Laura Hunter

LAURA HUNTER is the inventor of magnetic eyeliner and lash systems. This game-changing innovation was created in February 2018 in her own kitchen. Laura’s magnetic eyeliner and lash system disrupted the lash and cosmetics markets by making it dramatically easier for people to apply and wear false eyelashes. She founded LashLiner, Inc. in 2018 to bring her patent-pending invention to market, and in June 2019 launched Tori Belle Cosmetics. Laura has kept innovating and added numerous other patent-pending inventions and innovations portfolio including magnetic mascara, innovative new designs for packaging, cosmetic componentry, and tools. Starting from dead broke, she grew their revenue from nothing to over $60M in three years. Laura built her companies on the ideals of opportunity, inclusivity, and community. In addition to disrupting the cosmetic industry, she set her sights on disrupting the way her product was sold. Laura’s mission was to build a culture where Tori Belle Affiliates receive all the education, tools, and support they need to succeed and to feel part of a welcoming and supportive family. Unfortunately, a combination of COVID-19, knockoffs, and disreputable Affiliates destroyed much of what she had built. However, she did not give up and is actively starting over with new inventions and a new business model. Prior to inventing magnetic eyeliner, she was an accomplished professional photographer and makeup artist, having owned Beyond Photography for over 25 years. She is also an accomplished pageant contestant and titleholder. At the age of 50 years old, after 34 years of competing, and beating women less than half her age, she finally captured a major international title in September of 2023. She is the reigning Mrs. Universe, 2023-2024. Laura enjoys acting and modeling and has appeared in TV shows, commercials, and print ads for TLC, The Food Network, and Amazon Prime and in national ad campaigns including Bissel, Microsoft, Avery Labels, Toyota, Disney, and others. Recently, Hunter played the role of Detective Carter in “Friday the 13th, Vengeance Part 2,” to be released in April of 2022 and Melissa in the upcoming film “2:59.” She is also an active fundraiser and board member of the National Organization for Women’s Safety Awareness (N.O.W.S.A.) and a Circle of Hope Award recipient from the National Breast Cancer Foundation. She has been honored to receive the President's Lifetime Volunteer Service Award for donating over 4,000 hours of her time to charity.

My story is one of overcoming the odds and never giving up. It’s easy to look at a bio and think that someone looks great but what’s missing is the story behind the bio. “The first thing I can tell you is that I love sharing the real me. I prefer to be an open book. It feels SO MUCH BETTER not feeling like people will hate me if they find out I’m not perfect and it’s even better sharing because I know it helps other people to know that they don’t have to feel bad about life happening. Real is a lot more approachable than perfect so it’s better to just be real! I happen to be an exceptional role model for FAILING UP! I’ve done it a LOT of times!!! I started being entrepreneurial when I was very young. I always wanted to start businesses or make things. I had about a million hobbies. I painted, fished, sewed, beaded, built everything from a doll house to a four-room playhouse, and spent thousands of hours combing the beach trying to discover gold, gems, and oil (I liked the Beverly Hillbillies) in my neighborhood. Then, life happened, and my parents divorced so we moved a few times. When I was 14, I decided that I wanted to move out and live with some people I knew, renting a room. I walked around their neighborhood and asked if anyone was looking for a housekeeper. I found a few homes to clean on the weekend to pay rent and I left. For some reason, at the time, that seemed reasonable. Now, I can’t figure out how my parents let me leave at 14 years old. The two years between 14 and 16 were awful. I moved around from place to place and found out how many people would like to take advantage of a young girl. I stayed with other family members for a few months, but I wanted to go to college and there wasn’t a college in the town I was in. I was determined to stay out on my own. When I was 16 my mom signed an emancipation contract so I could rent my own apartment and that was it. I was officially on my own. Being a 16-year-old working full-time and going to college was a feat in itself but I was also a normal kid with no supervision. I did stupid and dangerous things. Despite my age and lack of resources I was determined to be a successful businessperson and own my own business. I was the person that my friends thought had it easy. I was always doing more than others, and it seemed easy for me. That’s still true today! But it wasn’t easy and it’s still not. I was just hiding the bad parts. I hid divorces, infertility treatments, a money pit of a house, losing dozens of pageants, losing an investment property, being constantly afraid my business would fail, being literally afraid of homelessness, and being chased by bill collectors! It wasn’t all bad parts though. I have two beautiful daughters, some amazing experiences, and a lot of real-life education. And after going through so much, I finally thought I was going to be ok.

The next Chapter... I invested everything I had into a building that I thought was a win-win! I could help the city by cleaning up an eyesore, using the construction and real estate knowledge I gained flipping property, and gaining sweat equity. I’d have a place for my business and maybe even live there. Once I got it cleaned up and filled with tenants, I’d have a guaranteed job and income and I could stop being scared. Over the course of the next three years, I worked my butt off, and I succeeded! I remodeled the building and had a 100% occupancy rate. I started a small Ice cream shop there that was doing well, along with my photography business, and I met the man who would be my soul mate. Then, in what seemed like an instant, it was all gone. I was the victim of a severe identity theft. My name and photos were used to promote the world’s leading fake news site. They were attached to the most egregious, hate-filled, racist, sexist, and bigoted stories during the 2016 election. People believed I was writing the stories, and I lost my customers and tenants. I won in court, but it was too late. Immediately afterwards I found out that I had been defrauded by the man I was buying the building from. He had falsified permitting documents, and the building was condemned. The city railroaded me, possibly because they believed I was the sickening person from the fake news articles, and possibly because I was a young female. I was left with absolutely nothing, I even lost my good name. After I lost my building and my business, I was extremely depressed. Clinically depressed. And that’s okay to admit. It is not a sign of weakness to be depressed. It’s a cascade of chemicals in your body making you sick. At the same time, I was trying to figure out how to get my photography customers back and get them to believe I wasn’t a political lunatic. It was out of that desperation that I came up with my idea for magnetic eyeliner. I thought that an easier way to wear false lashes might help draw some people back. Just having an idea didn’t solve any problems. It was SO hard getting up and working on my project. I knew my invention, magnetic eyeliner, would change everything, and it did! I went from nothing to over a million dollars in revenue in year one. I kept innovating and added numerous other patent-pending inventions and innovations portfolio including magnetic mascara, innovative new designs for packaging, cosmetic componentry, and tools. The next year the revenue grew to $15M and to over $60M in the next couple of years. Unfortunately, a combination of COVID-19, knockoffs, and disreputable Affiliates destroyed much of what I built. However, I did not give up and am actively starting over with new inventions and a new business model. I had someone ask me, “If you could do it all again what would you do differently?” I said, “ I AM doing it all over again and I’m using all of what I learned in the past to rebuild, even bigger and better!"

2023-24 Mrs. Universe

2022 Alle’ Award for Cosmetic Formulations

2022 Global Beauty Awards Entrepreneur of the Year

2021 Earnst and Young NW Entrepreneur of the Year, Top 10 National Entrepreneur of the Year

2021 Listed as a Success Magazine’s Woman to Watch

2020 Business Intelligence Group Inventor of the Year

2020 Rising Star by the Business Journal.