From frozen yogurt and handcuffs to eyelash extensions: How these 2 women are living their dream
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IDAHO FALLS — Many women enjoy getting eyelash extensions at their favorite shop and eastern Idaho offers many different options. But what’s not as easy to find is a company that provides eyelash supplies.
Niki Santistevan and Senessa Tiffany partnered to create Lash Out Supply, an online supplier of lashes, adhesives and other tools lash artists use to serve customers.
The website launched Wednesday and the owners tell EastIdahoNews.com the response has been positive.
“We launched it and went to bed and (Thursday) morning, we had over 100 likes on our Facebook page. This was so needed in this area,” Santistevan says.
The nearest lash supply stores are in Utah, and the duo says it’s a thrill to sell products locally while helping business owners save on shipping.
Tiffany says launching the business is the result of six months of work and research to find a marketable niche in this industry.
“We have used every product, every sample. (The products we offer) are what we absolutely love and stand by and we’ll continue to grow that,” says Tiffany.
The women recently discovered a passion for lashing after working in other careers. Tiffany and her husband moved to Idaho Falls in 2018 to start a new life after their home in Paradise, California was destroyed in a fire. They ended up purchasing Kiwi Loco at 3198 South 25th East, which became a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic after just five months of business.
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She met Santistevan during that time, who had recently started her own eyelash business called Lash Out.
“I became certified because it’s something I’d always wanted to do. At that point, I thought it was something else I could do on top of Kiwi Loco … but it turned out to work in my favor,” Tiffany says.
Santistevan had been a deputy with Bingham County Sheriff’s Office for three years and started lashing so she could be home with her kids.
“I’d gotten my lashes done for 12 years and my lash artist said, ‘Why don’t you do this?'” says Santistevan. “When I started doing it, I loved it and I’m like, ‘I could do this … every day.'”
Though she misses her job in law enforcement, she is grateful to have something else she is passionate about that’s conducive to being a mom.
Santistevan and Tiffany continue to do lashes out of their homes, and Santistevan also teaches a two-day course for anyone who is interested in learning how to do it. Interacting with customers and empowering other women to follow their dreams is what the duo finds most rewarding.
They are excited to be in business together and are hoping to eventually have a brick-and-mortar location in Idaho Falls.
“It’d be nice to have a storefront, a warehouse with supplies, but then also in the back have other lash artists be able to rent space and do lashes there,” says Tiffany. “Our ultimate goal is to move out of our homes and into the actual retail space.”