Online retailer, BeautyKind, is where beauty meets social consciousness, uniting cause, commerce and community by empowering customers to give back to the charity of their choice, at no extra cost.

“Beauty is our passion, and kindness is our cause,” said Lisa Green, President of BeautyKind.

The online beauty retailer empowers customers to give back to the causes that matter the most to them by giving 5 percent of every purchase to the charity of their customer’s choice – at no extra cost.

“While many beauty brands give back to specific charities, we offer a specific platform that allows customers to choose the charity that is most important to them,” said Lisa. “Same products, same price. But when you shop at BeautyKind, you give to what is most important to you. Simple as that.”

In May, BeautyKind, which is privately held and recently closed a new round of funding, upgraded its online platform. The online retailer now gives its customers access to more than 1.5 million charities to choose from, compared to the 10,000 charities that had previously been available. “That’s practically every charity in the U.S., both national and local charities,” said Lisa.

Lisa pointed out that BeautyKind gives back 5 percent on gross sales, not net. “It comes out of our pocket. We know collectively it will make a difference. Women will buy the products anyway. Same products, at the same price, but when you shop at BeautyKind, you give. You have to buy the products anyway, so why not give back while you do it.”

“Our business model was built around the charity component. It was never built as an afterthought. Our mission and vision has always been to make a positive impact. We don’t have bricks and mortar, we don’t have overheads. It’s pretty exciting.”

Approximately 100 beauty brands are currently available on BeautyKind’s site, with recent additions including Peter Thomas Roth, Stila, Philosophy, Beautyblender, and Living Proof (soon to launch with the retailer), and with many new additions to follow in the coming months.

“We are looking for brands that customers request because we know they will purchase them. We don’t discriminate according to all natural or organic and so forth. The more brands we have, the more we can support non-profits.”

BeautyKind is currently focused on ‘eventing’ with brands and corporations, by way of popups and maintaining a strong presence at college campuses, with the goal of obviously engaging and reaching new customers.

“Donor fatigue is real. Charities are trying to figure out how to raise funds and do passive fund-raising in tandem with beauty brands,” she said.

Lisa cited Peter Thomas Roth’s endeavor with Charity Water, the non-profit that brings clean, safe drinking water to developing countries. The BeautyKind platform helped Peter Thomas Roth raise $10,000, enabling the brand to build a well in Ethiopia with Charity Water over the next 18 months, enough to support 200 people in a community.

Lisa said that BeautyKind will soon be building a community page on its site to show the progression of such projects. The company also recently initiated a #beautykindgives challenge where customers can upload a video on their social channels and share the importance of their favorite charity for the chance to have $1,000 donated to their highlighted charity. “The entries have been amazing. You can see the passion and gratitude people have for life.”

Because Lisa believes in walking the talk, the entire Dallas-based company, currently comprising 15 employees, volunteers once a month, including recently to the Genesis Women’s Shelter and the Destiny Learning Center that supports high-risk kids. “We have to live and breathe what we believe. It’s life-changing,” she said.

BeautyKind is proud to be one of six honorees at this year’s annual DreamBall Gala in September, and honored as ‘Retail Champion’.

Lisa’s five to ten-year goal? “To be a big player like Sephora and Ulta. If we could be as big as them, we’d be giving back $250 million to charity on an annual basis. Brands are always looking for new customers, and charities are looking for new funding. We all have responsibility. Our platform can supply. The world has so much negativity, especially right now. We want to live and breathe kindness. If we come together, we can truly make the world a better place.”