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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

In a Blink, Eye Beauty Firm Rebrands

Smart companies can make fortunes selling to narrow niches. In fact, one Valley company got its start by improving women’s eyelashes. But Glad Lash Inc., a 35-year-old Northridge cosmetics company, has decided to expand. As a result, founder Esther Bolkin and director Brian Greene have launched a new website and are doing business as GladGirl to express the company’s expanded offerings It is known in the cosmetics industry for its top-selling eyelash and eyebrow extension products. Unlike the plastic eyelash strips often available in stores, these individual mink and silk lashes are glued to women’s individual eyelash hairs, which can be a rather tedious process. Glad Lash started in 1981 as an eyelash supplier to beauty professionals. Now, the company sells wholesale to professionals on a global scale, and its product assortment has grown. “We realized as we’ve been evolving that we don’t just supply eyelashes anymore, so it didn’t make a lot of sense to just call ourselves Glad Lash,” Greene said. “When launching the new site, we realized we should be more inclusive of everything we carry, thus GladGirl.” The company’s updated website launched in January. The website is now more user-friendly, according to Greene, and allows both consumers and beauty professionals to navigate the site using drop-down menus to easily find products they’re searching for. Greene said the site is also mobile friendly. GladGirl is strictly an e-commerce business and does not sell retail. Its products include a range of lashes, extension adhesives and glue, as well as a plethora of application tools. “We’ve (also) gotten into other kinds of products for eye makeup such as eye gels and brow gels,” Bolkin said. “We also have specific brushes and certain mascaras that are eyelash extension compatible.” The U.S. beauty industry reached $16 billion in 2015, up 7 percent from 2014 according to market research company NDP Group Inc. in New York. Though fake eyelash strips have been readily available for consumers to purchase in mass retailers, individual lash applications are a growing trend in the beauty industry. Beauty expert Erica Pyles, a lead stylist at Christopher Styles Barber Spa in Valley Village, said she’s noticed a particular rise in the popularity of eyebrow and eyelash extensions in the last year. “I feel that it has become very popular and it’s still growing. It’s a very detailed process and I’ve heard of it being from $100 to $300 in terms of price,” Pyles said. “The benefit is having longer, fuller lashes.” – Champaign Williams

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