Our retail store is located in Louisville, Kentucky.
We are one block off the Watterson Expressway, exit #22 onto US 42 WEST
You can reach the Watterson Expressway from I-71 or I-65, so we are easy to find.
From downtown Louisville or southern Indiana, we are ten-minutes away.
Coming from Northern Kentucky, we are approximately 10 miles east of downtown Louisville.
Address
4836 Brownsboro Center, US 42-WEST at Rudy Lane. Louisville, KY 40207
We
are located in the Brownsboro Arcade, upper level (five steps) and the
entrance is between Wood & Sons Jewelers and Brownsboro Barber Shop.
Contact Us
Phone:
502-721-0396
502-423-1233
800-222-3964
e-Mail:
hollycosmetics@bellsouth.net
hollyoyler@mac.com
Store Hours
Tuesday through Friday, 10 AM until 4 PM
Saturday, 10 AM until 2 PM
Evening hours available by appointment only.
The retail store is closed on Sunday and Monday's.
The phones are open for orders, information and to schedule appointments every day from 10 M until 10 PM, est.
Holly's Out-of-store schedule
You will find Holly's in-store and out-of-store schedules under the News section.
Regular Retail Store Closing Due To Holidays
Thursday, November 27th. - Thanksgiving
Wednesday, December 24th. - Christmas Eve
Thursday, December 25th. - Christmas Day
Thursday, January 1st. - New Year Day.
When The Mirror Crashed
I have lived with Alopecia in one form or another my entire life (63
years) and Alopecia Areata Universalis for the past 39 years. I know
first hand the fears, doubts, questions and concerns about hair loss
and image changes. Alopecia Areata Universalis is the complete loss of
scalp, body and facial hair.
It never occurred to me that I
could not follow my dream of owning a cosmetic company because of my
image loss. My entire professional career has been in the fashion,
cosmetic and hair industries, working for for the national franchise
companies as an account executive, trainer, educator, sales director,
makeup artist and counter manager.
Marriage in 1973 clipped
my traveling wings and I settled into life off the road. After a 1974
move to California, Alopecia Universalis came into my world and my
mirror crashed! The previous onsets were nothing like this. Living and
working in Hollywood - in the cosmetic, TV and film industries at the
time of my hair loss, I felt fairly confident about finding immediate
solutions for my new image needs. After all, as they say in the movies,
Hollywood can fix anything - or so I thought.
I was way too
close to my situation to fix my own image needs. My eyebrows looked
drawn on and flat. My eyes had no expression and the over-the-counter
eyelashes look like small creatures had taken up residence on my
eyelids. I was in a image-panic for the first time in my life and did
not know where to turn. So I did the obvious - I looked to the national
companies I had worked for. What a surprise the outcome of that
decision was!
The long awaited appointment day arrived and I
was excited beyond words. I just knew I would leave the makeup studio
(with the red-door) a new woman and be able to live the rest of my life
with dignity. I arrived full of hope only to be told "we're sorry, we
only work on normal people...there is nothing we can do for someone
like you". I left feeling rejected & stunned. What was I going to
do now? I don't really remember driving home (not a good thing when
you are driving on a ten-lane expressway) and truthfully, wasn't
concerned about my or anyone's safety at that point. I arrived in one
piece with no visible damage, but my soul was crushed. The industries I
had worked for and loved could not help anyone other than the 2% of
"normal" people in the world. Limit's their market share, don't you
think?
The next few years were a blur of depression, a zillion
different treatments in the attempt to grow hair and living life with
no dignity or self esteem. There is not one photograph from those
years. I made a science of avoiding the camera. I continued to work,
but always in the background and with my head hung very low. Eye
contact with another person was just not possible for me.
During
a trip back to Kentucky, my friend Carol looked me straight in the eyes
during lunch and said, "Holly, you scare me, I look into your eyes and
there is no one there - where are you"? It was at this point I vowed
to recover personally and then change the industry (did I mention I
don't know how to dream small?)
In 1980 Ray and I re-located to
Louisville, Kentucky - close enough to "home" and friends to feel
connected, but far enough away to start over without being compared to
what I "used-to-be".
To date, it has been a very rewarding and
exciting battle, with several bumps along the way. I have managed to
create my personal niche' in the cosmetic and skin care market place.
Of course, the traditional over-the-counter franchise lines continue to
cater to the beautiful and perfect people with products that are
designed to adhere to vellus facial hairs. I am very proud to say
that Holly Cosmetics and Hollycosmetics.com has found and tested
products that will adhere to the bare and slick skin of hair loss
clients and burn survivors.
Application techniques also play
an important part in the staying power of the products. In late 2009 I will be launching a new series of eBooks called the My_______ series. The first of the series will be My Eyelashes. Together we can laugh and learn our way to a full
image recovery and along the way learn how to apply false eyelashes, step-by-step.
In the mean time, you will be writing this series of eBooks along
with me, in bits and pieces based on the questions you submit to this website and my new Blog, Image Panache' by Holly.
The Greatest Gift Of All...
I
hope that by sharing my personal experience I will be able to prevent
you from having to experience the same depression I have - and
honestly, still do sometimes. It may fade away at times, but always
manages to find its way back into my life. I thought I knew how to deal
with it but in the Spring of 1987 I just crashed and burned completely
- again. I even stopped going into the store and participating in
daily life on a regular basis. I was lucky, I had a staff of makeup
artists, skin care consultants and Ray that could keep the business
going and cover for me.
One evening, the President of the Ohio
NAAF Support group called the house and I just happen to answer the
phone (not something I normally did at the time). She asked me to come
to the June meeting and give a presentation on living with Alopecia.
