What Beauty Banks does

Beauty Banks is a UK registered charity (Charity Number 1184944) founded in January 2018 by journalist Sali Hughes and PR expert Jo Jones to address hygiene poverty — the inability to afford basic personal care items such as soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, and sanitary products. The charity operates a logistics and redistribution model: it accepts monetary donations (online via Give As You Live and Donorbox, plus SMS text-to-donate) and donated product (unused/unopened toiletries from individuals and surplus/repackaged inventory from beauty brands such as Estée Lauder, BaByliss, Superdrug, Natracare, and Colgate), then sorts and distributes products through a warehouse network (Winsford, Brighton, Croydon, Dundee) to a UK-wide network of over 2,168 registered charity partners including food banks, domestic abuse refuges, homeless shelters, NHS trusts, and schools.

The organization runs recurring campaigns targeting specific hygiene poverty issues: Stay Fresh Appeal (school holiday hygiene kits), The Tooth Hurts (oral hygiene poverty with Colgate and the British Dental Association), The Kids Are Not Alright (school hygiene poverty), and Helping Hands (COVID-19 emergency response). A volunteer programme called Beauty Bankers enables community collection in workplaces and homes, with notable corporate collectors including King's College London, BNP Paribas, and J.P. Morgan. The charity operates with a tiny full-time team of approximately 11 employees plus a wider volunteer network; neither founder draws a salary.

The business model is donation-only (no commercial revenue), with no advertising budget and reliance on founder media visibility, earned media, and social sharing for awareness. By 2025 the charity reported 30,000 people receiving donations and 200,000 individual products distributed. The founders were jointly awarded MBEs in The King's Birthday Honours List in 2025 for services to charity and tackling hygiene poverty. There is no proprietary technology platform; operations depend on third-party donation infrastructure and physical warehouse logistics.

Name

Beauty Banks

Legal name

Beauty Banks

Website

https://beautybanks.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Beauty Banks is a UK-registered charity founded in 2018 that collects donated personal care products and monetary contributions, redistributing them through a network of 2,168+ charity partners to individuals and families experiencing hygiene poverty across England, Scotland, and Wales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brighton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Monetary Donations: Online donations via Give As You Live platform and text-to-donate (BEAUTY5 to 70490 for £5, BEAUTY10 for £10, up to £20). Financial donations are converted into personal care and hygiene products for charity partners with no waste.
2. Brand Partner Product Donations: Beauty and personal care brands donate surplus, repackaged, and discontinued toiletries and beauty products. Partners include major brands like Estée Lauder, Babyliss, Superdrug, and Natracare. Products are redistributed to those in need.
3. Individual Product Donations: Individuals send unused, unopened toiletries and cosmetics to warehouse for redistribution. Accepts gift sets, travel minis, and mistake purchases. Items are matched to charity partner requests across the UK.
4. Campaign Fundraising: Time-limited fundraising campaigns addressing specific hygiene poverty issues. Examples: Stay Fresh Appeal (£113,000 raised in 2020 for COVID emergency), The Kids Are Not Alright (£43,000 for school hygiene poverty in 2020), and The Tooth Hurts (100,000+ toothpaste tubes from Colgate partnership).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Beauty Banks collects donated personal care and hygiene products (plus monetary donations converted to products) from individuals and beauty brands, sorts them in warehouse facilities, and redistributes them at no cost through a network of over 2,000 registered charity partners to people experiencing hygiene poverty across the UK. Time-limited campaigns (Stay Fresh Appeal, The Tooth Hurts, The Kids Are Not Alright, Helping Hands) address specific issues such as school holiday hygiene poverty, oral hygiene and COVID emergency response.

Product overview

Beauty Banks is a UK-based charity that distributes essential personal care and hygiene products to individuals and families experiencing hygiene poverty. The organization operates through a combination of campaigns (Stay Fresh Appeal, The Tooth Hurts, The Kids Are Not Alright, Helping Hands), a volunteer-based collection network (Beauty Bankers), and direct donation programs. Products are sourced from individual donors and brand partners, then redistributed through a network of over 2,168 registered charity partners including food banks, domestic abuse charities, homeless shelters, NHS trusts, and schools across the UK.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Stay Fresh Appeal Seasonal campaign providing wellbeing kits packed with essential hygiene products (body wash, sanitary pads, SPF, toothbrushes) to children and families struggling with hygiene poverty during the UK summer holidays. Distributed via a network of over 500 charities, schools and libraries. Supporters can 'buy someone a Stay Fresh pack' through the Give As You Live page.
• The Tooth Hurts Campaign Campaign addressing oral hygiene poverty among school-age children in the UK. Partnered with the British Dental Association to fund research into the oral hygiene crisis; secured a 100,000+ tube toothpaste donation from Colgate that was distributed to children nationwide.
• The Kids Are Not Alright Campaign 2020 campaign raising £43,000 to support children experiencing hygiene poverty at school. Addresses inadequate access to basics like deodorant and shampoo that lead to embarrassment, bullying and school absenteeism, including makeshift sanitary product use among some girls.
• Helping Hands Campaign 2020 COVID-19 emergency response campaign run in partnership with GoFundMe. Raised £113,000 to provide essential hygiene products (hand wash, soap, sanitiser) to food banks, refuges, NHS trusts, homeless shelters and youth services during the pandemic.
• Text-to-Donate Service

