Every year, Singaporeans sign up for beauty courses hoping to earn extra income, start a side hustle, or eventually leave their full-time jobs.
But unless you’re ready to invest in a studio or can secure a salon chair straight away, finding somewhere to serve your first paying client can be much harder.
Working from home is another option, but many flats simply don’t have the space. Even when they do, every appointment can mean shifting furniture, setting up equipment, and inviting a stranger into the family home.
Jealash Beauty Studio & Academy, tucked away along Upper Serangoon Road, aims to lower that barrier through its “Lash Pods”: private, fully equipped treatment rooms that graduates can use rent-free while they build confidence, serve paying clients, and test the waters before investing in a setup of their own.
Its eyelash extension, lash lift, and brow embroidery courses are designed for beginners, career switchers, and side-hustlers, including two young mothers hoping their new skills will eventually give them greater control over their time and income.
For first aid trainer and mother-of-three Rosabelle Loh, the pods were one of the main reasons the academy stood out during her search for a lash lift course.
“Other places might give you the kit, but after that, you have to find your own customers and somewhere to serve them,” she told MS News. “Here, if you have a customer but no place to go, you can book a pod, use the equipment, and even stagger multiple clients throughout the day.”
Although Ms Loh hasn’t personally used the pods for paying clients yet, she likes knowing that the option will be there when she’s ready to begin.
The 33-year-old’s interest in learning lash lifting began after several less-than-glamorous beauty appointments left her viewing the treatments rather differently.
She first tried eyelash extensions, only to see her natural lashes fall out and leave behind sparse patches. She then switched to lash lifts, but noticed them looking odd after some sessions.
Rather than give up on lash treatments altogether, Ms Loh decided to take matters into her own hands and sign up for a lash lift course at Jealash, where she finally learnt what may have gone wrong.
“Lash lifts use a lot of chemicals, so sometimes, when you leave them on for too long, the lashes can start to overcurl,” she explained. “I realised that my lashes were getting spoiled by the treatment they were using.”
Ms Loh’s path into beauty began somewhere completely unrelated. A former nurse, she switched to first aid training for greater flexibility while raising three young daughters with her husband, who’s also a nurse.
She then spent about a year researching beauty courses before Jealash Beauty Studio & Academy caught her eye with a graph showing how earnings could add up daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly, depending on the number of clients served.
“That made me realise that, financially, this was actually very doable,” she said.
The Lash Pods were another major draw.
Available after graduation, the cosy treatment rooms come with beds, lighting, trolleys, charging points, sterilisation equipment, and other essentials, allowing even graduates who aren’t ready to invest in their own setup to begin serving clients in a professional salon environment.
Ms Loh completed her lash lift and brow tint course in one day, booking it on a day she wasn’t working so she could drop her children off, attend the session, and still pick them up afterwards.
Although she was understandably nervous about entering unfamiliar territory, her instructor, Jealash founder Juju Lim, made sure she felt relaxed and comfortable while guiding her from the basics to working on a live model.
“The space felt very homey and cosy, and Juju took the time to explain anything I was unsure about, making sure I had a firm grasp of the basics before moving on to practise,” Ms Loh said.
By contrast, beauty seems to have always been on the cards for Ms Loh’s fellow Jealash graduate, 22-year-old Azizah Binti Peer Mohamed.
About four years ago, she started turning heads at school with manicures she’d taught herself through online videos and plenty of practice on her own nails.
Before long, classmates were asking who did her nails and turning up at her home to get their own digits done. The appointments started out free, until Ms Azizah realised she needed to charge a token sum to replenish her supplies, settling on just S$10 per set.
Still, she didn’t enter the beauty industry full-time straight away. She first worked as a preschool teacher while offering services on the side, before taking a four-day lash extension course at Jealash late last year, followed by a one-day brow course.
Unlike nails and henna, which she’d taught herself, lash treatments felt too risky to pick up through a few YouTube clips.
