The Beautywell Project aims to end skin-lightening practices and chemical exposures.
Individuals live in a healthy lifestyle and embrace their identity and culture. We also build the capacity of communities and improve their health literacy.
Operating as usual
03/28/2023
Ways hydroquinone in the skin-lightening products impact the health of the individual:
-It can cause cause skin irritation
-It can cause cancer
-It can cause skin inflammation
-It can cause extreme sensitivity to sunlight
- It can cause ochronosis, a blue-black or gray-blue skin discoloration
https://thebeautywell.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/HYDROQUINONE-EXPOSURE-FROM-SKIN-LIGHTENING-PRODUCTS.pdf
03/22/2023
On this , know that mercury from the skin-lightening products can contaminate public water systems due to ways people practice and the lack of safely disposing these products.https://thebeautywell.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mercury-Fact-Sheet-for-Business-Owners.pdf
03/16/2023
How does Steroid in the skin-lightening products impact the health of the individual?
-It can cause skin damage: acne, thinning of the skin, rash, painful sores & skin infections
-It can become addictive
-It can cause hypertension
-It can cause elevated blood sugar
-It can decrease the body's natural steroid
https://thebeautywell.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/STEROID-EXPOSURE-FROM-SKIN-LIGHTENING-PRODUCTS.pdf
03/14/2023
Colorism impacts young girls of color in negative ways including their self esteem, body dysmorphia and their overall mental health. Here are educational materials on body dysmorphia. https://thebeautywell.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Body-Dysmorphia.pdf
03/08/2023
Happy ! We are grateful for all the women and girls who partner with us to combat colorism & skinlightening in the US and globally! Thank you!
Join us and take action on addressing these issues that is disproportionately impacting women of color.
Learn about our work: https://thebeautywell.org
03/01/2023
Tonight we celebrated the outstanding achievements of our Young Women’s Wellness and Leadership Initiative cohort 7! Congratulations to all of you!
02/27/2023
We started last week our YWWLI 8th cohort. It was great welcoming these amazing & talented girls into 18 weeks program that will help them lead their health & wellbeing, grain leadership skills, policy & advocacy skills, and have one-on-one mentorship.
02/22/2023
Colorism, skin-lightening practice & chemical exposures are impacting the heath outcomes of communities globally! This is a huge health disparity that needs the attention of all governments, leaders & communities. Teach everyone to love their skin color.
02/04/2023
Minnesota was the 1st state to ban mercury in cosmetics including skin-lightening products. However, regulating and taking action was never a priority for the state. Governor Tim Walz when will you make MPCA regulate toxic skinlightening products?
For your reference; women in MN lost her vision due to mercury in skinlightening products. Knowing this case MPCA is still ignoring this issue.
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/11/29/health/skin-whitening-beauty-creams-mercury-vision-loss-mother-families-as-equals-intl-cmd/index.html
Mercury in beauty creams believed to have caused vision loss in mother and put her family at risk A woman lost part of her vision and inadvertently put her family at risk of mercury poisoning, most likely from using skin whitening products containing high levels of mercury, a case report shared exclusively with CNN shows.
02/02/2023
We are recruiting for our 8th cohort of Young Women’s Wellness and Leadership Initiative (YWWLI). Learn about the program and apply. Here is the online application. https://thebeautywell.org/Program/young-womens-wellness-and-leadership-initiative/
01/31/2023
Google created a new policy that ban the promotion of colorism, skin-lightening products and skin-lightening practice. It has been great collaborating with to develop this policy change. https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/11933633?hl=en
01/28/2023
Last night our YWWLI cohort 7 presented their research & podcast publishing that focused on the intersectionality of colorism, skinlightening practice and gender. We are so proud of their creativity, talents & their time of combating these issues!
Governor Tim Walz, We are very disappointed that you did not include the skin-lightening and chemical exposures in your legislative budget ask given that you and your team know that women of color lost her vision in MN due to use of skinlightening products that contain mercury.
01/26/2023
Generational trauma has been impacting many communities who have experienced discrimination or war. We published the research and article written by our YWWLI cohort on mental health and it’s impact.
https://thebeautywell.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Mental-Health-in-the-Somali-Community.pdf
01/22/2023
We hosted career panel discussion for our YWWLI and our panels were Charlene Tsh*toka, an Engineering Manager at TXI & Yusra Mohamud, Business Advisor at Lake Street Council. This was a great and inspirational session for our YWWLI cohort.
01/18/2023
All skinlightening products contain toxic chemicals e.g. Mercury, lead, hydroquinone & highly potent steroids. There is no alternative! Stop using these toxic chemicals and love your skin color!
https://thebeautywell.org/education-materials/
01/15/2023
Our organization was featured on a Dutch news NRC and it highlighted the important work that we are doing to address colorism, skin-lightening practice and chemical exposures. Amira Adawe
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2023/01/03/huidbleekcreme-is-populair-in-somalie-we-poetsen-onszelf-weg-a4153180
01/14/2023
Mercury from the skin-lightening products can contaminate public water systems due to ways people practice and the lack of safely disposing these products. Learn about our education materials on mercury exposure from skinlightening products.
https://thebeautywell.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mercury-Fact-Sheet-for-Business-Owners.pdf
01/07/2023
Tonight at our YWWLI cohort session joined by Lois Harrison from University of Minnesota School of Public Health and conducted training on ways to read and understand cosmetics safety sheet and toxicological information. Thanks so much for your time, Lois!
12/28/2022
We published an article written by some of our YWWLI cohort 6 discussing about Colorism within Media and Effect on Students. Learn about it.https://thebeautywell.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Colorism-within-media.pdf
12/24/2022
We have been working with Congresswoman Betty McCollum for the past few years to establish funding to address skin-lightening & chemical exposure. Yesterday US House passed an appropriation that will continue address this issue.
