As a high school educator who works with teenage girls, I have observed that there is a lack of knowledge in regard to skin care hygiene. Adolescent girls tend to experiment with skincare products that dry the skin or clog their pores, which increases acne breakouts. I have also noticed that many of my students apply vaseline to their faces, arms, and legs, not knowing that petroleum simply sits on the skin and does not penetrate the second layer of the skin, which can leave dry patches as they age.

Now that we are quarantined due to COVID-19, skin hygiene is crucial to how we care for our whole person. We must wash our masks frequently to avoid "mask acne," restrain ourselves from wearing lip balm underneath our masks, and make sure that we clean our skin with toner after removing our masks. Equally important is the issue of social isolation. Because most Cleveland students are learning from home, and are socially isolated, it is important to practice good hygiene by regularly washing the hands. But it is equally important to moisturize the hands after washing to avoid dry, and scaly skin. 

While Smart Cookie Skincare is not an etiquette course or a project that aims to police the bodies of young women who attend Cleveland public schools, it is a project that aims to educate them about good skin hygiene. We want to offer them an opportunity to formulate their own skincare products, using organic and plant-based materials such as shea butter, mango butter, and the right amount of glycerin to reduce transepidermal water loss, which is frequent among people with deeply pigmented skin. We also want to teach teenage girls the basics of entrepreneurship, so that they can start their own skincare lines. Through Smart Cookie Skincare, we will teach girls how to make professional-grade body butter, mud masks to clean the face, and facial moisturizers.

Our long-term goal is to generate income to launch the forthcoming nonprofit Smart Cookie Project, a college-readiness project for artistic teenage girls, that will train them in 2D and 3D new media arts so that they can attend the most competitive art schools in the country. Our hope for the SC project is to provide girls with access to male-dominated careers in video game development, computer-generated imaging (CGI), and computer graphics. Our skincare line will help in this endeavor. But right now, our focus is empowering teenage girls to not only formulate their own skincare products that will nourish their skin, but also learn the basics of starting their own skincare line, and thus building wealth within their communities.