Beauty Means a Little More: City Beauty x NBCF
An October campaign created to support women affected by breast cancer through storytelling, self-care, and City Beauty's partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
COMPANY
DATE
MY ROLE
City Beauty x National Breast Cancer Foundation
October 2026 (In progress)
Campaign strategy, creative direction, art direction, messaging strategy, partnership direction, content strategy, shoot direction, cross-funtional leadership, social, design
DESIGN
Ashley Espinoza, Emma Chisholm, Dani Llanes, Tiffany Jacinto
CONTR.
Design, Retention, Social, Video, Operations, Legal, NBCF
I wanted us to stand for something bigger.
City Beauty hadn't built a major campaign around a cause like, ever. With a predominantly 45+ female audience, Breast Cancer Awareness Month felt like an opportunity to support an issue deeply relevant to the women we serve — while creating a more meaningful role for the brand.
For the idea to move forward, it also needed to make business sense.
The answer was one of our best sellers.
Tinsel Town was already one of City Beauty's bestselling City Lips shades, giving us a product customers knew and loved as the foundation for the campaign.
The Final Product
The Vision & Exploration
Initial ideas explored the possibility of a two color swirl. 2 colors that are associated with Breast Cancer Awareness. We looked into our pinks like Raspberry, Tinsel Town and Los Angelips and also explored a pink cap. These ideas had to warrant a limited-edition product while also upping value.
BEST SELLING SHADE
Tinsel Town
CAUSE
Breast Cancer Awareness
IDEA
Limited Edition City Lips
The idea changed.
The intention didn't.
When a custom pink swirl proved unfeasible within manufacturing constraints, I pivoted to a limited-edition pink cap paired with Tinsel Town — preserving the visual idea while working within production realities.
But a pink product wasn't enough.
Buy One, Gift One.
We partnered with the National Breast Cancer Foundation for this cause and campaign.
For the month of October, City Beauty would donate a City Lips to NBCF's Hope Kits for every Limited-Edition Tinsel Town Sold.
This was especially important to us because we fell in love with the idea that our product could bring a small moment of comfort to someone going through breast cancer treatment (Hope Kits).
If we were going to participate in Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I wanted the campaign to contribute something tangible — not simply turn an existing product pink.
We started with the women — not the product.
Their experiences became the foundation for the campaign's messaging, content and creative direction.
REAL WOMEN
not models
REAL STORIES
not scripted empowerment
EVERYDAY COMFORT
not "returning to normal"
MEANINGFUL ACTION
not awareness alone
Feeling like yourself doesn't always mean going back.
Listening to women affected by breast cancer shifted the campaign away from the idea of “returning to normal.” Instead, we focused on the small routines, relationships and moments that helped them feel connected to themselves wherever they were in their experience.
The Women Behind the Campaign.
Graphics designed by: Emma Chisholm
Portraits
We wanted it to feel like care, not a campaign.
The visual system balanced the familiarity of Breast Cancer Awareness Month with something softer, more intimate and editorial.
SOFT · HUMAN · TACTILE · EDITORIAL · HOPEFUL
The most important thing we could do was listen.
Darlene & Kim
A conversation about perspective, identity and life after diagnosis.
Kris & Emma
A mother-daughter story about treatment, family and finding comfort in everyday moments.
