Get lippy for HPV & AIDS awareness

Question: Heard of Estelle? Maybe you haven't yet, but her song "American Boy" featuring Kanye West and produced by Will.i.am. is currently #1 in the UK Singles Chart, which means it's only a matter of time until she breaks out big over here. (Think Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, them Brits are on a roll!) Not only does her song rule (hear it on her site), we have something in common with Estelle: Her new album is called "Shine." Cute name, eh?

Okay, second question: Ever heard of using a condom? Don't laugh. New research commissioned by The Body Shop and MTV revealed that seven out of 10 women under-25 "believe it is a man's job to provide contraceptives, while a third of women believe carrying a condom will mark them as being 'easy'."

How freakin' crazy is that? Guess all that public school sex ed is doing wonders, huh.

You've read the numbers on HPV, the epidemic that can cause cervical cancer in women. (Refresher: According to a recent NY Times report, one in four girls ages 14 to 19 is infected with at least one of four common sexually transmitted diseases including HPV.) New data suggests that not only are there 40 million people currently living with HIV and AIDS, half of all new HIV infections occur in young adults under the age of 25.

A lot of companies talk a big game, but I've always been a huge fan of The Body Shop because of their extensive history of giving back, both by making charitable donations and practicing fair trade on a huge percentage of their inventory. Their latest campaign makes me especially happy to be a customer: Inspired by the work of Natalia Cales, a young woman from South Carolina who received a Staying Alive Foundation grant to help her implement an HIV/AIDS prevention program called SiHLE (Sistas, Informing, Healing, Living, Empowering), they've partnered with MTV and Estelle to help fund awareness outreach aimed at young women. So far, they've already raised $860,000 for the Staying Alive Foundation.

It's easy to get in on the action yourself: Check out Move Your Lips to get informed, and treat yourself to a fairly traded lip balm. At least $5 from the sale of each Guarana Lip Butter ($8; The Body Shop) will go towards the Staying Alive Foundation to fund HIV and AIDS prevention awareness projects for young people across the world.

Sounds like a good deal to me. Now, let's review those figures. Since when did carrying a condom equal promiscuous? WTF is going on?!?