About Beauty Night

Beauty Night Society is a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization that helps disadvantaged women and youth improve their self-image and increase their self-esteem. Beauty Night volunteers work to restore feelings of confidence, dignity and self-worth in clients so that they can develop the inner strength to make positive changes in their lives.

History

Beauty Night was created and founded by Caroline MacGillivray, a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2001. Caroline first became of aware of the plight of sex-trade workers in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside while volunteering at WISH, a drop-in centre for sex-trade workers, as part of her research for an acting role.

One quiet night, she offered to give a manicure to a client and style her hair. After noticing how positively the woman responded to her attention, Caroline thought about how other women suffering from personal hardships could feel better through simple, pleasurable acts such as a hair cut, manicure or having their makeup done for them.

It took little convincing for WISH to let Caroline host her first "Beauty Night" - an evening of fun, friendship and makeovers for the centre's clients. Soon, Caroline was hosting more Beauty Nights, with more and more volunteers and clients joining her for this unique experience.

Today, Beauty Night has given more than 8,000 makeovers to women and youth in Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto, and has expanded to include other programs that help clients with their self-esteem and confidence.

Our Clients

Beauty Nights clients are primarily women, but we also have some programs for youth of both sexes. Beauty Night's first clients were primarily women living in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, an area struggling to cope with high rates of unemployment, homelessness, addiction and reliance on the sex trade. Today, we offer our services to women and youth who experience any form of hardship that affects their self-esteem and self-worth, including addiction, poverty, homelessness, HIV-status, criminal convictions and mental illness.

Our Volunteers

Volunteers are the backbone of Beauty Night. They include hairdressers, makeup artists, aestheticians, massage therapists, physical fitness instructors, nursing students, dental hygienists, fundraisers, caterers, communications professionals, designers, accountants, human resources professionals, facilitators and more. Most inspiring is that many of our clients have become Beauty Night volunteers themselves.

Our Organization

Beauty Night became a non-profit society on October, 4, 2002, and is currently applying for charitable status. We consist of a board of directors, headed by President Caroline MacGillivray, and have chapters in Vancouver, Victoria, Prince George and Toronto.