Beauty Store Business

JAN 2016

For beauty business news, beauty store owners turn to Beauty Store Business. Beauty business trends, beauty business profiles and more!

Issue link: http://beautystorebusiness.epubxp.com/i/612240

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 19 of 111

18 January 2016 | beautystorebusiness.com Beauty Store Business: How did you get started in the beauty industry? ANASTASIA SOARE: As a girl in Romania, I studied many dif ferent subjects—including literature, ar t, music, and architecture. As students, we were required to take special classes after school to hone our skills. In addi- tion to gymnastics, I chose art, and my drawing teacher ended up becoming one of my greatest influences in life. He taught me all about Leonardo da Vinci's "Golden Proportions" when draw- ing portraits, and how the slightest shift in the location of the eyebrows could change a person's entire expression. Later, when the opportunity to move to America presented itself, I decided to go to beauty school in Romania. I figured it would be a good career path in a new country—especially since I didn't speak English. After all, you don't have to talk a lot when you're waxing. Once we arrived in Beverly Hills, I revisited Leonardo da Vinci's theories while spending time in the local library with my young daughter, who was doing her homework. It was then that I was inspired to create my "Golden Ratio" brow-shaping method and pursue my own business. When and what was your first product that you created? Back in the '90s, I was using various eye shadows on my clients to help give them perfectly defined brows. The consistency wasn't ideal, so I began tinkering around with my own formulas. I would mix shadow powder with Vaseline and aloe vera to make a pomade. This eventually evolved to become Dipbrow Pomade. I'd also trim the ends of shadow brushes to make the right head I needed to apply the pomade. This was my first Brush #12. Later, I made pencils and powders, now called Brow Wiz and Brow Powder Duo, and eventually sold them in my salon and at Nordstrom Brow Studios. What is the Anastasia Beverly Hills experience? What do you want your clients to take away when using your products? The Anastasia Beverly Hills salon expe- rience is about helping you find and maintain the best brow shape for your unique face and bone structure. No pair of brows are alike. Our aestheticians are experts in my Golden Ratio method, which uses precise scientific points to find the best brow shape to suit your bone structure, and they'll give you a personalized shape and consult so you'll leave with the most flattering brows for you. Yes, we have five stencils you can use as a guide, but the results will always be different on everyone, since we all have different face shapes and features. I want my clients to leave the salon knowing that their brows have been personally fitted to suit them. It's brow couture! Why did you decide to add eye shadows, highlighters, contour kits and lippies? How have the new additions taken off? My daughter Claudia, who serves as president, and I are passionate makeup addicts. And we have a drive to innovate and bring newer, better formulas to the market. We're constantly in the labs coming up with new textures and deliv- ery methods, and we're always inspired by our customers, fans and followers to make their dream products come true. We listen to our customers' wants, and as a result, the new color range has been very successful and well received. Would you reflect on how far you have come in your career? I absolutely love what I do … it never feels like work to me. It's a lifestyle. I'm so proud and grateful that we've been able to evolve and grow our brand over the past two decades from a salon in Beverly Hills to an international makeup brand. I started 25 years ago in a small room in someone else's salon, and I just kept pursuing my dream every single day. It's been an incredible journey. What challenges have you faced over the years? So many, no stage has been without certain challenges. In the beginning, I was introducing a brand-new category to clients—brows. This wasn't lipstick. I had to travel around the country to edu- cate women on how to use my products because there hadn't been anything like them before. Now, we have different challenges, of course. I am a fanatic about quality control, and I always want to make sure we're sourcing the absolute cream of the crop as far as raw materials. What is something that you want people to ask you, but never do? How hard is it to start from scratch and make yourself successful and sustain that success? People perceive success as something that comes easily, but it takes decades of blood, sweat and tears. I work nonstop, 24/7. Owning a business isn't necessarily for everyone. It takes a lot of work. You never really know what it's like until you've stepped into another person's shoes for a day. Women who are mothers and housewives—that's a tough job, too—but oftentimes, it's per- ceived as easy work. They work around the clock, too. We're all working so hard in different ways. "I want my clients to leave the salon knowing that their brows have been personally fitted to suit them. It's brow couture!" Photography by Armando Sanchez/Illustration courtesy of Anastasia Beverly Hills GOLDEN RATIO ®

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Beauty Store Business - JAN 2016