By Elaine Williams
Lewiston Tribune, Idaho.
Natalie Nibler was introduced to lash extensions in Los Angeles, where the beauty treatment may be as common as manicures.
Since she brought the trend to the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, it’s been gaining momentum, providing enough business that Nibler, 24, has upgraded the space for her venture, Sugar Lashes, two times since she opened in November of 2011.
Her latest location is on the southwest corner of Brackenbury Square in downtown Lewiston at 527 Main St., and has more room than the spot she was just in at Jacobson Mall, about a block away.
Nibler attaches mink hairs to people’s natural lashes with surgical glue while they close their eyes. The procedure takes about 90 minutes the first time and costs $125.
Monthly maintenance appointments for fills start at $45 and take about 45 minutes. The extensions last longer if women don’t touch them and keep them out of water as much as possible.
“It makes women feel beautiful,” said Nibler, who has enhanced lashes for chemotherapy patients. “It gives them a certain confidence.”
A licensed esthetician, Nibler trained in Los Angeles, where she moved just after graduating from Lewiston High School. Her mother was the one who convinced her to move back to her hometown to open Sugar Lashes.
“I was skeptical,” Nibler said. “I wasn’t sure if people would pay for something like that (here).”
Any doubts she had dissolved quickly. She started in a station at Maximum Image Salon in the Lewiston Orchards.
“It’s been crazy ever since,” Nibler said.
She purchased a newspaper ad and began to get word-of-mouth referrals, most importantly from two hairstylists who were among her first customers. “Their clients would see them and wonder what it was about.”
With the move, she’s planning to add more services, such as permanent makeup, including upper and lower eyebrow liner, eyebrow hair simulation and full lip color.
Sugar Lashes is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Nibler accepts appointments by phone at (208) 413-6150.