Remarkably, I said yes. The reality of what I had done set in and I was
is true panic mode by June. However, making that commitment did get me
up and at it again and I started working in the store a few days a week
and planning my program.
June 16th. arrived and I loaded up my
car and headed north, asking myself a million times, "what are you
doing"? I managed to make the presentation (and not a fool of
myself). I looked up to see a long-time friend from the 60's with the
most wonderful smile and compassionate eyes in the world. After the
program, we talked for hours and hours. To this friend, I was Holly,
nothing more or less. I suddenly realized it was "me" that was passing
judgment on my appearance and image changes.
The time we spent
talking that evening was truly one of the most wonderful, unconditional and
important gifts I have ever received. That simple gift of
time renewed my heart, my soul and my spirit. It enabled me to go on
with life and not be so judgmental and hard on myself. I have started every day since June 16th,
1987 with a smile and a silent "thank you" from my heart. Thank you
Debbie.
Holly
Last summer I was introduced to a wonderful website www.AlopeciaWorld.com It is truly the BEST resource I have ever found for Alopecia information and support. Please take the time to visit and look around.
Holly Cosmetics...History
A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes...
Holly
Cosmetics was first conceived during a shopping trip with my Mother -
in 1952. The minute we walked up to the Charles Of The Ritz counter
and the lady behind it said hello, all thoughts of the promised visit
to the toy department faded. Watching the "Ritz Lady" custom blend my
Mother's loose powder sealed my fate...I was going to be her!
As
we were walking away from the counter, I looked up at Mother and said
"I wish I could be her". Mother smiled and said "I have no doubt, one
day you will be just like her". We talked about it all the way home and
I dreamed about the Ritz Lady for years. I never wavered from that
vision. And, as fate would have it, I actually worked behind a Charles
of The Ritz counter during my career.
During my teen years while
working on the Bob Braun Bandstand Show in Cincinnati, Ohio I had the
great pleasure of interviewing Annette Funicello. While off-camera I
shared the above story with her. Her response still makes me smile
when I think about it. "You know, a dream is a wish your heart makes,
so continue to follow that dream. I am following mine, so I know it
works".
Holly
Holly Cosmetics was launched in May 1981.
Our flagship store was located in Holiday Manor and name Panache' by
Holly. "Pa-what?" became the question-of-the-day. In a matter of weeks
we knew the name had to be changed. No one could pronounce Panache'.
Our original concept started with cosmetics, skin care, fragrance,
fashion and home accessories It soon became evident that the focus
was going to be Holly Cosmetics and skin care, our personal color
analysis system and our makeovers. That segment of the business grew
so quickly, we dropped the other items and concentrated on what we knew
and did best.
Holly Finds Her Wings. In 1993, Holly was asked by long time mentor, Bob Braun to appear on his TV show, Braun and Company
in Cincinnati, Ohio. The segment was going to showcase Alopecia Areata
and how it affected a person's self esteem and everyday life. When Bob
called about doing this segment, he did not know that Holly actually
had the disorder. Immediately, the original seven-minute segment was
expanded to 30-minutes and Dr. Joseph Bark of Lexington, Kentucky
joined Holly to tell the story of Alopecia. The response was over
whelming and launched a speaking career for Holly.
National Alopecia Areata Foundation.
A friend living in Charlotte, SC sent Holly an article that appeared in
her local newspaper about hair loss featuring Ashley Seagle. Seagle
founded The National Alopecia Areata Foundation and was reaching out to
others to organize local support groups. Holly started the Kentucky
group.
Medical Image Products. In late 1993, Holly launched Medical Image Products,
a division of Holly Cosmetics. MIP focused on speciality makeup and
hair prostheses for people with medical hair loss due to Alopecia
Areata, chemotherapy treatment, lupus and other conditions. The
American Cancer Society asked Holly to design and introduce the Look
Good...Feel Better Program for the Kentucly and West Virginia Divisions.
Medical Image Consulting-A new term and a new world to explore.
Holly traveled nationally, training image professionals to work with
the medical communities in their area. She also trained physicians on
how to utilized image professionals to meet their patients needs.
"Medical Image Consultant", is the term she coined for the work she was
doing. It has now become an industry standard.
In 1995 Holly opened a Medical Image Center for Norton Health Care.
This was the first such facility located in a hospital in the Midwest
region. She also partnered with plastic surgeon, Dr. Norman Cole and
extended her work to include pre/post op procedures.
In 2000
Holly and her husband retired and closed their retail store, but
continued the business by mail order and the website. Retirement for
Holly lasted about one week and she immediately went to work for a
local department store as a makeup artist and counter manager.
9/11 Changes Holly's Direction - Again. 9/11
clipped her flying wings and her speaking career was limited to
regional venues. After several months, her need for retail-ownership
and product-claim ethics kicked in again and she quickly left the
"barracuda-bay" environment and opened another store.
A new store and new focus. This time she
included not only the medical image side of the business, but went back
into the fashion arena. Her writing career was in full bloom with a
focus on fashion, so it was only a natural progression for her to start
offering professional makeup artistry and styling services. Her
association with Today's Woman Magazine is in its stxth year now. To
date she has over 300 published articles and 58 magazine covers.
Copyright 1994 - 2009 by Holly Ralston Oyler, Holly Cosmetics, Hollycosmetics.com and Medical Image Products. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and publisher. Individuals may download and print pages for their personal use. All articles and content are available for reprint used with permission and author credit. For permissions, email Holly at hollyoyler@mac.com
I have lived with Alopecia in one form or another my entire life (63
years) and Alopecia Areata Universalis for the past 39 years. I know
first hand the fears, doubts, questions and concerns about hair loss
and image changes. Alopecia Areata Universalis is the complete loss of
scalp, body and facial hair.
