Arizona State University student Arianna Ramos decided to start an eyelash extension business that is affordable for college students in the comfort of her own home, after taking a six-hour class where she applied eyelashes onto mannequins.
Ramos’ eyelash specialist, Alyssa Aguila referred her to Annetta Sarkisyan, who taught her the class so she could receive her eyelash certificate.
“She was just telling me her process of becoming an eyelash technician and hers was the same thing,” Ramos said. “She goes to school at Cal State Northridge in Los Angeles and she works and does lashes. I asked her how it happened and she got certified and she really inspired me to start doing it.”
She received her eyelash certificate after completing an eyelash extension course when she went home to Glendale, California. In addition to applying lashes, she also learned how to start an eyelash business, marketing tips and how to work with lash different styles and lash lengths.
“I’ve always been passionate about beauty and skincare,” Ramos said. “I knew I wanted to have a business, but also have a side hustle. I definitely eventually want to get my cosmetology license and I feel like eyelashes is a good way to start doing it.”
Ramos got certified on Oct. 14, and she has been in the eyelash business for 11 days. She has worked on seven clients since she has been certified. All of her clients she has worked on so far have been family and friends.
“You have to do exactly what the customer wants,” Sarkisyan said. “Some people want natural, extreme or medium so you always need to know what the customer is looking for. If they want natural lashes and have short lashes, you have to stick to the short lashes. If they have long lashes and they want to go more extreme you have to make sure you are going dramatic for the client.”
Ramos uses three main styles in her practice such as the classic style, volume style and hybrid style. The classic style is gluing one eyelash to one eyelash, the volume style is applying three lashes to one lash at a time and hybrid is a combination of one lash to one lash and three lashes to one lash.
“She always made sure that I was comfortable,” client Drew Shulman said. “Everything felt okay so the whole experience was really good. It was my first time so I would say that my first time went well.”
Clients can contact Ramos for appointments through her Instagram, lashess.arianna. Her Instagram features videos of her clients’ lashes and provides information on the do’s and don’ts before and after appointments. Clients can pay in cash or through Venmo.
Before an appointment, clients need to be showered, they can’t curl their eyelashes, wear makeup or wear contact lenses. After an appointment, clients cannot expose their lashes to any water for 24 hours, they need to use oil-free products and they need to clean their lashes daily, Ramos said.
According to Ramos, most eyelash businesses charge from $40-$80 for the classic set, $60-$100 for volume and $80-$130 for hybrids. Ramos is currently just doing classics for $30 but she plans to charge $60 for classics, $70 for volume and $80 for hybrids in the future.
“If I’m going to do a business I’m going to make this affordable,” Ramos said. “My clients are mostly college students, so I wanted to make sure that I’m running a business where it’s affordable for customers.”