“They’re done on people’s faces, and so close to their eyes,” she explained. “I didn’t want to offer them until I was properly trained and confident.”
Jealash’s lash extension course also appealed to her because it was spread over four days. She’d looked into other academies, but most offered only one-day programmes, which she felt would be far too rushed for something so technical.
“I don’t think you can learn lash extensions in a day,” she said, adding that the longer format gave her more time to practise, absorb the techniques, and ask all the questions she needed to along the way.
But just because Ms Azizah was already handy with nails didn’t mean working with lashes came naturally. To her, they were a whole different ball game.
During one lesson, she spent about seven hours working through the process, including roughly six hours on a lash set, while her pregnant model lay on the fortunately very comfortable treatment bed for more than two hours.
Even then, Ms Lim didn’t simply step in and finish the job for her. She only took over briefly when Ms Azizah’s eyes were so tired they were “going cross-eyed”, giving her a short break to stare at the studio’s calming green wall before letting her continue.
“That’s what I liked, because she still let me try even though I was very slow,” Ms Azizah said. “Technically, she had to go home already, but she was still there.”
By the end of the course, she hadn’t just picked up the technical skills. She’d also learnt the other essentials of being a beauty entrepreneur, from taking proper before-and-after photos to pricing her services and keeping clients coming back.
Those business lessons certainly proved useful when Ms Azizah began offering beauty services through her own business, Glow Haven, either from a rented chair at Oxiana Hair Artistry along Kandahar Street or via house calls.
Things weren’t exactly smooth sailing at first. A single appointment could take six or seven hours, and the extensions didn’t always stay on as long as they should.
Rather than pretend she had it all figured out, Ms Azizah was upfront about being a novice.
“I’d explain that my prices were lower because I was new,” she recalled. “If they didn’t mind coming back for touch-ups while I improved, we could work with that. Otherwise, I’d suggest they go to someone more experienced.”
After plenty of practice, her persistence paid off. She now specialises mainly in lash lifts and brow lamination, alongside nails, henna, and lash extensions, and has about six regular customers.
“I literally see the same people every month,” she grinned. “I already know all their preferences, so they can just lie back and sleep while I work.”
Perhaps the best part is the control the business gives her over both her income and her time as a mother to a two-year-old.
“If my daughter is sick, I can always reschedule,” she said. “If I want to go on holiday, I just chiong for one week, then take the whole of the next week off. And I don’t need to ask my boss for permission, because I’m the boss!”
Ms Azizah has since registered Glow Haven with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), contributes to her own CPF, and is training three others who may eventually work under her.
For her, lashes and brows were also not the end of the journey. She plans to study hair, facials, and makeup next, bringing her closer to turning Glow Haven into a full-service glow-up spot.
While Ms Azizah is already building a steady client base, Ms Loh is taking things at a gentler pace.
For now, she’s mostly practising on relatives willing to lend their lashes to the cause. Her first lash lift on her aunt took about an hour and a half, but seeing her happy with the result gave Ms Loh the confidence to keep going.
She eventually hopes to offer house calls, starting within her own community and gradually building up her client list. While she isn’t ready to leave first aid training just yet, she can see herself splitting her time between both in future.
What she’s really looking forward to is the same flexibility Ms Azizah already enjoys from working for herself.
“I took this course for my family, too,” she said. “Having my own business would give me more freedom to plan my time and make things easier at home.”
With three daughters aged eight, seven, and four, there’s also a sweeter long-term perk.
“If this kicks off, then next time when they grow up, they can tell their friends: ‘Hey, my mother can do your lashes!’” she joked.
Ms Loh is also considering adding lash extensions and brow lamination to her skill set in future, showing how one introductory service can become the first step towards offering a broader range of treatments.
In the meantime, those keen to follow her journey can keep an eye on her Instagram page for updates on when she begins offering services.
The two women’s journeys may look different, but they point to the same challenge: learning a skill is only half the battle. New graduates still need somewhere to practise, the confidence to work on paying clients, and a low-risk way to find out whether the business fits their lives.
