All Eyes on…Whipped Lash Founder Jennifer Leveque

The local beauty entrepreneur tells us how a pandemic idea turned into a dedicated lash community.

Jennifer Leveque was named a 2024 Premier Business Woman by Long Island Herald.

Jennifer Leveque never set out to start a lash business. The Huntington native and North Babylon resident has a degree in integrated neuroscience and a career in clinical research in the pharmaceutical industry. During the most isolating part of the pandemic, she found herself experimenting with her beauty routine—swiping on red lipstick and playing with lashes while stuck at home. Leveque discovered she couldn’t wear glue-on lashes without irritation. “Why put on lashes if I looked like I was crying or had allergies?”

Leveque’s search for the perfect faux lashes turned into a market research project. “I realized what I liked about some brands and what I didn’t like about others.” While she learned magnetic lashes were a better option for her, she saw that no one was making cruelty-free magnetic lashes—and the idea for Whipped Lash New York was born.

“It was a very clear white space; no one was catering to the woman with sensitive eyes,” Leveque, who speaks not only as a consumer but as someone who used to work with a retina specialist.

The Line Up

If you’re unfamiliar with magnetic lashes, here’s a crash course: The bands on the lashes contain teeny-tiny magnets that adhere to magnetic eyeliner. The liner goes on like a black liquid liner. Once dry, your lashes click into place where you applied the liner and stay put until you gently remove them.

Leveque sells her lashes on whippedlashny.com, but she’s also highly active in the industry and gets to know her customers personally. “There’s a huge educational aspect of my business,” she says. “I do events all the time; I talk to my customers. I’m constantly giving quick tips and dos and don'ts,” she says. “The eyeliner is the hardest part for many women.”

Building a Lash Community

Leveque credits her interaction with customers as one of the drivers behind her steady rise. “I’m a natural networker,” she says. “When I go to events, I’m not sitting behind the table; I stand in front; I’m talking to people who walk by.” And she’s learned that she has to show up online similarly. “My community has helped me realize that I have a personality and a level of credibility that people believe in, and once they believe the person or the brand, they buy the product and end up loving it,” says Leveque. “That’s been the formula that’s worked well for me: personality + credibility + great product = lash community.”

The strong emphasis on local beauty and businesses has helped Leveque build momentum. “People want to support small local businesses. They want to support minority-owned, black-owned or woman-owned businesses,” she says. “I have all these avenues to leverage, and it’s been working for me.”

Looking Ahead

Whipped Lash New York's next phase is about getting lashes into customers' hands faster. The business is one of 40 small businesses in the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce that can participate in Trellus Same-Day Local Delivery. This program offers same-day delivery service to customers, and Whipped Lash New York and other local businesses have received credits to use the service. Leveque says the need is there because she’ll get calls at 11 p.m. from customers who need lashes by morning.

She’s also working on strategic vending machine placement so you can grab your lashes on the go at any time of day (or night). But the biggest news is that Whipped Lash products will be in retail stores on Long Island later this summer. We’ll have to wait for those details, but Leveque is all aflutter at the thought of it!

Local Beauty Favorites

Of course, I had to ask Leveque for her Long Island beauty secrets, and she was more than happy to share. Here’s Leveque’s local glam squad:

Skin: Glowbar in Rosyln. “I go for monthly facials: dermaplaning, extractions, or LED Light Therapy.”

Brows: @thearchangellll. “I go to a brow specialist named Tianna for a wax and tint once a month.”

Aesthetics: Dr. Silvia Tuthill, DNP, ANP-C, owner of Tenth Avenue Aesthetics for lip filler. “I was hesitant for so long, but I love how it looks!”

For updates, follow Whipped Lash New York on Instagram @whippedlashny and shop the line on whippedlashny.com

Leveque holds one of her coveted lash sets.