By Kelly Putter |
The first thing you’ll see on Lashforever Canada’s website reads like a wish list. “Better Hair. Better Sleep. Better Skin.” Yes, please!
As a businesswoman who understands the zeitgeist of the beauty industry, Lauren Spencer has a definite edge when it comes to characterizing those longings. Who in the world isn’t looking for better hair, better skin and – please help! – better sleep. Putting a finger on the beating heart of what women want has allowed the 36-year-old Oakville entrepreneur to tap into our obsession with aesthetics and well-being. That edge has helped her build a multi-million-dollar, female-owned and operated made-in-Canada company.
Spencer’s products have expanded to include lotions, potions and accessories that accentuate and enhance not just hair but skin and sleep as well. Credit her natural business acumen, ability to anticipate markets and inherent ability to market, brand and design beauty products with her success.
As the brainchild of Canada’s number one hair elixir, Spencer got her start about 15 years ago as a lash artist, who pioneered one of Toronto’s first lash-extension studios. She quickly became certified as a master lash artist known for her expertise in permanent makeup and lash artistry. Spencer would go on to build her expertise, mastering not just extensions but also permanent makeup for lips, brows and eyes including micro-blading, perimedical solutions for scar concealment or areola restoration as well as using techniques to camouflage skin imperfections.
Spencer expanded her skill set to include training and education and so far has taught over 12,000 students in lash artistry and permanent makeup. In 2012, she developed her first lash and brow serum with a team of scientists. The line, known as Revive7, is sold in 11 countries. Last year, 175,000 tubes of lash serum were purchased and overall sales increased by 273 per cent. The company’s growth has been nothing short of phenomenal.
“It’s pretty crazy, what it’s turned into,” says Spencer. “Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would have developed the number one-selling lash serum in Canada. We took over market share during Covid.”
The Covid years would provide a kind of kick-start for the company as consumers no longer were able to get lash extensions due to lockdowns. But women still wanted the wide-eyed look of bigger lashes so they began turning to products that over time would give them similar results. They also like Revive’s clean and minimalistic approach to beauty ingredients. The company would increase its sales from 1,000 retailers to over 50,000. Spencer likes to say that the 7 in Revive7 represents the seven months it took to create the product, its seven ingredients and the seven days it claims to start working.
Wanting lush brows, long full eyelashes and a thick head of hair are popular beauty pursuits but consumers are always looking for more and Revive7 offers an array of products. For lashes, there’s a revitalizing lash serum mascara and a lash curler/serum set. For brows, Revive7 offers a sculpting brow kit including an eye pencil, brush and serum. Cleansing foam, silk pillowcases, a rose water facial mist and cleansing help beautify your skin. The company also carries a wide assortment of supplies for beauty technicians.
Spencer prides herself and her company on further taking a pure approach to the beauty industry. The products do not contain sulfates, parabens, or prostaglandin analogs, which Spencer describes as working like a kind of steroid, unnaturally growing hair. Using ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and collagen, Revive7 promotes hair growth by lubricating and moisturizing each follicle.
While Spencer got her start as a lash extension technician, she concedes that her serum is an all-around healthier way to go.
The single mother of a three- and –six year old is a young entrepreneur who continues to pinch herself each and every day. While she acknowledged that it was her mother who in 2008 suggested she explore the world of lash extensions, she also allows that a lot of her success comes from personal determination and plain old hard work.
As an entrepreneur who’s made it thanks to grit, ambition and a strong work ethic, Spencer wants to reciprocate her good fortune by assisting women who are just starting fledgling careers in the beauty industry. The company plans to launch a business-coaching division to support novice businesswomen. With a staff of 10 women and the largest lash-training facility in Canada, the company promotes female empowerment, stresses Spencer, so education efforts are tops on its list of priorities.
“It’s all about you can be a lash technician working in your mother’s basement like I did and now building a multi-million-dollar company,” Spencer says. “You just gotta work your ass off.”
For more information visit Lashforevercanada.com