Anastasia Beverley Hills x Selfridges

When I heard Anastasia Soare would make an appearance at Selfridges London for an ABH event, I knew I had to go and see her. The event was advertised as a “get the look with Anastasia” and I assumed it would be a makeup demo by the queen of brows herself.

When I arrived, the girls at the counter didn’t initially greet me and there was confusion as to what was going on. Eventually I was just told to queue for the event and that I would have a 121 makeup session with an ABH artist, with Anastasia coming over to provide some tips and tricks.

Then I found out I would be having a picture with Anastasia first and instantly thought “oh God, no”. I obviously wanted my picture with her but it would have been nicer to have the picture taken AFTER I looked presentable. I had literally just run through rain and a cloud of humidity from Bond Street Station to get to the event on time. I hadn’t had a chance to look at a mirror (but could only imagine my sweaty Jubilee line glow and frizzy hair - not a cute combo)! Having had a sneak peak at Anastasia, she looked perfect with outfit on point (check), heels to the sky (check), not a hair out of place (check) and perfect makeup (check check)!

As she beckoned me over, I put on my best “I hope I don’t look like shit but it’s lovely to meet you smile” and the first thing Anastasia said to me was “you have such beautiful skin”. I almost buckled. She said it twice. I thought I was hearing voices! After that, I was ushered into my seat, and felt as if I was in some kind of surreal dream.

I waited before being allocated an artist by the name of Sarah, who was a stunning Irish/ Finnish girl. Since I didn’t want a full makeover like others, we just discussed a few products I wanted to try. At this moment, Anastasia came over to compliment me again on my skin (I died) and asked what products I use from the brand already. We had a nice little chit chat and she recommended some brow gel, but left Sarah to get on with it.

Sarah told me that she has met Anastasia four times since the counter opened last year. I was amazed by this as it sounds like she is a real hands on boss. I really appreciate this with entrepreneurs who know how to run their business and keep not only their staff but customers happy.

I really liked the products Sarah recommended to me and ended up purchasing the following products:

Hydrating Oil £51

Eyeshadow in Rose Gold £8 (refillable)

Eyeshadow in Venice £8 (refillable)

Brow Wiz in Dark Brown £23

Dual-Ended Flat Detail Brush £18

Other than the face oil, all her items are priced so fairly considering the quality. The face oil’s price is understandable as it contains a lot of quality ingredients, including 11 oils! I purchased it because I love face oils, and as one of the main ingredients is Rosehip oil, perfect for my dry skin. After deduction of the £75 booking fee, I paid peanuts for the remainder, so was a very happy girl. A more detailed individual product review will go into my September haul blog.

Sarah also tried some lip products on me, and until then, I had never tried ABH’s lip products as she’s known more for her eyeshadow palettes and highlighter products. I tried the liquid lipstick in ‘Stripped’ which is a liquid matte and I was advised by Sarah not to rub my lips together too much, as apparently this is the mistake that’s often made by people which causes the (gross) crusty finish. She advised not to use balm with it, and rather a lip primer like the one sold by ABH, or to use a touch of gloss on top.

Though I wanted to try the colour ‘Stripped’ as it looked pretty on the back of my hands; on my lips, I looked like a dead carcass. This was definitely not the look I was aiming to achieve. After that, Sarah recommended a gloss (which I sadly cannot remember the name of) which looked very dark and mauvey to me, but when applied on top of Stripped, made it into the kind of nude I had envisioned. It made me feel like Kim K, but in a good way! It also lasted me for the whole day and that made me happy, so I’ll definitely be back to purchase that dream combo!

Whilst having my makeup done, I was given a choice of still/ sparkling water in a can (v. posh) which was a nice touch and big muscular men came around carrying trays of sweet or salty popcorn. The muscles were clearly necessary for carrying all those heavy snacks :) Sarah asked me if I wanted a picture with them to kill time whilst I waited for a selfie with Anastasia and though amused, I kindly refused. I was probably the only one who had that day!

When Anastasia was asked if I could have a selfie with her, she readily agreed and didn’t make me feel awkward about asking. She hurriedly took me to the selfie area claiming it would be better for the lighting and took several pictures on her right side as she’s right handed (like all the great people are!). I thanked her but she was so down-to-earth about the whole thing.

The goody bag, though small was very compact and full of really decent products. Products included:

MIni Cosmetics Bag

Quad Eyeshadow Palette (in warm neutral shades - full size)

Mini Lip Gloss (2g) in Toffee

Mini Matte Lipstick (1.3g) in Kiss

Mini Clear Brow Gel (2.5ml)

Mini Eye Primer (2ml)

Mini Banana Contour Stick (2g)

The contents of the goody bag were well selected as I could imagine the eyeshadow and lipstick shades pretty much suiting every eye colour and skin tone. The eye primer, and clear brow gel are super useful, not only for travelling, but as they are necessary everyday beauty items.

I attended the ABH event thinking I would learn a few tips and tricks, get a quick selfie with a female boss who would surely be fake or a bit of a diva... but no. I left feeling surprised by how humble this female boss was, impressed by my makeup artist, a goody bag and of course, a bag of sweet popcorn!

Until next time xo

All pictures on this post are my own.