Artist making eyes beautiful — one lash at a time

For Ruby Connor, it’s not just about the eyes, it’s about the people.

“I love people and I love serving people,” she said during a recent interview.

But make no mistake, Connor’s services for enhanced eyelashes are in great demand, so much so that getting a booking with her is like getting a table at a five star restaurant.

Connor opened Magnolia Lash studio in the Old Union Hall building across the street from Columbia Falls City Hall in May 2021. The studio is named after her toddler daughter.

She’s been pretty much booked ever since.

A 2012 Columbia Falls graduate, Connor studied esthetics at Crevier’s Academy of Cosmetology Arts in Kalispell where she studied makeup and how to do facials. She worked for a shop for awhile before moving out on her own. She’s inspired by the entrepreneurs in her life — her mother Jean Flynn has a studio next door and is an accomplished baker and interior designer and her husband, Cody, co-owns Columbia Nursery.

Enhancing a person’s eyelashes is a long process. The lashes, made of synthetic material, have to be painstakingly attached to the natural lashes one-by-one. The initial procedure takes about two hours.

“It’s almost surgical,” she said. “It’s very fun for me.”

Clients lay on a table with their eyes closed.

Connor says she makes the conversation fun.

“We talk about nice light things,” she said. “Sometimes the surface stuff is important to people, too.”

A person has about 120 lashes per eye. After the adhesive dries, the lashes are good for about eight weeks, then they need a bit of a refill, as the natural lashes fall out.

She said her clients run from their teens to their 60s. Women like them for two reasons — they enjoy the look of long lashes, but they’re also convenient, as one doesn’t have to put on Mascara in the morning.

“Wake up in the morning and you’re ready to go,” she said.

Lashes come in different lengths, the longest are about 11 mm.

While Connor’s personal schedule is all but booked, she has several other lash artists at her small shop that are also taking clients.

She said it’s great to see downtown in a revival.

“I’m a Columbia Falls girl,” she said. “I love our city and town. I think the town will get busier and more beautiful.”

You can view her work on Instagram at: @magnolialash.mt. Her website is under construction, but has contact information at: https://www.magnolialashmt.com/