Anastasia Soare
Anastasia Soare | |
---|---|
![]() Anastasia Soare in 2018 | |
Born | Anastasia Balamaci 1957 or 1958 (age 65–66)[1] Romania |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Businesswoman |
Known for | CEO and founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills |
Spouse |
Victor Soare
(m. 1978; div. 1994) |
Children | 1 daughter |
Parent(s) | Dumitru Balamaci Victoria Babu |
Anastasia Soare (born 1957/1958) is an American billionaire businesswoman, and the CEO and founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills, known as the "Eyebrow Queen".[2][3]
Early life
Soare was born in Romania.[2][4] She grew up in Constanţa, the daughter of Dumitru Balamaci (who died when she was 12) and Victoria Babu, who owned a tailoring shop.[1] She studied art history and architecture in Romania.[4][5]
In 1986, her husband, a ship's captain, when the ship was docked in Italy, visited the American embassy and asked for asylum, and he reached the United States six months later.[6] It was not until three years later, in 1989 at the age of 32, that Soare and her daughter were allowed to leave Romania to join him.[4][6]
Career
In Los Angeles, as she spoke very little English, Soare worked as an aesthetician at a beauty salon and soon realized that eyebrows were an under-exploited area, "I developed a technique for how to shape eyebrows according to people's bone structure and natural eyebrow shape".[2] 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.[5] 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 2016, Soare stated that she owned 100% of the company.[4]
As of December 2015, Anastasia Beverly Hills had the most popular Instagram page in the beauty industry, with 7.5 million followers.[5]
In May 2018, Forbes estimated Soare's net worth at $1 billion.[2][4]
Personal life
In 1978, she married Victor Soare, a ship's captain.[1] They had one daughter together, Claudia Soare, and divorced in 1994.[1][6] Her daughter is also active in the business.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d "Arch Angel". people.com. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "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. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
- ^ Dawson Hoff, Victoria (25 August 2014). "11 Must-Know Tips From the Industry's Eyebrow Queen". Elle. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Berg, Madeline. "America's Newest Beauty Billionaire Built An Empire Targeting Women's Eyebrows". forbes.com. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
- ^ a b c d Jacques, Renee. "5 Surprising Things You Didn't Know About Anastasia Beverly Hills". allure.com. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ a b c "Immigrants in Beauty: Anastasia Soare". allure.com. Retrieved 26 July 2018.