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The fabulous and beneficial thermal waters of Hungary—particularly rich in minerals and renowned for its healing properties —are the central and inspiring element of Omorovicza, a cosmetics firm that is fast becoming a global luxury brand. Their products are available in the most exclusive shops and spas around the world. Omorovicza is one of the star brands based in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, considered the international spa city par excellence thanks to of its more than 100 thermal baths.
Besides the healing waters, the firm uses, in its formulas, ingredients such as gold, copper, zinc, calcium, and magnesium while excluding other controversial elements such as parabens, petrochemicals, silicones, or sodium lauryl sulfate.
The white packaging represents purity, and its emblem is a delicate blue peacock fan, symbolizing beauty and nobility, at the same time.
The brand is also known for the unique names they give to their creams, oils, and serums, which evoke precious stones and metals. Some examples are The Gold Collection or the Blue Diamond Collection. The label also used royal personages in their branding; such is the case of the atomizer dubbed Queen of Hungary, a formula enhanced by Omorovicza whose fame dates back to the 14th century.
Legend has it that Queen Elizabeth of Hungary used it and had the recipe written in gold. One of her bottles containing this formula is kept in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
A Nobel Prize applied to dermatology
The founder of Omorovicza Cosmetics, Stephen Heinrich of Omorovicza, explains that the company seeks to “apply the healing effects of the thermal waters to skin care.” However, experts know that while these waters contain minerals that are beneficial, they do not penetrate into the deep layers of the skin.
Therefore, Omorovicza joined the Nobel Prize-winning Laboratory of Dermatology of Hungary to develop a pioneering anti-aging line of products. The famed lab was the setting whereAlbert Szent-Györgyi discovered Vitamin C.
The laboratory patented a system called Hydro Mineral Transference™, which according to the cosmetics firm, takes minerals in their original form, reconfigures their molecular structure to a state that allows the body to recognize them, and then takes them to the deepest levels of the skin. Thus they are absorbed into the dermis and epidermis at unprecedented levels.
A noble history
Although the company launched its first line of dermatological products in 2006, the story of theOmorovicza family’s interest in hot springs began much earlier. In the mid-19th century, the noble Janos Heinrich of Omorovicza acquired Rácz, a beautiful 16th-century Ottoman bath located in Budapest with the idea of building the most innovative hot spring resort in Europe.
Centuries later, in 2001, Stephen Heinrich of Omorovicza took Margaret Dickerson—his future wife and co-founder of the company—to the Rácz Spa. At the time, she was chief of staff of the US Embassy in Hungary.
Dickerson fell in love with the hot springs and the effect they had on her skin. Such improvements prompted the couple to be even more interested in the project and to use these mineral-rich waters as the basis and inspiration of their cosmetic products.
It took 2000 years since the healing properties of the Hungarian hot springs were discovered for the “spa city” to use them to develop cosmetic products with unprecedented efficiency. ■