Street Corner Allen Street 2nd floor. NYC

Forever 21 & World Wildlife Fund's Caused-Based Cuteness

As a grown-ass woman whose browsing history is about 72 percent kittens, I feel like the World Wildlife Fund's tee-shirt collaboration with Forever 21 somewhat justifies my somewhat unhealthy predisposition toward thinking about animals, Googling them, Googling baby horses, collecting cat jpegs, plastering my friends' Facebook walls with photos of baby animals and other behaviors unbecoming of an adult.

The Forever 21 World Wildlife Fund t-shirt collabo hits stores in July. The photo-print (LOVE a photo print!) collection consists of three tanks and fives tees, so collect 'em all. Each shirt is $14.80, and $1 from each shirt sold will be donated to the World Wildlife Fund. The tees look a little short, which I'm not that into, but the polar bear tank melts my heart in a way that I wish global warming were not melting the earth.

Eee! A baby gorrilla!

Eee! An elephant!

Yiii! Panda!

ZOMG! A baby polar bear face!

GAH! Baby leopard be my friend!

DOUBLE HEADS!

RAWORRL!

HAI!

Not part of the collection, but I wish.

I Helped Support Ralph Lauren's Pink Pony Campaign To Fight Breast Cancer

Last year, I helped fight breast cancer by walking over 39 miles in the Avon Walk For Breast Cancer. This year... I put on a shirt. Ralph Lauren's Pink Pony Polo. I was one of 100 bloggers asked to photograph ourselves in a Ralph Lauren Pink Pony Polo as part of the Ralph Lauren 100 Bloggers Unite Against Cancer Campaign.

Ralph Lauren's efforts in the fight against breast cancer has spanned more than 20 years. But this year is the 10th anniversary of Ralph Lauren's Pink Pony Fund For Cancer Care And Prevention, which is dedicated to helping the medically underserved receive quality cancer care and preventative care.

You can support the Pink Pony Fund by purchasing some lovely, luxe, limited-edition stuff. 100% of the proceeds of the luxury items  -- a startlingly chic hot pink Alligator Ricky 33 bag and a corresponding alligator cuff with Cooper Lock -- go to the Pink Pony Fund. You can also participate in the Pink Pony public auction from October 1st to October 21st at CharityBuzz.com. 100% of proceeds from the auction benefit the Pink Pony Fund. Sadly, Nacho Figueras is not included in the limited-edition luxury products nor the auction. But during the month of October, you can text "PINKPONY" to 501501 to automatically donate $10.

Finally, you can shop the Pink Pony collection -- a portion of all sales of Pink Pony products supports the Pink Pony Fund for Cancer Care and Prevention.

+ Check out Ralph Lauren's 100 Bloggers Unite Against Cancer Campaign at AOL Stylist.

Somaly Mam: Bid On Beauty For A Beautiful Cause

Yo. Today is International Women's Day, and many good-hearted beauty professionals have come together and set up an eBay auction to benefit the Somaly Man Foundation -- a nonprofit public charity whose vision is to put an end to sexual slavery.

Some background on Somaly Mam: Somaly is survivor of human trafficking. Somaly was sold into sexual slavery in Cambodia by a man who posed as her grandfather, forced to work in a brothel with other young girls. Beaten, raped and tortured, she finally escaped, and at age 30, became a spokeswoman for women and children tortured in Cambodian brothels. In 2006, Somaly was honored as Glamour Magazine's Woman of the Year for her courageous work in fighting sexual slavery, and she has been profiled as a CNN Hero in recognition of her brave fight to save so many young, innocent victims from this horrible silent crime.

The auction starts today, and some of the items up for auction include:

+ Cut & color with celebrity stylist David Evangelista
+ Tickets to the Diane von Furstenberg Spring 2010 Runway show in September 2009
+ Over $1000 in Givenchy Le Makeup, skincare, and fragrance
+ The new Dior L'Or de Vie Skincare Collection
+ Autographed Anya Hindmarch handbag
+ 3-month Equinox Fitness membership
+ VIP tickets to see a live taping of Rachael Ray
+ Lots of beauty products from brands including Fresh, Guerlain. Dior, Sephora, and Frederic Fekkai!!!

I know lots of us don't have a ton of spare cash right now, but if you're looking to pick up a gift for Mother's Day, a bride, someone's birthday, and you want to be able to spend somewhere where your money can give back, this is a great way to do that.

+ Bid here! Bid high! Bid often! Good luck!