You’ve dropped produce to the foodbank, spare change in the bucket and preloved clothes to the relevant charitable organisation. But have you ever considered giving away your unwanted beauty products?
For many of us, there’s a stark disconnect between beauty and poverty: beauty equates to luxury, poverty does not. So when we give to those with fewer resources than ourselves, we offer what we believe to be the essentials. But a new campaign in the UK is drawing another side of poverty into the public consciousness and asking us, once again, to reflect upon the true realities of homelessness.
While working on a documentary for the BBC, Guardian columnist Sali Hughes came across a stack of plastic crates ‘filled with mismatched tubes of toothpaste, little travel bottles of shower gel and an assortment of individual tampons and sanitary towels’. As she wrote in her now viral article for The Pool, ‘Every last product had been donated by either members of the public or staff members. I was told that when a homeless woman got her period and invariably had no money to buy adequate sanitary protection, she’d approach the busy, often chaotic front desk, ask for a towel or tampon and wait for one of the dedicated support workers to retrieve one of the precious items from the crate. Likewise, a homeless man might approach the same desk for a razor or deodorant ahead of an important interview in which he may become housed, employed or eligible for support schemes.’
The experience highlighted a difficult truth for the Pretty Honest author: that of the 13 million people still living below the poverty line in Great Britain, a significant number find it impossible to stay clean because, when faced with the choice, ‘almost anyone would prioritise eating over washing’.
In February, Hughes and beauty PR Jo Jones launched the non-profit organisation Beauty Banks with the intention of supporting existing charities in providing hygiene and grooming products for those who need them most. Utilising their contacts in the beauty, blogging and media industries, the pair have already managed to assist high schools, food banks, shelters and the National Health Service (NHS) with toiletries, personal hygiene products and beauty items. They have attracted the support of X Factor star Stacey Soloman, who donated her pay cheque from a corporate job to pay for couriers, vans and delivery cars; influencer Huda Kattan, who made a ‘bumper donation’; and big brands like Bobbi Brown, Burt’s Bees, Percy and Reed, and BaByliss, who’ve helped with products and logistics.
Hygiene poverty in Australia
Obviously, hygiene poverty is not an issue exclusive to the UK. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ most recent report, 116,000 people are currently homeless in Australia. This figure marks a 14 per cent increase in homelessness between 2011 and 2016 and includes those staying in cars, at crisis centres, in overcrowded accommodation and rough sleeping.
Three years ago, Rochelle Courtenay founded Share The Dignity after reading about hygiene poverty in homeless women and women escaping domestic violence in Australia. The charity now works to combat this issue by collecting sanitary and personal care products for women in need. It also runs sporting activities for children in crisis and pays for the funerals of domestic violence victims.
In a recent Mamamia article, Courtenay spoke candidly about how she greatly underestimated the complex nature of hygiene poverty when starting the charity. ‘I was a bit foolish to believe I could solve this problem,’ she wrote. ‘Back then I thought “right 44,000 homeless women, surely, they don’t all menstruate right? So that’s maybe 30,000 that need our help monthly”. Doable, I thought.
‘But the sad reality is the problem is so much bigger than I ever imagined and starting Share The Dignity was simply scratching the surface. More than 175,000 women turned to homelessness services last year, a staggering number.’
The lipstick effect
In the context of hygiene poverty, beauty products may appear somewhat trivial, but the Beauty Banks founders have experienced a surprising level of interest in makeup from both the supporters and recipients of their service.
Speaking on The Emma Guns Show in early March, Hughes explained how people had reached out to her on social media asking if it’s insulting to donate makeup to Beauty Banks or a worthwhile endeavour. Hughes encouraged it.
‘Who are we to decide that something can make us feel good, but it’s not a priority for people who can’t afford it?’ she asked. ‘If we’re able to give it, then we will. You can’t underestimate the little boost [a product] can give you. Of course the most important things are sanitary towels, deodorant, etc; but if we’re able to give somebody a little bit of a boost in their day, then that’s a good thing.’
As How To Build A Girl author Caitlin Moran wrote in The Times, ‘Yes, food stops you dying; but deodorant, shampoo, tampons and lipstick start you living.’ And we all deserve to live, right? CBM
