For a while now beauty products have been piling up in my office, in my bathroom and in my garage. You see, when beauty companies and PR firms send me products to try out for a review, they often send multiple products. So maybe an entire hair care collection…but I only end up using the shampoo and conditioner, or 6 eye shadows…but I only really need to try out one to know if it’ll crease or how it looks. All of the extras find a way into a box and then my family likes to “shop” my office.

This year after reading Renee Rouleau’s post Beauty is Truly More Than Skin Deep about domestic violence and her ongoing initiative to donate unused or gently used beauty products to local shelters, I decided that I wanted to put those boxes of unused products to good use.  So I rounded up some of my beauty blogger friends who also committed to donating their unused products as well.

So this past week, my three oldest sons ages 11, 8 and 6, and I gathered 2 boxes packed full of beauty products and a bag with several pairs of unworn women’s shoes and brought them to a place here in Northeast PA called VIP (Victim’s Intervention Program.) VIP gives women and children of domestic violence and sexual assault free counseling, support groups, food pantry and emergency shelter. I asked my sons to carry in the boxes and explained to them why we were donating them. And it made an impact…

My way of giving thanks this year was to be grateful for what I have and to give the extras to women in need. If you have unused beauty products or hotel minis, I encourage you to do the same.

Here’s a list of the other beauty bloggers participating in this project:

Afrobella
AlyWalansky.com
Beautiful Makeup Search
Beauty Blogging Junkie
Beauty Junkies Unite
BeautyStat
Mischo Beauty
Product Girl
Retrodiva’s Beauty
TheMakeupGirl
The Product Pasha
ThisThatBeauty

Happy Thanksgiving! xx