Much to my mother's chagrin, I don’t wear make-up.

“You look so pretty with a little eyeshadow,” she cajoles. “I wore make-up when I was your age.”

I just smile back. I mean, really. My mom, of all people, knows what my life is like.

He wants Life cereal for breakfast; she wants oatmeal. No, waffles. Actually, make that pancakes.

Pancakes? She’s having pancakes? Now he wants pancakes, too.

Um, Mama? I changed my mind.

It’s all I can do to find time to brush my teeth. Sleep is precious in my house; I don’t have the will to wake before the kids to apply mascara and eye-liner.

But lipstick – well, that’s different.

It’s quick, it’s easy and it can transform my face from I-only-got-five-hours-of-sleep-last-night to I-only-got-five-hours-of-sleep-last-night-but-you-wouldn’t-know-it with just a few swipes of color. It’s my one concession to beauty, and I always have a few tubes in my bag and floating around the minivan.

I’m on an eternal quest for the perfect hue. A girl can never have too many lipsticks, in my opinion.

Which is why I’m about to add Mary Kay’s Apple Berry shade to my collection. Mary Kay donates 100 percent of its profits from sales of this tint to causes that help women and children around the world.

Turns out we don’t have to go beyond our own community to find one of the beneficiaries.

Kelly is a local mom of two little girls who recently learned she has Stage IV breast cancer, which has spread to her spine. Originally diagnosed with cancer a few years ago, after the birth of her first child, Kelly began battling the disease and joined the Breast Friends support group at Rex Hospital. While undergoing treatment, she got pregnant. Her doctors cautioned her against the pregnancy, but she looked at it as a bright spot in a gloomy landscape. Many women vault into early menopause during cancer treatment; Kelly figured her pregnancy must have happened for a reason.

Then, before she gave birth in May, Kelly found out her cancer had metastasized. To make her situation that much scarier, Kelly has no health insurance.

Kelly’s “breast friends” are brainstorming ways to help her. One woman, Clare Luffman who occasionally blogs about beauty issues on Mom2Mom, has led the way. Luffman, who found a lump in her breast when she was 35 and nursing her 4-month-old, launched the project to sell Apple Berry lipsticks.

“We’re all just trying to help,” Luffman said.

The lipsticks cost $13, (plus tax and $1 shipping and handling) with $6.50 funneled directly to Kelly. Mary Kay invests the other $6.50 in domestic violence prevention and awareness.

“Breast cancer may have taken away our breasts, but it won't take away our faith, our fight or our inner confidence!” wrote Luffman on the blog she set up to raise money for Kelly.

The support group hopes to raise $10,000 for Kelly – the equivalent of 1,538 tubes of lipstick. As of the beginning of August, the group was exactly one-tenth of the way there; 153 lipsticks had been purchased.

Order lipsticks at lipsticksavinglives@live.com or call 749-1865. Because it’s not often there’s an opportunity to help change someone’s life and look good doing it.

Bonnie appears every Monday on TriangleMom2Mom.