Tori Belle Cosmetics

Laura Hunter, a photographer and makeup artist near Seattle, made her first magnetic eyeliner in her kitchen in February 2018, according to the company's timeline. She founded LashLiner with her partner, Bob Kitzberger, sold the liner for the first time in March 2018, filed a patent application and ran a Kickstarter campaign. By May 2019 LashLiner had passed $1 million in sales and moved out of the couple's living room into an office in Everett, Washington.

Tori Belle Cosmetics launched in June 2019 as LashLiner's direct sales brand, adding a full makeup line. Growth was fast. The company said it had 10,000 Affiliates by November 2019 and 50,000 by August 2020, when it won a Puget Sound Business Journal Fast 50 award. It moved to a larger site in Woodinville, Washington in May 2020, opened in Canada that September and in the UK, Australia and New Zealand in February 2021. The company said revenue reached $15 million in 2019 and over $60 million in 2020.

Everything started with the lashes. Tori Belle's Magnetude system paired a magnetic liquid eyeliner with lashes carrying tiny magnets (ten per strip from June 2020) that clicked onto the line.

• Lashes and liner: Magnetude magnetic eyeliner in black, brown, gray and gold, magnetic lashes in named styles such as I Do, Mynk, Coffee House and Wonderlash, Illusion lashes and classic glue-on lashes.
• Lips and eyes: Velvet Kisses liquid lipsticks, magnetic mascara (launched October 2019), eyeshadow palettes, pressed pigments and The Works brow kit.
• Face: Element liquid concealer and loose powder, contour sponges and brushes.
• Skincare and wellness: the Ascend skincare line and, from November 2021, B.R.A.V.E. health, weight-loss and fitness bundles.

The site also sold bridal bundles, subscription boxes, fundraiser packs and a monthly featured lash. Any claims about how products performed were the company's own.

Sellers were called Affiliates. They sold mostly online, through personal shop links, Facebook groups, live videos and pop-up events, and the company shipped orders straight to customers. Tori Belle stressed that Affiliates did not need to be exclusive, keep stock or ship products themselves.

Affiliate Kit

New Affiliates bought a starter kit of lashes, liner and makeup. A company graphic announced a kit price rise from $99 to $129. Affiliates also paid a $9 monthly membership fee; in August 2022, two class-action lawsuits filed in Washington challenged that fee.

Pay

Direct Sales Aid's earlier profile listed commissions of 25% to 40% on personal sales, with team commissions for Affiliates who recruited and led others. For the full rules, the company pointed sellers to its compensation plan; we have not found an archived copy to confirm the details.

The money trouble came out in court filings. LashLiner filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 8, 2022 in the Western District of Washington (case 22-11273). Its filings showed about $5.2 million in liabilities at the end of 2021 and sales falling from $59.6 million in 2020 to $22 million in 2021. Hunter told Affiliates in a Facebook livestream that the company was restructuring its debts, not closing.

“During COVID … when we had to replace all those defective lashes very rapidly, we ended up with some debts that were very large and came due all at once.”

Laura Hunter, CEO — Facebook livestream to Affiliates, August 19, 2022

The rescue did not hold. Tori Belle Cosmetics LLC filed its own Chapter 11 petition on June 16, 2023 (case 23-11122). In October 2023, Hunter and Kitzberger filed for personal bankruptcy. On November 9, 2023, after a motion by the court-appointed trustee, the court converted Tori Belle's case to a Chapter 7 liquidation, which ends a business rather than reorganizing it. Both LashLiner and Tori Belle are now listed as Chapter 7 cases.

The shop was still taking orders on November 7, 2023. Around the time of the conversion, Hunter announced a new website on Facebook, and a store called TB Cosmetics appeared selling similar products. By January 2024 toribellecosmetics.com no longer showed the shop, and today it shows only a placeholder page. Former Affiliates cannot order from Tori Belle. People who want lashes and makeup from an independent seller can compare live companies such as Younique on Direct Sales Aid.