Mother’s Day has always been an important date where we celebrate the women in our lives who have given us nothing but love and support as we grow.
In an effort to provide women inmates and their mothers or daughters to strengthen their familial ties through beauty and self-care, the Yellow Ribbon Project and Benefit Cosmetics Southeast Asia recently teamed up to host a beauty workshop for the women inmates at Institution A4 on 5 May 2025.
Led by Benefit Cosmetics’ training team, the session focused on the importance of cleansing using Benefit’s Get Unblocked Pore Clearing Cleansing Oil & Good Cleanup Pore Purifying Foaming Cleanser, as well as hydration with the Hydro Pop Hydrating & Smoothing Essence and Smooth Sip Lightweight Gel Moisturiser, and some makeup tips.
This was in addition to the goal of creating a safe space for inmates and their relatives to have a meaningful connection, and the rare opportunity for physical touch after potentially years of separation.
Speaking to NYLON Singapore, Adrianne Quijano, PR & Digital Executive of Benefit Cosmetics shared that the idea came about when they were looking for a project to celebrate International Volunteer Day as part of their Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Project.
“We reached out to Yellow Ribbon Project Singapore (YRP) where they linked us up to conduct a beauty workshop for NeuGen, a charity that provides holistic and empathetic support to reformed offenders, their children and families to prevent intergenerational offending.”
Seeing the partnership as a value-add, Assistant Director (Aftercare) of the Yellow Ribbon Project Saraswathy Gunasegaren told NYLON Singapore that the partnership was a “natural progression” since both organisations shared the same belief that every individual deserves the opportunity to rebuild their lives with dignity.
“The workshop goes beyond just makeup application and empowering women with skills — it is one that helps them build that connection with their loved ones, and can help rebuild their lives as well as confidence for a successful reintegration and rehabilitation,” said Saraswathy.
For Benefit Cosmetics, this marked the first time a beauty brand had collaborated with the Yellow Ribbon Project and Institution A4 to organise something like this.
Adriane Quijano from Benefit Cosmetics, said: “Benefit Cosmetics goes beyond focusing solely on external beauty. We strive to demonstrate that we are here to foster genuine connections and to raise awareness for the important social causes championed by Yellow Ribbon.”
Even though hosting a beauty workshop is not something new for Benefit Cosmetics, it was not without its challenges for the Benefit team, especially when Changi Prison Complex is a government facility that has maximum-level security.
“For instance, no personal belonging, especially technology is allowed within the facility and this posed an obstacle as we were unable to capture the area for space planning,” said Adrianne.
She added, “We also had to declare all of our items days beforehand to ensure that the cosmetics will be authorised for clearance. This required deeper consideration for the products and display items that we wished to bring in as following the submission of the declared list, no further additions were permitted, and this meant there was a need for meticulous preparation from the outset.”
The workshop was also not open to all inmates and only selected participants who were identified by the officers based on the evaluation of the inmate’s conduct and family relationship.
As someone who interacts with the inmates daily, Personal Supervisor Staff Sergeant Noor Aisha Azman shared with NYLON Singapore that she personally finds that unique workshops like this is a “good opportunity” as it allows the inmates to foster relationships with their loved ones, who have been impacted by imprisonment.
“Female inmates tend to present different challenges due to the diverse roles they take on and some of them had adverse experiences (e.g. abuse) related to the varied roles which needed specific intervention such as support in mothering roles, trauma, mental health needs, and negative self-worth,” said Staff Sergeant Aisha.
In addition to external workshops like this, Staff Sergeant Noor and her colleagues also implement initiatives to help inmates foster a sense of community and rehabilitation, as well as build networks and social capital.
She said: “For example, we introduced the Grief Support Group for female inmates affected by significant losses and the aim was to help address their emotional needs, foster positive social connections within the prison community, and promote emotional healing, self-efficacy, and support-seeking behaviours.”
Another example is the Peer Supporter Initiative that trains suitable female inmates as peer supporters to provide support and guidance to fellow female inmates to enhance their overall well-being and self-coping strategies.
On top of providing another way for inmates to continue building their confidence, Saraswathy Gunasegaren from the Yellow Ribbon Project, sees this workshop as a great opportunity to empower these women.
“For an international brand like Benefit Cosmetics to step forward and partner the Yellow Ribbon Project to empower females in our community; it reaffirms Singapore’s rehabilitation efforts,” said Saraswathy.
“Their commitment to empowerment and inclusivity is heartening to see and will hopefully inspire others. It also showcases how corporates can contribute meaningfully to a more inclusive society.”
When asked if this would mean more of such workshops in the future, Benefit Cosmetics’ Adrianne Quijano said that they are “currently in conversations” with Yellow Ribbon to continue this partnership.
She added, “For future events that they wish to engage us in, we hope that it will be as meaningful as this year’s Mother’s Day Event.”
