Cinci Makeup

Kelly Ledord, owner of Cinci Makeup

All it took was a theatrical makeup class in college for Kelly Ledford to fall in love with makeup. She knew she had a talent and wanted to pursue something creative, but it was that class sealed her fate.

“It hit me like a thunder bolt. I knew at that moment I wanted to pursue a career as a makeup artist,” says Ledford. “That’s when I found a school specifically for makeup in Burbank, California. I learned every aspect in makeup: special effects, makeup for TV and film and editorial.”

Deciding to pursue her passion as a makeup artist, Ledford dropped out of school and attended the Makeup Designory, a prestigious and internationally known school for makeup artistry. After graduating in 2001, Ledford made her way back to the Midwest and worked for various different cosmetic companies, including MAC, Trish McEvoy, Laura Mercier Cosmetics, Bobbi Brown and many others.

Now she devotes her time to making brides and other women look beautiful for their special occasions and teaching women how to enhance their everyday looks with their own makeup. Ledford launched Cinci Makeup, her own beauty service company, in 2007.

“I actually got the idea to start my own company when I was a business manager at Saks,” says Ledford. “I was starting to develop a clientele who wanted a service that I could provide. I had clients ask ‘Hey can you come to my house to do my makeup?’ or ‘I don’t want to go downtown to get my makeup done, can you come to me?’ I had a coworker who told me I had talent and I should go follow my passion, and I did.”

Today, Cinci Makeup provides on location or in studio makeup applications and specializes in airbrush makeup for weddings, lifestyle events and private lessons and makeup parties and workshops. In 2011, she joined forces with some of the most “kick ass wedding vendors out there” and opened a Studio in Newport, Kentucky, called 915Momouth, a collaborative, out-of-the-box, alternative wedding space. She also started doing makeup for commercial shoots on local TV for companies such as Kroger, 5/3 Bank, and Frisch’s.

Although most of her time is allocated to beautifying brides, Ledford loves teaching women her tricks of her trade. “I want to keep on inspiring women to be their own makeup artist by teaching them tips and tricks,” says Ledford.

Clients can learn Ledford’s makeup tricks for themselves in a different variety of ways. They offer a girls night out makeup party as well as an assortment of workshops that each focus on certain topics that are trending in the makeup world (i.e. how to contour your face or how to do a smoky eye). Their most popular is a private one-on-one makeup lesson with Ledford, which she calls her ‘Makeup Boot Camp.’ During the session, Ledford goes through the client’s makeup bag and tells them which products are worth keeping and will enhance their features and which ones to get rid of. This session is followed by a private personal shopping session at Nordstrom.

“I want to be known for having a service that I can do for people and helping them with their makeup needs,” says Ledford. “The clients I attract are just as passionate as I am and I want to help them.”

As far as the future goes, Ledford would like to develop her own product line that she can sell at her studio. “I just love what I do and I want to keep on going,” says Ledford.

To learn more about Cinci Makeup visit their website at www.cincimakeup.com.