Find Your Fabulosity Lipsticks Boost Self-Esteem Of Over 100,000 Domestic Violence Victims
In 2016, Domestic Violence Educator Sheryl Kurland, wanted to try something a little different during one of her workshops for women who had experienced domestic violence.
Speaking with Woman’s World’s Maggie Dillard back in 2021, Sheryl recounted that behind her audience’s smiles and nods, the women’s undeniable pain was palpable. At the time, Sheryl thought, “It’s clear how heartbroken they are. Yet, even so, they’re still so beautiful.”
Following the advice of her mother who taught her about the power of a lipstick to add a spring to a woman’s step, Sheryl brought a pile of new packaged lipsticks to her next workshop and gave them out to the women in attendance. What she saw during that evening’s workshop can only be described as a seismic shift.
To be clear, Sheryl says, “Of course, a new lipstick is not the solution to all these women are dealing with. But to a victim who has been stripped of everything, it gives her some sense of identity and self-esteem; it bumps her up a notch or two, reminds her of who she was prior to the domestic violence, and who she can become.”
Sheryl witnessed the positive impact a new lipstick provided to these women with her own eyes. “It was like I took a magic wand and changed these women with the power of a lipstick. It’s hard to put that moment into words, because it’s a feeling.”
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A dream to help
According to Sheryl, it was a feeling initiated by the women in her workshops. “I didn’t come up with this idea of gifting domestic violence victims with a lipstick. I was led to create this movement through experiencing its power, firsthand.”
Launching the nonprofit, Find Your Fabulosity, in 2016 at her dining room table with a handful of lipsticks and a few passionate volunteers, Kurland could never have anticipated the national movement it would become.
As word of Find Your Fabulosity’s mission spread, companies like Thrive Causemetics, Defiance Beauty, Gwen Stefani’s GXVE Beauty, E.L.F. and numerous other beauty brands and women’s organizations have supported Sheryl’s cause by donating tens of thousands of lipsticks.
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Thrive Causemetics CEO Karissa Bodnar, an early passionate supporter, was so inspired by Find Your Fabulosity’s work in service of women, the popular cosmetics brand named a lipstick after Sheryl. According to Bodnar, “Sheryl and her organization, Find Your Fabulosity, are why we do what we do every single day. Sheryl helps women who’ve experienced domestic abuse thrive again."
Defiance Beauty Founder Nechami Tenenbaum adds, “As a brand focused on empowering and giving a voice to all women, we wanted to give to a cause that helps women from all nationalities, backgrounds, and religions. I'm a huge fan of Sheryl Kurland and her work to help empower and educate women.” Tenenbaum’s Defiance Beauty donates one lipstick to Find Your Fabulosity for every lipstick purchased.
Sheryl and Find Your Fabulosity now work with three hundred women’s shelters across the United States, providing lipsticks to their residents, and although lipstick donations have grown exponentially, the need is ever increasing.
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Social media influencers have also gotten in on the act, encouraging their followers and sponsors to donate lipsticks to Find Your Fabulosity’s cause. “It was the work of Beauty Influencer Kelly Rose Sarnow that led to E.L.F. and M.A.C. Cosmetics making sizable lipstick donations,” shares Sheryl, adding, “Beauty Influencer Melissa Rae also continues to make videos about Find Your Fabulosity, encouraging her followers to donate lipsticks to us, which led to Younique’s donation of 1,000 lipsticks.”
Reaching goals to healing hearts with Find Your Fabulosity lipsticks
It’s been a powerful ripple effect that has led to a long held goal of Kurland’s—Find Your Fabulosity recently surpassed one hundred thousand lipsticks donated to victims of domestic violence.
“This means one hundred thousand women across the United States have been uplifted through the power of a new lipstick. One hundred thousand victims of domestic violence were made to feel like they mattered, and reminded of their beauty and the power to transform their lives.”
A Football fan, Sheryl points out, “If you lined up all 100,000 lipsticks, Find Your Fabulosity has gifted to domestic violence victims, end-to-end, it would be the length of more than 80 football fields.”
With box loads of lipsticks now pouring into their office and countless thank you notes from women’s shelters and individual recipients, the prolific nonprofit’s work is far from complete, and Sheryl says it’s the smaller stories that touch her heart the most.
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“Last week, a woman gave me 1 lipstick. Most people would think that is not much, but every lipstick makes a difference. Another woman from Las Vegas made it a New Year’s resolution to give us a box of lipsticks every single month, and she has continued to send us lipsticks every month for the last five years.”
Domestic Violence survivors often approach Sheryl with their stories, asking to volunteer. “We are an all-volunteer grassroots organization, and it’s these little nuggets of support that are truly meaningful to me.”
Find Your Fabulosity
Explaining the insidious epidemic of domestic violence in the United States, Sheryl shares that 1 in 4 women will be a victim of domestic violence in her lifetime, and that one hundred percent of those women will say they never saw it coming.
“These women got caught in a web that builds over time, and suddenly they find themselves in a bad situation,” shares Kurland, explaining how domestic violence cuts across all demographics. “The prevalence is why I do what I do. It’s one step in helping these women find their way to freedom. It’s a small thing that can help in a big way.”
As for Kurland’s next numerical benchmark? It’s not really based on a specific number. “I just know there are tens of thousands more women that I want to give hope to through this work.”
For more information, visit FindYourFabulosity.org.
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