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NEW YORK, May 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Today on "Melanoma Monday," L'Oreal Paris, the leading global beauty brand, released a new survey on melanoma awareness and prevention among women of all skin tones, and announced a philanthropic alliance with the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA). Over the next three years, L'Oreal Paris will donate over $750,000 to the MRA to fund the new L'Oreal Paris-MRA Team Science Award, led by internationally renowned cancer researcher Dr. Meenhard Herlyn, to research ways to help prevent, cure and treat melanoma, the fastest growing cancer in the world and the deadliest form of skin cancer.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130506/NY07663 )

L'Oreal Paris will help fund the melanoma research through sales of its line of SPF sun care products, Sublime Sun. Through December 31(st) 2013, for every Sublime Sun product sold in the U.S., L'Oreal Paris will donate $1 to the MRA for the L'Oreal Paris-MRA Team Science Award, up to $250,000. 100% of the donation will go toward the research.

Throughout Melanoma/Skin Cancer Awareness Month in May and into the summer, L'Oreal Paris will also help create awareness and education for women of all skin tones about melanoma prevention through its Website, social media and spokesmodels. Today, fewer than a quarter (22%) of American women would give themselves an A for healthy sun care habits, according to the survey commissioned by L'Oreal Paris and conducted by Kelton Global. And, while people of all skin tones are at risk for melanoma, only 21% of Hispanic women and just 12% of African-American women give themselves an A when it comes to sun protection.

L'Oreal Paris is encouraging people to test their "Skin IQ" and learn about melanoma myths and facts by visiting lorealparisusa.com/sun. To get further involved in the donation, people can also make a pledge on Facebook and Twitter to protect their skin. For each pledge from May through July 2013, the company will donate an additional $1 to the MRA, up to $10,000.

"The Melanoma Research Alliance is an incredible organization that has made significant strides in funding melanoma research and advancing treatment. We are very proud to partner with the MRA to help find a cure for melanoma and drive awareness around this disease," said Karen Fondu, President of L'Oreal Paris. "Our hope is to help drastically reduce the growing incidence of melanoma in this country by educating women that sunscreen should be a part of their daily beauty routine, no matter your skin tone or where you live."

"We are truly delighted to have this innovative collaboration with L'Oreal Paris. L'Oreal is a world-leading health and beauty brand that shares our commitment to defeating deadly skin cancer," said Debra Black, founder of MRA and a melanoma survivor. "Their generous commitment of support for game-changing melanoma research comes at such a crucial time in the field. Their amazing support also provides us with the ability to raise awareness and educate the public about ways to prevent and detect melanoma and other skin cancers."

Survey Shows Women Are Not Taking Preventative Steps against Melanoma

In the L'Oreal Paris survey conducted by Kelton, while the majority of American women are aware of melanoma, over half of women give themselves a "C" or lower when grading their healthy sun care habits. Hispanic and African American women, among whom the incidence of melanoma is growing, are even less likely to take steps to protect their skin.