Kerry Washington Speaks Up

(Courtesy of L'Oreal)

If it were up to her, Kerry Washington wouldn't let another woman go uninformed about the risk of ovarian cancer. And now the Lakeview Terrace actress is teaming up with L'Oréal to raise awareness with the help of the Color of Hope bag, lipstick and necklace from the beauty company. OK! chatted with Kerry recently to get behind her own personal story.  

OK!: What made you decide to get involved?

One of the reasons why I decided to work with L’Oréal is because of all the philanthropic work that they do in the community. I feel like they’re not a company that tries to take advantage of women’s insecurities by making women feel not good enough so they have to go and buy makeup to feel good about themselves. Instead, they really believe in the work of women and that women deserve to look good and
feel good every single day. And part of that is health and their commitment to women’s health and ovarian cancer. They are really leading the way. It’s frightening how we don’t have the kind of research and development that we need for ovarian cancer. When it comes to breast cancer, we know how to do early detection. The research is there, but for ovarian cancer, that just doesn’t exist and by the time people know, it’s too late.

OK!: Your mom is a cancer survivor, how was that affected your life?

Yes, my mom is a breast cancer survivor and part of the reason she is a survivor is because of early detection so I understand the importance of early detection. If it wasn’t for the advancements in technology that allow for early detection in breast cancer, I probably wouldn't have my mother today.

OK!: Christina Applegate's mom also had cancer. Does that make you scared that you could be diagnosed with cancer too?

I think that one of the great things is, the more that we learn to be open with the information and to talk about it, the more we can communicate with our healthcare providers. I’m really lucky that because the information is out there and people like you are willing to cover it, and people like Christina are willing to talk about it, more women are having the courage to talk to their healthcare providers and take care of themselves.

OK!: Do you think celebs speaking out has helped bring awareness? 

I think whenever a woman talks openly and honestly about health, it encourages other women to do the same.

OK!: What's your favorite beauty product right now?

I am of course loving the Color of Hope bag. It’s similar to the Red collection, where you can spend your money how we girls like to spend money on ourselves to look good. You can actually feel good about it too by buying the Color of Hope bag, you’re not just being good to yourself, but you’re being good to woman all over the world to help raise awareness and help find a cure. You can buy the lipstick separately or the bag, and all  money [from the purchases] goes directly to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and helping to improve technology so that we have a way to know earlier on and help find a cure.