The one makeup item consistently in my bag is this adorable limited-edition compact by Hourglass Cosmetics, called Vol. 6 Face Palette in Zodiac, and available only at Sephora.  It costs fifty-eight clams, which isn’t exactly cheap, but it includes two versatile, wear-anywhere glosses, and four gorgeous, richly pigmented wet or dry eyeshadows to take you from office to dinner party.  Plus, it’s paraben-free and the packaging is insanely cool—the compact lid opens to swivel 360 degrees.  (Okay, I don’t really know what the point is, but it’s certainly fun, and the mirror is huge!)  In a pinch, either gloss doubles as a cheek stain, and the darkest two shades—a plum and a shimmery midnight blue/grey—help create the sexiest smokey eye this side of Brigitte Bardot.  Run, don’t walk.

Today begins the Total Beauty-Total Cure awareness and fundraising campaign. Incredibly, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes. We all know somebody who’s been affected, and the somber reality is that we will probably be touched again and again by this plague in our lifetimes: our sisters, our mothers, our friends, even possibly ourselves.

Financially, it’s a tough time for all of us (um, I don’t know about you, but Jolie is totally unmanicured hand to glossy mouth right now!) but by giving even a tiny bit–no amount is too small!–you’ll be donating to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and will contribute greatly to making a difference. Please click below and donate whatever you can; it’ll go directly to the BCRF.

Each Total Beauty blogger involved in the campaign is hoping to raise at least $200, so if all my readers donate even just $1 or $5, we’ll blow that number out of the water and will raise thousands. Stay tuned throughout the month for daily giveaways from Total Beauty bloggers; today’s is courtesy of The Beauty Bunny, and you can enter to win a CHI flat iron, T3 hairdryer, Moroccan Oil Treatment and CHI Silk Infusion. I’ll be giving away goodies from Stila very soon, so check back!

It’s National Ovarian Cancer Awareness month, and to help make women aware of the so-called “silent killer” (Ovarian Cancer kills 15,000 women per year, and many women are not diagnosed until it is too late, because symptoms are sometimes ignored as regular discomfort or pain), L’Oreal Paris is partnering with the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. For every Color of Hope Cosmetics Bag purchased (at $25, 888-270-7743), L’Oreal Paris will donate $5 to the OCRF.

From each Color of Hope Colour Riche Lipcolour sold (in three shades: A Color of Hope, A Lighter Shade of Hope, and A Deeper Shade of Hope), $2 will go to the OCRF. Finally, with the purchase of every L’Oréal Paris Hope Necklace—designed by 2008 Swarovski Award for Accessory Design recipient Philip Crangi, and featuring a double eternity ring design of cubic zirconia set in sterling silver, for $29.95–$5 will benefit OCRF.

September is an out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new month, with change in the air, surprises around the corner, and the heady sense of boundless possibility. (We’ll discuss the fact that the past three months of my life seemed to have fallen down a time-sucking black hole later.) ‘Twas not that long ago young Jolie would be getting ready to go back to school: running amok through the aisles of Target and the Container Store, snapping up notebooks and pens and binders as fast as her little hands could grab them, plotting her coming year with (all-too-temporary) military precision. Teen Jolie thought, “This year will be different! I will study for hours upon end! I will finally get an A in math! Lo, run screaming, chemistry, for I shall conquer you!” And then the school year would begin, and by day two I’d be procrastinating my pre-calculus homework like nobody’s business. (Um, I’d just like to put it on the record, former teachers/loving parents of Jolie, that I was totally right when I adamantly declared my life would be fine even if I got C’s in geometry and algebra and that studying any harder would be a waste of my precious time. Calculators and a modicum of common sense have served me well!)

The buying of the new stuff was, of course, always the best part—school and learning are all well and good but, puh-lease, can anything possibly beat the promise of All! New! school supplies? It’s a theory that transfers to beauty, too–cosmetics companies know it, which is why they maniacally pimp out redesigned fall collections, starting riiiight…about…now. Occasionally, I’ll stop by Saks or Barney’s and wander around the makeup aisles, testing this and sniffing that until I am forced to flee from overzealous, toothily-grinning sales ladies. (Sephora, thank you for understanding the concept of letting a gal browse in peace!) Bobbi Brown usually has excellent fall offerings, and there’s always a flashy little something to catch my eye from Lancome, Giorgio Armani and Guerlain. Ultimately, though, my spontaneous Gotta Have It! fall beauty purchases are the equivalent of the Trapper Keeper I was convinced would result in straight A’s in 7th grade: they’re shiny with lots of gadgets…but we all know Jolie’s going to get bored (read: lazy) in about two minutes and seek comfort in the arms of her trusty standbys. And in the end, if you’re not willing to put the work in, all the new supplies in the world won’t make a damn bit of difference! (Alas, could have saved my parents hundreds of dollars over the years there, huh?)

I’m at the Palm Beach airport, waiting for my flight back to LAX after a weekend of visiting old friends and liberating old belongings from storage. Amazingly, I thought it was a good idea 16 months ago to put my Skin An Apothecary conditioners, Chanel perfumes and Neutrogena cleansers in a bag to keep instead of calling it a loss and giving them to friends. I felt a bit guilty this go ’round giving friends possibly expired shampoo and lotion, but they eagerly snapped the products up. Next time, to charity it shall all immediately go!