The home-grown beauty salon chain will bring its eyelash extension treatment to clients’ homes or even their offices
[SINGAPORE] Jasmin Tay – founder of local beauty salon chain Perky Lash – believes that beauty treatments should be accessible, affordable and efficient.
The company that she founded in 2019 has certainly walked the talk. Thanks to having its own manufacturing facility in Johor Bahru, Perky Lash has been able to keep its base lash set price unchanged at S$88 since day one, despite having to deal with rising rental and manpower costs.
From April this year, Perky Lash will bring its services right to their clients’ doorstep, which Tay believes will be a boon for busy executives that either live too far away from one of the chain’s four outlets or who simply just want a quick touch-up.
This islandwide house-visit service can be carried out at clients’ homes or even their offices and elsewhere, with Tay hoping this mobile and fuss-free eyelash service can be the catalyst for the company’s next phase of growth.
Entrepreneurship in the bloodTay began her career in the beauty industry working in various roles – from front desk operations to therapist work, as well as marketing and sales.
Over time, she discovered her passion for eyelash services and honed her skills in lash extensions.
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“I found that eyelash extensions can be a transformative change for every individual,” she said in an interview with The Business Times.
In the evenings after work, Tay took on freelance beauty jobs, operating out of a rented shop space in Bugis. After a decade of experience in the industry, she decided to take the plunge and develop a new brand, which led to the launch of Perky Lash seven years ago.
Entrepreneurship runs in her family. Her father owned a textile business in Malaysia, and Tay recalled how he would always insist that it was important to start from the foundation and to understand every aspect of a business well before setting up a company.
“That’s why I worked across different roles and companies in the industry, to acquire the knowledge from different departments before starting my own business,” she said.
She was aware of a common criticism of the beauty industry, with countless stories of shops being aggressive in pushing package sales to customers. Inconsistent and often inflated pricing has been a problem over the years too.
On her part, Tay designed a business model centred on fixed and transparent pricing with a “pay as you use” approach, eliminating all the hard-selling or costly package commitments that many customers frown upon.
“We certainly believe that long-term trust is actually more valuable than short-term revenue,” said Tay.
Culture of innovationPerky Lash opened its first outlet in Singapore at Nex in Serangoon, and it soon went on to expand with three more branches – in Tampines Central, Northpoint City in Yishun, and One Raffles Place in the Central Business District. There is one outlet across the Causeway in Johor Bahru.
Having started off by offering just eyelash lifts and extensions, Perky Lash has diversified its offerings to now include eyebrow services in Singapore and nail services at the Malaysia store.
Tay maintained that innovation and value creation remain central to the company’s growth strategy.
“I always think of innovating, coming up with new designs and materials, and always doing research and development,” she said.
This mindset helped Perky Lash earn the honour of being the first company in Asia to launch biodegradable lashes last year. These are made from biodegradable plastic that’s designed to disintegrate within 180 days.
After months of development, the product was introduced as a sustainable option in an industry long associated with plastic waste.
Biodegradable false eyelashes are made at Perky Lash’s manufacturing facility. PHOTO: TAY CHU YI, BT Aside from being more sustainable, Tay claimed that these lashes are softer and of a higher quality compared to traditional ones.
“The moment you wear it, you realise that you don’t even feel the lashes at all. There is no weight and burden and it’s a comfortable option for daily wear,” she added.
Tay noted that since the introduction of this product, about 30 per cent of clients have switched to the biodegradable option.
There are six people working at the factory in Johor Bahru, which began operations in 2024. In addition to carrying out R&D, the facility even produces the glue for the lashes.
Having a dedicated factory has helped Perky Lash better manage and control quality and costs as it does not have to deal with third-party suppliers.
When they had to source from suppliers in the past, one problem was the consistency of the stocks, which resulted in wastage and financial losses.
She described the journey to opening the factory as a “tedious” process due to the technical expertise required to produce lashes. It took about six months before the team was satisfied with the process and quality standards before launching its first in-house product.
Tay said that the facility has also enabled the company to expand beyond its business-to-consumer roots to include a business-to-business arm, supplying about 1,000 boxes of lashes to customers in Singapore and Malaysia each month.
“We are trying to keep (the prices of our services) affordable for all,” she said. “We are still keeping them low so that everybody gets a chance to try the lashes.”
In FY2025, the company recorded a 15 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue, with FY2026 revenue projected to grow by up to 50 per cent, which Tay said will be largely due to the new islandwide house-visit service that will start in a few weeks’ time.
Empowering female business leadersTay, a mother of two children aged nine and 11, said the support from her family has been crucial to her growth as an entrepreneur.
“Family support is very important in any part of the entrepreneurship journey,” she said. “That support gives me a lot of time to carry out the projects that I want to go for at full force.”
Other than her spouse and kids, she also devotes time to help grow the community of female entrepreneurs in Singapore.
Tay is one of more than 500 women in the Singapore Business Federation Women Entrepreneurship Network, where she serves on one of its sub-committees.
Launched in 2021, the network connects women entrepreneurs across Asia-Pacific and supports them through advocacy, knowledge sharing and partnerships.
Tay said the platform has helped her gain insights, build relationships and accelerate her own growth as a business owner.
She added that the network enables founders to learn from one another and form partnerships across industries.
“If you are looking to position yourself better in the market with like-minded people, where you can complement each other’s services, I think this way, we actually help to support one another and grow together,” she said.
Through the network, she has secured collaborations with other women-led businesses.
This included a partnership with local coffee brand COTOB Coffee for an International Women’s Day campaign at One Raffles Place earlier this month, where women received free coffee and discounts on lash services during the campaign period.
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