Retro Glamour with Margarita Bloom

Glamour is in full retro bloom

I am in awe of the way Gina, founder of Margarita Bloom Retro Skincare & Bath, runs her business. She’s sweet, industrious, friendly beyond belief, savvy, and sexier than any of the gals in her fabulous glamourpuss images could ever hope to be. Here’s the downlow on this upbeat beauty maven. ❤

Why beauty products? How did you get started? And where did the name come from?

Funny enough, I was never that much into beauty products when I was a little girl though, I did love my lipstick!! I spent a fair bit of time trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I always knew I wanted to have my own company but just not what I wanted to do. I think it was when I had my first interaction with the Internet that I realized that I could have a bath and body business and really fell in love with the idea! I don't know where I would be without fabulous, fabulous technology. lol...

Oh, the name, it's really quite fabulous, isn't it? I knew I wanted a name that would be unique, something that everybody would go oh, how original but at the same time it had to be something that everybody knew so they could kind of relate to it. It started with the word "Bloom" because I loved everything that it embodied...fresh, spring, summer, sweet fragrances, fleurs, the beginning of something ah-mazing. Then came...Marguerite...I bet you thought I was going to say Margarita didn't you? My first thought was the name Marguerite....Bloom.... kind of the name of the Margarita Bloom girl...and of course Margarita emerged from the name Marguerite...and Margarita Bloom...bloomed!

When I first learned about the Margarita Bloom line and began to see your Facebook posts, I was amazed at the depth of your cultural references and knowledge, and I figured you to be decades older than the spring chicken you are. What vintage influences have aided in developing your distinct signature style?

Well, I guess that's a compliment on my wonderfully imaginative mind so I'll thank you! lol... Gosh, I really just post or talk about things I love or find interesting. I love learning about tidbits of history, fantasy, science, folklore, pretty clothes, I've always had a thing for ANYTHING Victorian, yummy foods and nibbles make my world go round. I just love learning about new things.

I have never seen anyone so adroit at social media as you. How do you do it all AND handle your beauty lab AND run a company and oh yeah... have a life?! You are something of a graphics wiz, you're obviously very computer savvy and have a delightful online presence that puts others at ease. If you were to switch careers, what would you choose to do?

Aww, thanks! I think. lol... It's simple really...when you love what you do it's not really a job. I enjoy it so much so it's not hard...at least to me it's not! Of course, there are a lot of things in my life that I want to do that I haven't done yet and I always hold those close to my heart on my inner to do list to get done!

Your products are about so much more than just basic skin care. What do you want patrons to experience when using them?

It's true our products are awesome to use by themselves...they smell good...they work fabulously....our peeps always tell us that! but it's also about making our peeps smile, bringing a little joy to their world, spreading good vibes and happiness wherever our potions go. They have cute names like our "Lulu and The Volleyball Player" Coconut Lemongrass Sugar Scrub that bring a delightful smile to their face and they're like little pieces of art that you can display in your home for your friends to look at and when you give your friends some of our potions as gifts you're spreading that happiness. Oh, let's see I LOVE candy so I'd probably do something with making chocolate or baking yummy sweets! I do love fashion so that would be something I might be interested in and I seem to have good taste by what my peeps tell me...though I can't draw worth a lick! lol... My gift seems to lie in putting together colors & patterns. I just have this natural instinct when looking at a group of images/ fonts/colors to be able to see if something is going to work or not.

What's in store for the brand in the future?

Well, we're thinking of upgrading our website adding s o m e improvements for our peeps. We had this awesome idea to have a monthly subscription Margarita Bloom Gift Box where you could sign up for 3 month, 6 month or even 12 month subscriptions and get a sweet little box full of some Margarita Bloom Potions, spa accessories, sweet little tidbits, maybe even some candy or lollipops delivered to you every month all wrapped up in love and sunshine in a gorgeous little bag or box. It's a work in progress and of course we always strive to get feedback from our peeps letting us know what they love, or would love to see at Margarita Bloom. We want to have the best potions we can for our peeps!

And what about Gina personally? What sort of dreams and plans do you cherish and hope to realize?

Gosh, really the main dream I have personally is to travel. I want to go everywhere...and see everything! France, Australia, England, the Caribbean! Most definitely I want to visit tons and tons of beaches...if anyone knows me they know I'm a beach kind of girl. I think sand and sunshine are in my blood. giggle...

Before that I had a dream/goal of losing weight... something I've struggled with all my life, although many might have said what weight problem? I did a great job of hiding my weight with baggy clothes. I just never felt comfortable in my skin and when you don't feel comfortable in your own skin it's kind of hard to enjoy your life. I always dreamed of having that surfer girl look....long and lean and looking gorgeous in a bathing suit...on a beach of course! A few years ago, I finally took charge and realized that being overweight by 30 lbs was just too much and I wasn't going to do it anymore! Strangely enough, mostly due to being on Tumblr, I realized that there were other girls out there that felt like I did about their body and that I wasn't alone. I think that helped me to change my mind set and finally lose the weight.

Plus, putting aside the fact that I wasn't happy with my weight, I was eating way too many unhealthy things. I quit fast food...cold turkey! giggle...started eating more green foods like salads, fruits and veggies, watched my serving sizes and soon after quit drinking soda & tried to incorporate more walking and exercising into my schedule.. It was amazing when I started dropping the weight and now I'm at a size that makes me happy, I'm healthy most importantly and I don't have that dressing room fear I used to get when going to try on new clothes!! lol... The next thing I hope to learn is some yoga! Other tidbits I hope to have one day...a dressing room the size of a house! lol...no, really!!! That would be perfect. I would love to visit California and check out all the cool sites.

I would love to eat French Macraons in Paris while flirting with a Parisian hunk. lol... *wink wink*

I would love to spend an entire afternoon in an old French book store just breathing in that lovely musty smell while reading tons of gorgeous books and so much more! Merci, for the opportunity to have this sweet little interview in your magazine! Beyond tickled pink that you wanted to have little ole' me and my beauty company Margarita Bloom featured.

Kisses! xoxo Regina

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