After a little bit of a hiatus, BraBurner is back this week at El Bolero restaurant on Oak Lawn to chat with Regina Merson, founder of the Reina Rebelde makeup line. Before she got into makeup, Merson was a bankruptcy attorney with Weil Gotshal & Manges in Dallas. Before that, she was escaping kidnappers in Bangkok. Before that, she was developing her obsession with the power of beauty while watching her mom get dressed for the disco. We talked with Merson about her taste for tequila, heading into the jungles of Mexico for eyeliner inspiration, and how to know when the time is right for a new Plan A, no matter what your friends say.
As always, you can listen through the player below or you can download the episode with your favorite podcatcher. On with the show notes:
1. For information on how to avoid being kidnapped in a taxicab in Bangkok, read this.
2. The Zapatistas, or Zapatista Army of National Liberation, is a predominantly indigenous leftist revolutionary group based in Chiapas, one of the poorest states in southern Mexico. The group takes its name from Emiliano Zapata, the commander of the Liberation Army of the South during the Mexican Revolution. In 1993, the Zapatistas passed the Women’s Revolutionary Law, which sets forth basic rights for women, including the right to political participation, the right to be free from violence, the right to choose your own romantic partner, and the right to wear eyeliner with your face mask.
3. Reina Rebelde translates as “Rebel Queen.”
4. Reina Rebelde’s universal red lipstick, Brava, is the color equivalent of “Bitch Be Angry.”
5. The floral Moooi Eden Queen rug used as the backdrop for Regina’s photo shoot is available through Scott + Cooner for $4,995.
6. In the early 2000s, the Hispanic advertising agency Bromley Communications conducted the Charmin case study on behalf of their client, Proctor & Gamble. They determined that Hispanic women are avid “scent seekers” who enjoy making their homes smell good and are willing to pay more for products that offer aesthetic benefits in addition to functional ones. Meaning, Hispanic women will pay more for scented toilet paper.
7. The Oilman is a jet black margarita made from Código 1530 tequila, lime juice, blackberry juice, agave, and Cointreau Noir that is garnished with gold stars, gold kosher salt, and house-made rock candy. Feel free to eat the rock candy or use it to “twirly twirl” your blush-worthy, aesthetically spectacular drink.
