La Mer

Every year on June 8, beauty brands unite with charitable organizations to celebrate World Oceans Day. The brands below have a special connection with the sea, whether it be through marine ingredients or an oceanic aesthetic. See how you can get involved to protect marine life and restore the Earth's most important natural resource.

H20 Plus has teamed up with Earth Echo International by creating the Restore Our Water Planet Shower Gel ($10). Ten percent of net sales will benefit Earth Echo International, and you'll be thinking of the sea when you lather up with this marine-scented wash.

In the Chantecaille Protect Our Oceans Set ($120), you can get both the Saving the Sharks and Coral Reefs Palettes at a discounted price. The sea-themed products are normally $79 and $83, respectively. Plus, with this special promotion, five percent of all proceeds will go to Bloom Association and Marine Conservation Institute.

Every year La Mer designs a limited-edition label for its coveted cream for World Oceans Day. This year the Crème de la Mer World Oceans Day ($425) has gotten a holographic makeover. The price tag is a little higher, because the jar is a hefty 1.4 ounces larger! No matter how many tubs are sold, La Mer donates to the cause. This year they also collaborated with National Geographic to raise awareness through this short film on marine habitat protection.

The stories about Crème de la Mer are legion. The skin cream is famously luxurious, having developed a devoted following almost solely by word of mouth. A friend of mine met a wrinkle-free 60-something who credited her smooth skin to the original Crème; she bought a jar the next day. I've met more than a few celebrity makeup artists who won't start their work before massaging Crème de la Mer into their clients' skin. At $150 an ounce, it's not for the light of wallet — but for its fans, nothing else will do. So what goes into a jar and why is this cream so famous? Read on to find out.

No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you — that actually is an enormous tribute to Crème de La Mer. It's part of filmmaker John Waters's solo show, Rush, currently showing at Rena Bransten Gallery in San Francisco. Waters, who uses La Mer, created the three-foot-high sculpture out of Styrofoam, latex, urethane, and plaster. And how much would this jar cost if it were filled with the pricey Crème itself? A whopping $880,000 — which makes the $130 one ounce jar seem like a bargain in comparison.

Today is World Oceans Day, and considering the still-flowing Deepwater Horizon oil spill, there's no better time to take action to protect the sea. La Mer, whose skin care and makeup are infused with marine plant extracts, is celebrating its fifth year of partnership with advocacy group Oceana. To commemorate the organization's expansion into Belize — home to the world's second largest coral reef — La Mer sponsored a days-long deep-sea dive with Oceana spokeswoman January Jones. Here's a look:

Along with donating $200,000 to the nonprofit, La Mer is "going blue" in a limited-edition jar of Crème de la Mer ($310). And if you ever have the opportunity to visit Belize, do it — there's truly nothing like seeing a sea turtle up close to make you want to protect the sea.