The Unofficial Guide to Donating Beauty Products
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Imagine this: You wake up, do your morning routine, and have breakfast. You've cleaned every part of your apartment except one — your beauty closet. Swallowing the dread, you put on your "Cowboy Carter" playlist and dance your way through a much-needed beauty-product declutter session. You can finally breathe a little easier, until you realize you have a new problem — half these products are untouched and it would simply be wasteful to throw them away.
This feels like a universal problem for any and everyone who has ever referred to themselves as a beauty lover. The best part about cosmetics is that they are a relatively low-cost way to create a feeling of luxury in your everyday routine, but the downside is they can pile up fast — and don't last forever. Whether you're a collector of limited-edition packaging or you just need to try every red lipstick on the market, every product has an expiration date, so it doesn't make sense to hoard them.
Thankfully, there is a solution for your mountain of rejected beauty products in need of a new home: donate them. There are a handful of organizations that can collect your new and unused, or gently used, products and give them to someone in need. From nonprofit organizations backed by L'Oreal Paris's Women of Worth initiative to organizations that help women dress for interviews, there are plenty of better alternatives to throwing your unused items into the trash.
Ahead, check out exactly where to donate your beauty products — so you can declutter with a clear conscience.
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Yes We Can World Foundation
Yes We Can World Foundation provides high-quality education and builds safe spaces for refugees, migrants, and children in transit. They accept both new and gently used beauty products. To donate, you can ship all items to:
Yes We Can World Foundation
PO Box #14
Burbank, CA 91503
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UnPrison Project
UnPrison Project is a nonprofit that works to build literacy, mentoring, and life skills capacity for women and girls in prisons, as well as for their children. They help cultivate tools to plan, set goals, and prepare for successful life after prison, and at the same time bring public awareness about mass incarceration. UnPrison Project accepts new and gently used beauty products, and you can send them to:
UnPrison Project
8014 Olson Memorial Hwy #153
Minneapolis, MN 55427
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Project Beauty Share
Project Beauty Share is based out of Spokane, WA, and collects products and donates them directly to local shelters for marginalized women. The organization accepts new and gently used makeup, toiletries, and tools and prepares them for donation. You can check out which products it accepts here, as well as where to send them.
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Tigerlily Foundation
Tigerlily Foundation is a women's health and oncology foundation that aims to educate, advocate for, empower, and support young women — before, during, and after cancer. The foundation accepts new and gently used beauty products, and you can donate by contacting [email protected] and sending products to:
Tigerlily Foundation
42020 Village Center Plaza Suite 120-156
Stone Ridge, VA 20105
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Sahiyo
Sahiyo aims to empower Asian and other communities to end female genital cutting and create positive social change through dialogue, education, and collaboration based on community involvement. The organization accepts new and gently used beauty products, and in addition to gift cards, you can send products to:
Sahiyo US
45 Prospect Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
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Dress For Success
Not only does Dress For Success accept business attire for women to use for interviews, but it also accepts unopened beauty products. This helps the interviewee feel their most confident, which could potentially end in them landing the job. There are plenty of places to donate throughout the US.
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Rise N Shine
Rise N Shine Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making the community a better place through volunteer-based solutions while helping to motivate people of all ages and backgrounds to take on leadership positions and help the less fortunate. Rise N Shine Foundation only accepts brand-new beauty products, and donations can be sent to:
Rise N Shine Foundation
23114 Timber Creek Lane
Clarksburg, MD 20871
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Malikah
Malikah is a grassroots organization advocating against gender and hate-based violence through self-defense training, healing justice, economic empowerment, and community organizing for safety and power. The organization accepts both new and gently used beauty products, and donations can be made to:
25-61 Steinway Street
Astoria, NY 11103
Additionally, if you live in New York City, volunteers from Malikah can facilitate a donation pickup.
