Liquid Assets
When a young aristocrat took a US diplomat around Budapest’s famous thermal baths, it was the start of a romance—and awardwinning skincare line Omorovicza
The story of how Stephen and Margaret de Heinrich de Omorovicza started their award-winning skincare line sounds as though it was torn from the pages of a romance novel. The couple met in Budapest while Margaret was working as chief of staff for the US ambassador to Hungary. On their first date, Stephen took her on a tour of the city, including a famous spa that his ancestors had built more than a century earlier—and in one evening both love and her skin tone blossomed.
Margaret was impressed by the effect the spa waters had on her complexion and, after the pair married, they decided to share their secret to great skin with the world. Budapest has more thermal baths than any other city in the world due to the unique mineral composition of the water there and the pair knew there must be a way to get all that goodness into a skincare line. After working with a Nobel-prize winning dermatology laboratory, the couple developed and patented a mineral delivery system, Hydro Mineral Transference, and a few years later Omorovicza was born.
“All skincare consists of a large amount of water but traditionally that water is demineralised and inert,” says Stephen. “In our products, the water itself is a key active ingredient. These healing waters come from the spring that feeds the Rácz thermal bath, built by my family in the 1800s. Alongside the Budapest healing waters, Omorovicza also uses a number of highperformance, cutting-edge natural ingredients; it eschews commonly used synthetic ingredients, ensuring the experience is one of total beauty and maximum efficacy.”
The couple is also passionate about the heritage of the country they now both call home. “Margaret and I wanted to create the most efficacious and glamorous skincare experience, harnessing our unique heritage and the healing waters of Budapest,” says Stephen.
Omorovicza, which is sold at Joyce Beauty in Hong Kong, has two new launches this season, both of which are ideal for the winter months when indoor heating and cold winds strip skin of its natural moisture. The first, Oxygen Booster, was inspired by the dramatic effect oxygen has on the complexion. This cooling water gel plumps the skin and relaxes facial muscles, mimicking the effects of Botox without any invasive injections.
The second product we’re excited about is the Instant Perfection Serum, which uses the active ingredient hyaluronic acid to smooth away dryness and dullness. “It awakes the skin and hydrates deeply,” says Stephen. “The appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and pores are also dramatically reduced.”
So while most of us probably aren’t going to fall in love with a European aristocrat while wandering around historic baths any time soon, we can steal their secret to luminous skin, and that sounds pretty good to us.