Fran Drescher Talks New Collaboration With Laura Geller Beauty for Limited-edition Makeup Palette Benefiting Cancer Schmancer

Fran Drescher has once again joined forces with Laura Geller Beauty to launch a limited-edition palette in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The star of “The Nanny,” who initially discovered the cosmetics brand on QVC , has fallen in love with Geller’s mineral-based, paraben-free formulas, especially as a cancer survivor.

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Nearly 30 years ago, Drescher was diagnosed with uterine cancer, leading her to launch her own charitable organization, Cancer Schmancer, in 2007. The nonprofit is focused on empowering consumers to make conscious choices for their health — including the removal of toxic, carcinogen-packed products from their homes.

Fran Drescher’s Cancer Schmancer Kit , priced at $59, features Geller’s bestselling baked formula in three different shades for both face and eyes. The accompanying dual-ended tool includes an angled brush on one side for bold lifting and sculpting, and a smaller, tapered brush for precision application and shading on the eye lids. Fifty percent of the proceeds from the sale of this exclusive bundle will be donated to Cancer Schmancer.

Below, WWD chats with Drescher about the importance of detoxing one’s home, Cancer Schmancer’s charitable work and her advice for women when it comes to embracing aging.

WWD: Detoxing your home has been a big part of your life following your cancer diagnosis 24 years ago, and it’s also a major initiative of your charity, Cancer Schmancer. Why is this so important to you?

Fran Drescher: I’m the type of person that wants to understand causation and prevention. I really believe that unless you identify causation, you’re continuing to fan the flame, even if you’re trying to resolve the problem. On the back end, it’s never made sense to me, and that is a very prevalent way that Western medicine functions. When I was diagnosed with cancer, there was very little information available on the internet, and maybe there was some kind of emerging functional or alternative medicine that delved into this area, but I really feel like I was one of the people that spearheaded that, and it became my obsession.

I want to find what’s causing cancer in our daily lives and eliminate it. Let’s not get cancer in the first place. How’s that for a cure? I don’t want us to be chronically ill. I don’t want us to be the unhealthy nation that we are. We started the detox your home campaign because the home, it turns out, is the most toxic place we spend the most time in and ironically, have the most control over.

WWD: What interested you in working with Laura Geller in the first place?

F.D.: For me, I have to walk the talk, and I can’t just promote anything. I have to really believe in the product and I have to be able to use it. I believe in Laura Geller completely. It’s all made in Italy and it’s a safe cosmetic. I tried the product for several weeks before committing to it, and [Laura Geller was] very patient with me.

Interestingly enough, all the people in my life who have tried Laura Geller, subsequent to me being their spokesperson, love Laura Geller cosmetics and it’s because it’s such a good product. They’re philanthropic too, like they support what I’m doing as a health activist as much as I support what they’re doing as a makeup brand, and we’re both kind of aligned in the same place to push forward a message that’s really in the best interest of women. It’s a very mutually supportive relationship that I’m extremely proud to be a part of.

WWD: You’ve previously collaborated with Laura Geller on products that benefit Cancer Schmancer. How has this helped your organization?

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F.D.: Everything makes a difference when you’re a nonprofit. With Cancer Schmancer, I just wanted to help people, so I’m always trying to generate funds for my organization. We’re an education-based nonprofit, and our mission is to educate, motivate and activate patients to help them become conscious consumers and make more mindful choices about how they live their life.

All year long, we curate a master class health summit that includes doctors from various fields of medicine. We usually have a theme from year to year, and the people that attend this learning event say it’s a life changing experience. [The summit] gets edited into what we call an Edu-Series, which becomes available online for free for people to learn from all over the world. It’s available to purchase for your video library, because it’s dense with information, and that’s another way we fund Cancer Schmancer.

We also partner with other nonprofits to help marginalized women who may not have access to certain kinds of tests. We try and spread out a little bit, but for the most part, we focus on enabling people to see what they are doing that may be compromising their immune system and creating inflammation and those two things are really a cocktail for poor health.

WWD: Onto the palette. Tell us about why you love it and how you’d wear it.

F.D.: Everything about it is so nice. It’s got a little mirror. It’s easy to put in the purse. You’ve got everything you need, believe it or not, right here. It also comes with this cute little two-sided brush. So the small one I use on the eyes and the bigger one I use on the cheeks. You can create a smokey eye, use this beautiful blush and then there’s a highlighter that you can put on the tops of your cheeks.

WWD: Laura Geller’s mantra is about celebrating women over 40. How have you dealt with sexism in Hollywood and what’s your advice for women on how to embrace aging?

F.D.: First of all, no one’s getting out of this alive. We all have to face the fact that we’re getting older, and we can’t succumb to objectification of women to the point where it’s a no-win situation. I don’t want to feel bad about myself because I’m living a long and healthy life. Cultivate yourself as an interesting person and become confident in what you need and be able to express that with kindness and respect. Always let your heart wisdom guide you and do what makes your heart sing.

As the president of SAG-AFTRA, when I was leading this major strike that ignited a labor movement around the world, the opposition hired very big PR from Washington, D.C., that has a reputation for representing the bad guys. Right away, they went for the lowest hanging fruit: to discredit the woman leader. People said we should just ignore it, and I said, “No. I realize now that the bigger story here is not even about the contract, but about what do women in leadership look like for women and girls?”

I felt a responsibility to show that I don’t have to emulate male energy to lead. I can lead with wisdom and empathy and intellect, and I could still rock a red lip. I turned the whole thing on them by doing a video where I was getting ready to go into the negotiations and expressing that while I was putting on makeup, and it went viral. So women and girls, and certainly women that are maturing, have to tune out some of the merchandising lies that are out there. I think that this is the time for women to rise up. And you know, if there was ever a time when we needed a woman leading the free world, it’s now.

Fran Drescher’s Cancer Schmancer kit is available to shop now at laurageller.com.

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