Gigi Hadid wearing Ishimmer Lashes. Photo: Getty
They’re lightweight, fluttery, just dramatic enough – and worn by more celebrities than you can count on two hands. IShimmer lashes are the brainchild of Jordanian-American entrepreneur Ayah Mufleh, who ran a beauty blog before launching the brand back in 2015. “I had a full-time corporate job and was on my own without a team or external help,” she tells Vogue.me of when she decided to set up her own business aged 24. “I relied on my parents for guidance and help. I wanted to build something from the ground up on my own.”
Mufleh wanted to create truly unique lashes, as she had found ones previously on the market a little heavy. “I never found the perfect pair of eyelashes that felt comfortable and didn’t irritate my eyes,” she says. “So I carefully measured the weight of each individual hair, with the goal of creating weightless lashes. After months of back and forthing, Ishimmer was born, with a line of five styles of eyelashes that are as light as a feather. At times I just wanted to give up, but I insisted on the fact that I was either going to create truly unique lashes or none at all.”
Ishimmer Lashes. Photo: Supplied
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The entrepreneur, who is based in Jordan, admits it was hard to get her brand noticed, with so many rivals on the market. “I wasn’t a brand that printed their logo on a lash box, and added some supplier lashes. I just needed women to try it, because when they do they notice the difference instantly,” Mufleh says. However, her big break came when her lashes caught the attention of British supermodel Jourdan Dunn.
“The fact that Jourdan and her makeup artist, Hila Karmand, continued to use the lashes over and over again after one try was everything to me,” Mufleh adds. After Dunn, the A-listers just kept on flocking to iShimmer, with stars such as Gigi Hadid, Bella Hadid, Winnie Harlow, Jasmine Sanders, Chanel Iman, and Sienna Miller using the line. However, Mufleh cites her dream customer as any woman who’s had a bad experience with lashes and sworn them off.
Ayah Mufleh
The beauty founder has recently unveiled a new collaboration with Lebanese star Diala Makki and Mademoiselle Paris, which is available in Mademoiselle Paris’s store in Dubai’s City Walk 2. “When Diala and I met, I couldn’t have found a better fit for a person to represent Ishimmer Lashes, she ticked all the boxes,” said Mufleh. The entrepreneur, who admits her work is “exhausting but nonetheless rewarding”, credits her mother with helping her though any rough patches. ”
“Her strength is what got me to this point; without her I would have given up a long time ago, when I was rejected so many times. But she taught me to push, and keep going, and to follow my dreams.” And that message is what Mufleh wants to pass on to any young business hopeful, looking to follow in her footsteps. “If you have the passion for something, no matter how crazy it is, go for it. When you face obstacles, challenges, continuous let-downs, and rejections, it’s your passion that will keep you going and push you further.”
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