The unique eyelash extension technology

illumino’s story, founder and CEO Soo-Jin gives a glimpse into her company's past, present, and future

Long before the arrival of her company's unique eyelash extension technology, Soo-Jin, a licensed manicurist since 2006, decided to return to beauty college in the evenings to attain her aesthetician license. During that time, something piqued her interest: a particular classmate who came into class with eyelash extensions that they had received in Los Angeles. Soo-Jin was intrigued about how those lashes stayed on without the strip lash band on the eyelids. So when Soo-Jin's school offered a supplementary course for beginner’s eyelash extensions, she enthusiastically registered.

While Soo Jin had a great interest in the subject, this eyelash extension training was by no means state-of-the-art. The instructor pretty much just told the students, "okay! Pick up the lashes, dip them in the glue and apply them on your partner". There was little to no guidance on attaching the lashes properly or even what proper isolation was supposed to be. Soo-Jin did her best while attaching the extensions to her fellow student (who also happened to be a friend). In fact, during the application, that friend was so relaxed that she drifted asleep. When that friend opened her eyes, both of them loved the outcome and instantly Soo Jin found a new passion! For months to come, Soo-Jin became the unofficial lash technician at her beauty college. "I love that it relaxes people and is therapeutic for me, but I also get gratification from my clients when they open their eyes to see their new lashes and how pretty they look and feel," explains Soo-Jin. The gratifying feeling as a lash- tech is what propelled her into the world of lashes. Once Soo-Jin opened her full-service Spa, Cosmo Spa Lounge, one of the most popular services requested was lash extensions. While applying lashes on clients, she encountered many issues with the product. Soo-Jin recalls that at the time lash techs had to make do with what was available as, "the products weren't made specifically for eyelash extensions." With blonde clients, in particular, it was harder to see their eyelashes with the conventional white eye gel pads that were on the market at the time. She wanted to create eye gel pads in colour other than white, but manufacturers did not want to take up the job. While she waited to hear back from any manufacturer who was willing to create her product, she brainstormed what colour the pads would be. While in Las Vegas for a trade show event, she noticed the green colour of the crap table she was playing at made all the other objects pop; that is when it clicked that the green colour eye gel pads would help lash technicians see. With a green backdrop below the client's lashes, the gel pads play to the strength of the photoreceptors of the human eye, which can analyse the visual plane for lighter-coloured lashes.

The illumino’s Green Eye Gel Pad: It was the first invention to launch and was exceptionally well received. One of the best feelings for Soo-Jin, who identifies as an inventor, is “moving past issues we all face by solving the underlying problems.”

Amid illumino's growth, Soo-Jin had one client in particular who was a heavy makeup wearer with oily skin. She recalls, "she would come back for free re lls, coming in for 15-minute refills, it was almost a weekly thing. I had struggles doing her lashes, as I had to work much harder so as not to sacrifice the bar I had set for myself on quality!". For some people, retention is an issue and out of a lash artist's control. Soo-Jin also had a background as a nail technician, which made her wonder, is there an eyelash extension technology that parallels the miraculous gel polishes, a product that wouldn’t chip, cures in seconds with a light, and lasts longer than conventional lash adhesives. She met with a renowned chemist who used to work with CND Shellac product Doug Schoon to find out. His answer was, well, maybe one day.

The Idea The glue, he said, would be easier to formulate. However, he said the device would be nearly impossible to create because there wasn't a set of blueprints on how to manufacture a device safe for use around the eye area. Doug gave his opinion on what he thought could help make it safe, but it would be very challenging; his meeting did not deter Soo-Jin from further pursuing the idea. The prototype model had a foot pedal, but repeatedly tapping to turn it on and off , she found it was cumbersome. So, after going back to the drawing board and many iterations later, the new Lynk-Gel device was born.

The Product Finally, after eight years of soul-searching and R&D, she launched a device certified by the American National Standard Institute. The Lynk-gel only weighs 1.1 oz; with its lightweight and ergonomic design using a touch sensor (and no pedal), Soo-Jin hopes to make it easier to hold the isolation tweezers for long periods of time. The glue that supposedly would be easier to formulate took more than three years to create. No U.S. manufacturer wanted to make a light-curable glue (she wanted a U.S. manufacturer because of higher safety standards and less risk of intellectual property getting stolen). After over two years of searching for a company to make their glue, it took another year and a half years to formulate and test before it was ready to be bottled and sold.

This glue is called Lynk-Gel glue and has the same personality as eyelash adhesive since it is cyanoacrylate based, and it doesn’t need UV light; the light is on the visible light spectrum.

The Lynk-Gel glue is clear and free of pigments that could serve as allergens or irritants. It needs to be refrigerated since it doesn’t have the same preservatives and stabilizers as conventional glues. The glue cures in just a matter of seconds using the hand-held light LynkGel device.

During testing in the beta stage, all clients who had previously shed tears and red eyes in the past were no longer experiencing the issue. Because the Lynk-Gel instantly dried in a matter of seconds, they were getting fewer fumes around their eyes. Soo-Jin decided to patent her idea and protect it due to being at the forefront of something new and revolutionary from previous business experience.

Follow us instagram illuminoextensions