Anastasia Soare

Anastasia Soare
Soare in 2018
Born
Anastasia Bălămaci

(1957-12-28) 28 December 1957 (age 66)[1]
Constanța, Romania
NationalityRomanian
American
OccupationBusinesswoman
Known forCEO and founder, Anastasia Beverly Hills
Spouse
Victor Soare
​
​
(m. 1978; div. 1994)​
Children1

Anastasia Soare (née Bălămaci) (born 28 December 1957)[1] is a Romanian-American businesswoman, and the CEO and founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills, known as the "Eyebrow Queen".[2][3]

Early life

Soare was born in Constanța, Romania.[4][2][5] She is the child of Dumitru Bălămaci (who died when she was 12) and Victoria Babu, who owned a tailoring shop.[6] She studied art history and architecture in Romania.[5][7][8]

Career

Soare spoke very little English in 1989 when she moved to Los Angeles, where she worked as an aesthetician at a beauty salon and soon realized that eyebrows were an under-explored area. "I developed a technique for how to shape eyebrows according to people's bone structure and natural eyebrow shape".[2] [9]As her manager did not think there was enough of a market, she rented a room in a Beverly Hills salon, providing facials, body waxing, and eyebrow sculpting.[2] By 1997, she was running her own salon on Beverly Hills' Bedford Drive.[2] As a beautician, she has stated that her first two clients for an eyebrow treatment were Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell.[7] Other clients have included Faye Dunaway and Jennifer Lopez.[2]

Soare is the CEO and founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills beauty brand, available in almost 2,000 stores internationally.[2] In 2018, Soare sold a minority stake in the business to portion to a private equity firm.[10]

In 2023, Forbes estimated the value of all of Anastasia Beverly Hills at approximately $500 million.[10][11]

Personal life

In 1978, she married Victor Soare, a ship's captain.[6] The couple has a daughter, Claudia (known professionally as Norvina), who is also active in the makeup business.[7]

In 1986, while his ship was docked in Italy, Victor Soare visited the American embassy and asked for asylum. He reached the United States six months later.[12] However, Soare and her daughter were not allowed to leave Romania to join him in the United States until 1989.[5][12] Victor and Anastasia divorced in 1994.[6][12]

She lives in Beverly Hills, California, US.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b Mitu, Rodica (12 October 2020). "Nu o să-ți vină să crezi ce vârstă are Anastasia Soare". DCNews (in Romanian). Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Schrodt, Paul (July 18, 2018). "Meet the Woman Behind Anastasia Beverly Hills, a Self-Made Billionaire 'Eyebrow Queen' Who Fled Communism in the '80s to Start a Beauty Empire". Money.com. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  3. ^ Dawson Hoff, Victoria (25 August 2014). "11 Must-Know Tips From the Industry's Eyebrow Queen". Elle. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Meet the Artist: Anastasia Soare". Anastasia Beverly Hills. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Berg, Madeline. "America's Newest Beauty Billionaire Built An Empire Targeting Women's Eyebrows". forbes.com. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  6. ^ a b c "Arch Angel". people.com. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  7. ^ a b c Jacques, Renee (29 December 2015). "5 Surprising Things You Didn't Know About Anastasia Beverly Hills". allure.com. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  8. ^ "Jennifer Lopez's Pro Anastasia Soare Shares Her Journey from Brow Artist to Billionaire Businesswoman". Peoplemag. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  9. ^ Shira, Dahvi. "Anastasia Beverly Hills Enters Minimalist 'No-Makeup Makeup' Category". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  10. ^ a b "Anastasia Soare". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  11. ^ LABJ (2024-06-03). "LA500 2024: Anastasia Soare". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  12. ^ a b c "Immigrants in Beauty: Anastasia Soare". allure.com. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  13. ^ "Forbes profile: Anastasia Soare". Forbes. Retrieved 21 November 2018.