Our amazing photographer, John Rose, who took all the candid pictures put a video together for us!  Thank you John!!!!

Click here to watch the video.

In honor and remembrance of cousin Jenny, Mrs Emily Klugman has sponsored a Wig Out client in her name.

Leland Gebhardt Photograhpy did an amazing job taking pics all night at the Wig Out!

He has also generously offered to donate 50% of any photo orders. 

Take a look! And please consider booking him for your next event! He’s fabulous!!!!

Leland Photos 2012 Wig Out!

To enter email: hollyrose@checkforalump.com

Subject: Wig Out Fundraising Challenge 

Include: Members(age), address, phone number, and email.

Good luck to you all!

We are holding our 2^nd annual Wig Out event on Friday May 4^th.   We are raising funds to purchase wigs for breast cancer patients.  This is not your typical fundraiser – it’s a truly hair-raising affair!

SCANDALESQUE – The award winning Burlesque troupe will be performing.  And the VOODOO SWING BAND will keep you a jumpin’ and a jivin’ all night long.  Plus free appetizers, raffles, silent auctions, contests and more.  All guests are requested to wear a WIG – the more outlandish,  the better!  

So, put on your bouffants and pompadours, your beehives and afros, and come WIG OUT!  with Don’t Be A Chump! Check For A Lump!

Are you guilty of turning a blind eye?

by Holly Rose

Author of Live and Give: Facebooking My Way Through Breast Cancer.

As women, we bombard our body with chemicals. You know it, I know it and the manufacturers know it, but have we ever really thought about just how much we are exposing our bodies to and our children’s bodies every single day?

It all begins the moment we wake up. We turn the shower on and jump in, ready to be refreshed for the day ahead of us. We lather with up with soap and pour on the shampoo thinking we are getting ourselves clean when really we are coating our body with harmful chemicals, like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) that contains a known carcinogen Dioxane! Let me repeat that . . . A KNOWN CARCINOGEN. Not only are these products harmful, they strip your skin of its natural oils and they absorb into your skin. Once absorbed SLS mimics the hormone Oestrogen. This increases your risk of breast cancer among other health problems.  And conditioner is not safe either or your toothpaste, for that matter, which contains sodium Fluoride which is the main ingredient in rat poisoning. And don’t even get me started with mouthwash. They contain more chemicals and carcinogens that can be toxic to other organs.

We then step out of the shower and wrap a towel around us, and you guessed it, is it covered in chemicals. When we think we are washing our clothes and towels we are actually dousing them in a toxic potpourri we have been trained to believe gets our clothes clean because they smell so good. They only ‘smell’ clean because of the nasty ‘F” word. The ‘F’ word” is Fragrance . . . a name chemical companies use to disguise hidden harmful ingredients. The National Academy of Sciences report that 95% of the chemicals used in fragrances are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum including toxins capable of causing breast cancer and other types of cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and more (Just for fun, stop for one second and Google the image petroleum). Many of the chemicals in ‘Fragrance’ are listed on the EPA Hazardous Waste List. I think you need to hear that one again too! The EPA HAZARDOUS WASTE LIST. We have all been fooled by role models who are scantily clad holding a pretty dainty little bottle with some clever adjective in order to help us reaffirm who we are or want to be. Hello???  Would you really pick up a bottle labeled hazardous waste chemicals and smell it, and even if it did smell ‘pretty,’ would you spray it on your body and allow your kids to do the same? I think not. When did we become so gullible, myself included?

Moving into the kitchen we pass by our fragrance filled bottle plugged into an outlet for us to walk right through another invisible cloud of chemicals. I’m not going to attack the typical breakfast of coffee, eggs and bacon, because that would be too easy. So, once in the kitchen, trying to be healthy we grab an apple which is one of the dirty dozen. The dirty dozen are those fruits and vegetables that contain the highest pesticide residue. Pesticides are used to kill bugs, isn’t it reasonable then to assume they are killing us too. Studies have linked pesticides to cancer, birth defects, infertility, brain damage and more. The dirty dozen include: apples, celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, nectarines, grapes, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, blueberries, lettuce and kale. And remember your apple juice comes from the same contaminated source.