Quantifiable outcome

• 30,000 people received Beauty Banks donations in 2025
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• British Dental AssociationflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Partnered with Beauty Banks to fund research into oral hygiene crisis affecting school-age children. Survey results informed The Tooth Hurts campaign.
• ColgateflagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2022Donated over 100,000 tubes of toothpaste for The Tooth Hurts campaign, distributed to children nationwide.
• OrdocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Warehouse partner providing storage and logistics for Beauty Banks product donations. Located at Unit 7, Road One, Winsford, CW7 3PZ. Handles receiving and processing of donated toiletries.
• Estée Lauder CompaniesflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Major beauty brand partner providing product donations to support those in hygiene poverty. One of the world’s biggest beauty brands supporting Beauty Banks' mission.
• BaBylissflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Beauty appliance brand partner with strong relationship built by Jo Jones. Provides donations of hair care appliances and products for distribution.
• SuperdrugflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018UK health and beauty retailer partner providing product donations and supporting Beauty Banks campaigns.
• NatracarecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Organic feminine care brand partner providing sanitary products for donation to those in need.
• Biosculpture UKminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Beauty brand collaboration referenced on Instagram promoting Beauty Banks partnership.
• Give As You LivecoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2018Online donation platform processing financial donations. Converts monetary donations into personal care products for charity partners with zero waste.
• King's College LondoncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2018Corporate partner collecting hygiene products through workplace donations. One of many businesses participating in Beauty Banker programme.
• BNP ParibascoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2018Corporate partner collecting hygiene products through workplace donations. Regular product collection supporter.
• J.P. MorgancoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2018Corporate partner collecting hygiene products through workplace donations. Regular product collection supporter.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• British Red Cross: The British Red Cross is a major UK humanitarian charity and a listed partner receiving Beauty Banks' hygiene product donations. It addresses overlapping vulnerable-population needs (refugees, homeless, crisis-affected individuals) through a broader emergency relief and support model.
• The Salvation Army UK: The Salvation Army is a listed downstream partner of Beauty Banks, distributing hygiene products to vulnerable communities across the UK. It operates a much broader social welfare mission (homelessness, addiction, family support) but shares the same charity-partner ecosystem and beneficiary base.
• FareShare: FareShare redistributes surplus food from the industry to charities and community groups, mirroring Beauty Banks' surplus-redistribution model in the food category. Both organisations rely on corporate surplus donations and a volunteer-driven logistics network; Esther Gent (Beauty Banks' Head of Operations) previously worked at FareShare.
• Trussell Trust: The Trussell Trust operates the UK's largest food bank network supporting people in poverty. While focused on food rather than hygiene, it serves overlapping beneficiary populations, runs a similar charity-partner distribution model, and addresses the broader poverty crisis Beauty Banks targets.

Emerging players

• Baby Basics UK: Baby Basics UK is a network of baby banks that redistributes donated toiletries, clothing, and equipment to families in need. It overlaps with Beauty Banks in the personal-care and hygiene donation space and serves a similar vulnerable-population segment (e.g., families in poverty, new mothers).

Direct peers

• The Hygiene Bank: The Hygiene Bank is a UK charity launched in 2018 addressing the same hygiene poverty mission as Beauty Banks, redistributing donated toiletries and hygiene products to people in need through a network of partner organisations. It is the closest direct competitor in the UK hygiene-poverty niche.
• In Kind Direct: In Kind Direct redistributes surplus consumer goods (including personal care and hygiene products) from companies to UK charities and community organisations. It shares Beauty Banks' redistribution-of-surplus-products model and similar charity partner ecosystem.

Others

• Give Directly: Give Directly is a global nonprofit enabling direct cash transfers to people in extreme poverty. While not a hygiene-product peer, it represents an alternative charitable giving model and competes for the same donor mindshare around poverty alleviation that Beauty Banks targets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/beauty-banks

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Beauty Banks