Eva Szabo was a trailblazer in the world of beauty.

An entrepreneur whose name became synonymous with luxurious beauty treatments at her local “Eva Szabo’s European Skin Care” salons and spas, she paved the way for generations of female business professionals.

“She was a success and she was a survivor,” said Marlene Somar, an aesthetician who worked for Ms. Szabo for more than 40 years.

In a city known more for its steel and sports, skincare treatments like salt scrubs and seaweed body wraps must have seemed an unlikely business venture to succeed, but Ms. Szabo changed all that in 1978, when she came to Pittsburgh from New York City.

A trained chemist who also made her own line of skincare products at a lab in her Fox Chapel home, Ms. Szabo died Feb. 6 after recent health setbacks. She was 80.

A native of Gyor, a city in northwestern Hungary, Ms. Szabo lost her mother at the age of 2, said her daughter Ava Gaitens. Her father thought it best that she live with another family in the neighborhood.

“She was raised by her neighbors and her father lived across the street,” said Ms. Gaitens, of Shadyside. “He died when she was 16.”

She went to Austria to study chemistry, anatomy and dermatology before immigrating to New York City in 1969.

In short order, Ms. Szabo opened a Georgette Klinger spa at the Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan. The late Ms. Klinger, a self-styled “Dean of Skincare” and Czech native, owned a string of locations throughout Manhattan.

In the ‘70s, Ms. Szabo met Pittsburgh accountant Tom Gaitens, who was in New York on business.

“She met my father at a nightclub disco,” her daughter said.

Though they would later divorce, the couple married in 1978 and Ms. Szabo came to Pittsburgh, where she would open a salon in the William Penn Hotel, followed eventually by three more locations in the North Hills, South Hills and eastern neighborhoods.

There was some skepticism to overcome at first.

“Everyone said it was a mistake to open such a place in Pittsburgh. It would never go,” Ms. Szabo recalled in a 1979 story in The Pittsburgh Press.

Within a year, though, she had 200 customers.

Introducing Pittsburghers to European skincare routines, like facials and acne treatments, turned out to be easier than first anticipated, she said.

“In Hungary, there is no real makeup,” said Ms. Szabo, who never used anything but pink lipstick on her face, with tinted eyelashes and tattooed eyeliner. “And having a facial to most women there is just like having their hair done. It was a part of every woman’s routine, having the pores cleaned, and as a result, I think you find most women have good skin.”

Soon, customers started to rely on the products that Ms. Szabo whipped up in her basement lab — she always used them herself.

“My mother never wore concealer or foundation,” her daughter said. “Her skin was beautiful and she was the best ad for her skincare.”

Over the years, Ms. Szabo welcomed other Hungarian immigrants to live with and work for her while they built up a clientele and started their own businesses.

“They were mainly family and friends from Hungary,” said her daughter, who worked alongside her mother until the pandemic, when she closed her businesses.

Ms. Szabo also opened her home to many high school foreign exchange students.

As her reputation and businesses grew, as many as 30% of her clients were men, mostly interested in manicures, pedicures and skin treatments.

“I had quite a few men as clients,” her daughter said.

Though her doors were always open to help others, Ms. Szabo was very picky about whom she hired, Ms. Somar recalled.

“I was a young girl when I went to Eva,” she said. “She trained me for a long time before I was allowed to touch anybody. She taught me to do facials, massages and cleaning pores. I wanted to be like her and I really loved working with her. She was always generous to me and she looked out for me. We were just like family.”

Ms. Szabo was just as skilled as a hostess and chef and she was a talented tennis and squash player who won tournaments.

“She was a great cook and baker,” Ms. Somar said. “She made chicken paprikash and goulash and she baked tortes. She could make anything and she did it all by herself. I always looked up to her for that.”

She was also a fabulous mom, her daughter said.

“She had a king-sized bed when I was little and she let me sleep with her,” she said. “Every single morning she would bring me breakfast in bed, with croissants, fresh jam and decaf cappuccino.”

The pair also loved attending brunch, the opera and the symphony together.

“We were best friends,” she said. “I called her every day and we always talked at least once a day. I really miss her.”

Along with her daughter Ava, Ms. Szabo is survived by her husband, Tamas Szep, and her other daughter Tamara O’Brien, of New Castle.

Janice Crompton: jcrompton@post-gazette.com.

First Published: March 23, 2024, 12:57 p.m.
Updated: March 23, 2024, 10:55 p.m.