Malvern boutique has a red-carpet idea

As the Hollywood glitterati gather Sunday night in Tinseltown to honor the movie industry's best, L. Di Caprio will be among those walking the red carpet. In Malvern.

No, not the hunky actor - he doesn't spell his name with a space before the "C."

Starring at Malvern's Oscar Night festivities will be one Lisa Di Caprio and her business partner, Darci Henry.

Owners of Kiss and Makeup cosmetics boutique on King Street, the pair have organized a black-tie Academy Awards bash with help from nearby Restaurant Alba. Police plan to close to vehicular traffic a section of the street, the main drag through Malvern's business district, to accommodate that red carpet and a tent.

Not that Di Caprio and Henry care about whom the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decides to present with its coveted gold-dipped statues. They haven't even seen the nominated films.

Their Oscar mania centers on the gift bags that will go to the nonwinners in five primo categories: best director; best actor; best actress; best supporting actor, and best supporting actress. In each of the "swag" bags will be a two-ounce spray bottle of makeup-brush cleaner, two limited-edition Kabuki brushes, and a towelette from the entrepreneurs' fledgling cosmetics line, darci by Di Caprio.

Inclusion in the giveaways to some of Hollywood's top stars - possible recipients are Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Glenn Close, and Brad Pitt - is the biggest thing to happen to this 21/2-year-old company, which is not yet profitable.

Its best-friends owners - live wires to begin with - were especially charged up last week at the thought of what such exposure might mean to future sales.

"You hope a celebrity loves it and buys it for all their friends," Di Caprio gushed while demonstrating the brush spray.

Currently, Di Caprio, 46, who is comfortable from earlier business ventures, does not draw a salary. Henry, 43, is paid just $18,000 a year.

The business has been a labor of love, aimed at empowering women - including its owners, each of whom speaks candidly about the unhappy marriage she is relieved to have shed.

They detail some of their alleged abuse in a cleverly designed script (created with their brand manager, Sandra Alexander) that will accompany their products in the Oscar swag bags. It's titled "The Beauty of Believing in Yourself," their company's tagline.

All proceeds from a silent auction to be held as part of the Malvern Academy Awards party, as well as $25 from each ticket sale - admission is $150, which includes champagne and light hors d'oeuvres at Alba's - will go to Dress for Success South Central PA, a nonprofit that helps prepare disadvantaged women for employment by providing professional wear and other assistance.

Though the organization has affiliates worldwide, Di Caprio and Henry have a soft spot for Dress for Success South Central PA because it operates a satellite office in Carlisle, where they lived as children and married in the same chapel, though they didn't know each other.

The women met six years ago at a business event. At the time, Di Caprio said, she was free of an abusive relationship and saw in Henry familiar signs of abuse. For five years, Henry said nothing of her sufferings to her new friend. Then, she called for help one night.

Henry, a farmer's daughter and college graduate with a daughter, 18, and a son, 11, supported her children through a variety of jobs, including catering, organizing closets, and walking dogs.

"I watched my best friend struggling to make ends meet," said Di Caprio, who persuaded Henry to move into her house with her children.

An Army brat whose career path has included owning a mechanical and engineering company and working in banking and retail, Di Caprio also has a college degree, as well as two daughters, ages 18 and 16.

With a desire to be role models to their daughters, Di Caprio and Henry decided to start a cosmetics business founded on the belief that "you create your own destiny, become who you want, and achieve your financial dreams."

Di Caprio owns 100 percent of the company, but said she plans to give 25 percent to Henry.

"Darci has never been able to shine," she said.

Said Henry of Di Caprio: "I feel so indebted to her."

The women have an ardent admirer in Ruth Koup, founder and chief executive officer of Dress for Success South Central PA, which has served about 5,500 women since outfitting its first client in 2007.

"They are fantastic ladies," Koup said last week, calling their decision to donate proceeds from the Oscar gala in Malvern "a huge support, an absolute need for us to be able to do what we do."

The role Kiss and Makeup and darci by Di Caprio are playing at Hollywood's Oscars festivities is one they almost missed their shot at.

When Di Caprio first got the call from a woman representing the outfit that puts together the swag bags - who apparently learned of Kiss and Makeup through a news release - "It was late at night, and I thought, 'Yeah, whatever,' and ignored it," she recalled.

Henry took the second call, thought it was a telemarketer, and hurriedly hung up.

Then came the third call, which Di Caprio answered.

" 'I just want to make sure you're really not interested in being one of 40 products in the Oscars swag bag,' " Di Caprio recalled hearing.

Still skeptical, she asked the caller, from Distinctive Assets in Los Angeles, to send her some references.

"So she did," Di Caprio said. "I got letters from celebrities thanking the company for what they had received. Then I fell on the floor and almost had a heart attack.

"And then we said, 'Absolutely yes!' "

For tickets to Malvern's black-tie Oscar Night Gala from

6 to 11 p.m. Sunday, call 610-647-4455 or go to www.kissandmakeupmalvern.com/oscars Proceeds from a silent auction and a portion of the ticket price will benefit Dress for Success South Central PA.

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Lisa Di Caprio and Darci Henry show off their Academy Awards swag bag. Watch a video at

philly.com/business

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