We head back to our bedroom to finish getting ready. We make sure not to forget our deodorant, which is laced with aluminum-based compounds and preservative known as parabens. Both mimic estrogen, and hence, have the ability to promote the growth of breast cancer cells. That doesn’t seem to be enough so we apply our daily moisturizer filled with SLS’s, Parabens, Fragrance, Oxybenzone, and God only knows what else. Then, we proceed with our daily make-up routine. If you have made it this far, I don’t think it is necessary to tell you that just about every product you are putting on your face is filled with harmful chemicals. The average woman applies approximately 20 different products daily . . . twenty products filled with toxic ingredients that have been linked to cancer, disease, Alzheimer’s, degenerative disease, birth defects, kidney damage, and the list goes on and on. The make-up industry needs a moral lashing!

We have only made it through the first hour or two of our day and we are totally contaminated with chemicals. I could go on and on through the average day to talk about fast food, our handy little bottle of antibacterial soap that causes nerve damage, the hormone disrupting phthalates in plastics, the toxic chemicals in cleaning products (Why do you think there are warning labels on them- They are Toxic!), the harsh trio in nail polish and nail polish removers, processed foods, the pesticides on the grapes in your wine and the hops in your beer. The list goes on and on.

We wonder why the occurrences of cancers are increasing. Well, it seems pretty obvious to me. Breast cancer rates are increasing and it is striking younger and younger women. It is my personal belief that the numbers are increasing in correlation to the number of toxins we are applying and ingesting coupled with a lack of nutrition and the toxins in the environment. I do acknowledge that there are genes that cause breast cancer, accounting for 10% of all breast cancer. So, what about the other 90% of breast cancer?

Don’t turn a blind eye. Read your labels, knows your products and do what you can to make a difference. You can start by eliminating one product and then another and another. And remember is also about moderation. I’m not saying never eat fast food again in your life, but limit it. Spend the extra and go organic! You can make up the difference by refusing to buy the processing junk that is killing you and your kids, if not by cancer, by obesity and heart disease. (I have to add ‘Why in the world are we made to feel like we are depriving our kids when we don’t buy all of the junk food sitting on the shelves of every grocery store? If anything we should feel guilty when we consistently feed our children these harmful products. Maybe that is just me.)

I know you can’t get rid of every single product. I too, still have some products I have not been able to give up just yet, even though I know they are harmful to me, like my color me pretty #30 hair dye! Maybe I need to change my way of thinking and say ‘Color me dead #30 hair die!’ I guess I have to keep taking away one product at a time.

Things are starting to heat up so please be wise and choose your sunscreens carefully.  Some sunscreens have hormone disrupting chemicals and other harmful chemicals.

Here’s a quick cheat sheet taken from http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/.  You can use their site to rate how safe all of  your products are; beauty, skin, cleaning, etc.

Say No to:
SPF above 50
Retinyl palmitate
Aerosol spray and powder sunscreen
Oxybenzone (Read what the CDC has to say about this chemical)
Insect repellent

Yes to:
Hats and shade in mid-day sun.
Zinc or Titanium are the best active ingredients, otherwise Avobenzone at 3%
SPF 30 for intense sun
Use a lot and reapply frequently

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

Prevention is the cure!

Don’t be a Chump! Check for a Lump!

Local Wig Shops are Wigging Out with discounts for our Wig Out guests!!!

Just be sure to mention ‘Wig Out’ to receive your discount.

Please come join us to pick out your wig for the Wig Out Event on one of these dates, or you are welcome to visit them during normal business hours.

Tuesday, April 24th 5-7pm
BOOM BOOM LARUE
3606 N. 16th St.
(This location is for the open-minded adventurous shopper)

Thursday, April 26th 5-7pm
EASLEY’S FUN SHOP COSTUME STORE
509 W. McDowell

Feel free to invite friends and be ready to Wig Out!!!

Sponsor a Wig Out Client!

You can make a difference in a woman’s life who is going through breast cancer by sponsoring her in our Wig Out client. For $250 your tax deductible donation will supply a woman who has lost her hair due to chemotherapy with a free custom wig. Losing your hair is so much more than vanity. It is your identity. Please help us make a difference by sponsoring a wig to give back these women their beauty, confidence and identity. Thank you!

Sponsor a Wig Out Client today!