Chemical exposures from skinlightening products is disproportionately impacting the health of women of color and overall communities of color. The funding will continue to fund FDA in partnership with CBO to raise awareness & identifying regulation process. Thanks so much Congresswoman Betty McCollum!
https://mccollum.house.gov/media/press-releases/chair-mccollum-delivers-minnesota-17-trillion-omnibus-appropriations-bill?fbclid=IwAR02cBCoFAtLQEGOGoP5vrrQMZWiKYIEKMDGYxS-0hRZp2d4spDGhh4Xa0w
https://www.congress.gov/117/crpt/hrpt392/CRPT-117hrpt392.pdf
12/24/2022
Tonight at our YWWLI session joined by Binta Kanteh Policy Director for Commissioner Angela Coney at Hennepin Co. Binta conducted training on politics and public policy, ways young girls can do advocacy and shared her career journey. Thank you Binta for your time!
12/22/2022
Mercury from the skin-lightening products can contaminate public water systems due to ways people practice and the lack of safely disposing these products. Learn about our education materials on mercury exposure from skinlightening products.
https://thebeautywell.org/education-materials/
12/19/2022
Somali women in Minnesota lost her vision due to mercury exposure from skin-lightening products. This is a huge example of how these toxic products can impact the health of individual’s, family & communities. The health impact from mercury exposure can be permanent.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/29/health/skin-whitening-beauty-creams-mercury-vision-loss-mother-families-as-equals-intl-cmd/index.html
Mercury in beauty creams believed to have caused vision loss in mother and put her family at risk A woman lost part of her vision and inadvertently put her family at risk of mercury poisoning, most likely from using skin whitening products containing high levels of mercury, a case report shared exclusively with CNN shows.
12/17/2022
Colorism impacts young girls of color in negative ways including their self esteem, body dysmorphia and their overall mental health. Here are educational materials on body dysmorphia.
https://thebeautywell.org/education-materials/
12/14/2022
Steroid containing Skin-lightening products can cause multiple health issues including:
It can cause skin damage: acne, thinning of the skin, rash, painful sores & skin infections
It can become addictive
It can cause hypertension
It can cause elevated blood sugar
It can decrease the body's natural steroid production.
https://thebeautywell.org/education-materials/
12/07/2022
All skinlightening products contain toxic chemicals e.g. Mercury, lead, hydroquinone & highly potent steroids. There is no alternative! Stop using these toxic chemicals and love your skin color!
https://thebeautywell.org/education-materials/
12/07/2022
Are you dealing with traumatic events based on your skin color or other events? Here is educational poster to help you address PTSD. We also provide safe space through our programs. For more resources contact us.
https://thebeautywell.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/PTSD-Poster-.pdf
12/03/2022
Learn about the impact of skin-lightening practice and mercury exposure. A Minnesota women lost her vision due to mercury exposure from skin-lightening products. Thanks for raising awareness on this issue and highlighting our work.
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/11/29/health/skin-whitening-beauty-creams-mercury-vision-loss-mother-families-as-equals-intl-cmd/index.html
Mercury in beauty creams believed to have caused vision loss in mother and put her family at risk A woman lost part of her vision and inadvertently put her family at risk of mercury poisoning, most likely from using skin whitening products containing high levels of mercury, a case report shared exclusively with CNN shows.
11/29/2022
Thanks so much Congresswoman Betty McCollum for your leadership in addressing this issue! Much appreciated!
Mercury in beauty creams believed to have caused vision loss in mother and put her family at risk A woman lost part of her vision and inadvertently put her family at risk of mercury poisoning, most likely from using skin whitening products containing high levels of mercury, a case report shared exclusively with CNN shows.
The business individuals who mix skin-lightening products at their stores should know that they are also getting exposed to high levels of Mercury similar to the once who practice. Stop the sale of these toxic products and end colorism.
https://thebeautywell.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mercury-Fact-Sheet-for-Business-Owners.pdf
The business individuals who mix skin-lightening products at their stores should know that they are also getting exposed to high levels of Mercury similar to the once who practice. Stop the sale of these toxic products and end colorism. https://thebeautywell.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mercury-Fact-Sheet-for-Business-Owners.pdf
11/23/2022
We published an article written by our YWWLI cohort on colorism in the workplace: “Racism in the Workplace”. Learn about the impact of colorism. This is why we need multiple approaches to combat colorism and improve the health outcomes of our communities.
https://thebeautywell.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Racism-in-the-Workplace.pdf
11/22/2022
All the toxic chemicals in the skin-lightening products associate with hormone issues, cancer, neurological issues and other mental health problems. Encourage individuals to embrace their skin color & identity. https://thebeautywell.org/education-materials/
11/19/2022
Great panel discussion about colorism and it’s impact on the body including body dysmorphia by Tiwonge Kafera, Hafsa Farah and Alia Bereka.
11/18/2022
Yasmin Abdulrahman is sharing her lived experience of colorism and the importance of raising awareness on the issue among young girls. Happening now. Join us.
11/18/2022
Our Executive Director Amira Adawe is discussing about the impact of skin-lightening products and the harmful marketing strategies traders are using in the US and Globally. Join us.
11/18/2022
Liz Bolsoni is presenting Colorism in the University Setting. Happening now. Join us.
11/18/2022
Dr. Amina Mire is presenting about the colorism, the idea of whiteness and it’s association with the beauty of politics. Happening now. Join us.
11/18/2022
Why colorism is a problem that is impacting many individuals. Our 2nd Youth Health Summit - Combating colorism is happening now. Join us.
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