Few have been more influential in the realm of colour cosmetics than Claudia Soare, AKA Norvina. President of her mother’s iconic brand, Anastasia Beverly Hills (ABH), and founder of her namesake line, Norvina, Claudia has been wildly successful in expanding the brand beyond its “legacy of brow products”— partly thanks to her in-depth understanding of social media and her inclination towards collaborating with the best and brightest in the bizz.
Ahead of the launch of the Norvina Pro Pigment Palette Vol. 5, Centennial Beauty spoke to Claudia to deep dive on her latest release, how she stays on the front foot in the beauty industry, and the importance of social media in continuing to grow the Anastasia Beverly Hills empire.
In creating the colour story for the new palette to suit the “high tech world” it exists in, Claudia explains, “the colour story, the formulas and the campaign for Vol. 5 all echo that sensibility of creativity, imagination, and innovation— that’s the DNA for Norvina,” she explains. Speaking to the ‘Norvina Cyber City’ she says “[It’s] not only like a virtual video game, but…I wanted to tell a story by creating a mini city… [It] represents my inspiration for this palette.”
“This city has so many parts of me in little nooks [from the arcade, to the office, to the club, to the restaurant], I wanted to bring everything and everyone I love on the journey with me. That’s also why I created a video game on Norvina.com to celebrate the launch— the purpose of the game is to win free merch, [but it exists] as a thank you to my followers and customers who support [the] brand.”
The crossover of beauty and gaming, something only recently tapped by the beauty industry at large, has been integral to the success of ABH and Norvina. It’s also a single component that speaks to the brand more broadly, being consistently on the front foot, with Claudia at its helm; an early adopter of social media, both Anastasia and Claudia recognise the power in using virtual platforms to build a strong connection with existing customers while reaching new ones.
“Social media did two incredible things for ABH and for beauty in general— as a brand it gave us a platform to showcase our products to a young, new audience, and reciprocally, it gave young new artists a platform by which they could showcase their creativity,” Claudia explains. “Because of this, we were able to foster a devoted community made up of genuine fans of the brand, and it allowed us to celebrate and bring visibility to the incredible talent that was out there. Social media connected us more closely to our customers— we could hear what they loved about their favourite products (ours or other brands), things they wished were slightly different, things they felt were relevant and important, [this] inspired our own innovation.”
“Social media brought ABH as a brand closer to its core community.”
This mentality, in part, also led Claudia to prioritise collaboration, working with creators such as Alyssa Marie Artistry. “Alyssa is a wizard when it comes to makeup artistry,” says Claudia. “Not a professionally trained makeup artist herself, she explains “[Alyssa] helped create my signature Norvina look, which is extremely elaborate and aspirational…she has a way of making it seem flawlessly easy to bring to life.”
Of her own experiences with makeup, she says “so much of what I can do in terms of artistry has come from a mix of working directly with professional makeup artists and observing people’s techniques through social media looks and tutorials.” This attitude has likely helped connect Claudia and her brand to audiences and customers as it reflects the way Millennials and Gen Z learn about makeup in 2021— combining their own experiences with what they see on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
When it comes to working with family, managing and growing the empire her mother built, Claudia explains “it’s a tough act to follow.” The biggest challenge remains “expanding the brand from its legacy of brow products and adding [our colour line] to the mix. In terms of expectations [for ABH], it made it really high stakes,” but now Claudia is confident in her ability to “bring to life a creative and colourful world, [she] didn’t know [she] could tap into before,” with Norvina.
Whether a new ABH brow product, or a Norvina palette launch, Claudia says she lives for the reveal. “We pour all of our energy into every new launch— from the physical creation in product development to the creative generation of our campaigns, it can take months or years [to put together a single launch]. That moment when I hit ‘Share’ on that very first announcement and get to finally show everyone the payoff of all that work, that’s the moment we’re marching towards during the product’s entire creation process,” she explains.
As for the future of ABH and Norvina, “we’re constantly looking to the future. Our goal is to continue to expand our line and launch innovative products that meet the needs of our customers,” Claudia says.
Norvina Pro Pigment Palette Vol. 5 is available now at Sephora Australia.