You won’t meet a nicer beauty and, now, fashion mogul than Marcia Kilgore. I first met the Canadian-born founder of the Bliss spa empire, Soap & Glory budget-friendly beauty range and already-legendary, bottom and thigh-toning FitFlop over ten years ago. Marcia was launching Bliss to the British beauty pack, presenting the products, show ‘n’ tell style, with all the excitement and ‘check this out’-enthusiasm of a girlfriend bursting to share her latest discovery. The products – and Marcia – were an instant hit (we also loved her red lipstick) and the rest is beauty history. With this winter’s new FitFlop boots already flying out of stores, we asked the now London-based nonstopmama for her energy-boosting, keep-glowing secrets …
The FitFlop has become a school run-mama style classic. Do you still get excited when you see someone wearing them?
Yes! We’ve got a mountain of yummy mummies. I’ve seen them on a lot of young, athletic looking girls with long legs. I’ve bumped into a woman – probably in her seventies – in Miami, who was out walking with her iPod in them.
Have you ever stopped anyone and asked them how they found them and revealed who you are?
Yes – I quite regularly ask people where they brought them and what they think of them. I don’t usually tell them who I am, but I’m intrigued to find out what they think and if they would recommend them.
As a supersonic nonstopmama, presumably you’re all for anything that helps a girl get a bit of a workout into her day without realising it?
Absolutely! The FitFlop was born out of a desire to squeeze more exercise into our increasingly hectic schedules.
The new FitFlop boots are a genius idea. Posture-checking, muscle-shaping Fit-Flopping, all year round! Did you design what you needed yourself?
It’s like the FitFlop with a roof on top. We did it because we were trying to come up with a warm shoe. We had so many customers saying to us, “I need something warm to wear in the winter”.
How do you keep fit and relax yourself?
I would love to find at least 45 minutes 3 times a week to exercise (on top of having my FitFlops on all the time). I find myself slightly addicted to Powerplate at the moment, quick results for time-poor Mums. I’ve got a hydrotherapy tub – the professional kind, with those individual massaging jets that hit all the different pressure points in your body. You can set it to do deep tissue massage, or lymphatic drainage, or ‘stretching’ or energizing, all on a 20 minute program. It’s like having an on-call massage therapist in your house – no polite conversation necessary.
How thrilled are you that the Soap & Glory has become such a beauty hit?
Success is the residue of design. The ethos of Soap & Glory goes against the traditional wisdom about beauty. Rather than ‘here comes the science’ approach, where brands cover their products in meaningless statistics, women seem to love the fun approach. It’s for people who don’t want to spend an arm and a leg to moisturise one.
You take a totally hands-on approach with your products. Are you a total perfectionist during the formulation and development stages (we’re thinking that will be a yes!)
Beauty is in the detail. I read Rudolph Giuliani’s Leadership
What are your own nonstopmama, get-up-and-glow beauty tricks and tips?
This winter you are likely to have more flakiness, redness around dry areas and the t-zone and tiny dehydration lines but less humidity induced acne, oiliness and blackheads/clogged pores. Try to incorporate an exfoliator into your shower, like Soap & Glory’s new Scrub Em or Leave Em, at least three times a week, to slough away dead skin cells quicker, simultaneously stimulate circulation and allow your after-shower moisture lotions to sink in more readily. Use facial exfoliators regularly, but within reason. Raw really only looks good in the vegetable section.
Finally, the buzz about the new FitFlop boots is huge – are you already thinking ahead to the next big breakthrough?
This is my next big breakthrough!
Snag it, mama! – We have a Soap & Glory The Big Thrill set (worth £50) to give away.
