You could call the life of the woman behind Anastasia Beverly Hills a fairytale—if you left out the loss, the grind, and the years it took to make “brows” a global business.
Anastasia Soare was born on December 28, 1957, in Constanța, Romania. When her father died at 12, she spent long days in her mother’s atelier, absorbing lessons about beauty the way most people learn a second language: by living inside it.
In 1989, Soare moved to the U.S. with her daughter, starting over in Los Angeles with little English, a new network, and an idea that many in the industry didn’t yet understand—that eyebrows aren’t an afterthought. They’re the frame.
Today, the brand that carries her name spans 485+ products and counts 18 million followers on Instagram. Forbes estimates Soare’s net worth at $740 million (as of mid-2025). Now 68, she reflects on the hard parts of building a life in a new country, the artistry behind her “Golden Ratio” method, and why health has become non-negotiable.
“Romania gave me endurance. America gave me opportunity.”
“I was born in the historic port city of Constanța, Romania, and I grew up immersed in culture,” Soare says. “We studied the classics in school… and would visit the theatre once a week. The arts were such an integral part of our upbringing.”
That creative foundation wasn’t only academic. It was practical.
“I spent a great deal of time in my mother’s atelier,” she says. “It was there that I think I first picked up on the concept of proportion—that different angles and fits hitting at certain parts of a unique body could be instantly more flattering.”
Even in a country she describes as “very secluded,” she says she found ways to experiment. “When I was 17, a painter friend of my mother’s would bring me back materials from Italy and smuggle them into Romania… I used to make eyeshadow from a green pigment… Romania was very secluded, but that never stopped me from always wanting to be ahead of the curve.”
Her takeaway is still central to how she talks about her career: grit plus taste.
“Romania gave me drive and endurance… The United States was the place that gave me the opportunity to put that resilience into motion,” she says. “I’ve lived the American dream because of my Romanian roots.”
Starting over in L.A.
“When I moved to the United States, I knew no one and I didn’t know the language,” she says.
Soare describes the early years as a constant series of pitches. “I was constantly on a mission—to convince the bank to give me a credit card, to convince the landlord to rent me the salon space, to convince detractors that eyebrows could be big business.”
She worked relentlessly. “I pushed and strived, and worked seven days a week,” she says, adding that she often went home ready to quit—then woke up and did it again.
In those years, brows weren’t the headline. Soare made them one, shaping eyebrows for a growing list of high-profile clients. “I did the eyebrows of many of the ’90s supermodels,” she says. “No one else was doing brows at the time, so agents would send them my way.”
But she’s careful not to reduce her early customer base to celebrity names. “My first clients have always been an incredibly diverse demographic of women… entrepreneurs, suited professionals, artists, tourists, service industry workers, and everyone in between.”
The ABH Golden Ratio Shaping Technique
Soare’s philosophy is simple: beauty is balance and proportion, not perfection.
Her signature method—the ABH Golden Ratio Shaping Technique—uses three measurements:
- Start: Brows should begin directly above the middle of your nostrils
- End: Brows should end where the corner of the nostril connects with the outer corner of the eye
- Arch: The highest point of the arch should align from the middle of the nose to the middle of the iris
Her practical tip for avoiding a grooming disaster is even simpler: fill first, tweeze later.
“To avoid over-tweezing… try filling in your brows before you begin grooming,” she says, “then only tweeze the hairs that fall outside this guideline.”
For a natural look, she recommends an ombré approach: start at the arch and tail, then use the remaining product at the front of the brow. “This ombre mimics the density and shadow of naturally full brows,” she explains.
The part she misses most
Despite building a brand that’s scaled globally, Soare says the growth comes with a real tradeoff.
“My favourite part of what I do daily is seeing the way makeup has the power to truly transform someone’s life,” she says. “Our customers are essentially inviting us into their homes… it’s a very intimate experience.”
But she also misses the salon. “My only lament… is that now I don’t have time to spend in the salon shaping brows for clients. The atmosphere there is so special, and I miss having that as part of my day-to-day.”
Skin, “soft glam,” and her daily staples
Soare describes her signature look as “soft glam”—structured brows, neutral tones, and glowing skin. She also shares a routine shaped by practicality: hydration, sunscreen, and consistency.
In the morning, she layers for moisture and doesn’t skip SPF. At night, she’s diligent about removing makeup and adding hydration back in. She also mentions rotating in K-beauty masks a few times a week.
On the makeup side, her daily approach is about looking “natural, balanced, and refreshed,” starting with brows and building outward: brows, base, then cream products and mascara. And when she needs to go from day to night, she prefers touch-ups instead of starting over—dialing up eyes, contour, or lip as needed.
Why health is the priority now
“I am deliberate about my mornings,” she says—jazz, tea, work at home before the office. She trains with a personal trainer a few times a week and tries to keep her bedroom low-tech.
When the conversation turns to aging, Soare doesn’t romanticize it, but she refuses the fear around it.
“It is a privilege to be alive during every year we are gifted,” she says. “No one should fear aging… beauty and age are not mutually exclusive.”
For her, confidence isn’t cosmetic. It’s built.
“Running a business, seeing people around the world use my products… hearing from others that I am their inspiration… that’s what makes me feel beautiful,” she says. “Time is a blessing, because it allows us to realise our dreams.”