Cortney Cox’s Startup Aims to Empower Women, Beginning with Simplifeye

Ever get frustrated trying to apply eye liner – quickly – and have it look right?

That’s a problem that has been vexing Cortney Cox, NC State Poole College senior, for a while. So she came up with a product – the first in her first startup – to help streamline that part of the morning makeup routine.

That product – Simplifeye – is intended to “simplify the way women apply eyeliner,” she said in an email interview with Poole College communications.

“It is a minimally adhesive stencil that can be lined up with the outer corner of the eye and adhered to the face,” enabling the individual “to create the perfect cat eye (eyeliner) in seconds,” she said.

“I came up with the idea because I was frustrated with how long it was taking to get ready for work. I am no makeup artist and whenever I tried to paint on a cat eye it either took me forever, or I never was able to achieve it. Frustrated with not being able to emulate beauty bloggers on YouTube and not finding another product out there that worked for me, I decided to make something myself,” she said.

The Simplifeye concept earned her a spot in the 2017 E-Fest finals, which brought together 25 undergraduate student entrepreneurship teams from universities across the United States. The finals were held in Minneapolis, Minn., in April. While Cox did not advance to the championship round, the experience did spark something in her, she said.

“It was motivational to be at the competition,” she said. “We heard from Dick Schulz, founder and CEO of Best Buy, and Daymond John, founder, president and CEO of FUBU.”

And, she said, “I learned a lot about myself and I’m very excited about the future of our company.” At E-Fest, Cox also participated in a mixed-team competition in which each of the four members received a $2,500 award for their plan to create a mobile autonomy concept. Their idea: a bot that could circulate through blood vessels checking for blood clots.

Back in Raleigh, she said she and her partners plan to focus her startup on the cosmetics industry initially but she expects to expand beyond that, saying, “I definitely have ideas outside the realm of cosmetics. Our company is more than just applying makeup. It’s about female empowerment,” she said.

“I want to create a brand that will promote and celebrate women. We are at a time in society where women’s voices are being heard and we can do anything. Our company strives to make the lives of women easier, so we can focus on the bigger picture. Simplifeye will give women the one thing we cannot get enough of… time.”

She gives credit and thanks to the NC State Entrepreneurship Clinic and its mentor program, and Poole College entrepreneurship professors Lewis Sheats, Jeff Pollock and Jon Carr. Cox developed her product while at the Clinic and learned about the logistics of prototyping.

“The mentorship program has been a tremendous help,” she said. “My mentors helped me with creating a business plan, improving my pitch, extending their networks to me and connecting me with people I would have never had the opportunity to meet.”

Cox said she is especially grateful for the opportunity to work with the student clinicians at the Entrepreneurship Clinic, as well as the faculty members who helped her as she developed her product and shaped her brand and company.

Simplifeye Cosmetics has a patent pending and Cox is planning to launch it on social media. Follow her on her journey by supporting her product at the startup’s website.