What Does International Women’s Day Have to Do with Selfcare?
Do you know about International Women’s Day, March 8th? And that March is also International Women’s Month?
I first became aware of it in 2014 when my daughter studied abroad in Cameroon, West Africa. She posted the most amazing pictures of her classmates and locals marching and dancing in the streets as thousands of spectators watched or joined in. There, women get matching outfits made in advance; my daughter and her friends, guys and gals, were no exception.
International Women's Day Through the Years
Some disagree with the starting date and location of International Women’s Day but it’s widely known that On March 19, 1911, International Woman’s Day was held in Paris to influence social reform, drawing more than one million people to rallies worldwide. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, most attempts at social reform ground to a halt, but women continued to march and demonstrate on International Women’s Day.
While others suggest it began about four years before earlier in New York, what’s persevered is that the United Nations General Assembly began marking March 8 as International Women’s Day and, by 2014, when my daughter was in Cameroon, it was celebrated in over 100 countries and made an official holiday in more than 25.
Today it has an official website and seeks to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. And it marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
What International Women's Day Means to Us at Sally B's
That’s why we’re celebrating the significant achievements of Sally B’s founder Sally Larsen who is an appropriate representative of the 2021 theme of International Women’s Day - #ChoosetoChallenge.
When she began making natural skincare products in 2000, Sally was in recovery from cancer and suffered from several aftereffects. Deciding to make a difference in her health through a less toxic lifestyle, she had a difficult time finding safe skin and beauty products. Tired of the looks she got from salespeople who didn’t even know how to read an ingredient label, she began making her own products. Within a few years of research and development, Sally felt like she had something to market and formed her company in 2005.
Because of the growth in the organic markets and the willingness to try new and cutting-edge ingredients found around the planet, she has emerged as a skincare and makeup leader in formulating products free of harmful chemicals, animal byproducts, GMOs and unregulated fragrance. Creating the products helped Sally regain her own health and contribute to the health of other’s skin, our largest organ!
“Finding mentors in this field was not easy, because of the lack of regulations in the US,” Sally said. “But one I appreciate so much is Alison O’Neil who is the clinical tester to my researched formulations. She helps ensure that the product ingredients I dreamed of and combined in my lab would do what I understood they would for customers. She provides the clinical side to my creative one. The end result is products that truly benefit the skin while keeping our planet and waterways safe.”
Today, Sally B’s is a member of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and many of our products carry the EWG seal, which is no small deal. In the US, one can find thousands of skincare and makeup ingredients that are totally banned in Europe and other places, so it’s Sally B’s mission to keep making safe products that contribute to a woman’s wellbeing and health. We also formulate products for other small businesses and looks forward to doing more of that in the future.
~Karin, writer for Sally B’s Skin Yummies
Leave a comment