Ten Atlanta Makeup Artists Raise $4,000 for V-Day’s 10th Anniversary
V TO THE TENTH
Atlanta Company Helps Nurture 2000 Gulf South Women;
Makes Up Oscar Star at Mega Event
ATLANTA, April 16, 2008 — From horrific hurricane shelter to SUPERLOVE, V-Day’s 10th anniversary event, dignity returned to the Superdome this weekend with the help of ten Atlanta-based volunteer makeup artists who donated their talents to help makeover 2,000 Katrina survivors in the V-Day Caring Lounges. Authentic Beauty® (AB), a new conceptual beauty company in Atlanta, joined Magnet LA celebrity makeup artist Jeanine Lobell (Stila Founder), Urban Zen Foundation (Donna Karan) and others to provide makeup, hair, yoga, massage, and medical services.
Over 30,000 women and men attended V-Day’s V TO THE TENTH and SUPERLOVE events with over 2,000 pouring through SUPERLOVE Caring Lounges. Eve Ensler, V-Day founder and The Vagina Monologues author, tapped into AB CEO Alyson Hoag to come to New Orleans after receiving her makeup services at a 2007 Atlanta play production.
“I was totally blown away by what Alyson and her team were able to accomplish in the Caring Lounge,” said Ensler. “Our intention was to nuture the neglected women of New Orleans and the Gulf South and make their struggle and beauty visible.”
Little Five Points-based artist Celeste Lipsey got a taste of celebrity makeovers as she and Hoag prepared the cast of Swimming Up Stream, directed by Kenny Leon and performed by a local troupe of 13 New Orleans women and Kerry Washington. Hoag’s artistry skills also transformed Oscar winning actress Jennifer Hudson into a “Vagina Red” siren for the sold-out Vagina Monologues A-List celebrity performance that included Ensler, Kerry Washington, Jane Fonda, Jennifer Beals and Rosario Dawson.
“It was a transformational weekend for myself and my team to look into the eyes of women who have suffered more than any of us can imagine,” said AB founder Hoag. “The simple experience of a makeover allowed these women to feel loved and supported, something that did not happen in the aftermath of the storm. Many of these women lost everything, including family members.”
Fresh from celebrity makeovers at Sundance Film Festival 2008, Hoag is a twenty-three year vetran of the beauty industry and offical makeup artist for Laura Turner Seydel. AB ‘s signature service is the Image Journey® where women create an authentic look so they see their true beauty and not just the makeup. For more information on AB’s services and vision of women knowing they are authentically beautiful, visit www.myimagejourney.com or call 404-849-0443.