Jealash’s Beauty Pods are designed to make that next step less daunting.
Every graduate receives complimentary access to one of three fully equipped private treatment rooms for 30 days after certification, with up to five three-hour bookings.
Once a booking is confirmed, a unique keyless code lets them enter at their convenience, serve their own paying clients, build a portfolio, and begin earning before investing in a setup of their own.
The experience gives graduates a realistic, lower-risk taste of managing appointments independently, while also showing them how to arrange a professional setup that puts both practitioner and client at ease.
Jealash Beauty Studio & Academy was founded by Ms Lim, a former flight attendant who picked up beauty skills after realising flying might not be a lifelong career, then ran a home-based business for more than two years before she began teaching in 2019.
Having started out that way herself, she shaped the academy around giving students more support beyond the certificate. Its beginner-friendly courses cover technique, tools, and theory, as well as pricing, marketing, and client management, with weekday and weekend classes to suit different schedules.
Options range from single-day certifications such as the Japan Keratin Eyelash Lift and Brow Lamination courses, to four-day Signature Eyelash Extension and Brow Embroidery & Microblading masterclasses, as well as the six-day Professional Brow, Lip & Eyeliner Embroidery programme for those seeking all-in-one certification.
Course fees span S$550 to S$3,850 depending on scope and duration, with instalment plans available for students who’d rather spread out the investment.
Students train in a live salon setting at Spazio @ Kovan, a mixed-use development along Upper Serangoon Road, using methods influenced by Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese beauty styles.
Jealash also works with Northbrooks Secondary School and ADM Education to give younger students early exposure to the industry.
For semi-permanent makeup courses such as brow embroidery, lip blushing, and eyeliner embroidery, graduates also receive supervised sessions within 30 days of completing their course, including when working on their first paying clients.
A trainer stays nearby to observe, answer questions, and correct technique in real time, while remaining hands-off so the graduate completes the work independently.
The sessions are designed for the moment many new artists dread: working on a real person for the first time, without having to face it entirely alone. Jealash says it is the only academy in Singapore offering this form of post-course supervision.
Those keen to progress beyond lashes can also train in these services, as well as scalp micropigmentation, gradually building a broader beauty career one skill at a time.
Starting something of your own can feel daunting, especially when you’re leaving the comfort of a stable routine for a path with no guaranteed outcome.
Still, both Ms Azizah and Ms Loh believe it’s worth taking that chance, especially when it could lead to greater flexibility, independence, and a future built on your own terms.
“Just do it,” Ms Azizah said. “It’s scary at first, but once you really focus on it, you can make it work. There may be many people offering lashes and brows, but there’s still only one you, and clients often return because of the person behind the service.”
Ms Loh agreed. “I already had a stable job, but I realised this was a skill that would always stay with me. Once you get into the flow, you realise there wasn’t so much to be afraid of after all.”
Taking the first step towards anything will always feel daunting, but knowing there’s somewhere to practise, someone to turn to, and no need to invest in a full setup straight away can at least make the unknown feel a little less overwhelming.
And for those who’ve been waiting for a sign, this may be it. To mark SG61, Jealash is covering the 9% GST for the first 20 students who confirm any course booking in August, with classes available in September and October.
Readers can quote <MS News> when enquiring via WhatsApp to check their eligibility and the latest promotions.
More information about Jealash’s courses, including course modules, fees, payment options, and other key details, is available on its official website and Instagram page. Enquiries and course bookings can also be made online or via WhatsApp at 8960 4827.
Here’s how to get to the academy:
Jealash Beauty Studio & Academy
Address: B1-08 Spazio @ Kovan, 767 Upper Serangoon Road, Singapore 534635
Nearest MRT station: Serangoon
This post was brought to you in collaboration with Jealash Beauty Studio & Academy.
Featured image by MS News. Photography by Wani Khan.