Romanian-born Christine Valmy, the founder of the first skin care school licensed in the United States, died on Sunday at the Cardiology Institute in Fundeni, Bucharest, according to local Agerpres. She was 88.

Christine Valmy is often referred to as the “Cosmetics Queen”, due to her contribution in the development of skin care and aesthetics in the United States and worldwide. The Christine Valmy International Cosmetics School that she founded in 1966, in New York, is currently represented in the U.S. and 17 other countries in the world. She also founded the American association of skin care specialists.

Christine Valmy was born Cristina Xantopol, in Bucharest, in 1926. She changed her name after 1961, when she emigrated to the United States. She had no money and she didn’t know any English, but she managed to become one of the most appreciated aesthetician in the U.S.

She had a law degree from the University of Bucharest and a cosmetology degree from the Medical School in Bucharest. She started working in cosmetics at age 17 and developed her own techniques, now known as the “Valmy method”, which aimed to reveal rather than conceal the natural beauty of a healthy, well-functioning skin.

Christine Valmy also wrote three books on skin care and aesthetics.

editor@romania-insider.com