The Beauty Bus: Nonprofit pampers, cheers homebound Angelinos

Ever notice how much effort goes into grooming? Bathing, washing your hair, brushing your teeth, shaving, trimming your fingernails and toenails. . . The list goes on.

All this, just to remain presentable. And then there are the beauty treatments for which we must turn to the experts: manicures, facials, haircuts, coloring. The need for a haircut seems to creep up especially fast. Stylists like celebrity hairdresser Ken Paves recommend that you keep on top of it: "No matter what your hair's length," he advises, "a trim every 6 to 8 weeks helps hair hold its shape."

For those who are homebound, all this can be difficult. Lack of mobility may hamper grooming and pampering activities, and leaving the house to visit the hairdresser or nail shop may seem like an unsurmountable challenge.

Luckily, there’s the Beauty Bus Foundation, a nonprofit organization “dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for home-bound, terminally or chronically ill patients and their primary caregivers.”

The Beauty Bus has a lovely agenda: fostering dignity and cheer by providing free in-home beauty and grooming treatments to clients living with the effects of the following conditions: ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's, spinal cord injuries, Muscular Dystrophy, cancer, and stroke.

Volunteers for the mobile service also beautify each client’s primary caregiver. During each visit, the duo receive a treatment selected from the foundation’s list of services: haircut and blowdry/styling for men and women (or a simple blowdry/style), spa manicure, spa pedicure or spa mani-pedi (offered to men and women), facial treatments, or a makeup consultation.

The Beauty Bus Foundation serves clients within these geographic parameters: north, 118 freeway; south, Culver Blvd.; east, 110 freeway; west, the ocean. The nonprofit hopes to expand its service area in the future.

Beautiful inspiration
The story of how the wheels of the Beauty Bus got moving is inspirational. When 28-year-old Melissa Marantz Nealy died from a degenerative neuromuscular disease, her sister, Wendy Marantz Levine and cousin, Alicia Marantz Liotta felt paralyzed with grief.

Two years later, the women were able to put their grief to constructive use. During her illness, there had been one sure-fire way for them to cheer up Melissa, a vibrant redhead.

The Beauty Bus website explains:
“[We] began discussing the things that made Melissa happy and gave her a quality of life while she was sick. One of the things was the beauty treatments Alicia had set up for her to have at home—hair blown dry, manicures and pedicures, facials.”

Liotta had been able to set up the service because of her contacts in the beauty industry, but she and Levine wondered how many sick people and their loved ones knew how to arrange for at-home appointments. What’s more, the home treatments were pricey enough to be cost-prohibitive for many.

The idea for the Beauty Bus Foundation was born, and the women launched the nonprofit a year later. The free mobile beauty treatments is an ingenious idea, one which gives Levine, Liotta and other participants a small, concrete way to make a big difference:

“Feeling beautiful and pampered gives a lift,” the cousins relate on their website. “Being pampered and touched by someone other than a physician or medical practitioner is rare for people who are suffering from diseases and impairments. A beauty or grooming treatment gives them an activity to look forward to, an hour out of their disease.”

Disease can also take a toll on caregivers, many of whom are family members strapped for time and money.

“They too need a lift and need to be reminded that they matter,” say Liotta, a beauty industry consultant, and Levine, a Los Angeles attorney.

Keeping the Bus Going
A fundraiser for The Beauty Bus Foundation, the first annual Beauty Drive, is scheduled for April 25, 2010. The event is sponsored by OPI, a manufacturer of nail products for salon professionals. (OPI recently got press—including a mention in my blog about Tim Burtonesque fashion trends—for launching a collection of Wonderland-inspired nail polish.)

KCBS/KCAL reporter Lisa Sigell will host The Beauty Drive, which will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at The Mark for Events (9320 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles). The drive, which costs $125 per ticket ($75 tax-deductible), is billed as a “green carpet event.” Participants will enjoy interactive brunch and beauty stations, a silent auction and a hair show featuring Janine Jarman from Bravo’s “Shear Genius.”

Jarman, owner of the fashion-forward Hairroin Salon (1553 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood), and Sigell are not the only celebrities who support the mission of the Beauty Bus. Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock and her production company Fortis Films have partnered with Coach for a stylish fundraiser.

If you buy one of Bullocks’ favorite Coach bags, Madison Leather Hippie ($358) or the Kristin Leather Tote ($398), a portion of proceeds will benefit the Beauty Bus.

The actress was inspired to lend a hand after seeing a piece about the Beauty Bus on the local news.
(Is it any wonder that Bullock, who recently wrote a $1 million check to benefit the victims of the recent Haiti earthquake, is everyone’s favorite girl next door?)

If you’re not up to a gala event and not in the market for a Coach bag at the moment, it’s easy to donate to this great cause via Paypal. While writing this, I decided to put my money where my mouth is. I have a small Paypal balance, which I used to give The Beauty Bus a modest $5 contribution. Not a lot, but everything helps. It took less than a minute.

There are other ways you can show your support for The Beauty Bus Foundation. The organization accepts hair care products, hair appliances, makeup, skin care products, manicure/pedicure products and tools, towels and other beauty related items. You can send it directly to the Foundation (Beauty BusFoundation, 11301 Olympic Blvd. #303, Los Angeles, CA 90064), along with a Product Donation Form you can download on The Beauty Bus website.

Would you rather give of your time?

The Beauty Bus Foundation is always looking for licensed cosmetologists, nail technicians, estheticians and makeup artists who are willing to volunteer to perform treatments. If you’re not a beauty professional but would still like to help, The Beauty Bus Foundation is also looking for beauty buddies to accompany beauty professionals on home visits, acting as a liaison between Beauty Bus and its clients, as well as volunteers to help with scheduling and office work.

If you know anyone who is homebound within The Beauty Bus's service area, you may want to let them know about this valuable service for which they may qualify. It may give them a smile, and some style.

For more information, call The Beauty Bus Foundation at (310) 287-1272 or send an email to beauty@beautybus.org.