The theme for International Women’s Day (IWD) 2022 is ‘Break the Bias’, and it is a call to action for a world that is free of bias and discrimination, a world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. This is in line with Amorepacific’s philosophy of “making A MORE beautiful world where every woman can enjoy the life they dream of” that has been in place ever since our foundation. Thus, we now hold the hands of women, to be more specific, people who need help but are hesitant to seek out such help for the fear of prejudice, and we say, “For A MORE beautiful life, WHY NOT?

Reportedly, the amount of stress that female cancer patients have over the changes that occur in their body shape is twice as high as that of healthy women. They feel three times more stress for hair loss and twice as much stress for changes in their skin compared to ordinary women. For over 35% of all female cancer patients, such stress remains high even 12 months after surgery. This means that taking care of one’s appearance is not simply a matter of dressing up or beauty makeup. Rather, it is an important means that enables them to live in the daily life that they used to enjoy when they were healthy.
This is why Amorepacific launched and has carried out its ‘Makeup Your Life’ campaign since 2008, which is designed to share how female cancer patients who struggle with sudden changes in their looks due to chemotherapy can continue to be beautiful. The campaign is intended to help patients heal by informing them about the changes in skin that they’d experience during chemotherapy and introducing them to how they can take care of their skin and apply makeup that suits them best. According to a study, the patients who participated in the campaign showed 17% less stress and a 12% less aversive response to cancer compared to the level of stress before the campaign, indicating that the experience had a positive impact on their emotional state¹.
The campaign was also proved to have improved the body image (a mental picture you have of your own body and how you see yourself as opposed to an objective, real image of you) in breast cancer patients while also reducing anxiety and depression².
Until last year, more than 20,000 patients from multiple countries including Korea, China, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia participated in the program. Now, Amorepacific aims to reach out not just to patients in Asia, but to all female cancer patients around the globe to help them also regain their health through this campaign.

A micro credit project designed to tackle this issue is Amorepacific’s ‘Hope Stores’. The project began on June 30, 2003 with the Beautiful World Fund, the inheritance donated by the family of the late founder and chairperson of Amorepacific in memory of his efforts to support women and children’s welfare. Hope Stores is a program that initiates positive change in single mother families by providing start-up loans to assist them with financial self-reliance. Furthermore, it helps them to start new businesses in various fields including food, beauty, service, manufacturing for retail and wholesale, and education so that single mother families are able to achieve a more stable livelihood.

To date, over KRW 26.1 billion of funding has been administered, while the investment repayment rate(2004~2021) and survival rate(2021) of Hope Stores have reached 82% and 71%, respectively. This implies that many single mothers who have opened Hope Stores have laid a solid business foundation, thus safeguarding their families.

“People who apply for Hope Stores may feel belittled by the overwhelming pressure of life, but you don’t have to be afraid. You have to believe that your efforts will someday bear fruit.”

“Watching me lead a burgeoning business has inspired and reinvigorated my children to get back on their feet again no matter how difficult the situation is. Hope Stores has instilled such confidence and energy in our children. The program does not just affect the lives of mothers, it also has a profound impact on children’s lives.”

- owner of the Hope Store

Moreover, Amorepacific holds a business-idea competition for promoting women’s employment in order to support non-profit organizations and institutions that have great ideas but lack financial resources. The program is aimed at organizations that can support self-reliance and employment of women in vulnerable circumstances. For those selectees, Amorepacific provides a business expense of up to KRW 50 million and helps them run the business for one year to support the women to develop employment competencies and strengthen economic capabilities.

Amorepacific China helps women become economically independent through the ‘Better She’ Project (started in 2020), a global version of Beautiful Life. Better She is a program that helps women from vulnerable social groups in rural areas by providing training and career opportunities as caretakers for babies, pregnant women and the elderly, and also as housekeepers. Run by professionals who provide systematic training, Better She has seen approximately 80% of trainees find jobs. The program has had a positive impact on these women, not only in helping them achieve financial independence, but also in boosting their confidence, improving their social relationships, and promoting their satisfaction in life.

Song Hojoon, a leader of Amorepacific CSR team said, “We are creating various opportunities to help women achieve economic independence by preparing contactless education content, for use during the COVID-19 pandemic, and by developing new jobs. Up until 2021, more than 6,000 women in Korea and abroad have participated in the program. Moving forward, we aim to support more women and help them find a major turning point in their lives.”