As a board-certified ophthalmologist, Dr. Anika Goodwin is an expert in eye reconstructive surgery. She has performed 10,000 eye procedures during the span of her 15-year career and is the CEO of EYEmergencyMD, an ocular telehealth company committed to improving access to eye physicians and ending preventable blindness.

To add to her impressive repertoire of innovation and problem-solving, Dr. Goodwin has personified what it means to be a culturally competent physician. Marrying her passions of medicine and beauty, the oculoplastic reconstructive surgeon created OpulenceMD Beauty, a lash company dedicated to providing stylish yet healthy lash extensions.

“I’m a bit of a creative,” she told Black Enterprise, “and I honestly believe that was one of the things that led me to love ophthalmology. I enjoy beautifying. My specialty of ophthalmology is called oculoplastic reconstructive surgery and so I focus on making the eyes the eyelids, and the facial structures that support the eyes, all function as well as they can while having as good a form and appearance as they can.”

As an avid fashionista and busy professional, she grew to love the convenience of lash extensions.

“I’m one of those people who used to go to work all the time in high heels, dressed up walking through the hospital. But I have never had the luxury of time between being a physician, a spouse, a mommy. I never had an hour to put my face on in the morning. So one of the things that I discovered early on was how much of a difference a set of lashes made in your look. I could put on lashes, put on some lip gloss and look totally pulled together,” she told Black Enterprise.

Although lashes were a quick way to enhance her look, Dr. Goodwin soon realized the damage caused by glue adhesives and the time constraint of touch up appointments.

“One of the things I noticed after I let my individual lash extensions go was my lashes were almost non-existent. I’ve always had kind of puny, short lashes, but they were even finer and even shorter than they had ever been in my life,” she told Black Enterprise. “That told me that the individual lash extensions had not been healthy for my natural lashes.”

Using her expertise in eye care, Dr. Goodwin came up with a solution –magnetic mink lashes that are lightweight and could be removed and cleaned easily.

“I discovered there were things that could be better about them, that could make them easier to wear, more comfortable to wear,” she said. “There were things that would make them not be as heavy on the eyelids, which I felt distorted my vision a bit. I set out to basically solve those issues for myself and in doing so decided that other women like me, busy professional women, would benefit from the same thing. So I decided to do it on a much larger scale.”

OpulenceMD lashes offer a variety of lashes including “Rich Chick Lashes” for a full look and “Wealthy Bi*ch Lashes” for those wanting to add length. With her lash collection, Dr. Goodwin aims to provide a healthier alternative for lash wearers.

“As we look more toward clean beauty and we start to pay more attention to the products, the ingredients that we use on and in our bodies, you should not forget about that same principle as you’re looking for something to complement your eyes,” she said.

Click here to order lashes from OpulenceMD Beauty.

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