🌈 First and foremost, I want to wish everyone a happy Pride month!
This is such an exciting time to celebrate all forms of love and continue to champion 2SLGBTQ+ voices and issues.
As an ally and someone who–from the very outset of founding Graydon Skincare–committed to using my business and my platform to fight for the causes I believe in, I knew we’d be celebrating this Pride month by supporting the great work many queer people are doing to create safe spaces for their community to live authentically, empower themselves, and learn about queer history.
That’s why, this month, Graydon Skincare has decided to support the Tegan + Sara Foundation. For every Face Glow purchase made in the month of June, we’ll be donating $1 to the Foundation.
Before I share more about how fantastic the Tegan + Sara foundation is, I wanted to share a little story of my own.
Allyship Across the Decades
Back in the 80s, when I made the decision to pursue a Women’s studies degree, I did so because my family expected me to pursue a higher education (even though what I really wanted to do was become a chef) and Women’s Studies was the only degree at The University of Toronto that interested me. What started as a way to rebel and forge my own path turned into some of the most eye-opening years of my life.
It was the first time I had been surrounded by so many openly queer and strongly feminist folks, and getting to know them expanded my conception of what I, as a woman, could achieve in the world. I also was lucky to learn about the experiences of the people around me as they navigated life as members of the 2SLBGTQ+ community. Hearing of the backlash they faced, the work they put in to make themselves known and accepted in the world, and their unique perspectives on life and society was a gift that allowed me to expand my own mind and take on a totally new perspective on life.
Fast forward to now–I recently attended a concert where a friend’s daughter was on stage performing her music. She took time to speak to the crowd about her girlfriend. The pride and confidence in the way she spoke, even to a crowd of older and potentially more conservative audience members, who in my day would have had a lot of judgment, reminded me of how far we as a society have come. Seeing the positivity and joy more and more people have when it comes to being queer or being an ally has been a beautiful thing to witness.
Bryn is an incredibly talented singer-songwriter, and I was moved by her performance that evening. Later, when I brought up the fact that I wanted to support a Canadian 2SLGBTQ+ charity for Pride month, Bryn and her girlfriend Erica recommended a foundation started by two of Canada's most famous lesbian singers, Tegan and Sara. Beyond the musical connection, Bryn and Erica thought the work they were doing was amazing, and recommended we support them.
Once I started looking into the Foundation’s programs and initiatives, I was totally sure this was the right foundation for us to support! Now that you know the background behind how I found out about this great charity, let me share more about their phenomenal work.
About the Tegan and Sara Foundation
The Tegan and Sara Foundation supports a number of really exciting programs. Their first is to provide scholarships and funding support to US and Canadian 2SLGBTQ+ summer camps. These camps focus on bringing together 2SLGBTQ+ so that they can build confidence, leadership, and community. The Tegan and Sara Foundation’s current goal is to increase the number of 2SLGBTQ+ self-identified girls and young women who attend, especially girls of colour, Indigenous, low-income, and rural-based youth. As a women-led business, this goal in particular resonates with us at Graydon Skincare.
Every year, the Foundation also partners with DonorsChoose.org, channeling community support into funding for teacher-led initiatives to get more 2SLGBTQ+-themed and inclusive books into classrooms across the US. So far, they’ve supported nearly 100 projects and impacted over 12,000 youth.
On top of this, the Foundation helps 2SLGBTQ+ people access inclusive healthcare, and supports many other great queer organizations through community grants.
At this year’s Juno Awards, Tegan and Sara accepted the Humanitarian Award for their work with their foundation. Check out their acceptance speech below and hear from them why their work is so needed right now.
Learn more about the Tegan and Sara Foundation here.
Why Face Glow?
Not only is Face Glow one of our bestsellers–making it the perfect choice to maximize our impact–but it’s also a great glow-giving, protective product that will keep your skin healthy and luminous throughout a month packed with exciting Pride events.
Face Glow is a tinted moisturizer + primer that can also be used as a highlighter. It contains non-nano zinc to protect your skin from the elements, sea buckthorn seed oil to refresh your skin, and spirulina and raspberry seed oil to brighten your skin and minimize dark spots.
It also has aloe vera juice and pumpkin seed oil to soothe and nurture, smithsonite to promote skin elasticity, and mica–the ingredient that gives your skin a natural, glowy look.
Face Glow is suitable for all skin types and formulated for sensitive skin, so no matter who you are, this product will make your skin shine!
Shop our special Pride edition of Face Glow here.
