Welcome To...Holly's Success Back-Story


When The Mirror Crashed
by
Holly Ralston Oyler

before I have lived with Alopecia in one form or another my entire life (62 years) and Alopecia Areata Universalis for the past 38 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.



afterApplication techniques also play an important part in the staying power of the products.   In late 2006 my book, STAR~Steps To Aesthetic Recovery started to take form and is still progressing. Unfortunately the concept has outlived the reality of a printed book, so it has been moved on to the "must-do" eBook and Membership Site file for 2011.

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"  passing judgment on my appearance and image changes.

The time we spent talking that evening was truly the most wonderful, unconditional and important gift I have ever received in my life.  That simple gift of time renewed my heart, my soul and my spirit. It enabled me to go on with the rest of my life and look forward to the possibility of finding what I was searching for.

To Be Continued...



 
 



 
 
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