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Beauty Banks: The toiletry equivalent to food banks takes off

Two women have started a non-profit making group to provide toiletries for women who are unable to afford their own.

Jo Jones, a PR and beauty director, and her friend, beauty columnist and writer Sali Hughes, were, they say, partly motivated to act after hearing how teenage girls were "rolling their own" tampons because they couldn't afford sanitary products.

The pair, who both work in the beauty industry, were appalled by what is sometimes known as period poverty.

So, less than two weeks ago, they started Beauty Banks - the toiletry and beauty product equivalent to food banks.

Ms Jones said: "I just believe that everyone should be able to have a clean body, clean hair, go to school with deodorant on.

"For me, it's a dignity thing. It's about self-pride, self-care and self-confidence. Of course, you can't eat a deodorant, but these products are a dignity issue.

"We're just collecting products and sending them to the people who can distribute them to those in need.

:: Opinion: 'Someone will feel fresher, cleaner, better, because of you'

"We were so aware of the amount of waste there is, particularly in the beauty industry, this is about us galvanising our contacts, as well as appealing to individuals [for donations].

"We're just volunteers, we're a non-profit organisation, we're not a charity, we don't have any long term goals apart from getting the items out to people."

The scheme aims to provide essentials like soap, shampoo, tampons, sanitary towels, deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste and also items such as lipstick or moisturiser which can have a positive impact on someone's self-confidence.

In a short space of time, support for the idea has snowballed.

Ms Jones showed Sky News the area of her office at the Communications Store where her boss has allowed parcels to be sent; there's a mini-mountain of packages.

Some are from beauty brands; most are from members of the public and contain notes praising what the girls and their friends are doing.

She added: "Most women have, well, we call it the graveyard cupboard, you just chuck all your beauty products in there and forget about them.

"We can only take unused products for safety issues, but we all scoop up things like free toothbrushes on airline travel, they're actually really good for homeless people because they're moving around a lot."

Ms Hughes said it's about helping people to feel human.

"There's a huge link between self-care, good grooming and mental health," she said. "Feeling like you don't smell the same as everyone else, standing out in that way, is not good for your mental health.

"Food banks are reporting that over half of their users are foregoing essential toiletries to eat. That's ridiculous.

"It's nothing for us to buy some extra tampons or sanitary towels but, actually, in real terms, that can mean a girl going to school knowing she's adequately protected."

Ms Hughes said the response they've received has been overwhelming.

"We thought we may get a couple of dozen packages, what we didn't expect is pallets and pallets of stuff arriving every day and that's a brilliant problem to have," she added. "We're thrilled. The food banks are so pleased.

"We're already in Milton Keynes, Cardiff and Liverpool and we're hoping to edge further out."

St Paul's Church in Stratford runs one of the food banks that has already benefited from the boxes.

Reverend Jeremy Fraser said having the extra products has been a "godsend".

"It is sadly really needed," he said. "A lot of people are living quite tight lives on their money, so when things start to go wrong they go wrong really quickly.

"These items are a luxury in one sense, but actually if you are going to be human you need some things around you that mean you are going to be clean, that your clothes are clean.

"If I'm going to feel human in the morning having toothpaste and a toothbrush makes all the difference.

"If I was a woman then I'd want tampons. It's basic things that make us value people and honour them and not them treat them like they're less than us - because they're not... actually any one of us could be there one day."