Mirela Marinescu started her career over twenty years ago in her native land, Romania. As did many Romanians during this time of Communist control, Mirela and her young family defected to France, in the great search for freedom and a better life.

Living in France opened a window of opportunity for Mirela.  She found it very easy to find work in Paris, using skills she learned while attending the renowned Romanian Esthetician school.  During the next four years she kept growing professionally; learning about the country and culture, the French beauty industry and acquiring teaching experience.

Sixteen years ago, a Romanian friend of Mirela's was living here in Palm Springs and arranged to sponsor Mirela and her children, bringing them here to start a new life in the United States.  Arriving here, speaking very little English but filled with determination and no stranger to challenges, Mirela easily found employment. After working for Ilona of Hungary, Gerard Alexandre Salon, and Charisma on El Paseo, she decided to rent a little room at the J Russell Salon on El Paseo in Palm Desert.  Encouraged by Meg Firestone, owner of J Russell, her business grew and soon she needed additional space and help…first she hired a receptionist, (who is still with her) and soon another Esthetician to take the overflow of a growing clientele.

MIRELA & ASSOCIATES SKIN CARE soon became a solid and successful business employing talented, highly professional Estheticians.  Mirela acknowledges, "I have been very fortunate to find excellent associates who compliment each other and have joined together to become a great team and extended family."

Having found these quality people to take care of her clients, her passion for teaching led her to CA BOTANA INTERNATIONAL, a San Diego based, manufacturer of natural skin care products. During her "spare time" she traveled from school to school in southern California and also to far away places, like Singapore, teaching product knowledge and skin care.  She was so passionate about promoting the wide range of CA Botana Products that the company decided to give her exclusive local distributorship of their products. With her knowledge of cosmetic chemistry, CA Botana assisted Mirela in developing her own line of skin care products, now under the federally registered trademark label of Karina®.

Her business continued to grow and the increased client demands led to the need for even more space.  The Palms-to-Pines East location of MIRELA & ASSOCIATES, Skin Care and Body Care was born in 1999.  It did not take long for this new location to become busy and soon four more super qualified Estheticians joined the "family."

In her travels to the schools, where she continued to teach advanced classes on facial techniques and speed waxing, she began to see that there was an increasing need for a high-quality beauty school that could provide a curriculum and atmosphere to better inspire professionalism.  The thought of such a school became her next dream.  Being fortunate, again, to meet the right associates (Ronald Holbert and Kim Beardsley) who joined with her to help realize this ambitious dream, the INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BEAUTY, opened its doors in Palm Desert in January 2002.  The school was an instant success!  Clients know and appreciate the modern, beautiful and spotlessly clean salon.  The school, after nine years of operation, boasts a 95% success rate of graduates who have gone on to receive their licenses and have secured employment in the Coachella Valley. In 2006 a branch campus was opened in Indio and has grown steadily.

Mirela was presented with another business opportunity when a spa in Palm Springs became available for purchase.  Mirela had often thought about expanding to Palm Springs and, soon SPA DU JOUR, became a reality. She and her associates are diligently working to promote the healthy benefits of skin and nail care and have targeted the professional community, offering specials to teachers, nurses and neighbors!  In 2008, Mirela moved the Spa Du Jour salon to a great new and beautiful spa location in La Quinta.

Mirela's story certainly qualifies as a true AMERICAN DREAM. She is proud to be an American citizen and grateful to the many people who have contributed to her personal and professional success. She strongly believes in supporting the community through her numerous contributions to charitable events throughout the year.

"America is a land of opportunity," says Mirela "I am living proof of want can be accomplished by hard work and following your dreams."

All of Mirela's locations carry the CA Botana lines of Ambrosia®, Dr. Schwab® and Sea Enzyme®, Mirela's signature line of Karina® Therapeutic Skin Care Products, as well as other beauty related products and accessories.