Mirta Raya

Cuban cosmetologist Mirta de Perales passed away on May 3rd at the age of 88 at her residence in Miami Beach, a victim of Alzheimer's disease, but the news has only now come to light in the press.

Mirta Raya, world-renowned by her husband's surname as Mirta de Perales, was born in the town of Rancho Veloz in the province of Villa Clara. Very early on she began working in that town as a hairdresser, her mother worked in Havana as a maid and when she saved some money from doing hair in the town she sent a telegram to her mother asking her to return because they were already rich.

De Perales, who had been rich and famous in Cuba until 1962, left for exile that same year, accompanied by her two children.

Upon her arrival in Miami, Perales had to make a living doing hair and working as a pedicurist, just as she had done in her youth. Some time later, she founded Mirta de Perales Inc., the company that distributes her products in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Mirta de Perales, who had been born in a small town in Cuba, began her profession as a hairdresser at eleven years old. At fifteen years old she arrived in Havana and for five years she worked from home.

At 14 years old, De Perales moved to Havana, despite not knowing the city. There, she placed an advertisement in a newspaper offering her services as a hair stylist and manicurist for home visits.

Then she met Benito Perales, a pharmacist ten years older than her, whom she married on January 6, 1944 in the church of Nuestra Señora del Carmen. After some time, the couple had two children and consolidated the firm Mirta de Perales hair care products that would make her famous. The couple separated in the early 1960s.

At twenty-one she opened her first hair salon at 27 and L in Vedado, Cuba, already married to pharmacist Benito Perales with whom she had two children: Jorge and Mirta.

Her beauty salon became the most luxurious and comfortable in Latin America. Unsatisfied with the hair care products available in the market at that time, she created her own line of products with natural raw materials.

After achieving international recognition and awards, the government headed by Fidel Castro expropriated her business, so she emigrated to the United States, where she began her life again working as a cosmetologist and pedicurist.

From Miami she visited New York and Paris again, and obtained new certifications and thus her Beauty Salon emerged in the prestigious city of Coral Gables, Florida.

With her work experience and armed with good business sense and her charisma, she founded the company Mirta de Perales, Inc., an enterprise that distributes her products in the domestic market of the United States and in Puerto Rico.

Mirta de Perales was declared Latina Businesswoman of the Year by the Latin Chamber of Commerce. She receives the highest award of her professional career by being chosen by President Ronald Reagan as an example of the realization of the American Dream.

Today the products Mirtha's of Mirta de Perales are famous for the excellent results of the different hair treatments for both women and men.

"Mirta was, at the same time, strong and sweet. She knew all the details of her company and demanded that her team always offer the best. She was a good person, to the point of helping her employees in the purchase of homes and collaborated with many newly arrived Cubans to buy their first cars. She always said that she had to give back everything that God had given her. She was a devout Catholic.

Mirta de Perales, Inc., located in Doral, has a team of ten employees. In the last decade the daughter of the famous businesswoman has been at the helm of the business.

Mirta turned her dream into reality and opened the doors to people who wanted to follow in her footsteps, that is, to achieve success as an exile, Cuban, and woman.