What Happened To OpulenceMD After Shark Tank?
While they are a beauty favorite, there are many concerns that eyelash extensions can ruin your lashes, leading to slower growth, irritation, and even potential eye infections. Despite these risks, the falsie look is just too good to give up for many beauty fanatics. Enter OpulenceMD, a new beauty company that makes wearing lashes an easy and safe decision. Founded by ophthalmologist Anika Goodwin Hilderbrand, OpulenceMD is a luxury eyelash line free of harmful glue chemicals found in many drugstore brands.
Dr. Goodwin launched her company in 2020 and arrived on season 12 of "Shark Tank" later that year. In her pitch, the eye surgeon explained that she created her lash company with the goal of empowering professional women to look and feel their best. She also demonstrated how the magnetic lash kits work while offering the Sharks their own pair to try on.
OpulenceMD sells extensions that do not glue to the wearer's eye line, but are held on by magnetic liner — meaning that natural lashes are not damaged in the process. While Dr. Goodwin Hilderbrand admitted that while she didn't invent magnetic lashes, she did create a better reusable mink lash. As a luxury beauty company, her lash prices are hefty — running about $250 for a single kit with up to 40 wears. Due to her quick success, she needed help fulfilling orders at OpulenceMD and she hoped a Shark could help.
What happened to OpulenceMD on Shark Tank?
Arriving on "Shark Tank," Anika Goodwin Hilderbrand sought $75,000 in exchange for 5% equity in her company. While the eyelash line had only been founded months before filming, OpulenceMD had already seen relative success — reaching $685,000 in sales in this short time. Dr. Goodwin Hilderbrand attributed this fast growth to the educational eye content and community-building she accomplished on social media.
While all of the Sharks were impressed by her meteoric rise, they were not all familiar with the cosmetics industry. For this reason, billionaire Mark Cuban was the first out. However, Kevin "Mr. Wonderful" O'Leary jumped at the opportunity to invest. He offered Dr. Goodwin $75,000 for 20% equity, which guest Shark Kendra Scott quickly challenged.
Scott matched Mr. Wonderful's offer, allowing the new business owner to choose who she preferred. The jewelry maven reminded the opthamologist that she had an entire team of women at her company, and she was familiar with supporting female entrepreneurs. The eye surgeon eventually settled on $100,000 in exchange for 20% with Scott. This made OpulenceMD one of the few Black-owned businesses to walk out of "Shark Tank" with a deal, while similar brands such as The Lip Bar were not so lucky.
OpulenceMD after Shark Tank
In an interview following her "Shark Tank" episode, Anika Goodwin Hilderbrand shared the success the company had seen. "We have had an outpouring of orders, thankfully, we were prepared for that," she told ABC 11. She continued, "This is an incredible step for us. Appearing on Shark Tank provides additional exposure for our brand of eye-safe magnetic lashes and has awarded us a deal with a fellow female business owner who believes in our brand and wants to see us grow."
While it was reported that Anika Goodwin Hilderbrand's deal with Kendra Scott never closed, all was not lost for OpulenceMD. In 2021 the company was recognized by Forbes for its game-changing cosmetics and was named a Next 1000 Honoree. They also reached the $1 million mark in annual sales in 2022 (per Shark Tank Success). The Black-owned cosmetics line has also adjusted its prices, offering lash kits for as low as $40.
Additionally, these sales are benefitting a larger cause — according to their website, each purchase of a Double Lash Essentials Kit sponsors diabetic eye screening exams for those who cannot afford them. On social media, OpulenceMD is still fostering a community of women interested in stepping up their beauty routines. With over 32,000 dedicated "Lashanistas" on Instagram, the account offers lash/makeup cleaning tutorials, sponsorships with student-athletes, and sale alerts.