A former New Mexico county commissioner's emotional meltdown in a Santa Fe hotel room has turned into a triple-patented product, which has been endorsed by one of the original "Shark Tank" investors.
Rebecca Long, formerly a Lea County commissioner, found herself at a hotel room in Santa Fe in 2014. Her developing presbyopia, which causes blurry vision when reading, and her inadequate makeup mirror caused her to become frustrated and late for a meeting. That was the moment that she began her quest to build a better mirror.
"I went on a two-year journey, spent thousands of dollars buying every makeup mirror on the market, and nothing was what I needed," Long said. "I finally started tearing those apart, trying to Frankenstein one together to make what I needed. At the end of two years, I told my husband 'Ok, I can't find what I need. I'm just going to have to invent my own.'"
Through research, designs and sourcing, she created what she needed, the At Last Makeup Mirror. The name was suggested by her sister.
"We kept thinking and thinking, writing down name after name," Long said. "Finally, my sister said 'at last. At last, you're going to have the mirror that you need.'"
The device has one regular mirror, along with two mirrors with 5x and 10x magnifications, which can fold into the center spot.
"Providing three choices in one product is a helpful beauty tool and grooming tool for women and men both," Long said. "Inventing At Last Makeup Mirror was the solution to my eyesight challenges and I am so happy to see that this lighted magnification mirror helps others as well."
Another key feature is daylight-color LED lighting surrounding the mirror powered by a USB-rechargeable battery that can last six hours, and the lights turn off automatically after 20 minutes. It is portable, and comes with a carrying case.
Another bonus that was important for Long is the ability to have easily installed replacement parts. The product is manufactured in a way that can be taken apart for repairs, and replacement parts are available through atlastmakeupmirror.com.
The patents, given in 2019, 2021 and 2024, are for the design and utility, and a fourth is pending. Since 2019, around 5,000 At Last Makeup Mirrors have been sold in the area around Hobbs, where her headquarters is at 226 W. Vega Drive. An additional 1,500 have been sold outside of that region.
"Now that I'm out there with this, it's helping all kinds, men and women both," Long said. "When I made the very first sale, not family or friends, but the first real sale, it was total validation. I did have something that other people needed."
The At Last Makeup Mirror has been a hit with a variety of people, from oilfield workers in the Permian Basin, to teenagers, and has been in the dressing rooms of movie sets, including "The Cleaning Lady" and "Spinal Tap." A Hobbs ophthalmologist also has two in his office to help first-time contact users.
"For it to be this big, with this many people loving it, and it being such a helpful tool for them, I'm just thrilled about that," Long said. "I'm surprised and thrilled. If you have any type of eyesight issues, or if you do elaborate makeup, this is exactly what you need."
Long also donates her mirrors to the Nor-Lea Cancer Center during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.
"Some of these brave women going through treatment experience eyesight changes," Long said. "I receive notes and cards from them and one theme is common: being able to see clearly to drawn on eyebrows and apply makeup correctly boosts their confidence as they go out in public - and looking in the 10x magnification and being able to see their tiny eyelashes growing back gives them hope that their life will return to normal."
Long's next goal is to see At Last Makeup Mirrors on the shelves of a national outlet store.
"We're doing really, really great on a local level," Long said. "We're hoping to go national on QVC, HSN, Costco, one of those big national outlets, so, fingers crossed, one of those will hit before long."
The product has gained attention across the country, including an endorsement from Kevin Harrington, who was one of the first members of "Shark Tank." One of his companies, which makes commercials for new entrepreneurs, heard about At Last through word-of-mouth. At Last also appeared in the December 2023 issue of Vogue.
People can follow At Last Makeup Mirror on Facebook or visit atlastmakeupmirror.com.
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