Aunt Ilike grew up in the countryside of Hungary – a land blessed with fruits, vegetables and herbs that draw their succulence from the soil and thermal hot springs of the Carpathian basin long known for being rich in minerals and trace elements found nowhere else on earth. It was there, as a young child, that her insight and adoration into the powerful properties of nature and the world around her was born. Early on, she learned about the interdependence between plants, animals and humans. That life, in all its forms, is interconnected.
Aunt Ilike believed – as her grandmother, the village herbalist, taught her – that what we need to maintain health and beauty could be drawn from nature around us. She learned about how the fruits, vegetables and herbs that nourish us can also protect and heal us.
This love, understanding and respect for nature inspired her to study biochemistry. She was eager to learn and understand how and why things such as the food we eat or the medicine we take can alter our physical bodies. It was during this time that she combined her knowledge of herbal remedies with schooling at Hungary's highly renowned aesthetics school; she developed a fondness for how herbal remedies extend to skin care.
Upon graduation, she moved to Budapest where she leveraged her biochemistry background and her knowledge of herbal medicine to create unique skin care remedies. By the late 1950s, she had created the first professional organic skin care line – later branded ilike organic skin care in the United States.
Aunt Ilike dedicated her life working as an aesthetician, international educator, developer of organic skin care products, and flag bearer for the natural and organic movement. She often spread her wisdom through mainstream media – even as a weekly guest on the Hungarian television cooking program Paprika TV, extolling the health benefits of various vegetables and herbs. In addition, she was a regular speaker at international aesthetic congresses, including several CIDESCO world congresses.
Considered a national treasurer in Hungary, Aunt Ilike was bestowed countless awards, including: the Cross of Merit of the Hungarian Republic given by the President and Prime Minister of Hungary; the first Lifetime Achievement Award from The Hungarian Beautician Association for her efforts in educating and popularizing the use of herbs in cosmetics; an award for Natural Medicine, and many more.
Those that knew her say she was able to continue to educate and innovate because she had a truly unique understanding of the delicate balance between all living things.
"We are the children of Nature. Nature feeds us when we are hungry; she gives us warmth when we are cold; and cures us when we are tortured by illness. If we listen to her advice, Nature teaches us how to live in love, peace and harmony. Nature indeed provides an abundance of solutions for our everyday needs." That was Aunt Ilike's philosophy.
Even though she has passed, through her ilike organic skin care products, her mission, wisdom and legacy will carry on for generations to come.
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