Margaret co-founded Omorovicza Skin Care after meeting her husband, Stephen de Heinrich, a descendant of the noble Omorovicza family while Chief of Staff at the US Embassy in Budapest, Margaret de Heinrich fell in love with, not just her husband, but the ancient spas of Budapest in Stephen’s family. Inspired by the profound effects of the waters on her formerly troubled skin, the pair was keen to bring Hungary’s beauty heritage to the rest of the world and embarked on the journey of creating a skincare line, Omorovicza. They so believed in the curative powers of these waters that they bought the oldest source, used for over 2,000 years and on the same site as a Hammam built in the 1400s by the Pasha of Budapest. They worked with Hungary’s renowned architect, Miklos Ybl, to build the city’s most innovative thermal bath; clocks powered by water, music powered by water, trains powered by water. They then donated this to the Hungarian people for their health and wellbeing. It was here that Margaret experienced the transformational powers of the waters to her long-troubled skin, however, it wasn’t until she met the amazing Laboratory of Dermatology, famous for having a hand in discovering Vitamin C, that things took on a life of their own. They were the ones to tell them why the waters were so special (essentially the Earth’s crust is thinner here than any other place in the world, resulting in the most thermal baths than any other city), and they also explained how minerals were one of the most phenomenal elements to heal and repair the skin – something I had experienced personally. With their help, we developed and patented a proceed to capture the magic of these minerals in topical skincare.
“Other than being passionate about the heritage, this resource and the innovation we felt (or hoped) we could deliver – it was the romantic idea of building our lives around beauty that got us inspired to start a new career. It was also a bit of ‘why not?’… We were quite naive in the nicest possible way, we literally thought ‘how hard can this be?’… Anyone who has ever started a business can answer that question with a knowing smile.
Covid has also presented its own set of unchartered waters that we have all had to plow through, head down, step by step. There is nothing predictable about setting up a business and sadly, life [and the world] has a way of throwing us all into unchartered waters, as well. While we’re all living in the “new normal” of Covid, now the crisis in Ukraine has our utmost attention, as it should. I think we are all more sensitive to the elements we cannot control, and my heart goes out to those who have been affected.
Now, some years later, if I were to whittle down the one emotion I associate with Omorovicza, it is gratitude. It has and continues to be the most amazing experience and every day is an opportunity to learn and grow.”