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Beauty Bus
California-based Beauty Bus provides in-home services to people who are ill and cannot leave their homes, as well as their caregivers. The organization also provides bags of new, sealed products to clients from donations. Submit an inquiry for donating your unused products here.
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Kits to Heart
Kits to Heart is an organization that aims to provide adequate material and psychosocial support to help reduce stress and anxiety for a better treatment process to individuals undergoing chemotherapy. Kits to Heart only accepts new, unused beauty products. They can be mailed or dropped off at:
6941 Crossfield Court
Clarksville, MD 21029
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Girls Who Brunch
Girls Who Brunch is a nonprofit whose goal is to cultivate, inspire, and empower at-risk girls between the ages of 9 and 17 years old. The group aims to address these issues by equipping girls with essential tools in literacy, education, life skills, and health and wellness. Girls Who Brunch accepts both new and used beauty products, and donations can be sent to:
4575 Webb Bridge Road S4821
Alpharetta, GA 30005-4821
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Share Your Beauty
Share Your Beauty partners with beauty brands, professionals, bloggers, and anyone else who might have unopened beauty products to give some pampering to teens and women in crisis. You can send the New York-based company your unused products or drop them off at one of its locations.
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Future Ties
Future Ties provides homework help and after-school activities five days per week, as well as a summer camp when school is not in session, to keep children engaged in academics and to keep their free time occupied in healthy ways. Future Ties only accepts brand-new beauty products, and donations can be sent to:
Future Ties
3935 W 82nd Street,
Chicago, IL 60652
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Disability EmpowHer Network
Disability EmpowHer Network is a nonprofit run by and for girls and women with disabilities. It connects, motivates, and guides disabled girls and women to grow, learn, and develop to their highest potential and have the confidence to lead. Disability EmpowHer Network only accepts new beauty products, and donations can be sent to:
Disability EmpowHer Network
110 Wembly Road
Rochester, NY 14616
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The Pink Berets
The Pink Berets nonprofit aims to help those who struggle with invisible injuries and emotionally charged wounding to experience a fresh perspective of themselves, their lives, and the act of limitless possibilities. The organization accepts both new and used beauty products; donation inquiries can be sent to [email protected].
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Room Redux
Room Redux improves the lives of children who have faced abuse through room transformations. The organization accepts both new and gently used beauty products, and donations can be sent to:
Room Redux
2051 Bunker Street
New Braunfels, TX 78132
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Street Team Movement's Project Lioness
Project Lioness provides feminine hygiene kits that are equipped to sustain a homeless person through five days of their menstrual cycle. Donations can be sent to:
Project Lioness
2875 S Orange Avenue #500-1210
Orlando, FL 32806
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Project Compassion
Project Compassion's mission is to enhance the lives of low-income and homeless individuals through education, compassion, and empowerment. The group only accepts new beauty products, and donations can be sent to:
Project Compassion, NFP
6609 West Main Street
Belleville, IL 62223
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Partners in Foster Care
Partners in Foster Care is a L'Oréal Women of Worth finalist. The organization accepts both new and used beauty products, and donations can be sent to:
Cora E. White
2706 Badger Lane
Madison, WI 53713
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Andrew Fitzsimons's Trans Cosmetic Donation Program
Andrew Fitzsimons, the founder of the eponymous hair-care brand, has partnered with the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the Trans Economic Empowerment Program to launch the Trans Cosmetic Donation Program. This program allows beauty professionals to donate unused personal hygiene and cosmetic products to transgender and gender-nonconforming people.
The organization only accepts new and unused products. Donations can be sent to:
LA Trans Wellness Center
3055 Wilshire Boulevard
Unit 360
Los Angeles, CA 90010
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Go Local
Give your local women's shelter a call to see if it'll take your leftover beauty products. Chances are it has some sort of program that will be located near you. A win-win.
Ariel Baker is the assistant editor for POPSUGAR Beauty. Her areas of expertise include celebrity news, beauty trends, and product reviews. She has additional bylines with Essence and Forbes Vetted.