More than Skin Deep
For Dia Karamitopoulos Yiantsos, the makeup artist who founded Kalloni By Arhodia, the heart of beauty lives in faith, family, and service to others.
by Leigh Stuart

“Kalloni means beauty in Greek,” explains Arhodia “Dia” Katerina Karamitopoulos Yiantsos, owner and makeup artist behind Kalloni By Arhodia in Broomall. “I’m a Greek-American and come from a very tight-knit community in the Delaware Valley. Greek culture has a welcoming, warming nature, which shines through in everything that I do.”

The same could be said of the experience Dia strives to provide to each of her clients, be they members of a bridal party, celebrities on the set of a movie or TV show, someone preparing for a photoshoot, or a troupe of models taking over the runway in New York City’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week or, most recently, South Asian New York Fashion Week in September 2022.
 
“I knew from first grade that I wanted to be an artist,” Dia says. “There was a time I wanted to do journalism, because I loved to write, and right before orientation for a psychology major at Drexel, I couldn’t help but follow my dream in becoming a makeup artist.”
 
Today, Dia shares that passion for beauty with an array of clients. She hosts many of them at her private studio, though she also travels to meet clients at their locations.
 
“When a client is at the studio, I want them to feel as though they’re at home and they’re welcome,” says Dia, who works with clients of all ages, genders, and ethnicities. “I love that people feel comfortable when they are with me.”
 
As an artist, Dia is a chameleon, of sorts, adapting style to fulfill clients’ wishes and highlighting their best features. She has done makeup in styles ranging from natural to show-stopping, and she excels particularly in glam and Bollywood looks.
 
At a recent runway show, Dia studied and highlighted makeup through the ages, starting with a look from the 1920s and moving forward, decade by decade, through to the modern era of fashion. As a 12-year veteran of MAC Cosmetics, Dia finds joy in using her artistry to help people transform—not only their appearance but also their confidence.
 
“Makeup is my therapy, my passion,” Dia says. “I can wake up every day and say I love what I do.”
 
She shares much of the credit with her family, all of whom have played an integral role in her success: her children, Lina Valentina, 8, and Ioannis “Yianni” Georgios, 4, who she describes as her biggest inspirations and cheerleaders; her husband, Kosmas; her siblings “Kiki” and Greg; and her parents, George and Mary.
 
Her father, who she characterizes as “very artistic,” once had an ironworking factory in Greece, where he created beautiful structures throughout his native country as well as in America. When Dia’s family moved to America, her father remained a devoted tradesman and businessman, working alongside his wife, who served as his translator as she was also a Greek Language teacher at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Upper Darby.
 
“He created an empire for his family, for his children,” she says. “I’m so inspired by his willpower. I’m inspired by my whole family’s faith and encouragement. I owe a lot to them.”
 
Her love for family and community shines in her longtime association with the Pan-Macedonian Association of Greater Philadelphia and her devotion to her parish of St. Demetrios in Upper Darby.
 
“I empathize, not sympathize, with clients,” she says. “Brené Brown really hit the nail on the head with her empathy versus sympathy video. I’m that person who will climb down into that hole with you and say, ‘How are we going to get out of this?’ I’m not just going to look from the top, say, ‘That stinks,’ and throw a ladder down. Even though I didn’t go to school for psychology, I still listen actively to my clients, who become family.”
 
Just as her clients’ skin glows after a makeup session with Dia, so, too, do the online reviews of her work and work ethic. One former client described her as “a rare gem, and anyone would be so lucky to book with her.” Another spoke about being “blown away by [Dia’s] kindness and how she cared for her clients.”
 
Even a brief conversation with Dia is enough to explain why clients love her so much. In summing up her approach, she says, “It’s not just about makeup and service. It’s about warmth, comfort, care, and faith.”
 
Kalloni By Arhodia
2228 Windsor Circle
Broomall, PA 19008
(484) 433-3372
makeupbydia@kalloniglow.com
Kalloniglow.com
Facebook: @KallonibyArhodia
Instagram: @DKY_Makeup
 
Photo by Nina Lea Photography
 
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life magazine, January 2023.
 

View PDF Version