Brushes and Blankets

Lyndsey Yeager, owner of Glossa Professional Makeup Artistry

Glossa means “language” in Greek, and the Glossa girls speak the language of beauty. Lyndsey Yeager, owner of Glossa Professional Makeup Artistry, and her team believe that giving to the community will show people the beauty of giving and service. They aim to make you look beautiful and feel beautiful, while also making the community a beautiful place to live.

Glossa Makeup has teamed up with Cincinnati-based Liquid Sun Rayz, a global spray tanning company, to create the LSR Beauty Team. The LSR Beauty Team is now the Fitness Division of Glossa Professional Makeup Artistry, specializing in makeup and hair services for Fitness/Body Building competitions.

After closely working with Julie Lohre, a women’s fitness expert, and her husband, Rick Lohre, a commercial photographer, on many shoots, Yeager was introduced to the fitness world. “About five years ago, Julie asked me to makeup for her team for a fitness competition,” says Yeager. “As a former theatre major, I loved the concept of makeup for stage, so I decided to start the Glossa Fitness side of business.”

“We wanted to remain a separate company and division of Glossa Professional Makeup Artistry, but we also wanted clients to connect the businesses and relate the services to provide a ‘one stop shop’ for those participating in the fitness shows,” says Yeager. “Last fitness season, we provided services at 60 shows across the country.”

Today, the LSR Beauty Team has 25 makeup and hair stylists, more than 1,000 clients, and has had 60 shows in 20 states just this year alone.

The LSR Beauty Team is collecting blankets for the “Brushes to Blankets” drive now through January 15, hosted by Glossa Gives, their Community Involvement Give Back division. “The amount of blankets we hope to collect is ENDLESS,” says Yeager. “My daughter and I alone distributed 20 blankets last year to individuals in need, so as an organization I would love to collect 10 times that amount.”

The idea was inspired by Yeager’s dear friend, Brandon Perry, who went homeless for several weeks last year to raise awareness of Cincinnati’s homeless population.

“My four-year-old daughter and I started collecting blankets and drove around the city giving them to people we saw on the street, accompanied by hot food and listings of homeless shelters for them to go to,” she says. “I think it’s important to teach our children the idea of serving others – and after seeing the amount of need in the city – I resolved to do something this year on a bigger scale.”

Yeager acknowledges that people are tight on money these days and may be unable to give financially. “We all have at least one or two blankets sitting in our closets or basements, though,” she says. “A donation of a used, clean blanket can make all the difference to someone on the streets fighting -30 degree wind chills.”

Another program that Glossa Gives is involved in is with the Brighton Center in Newport, providing women in professional development programs with makeup, hair consultations and styling to prepare them for entering the workforce. “We are doing a clothing drive as well to aid in this program with Dress for Success,” says Yeager.

Homelessness affects everyone, so the blanket drive is a way to directly help those in need. “I want each blanket to feel like a warm hug for someone on the cold street,” says Yeager. “I want it to be a reminder that someone out there does care about them. The feeling of love, comfort and support will hopefully inspire those served and give them hope for their situation.”

To get involved in the “Brushes to Blankets” drive, visit www.glossamakeup.net or contact Yeager directly at give@glossamakeup.net or (859) 816-5647. They will also accept donations at their studio location at 3137 Riverside Dr. by appointment.