According to beauty expert Riquette Hofstein, your daily beauty regimen does not have to be expensive, time-consuming, or perceived as mere self-indulgence. "Everyone deserves to look and feel their best, and by using a little common sense along with the right natural ingredients, anyone can achieve very expensive-looking results in just minutes a day, for a fraction of the cost."

The author of Grow Hair and Stop Hair Loss, International Beauty Secrets, and the best seller, Grow Hair in 12 Weeks, as well as the originator of "kitchen cosmetics," (the heretofore unknown process of making one's own fresh moisturizers, mud packs, and scalp stimulators from items found in one's own pantry), Riquette has earned an international reputation for her unique approach to natural beauty.

Long before back-to-nature and environmental causes were fashionable, Riquette was appearing on international television and radio demonstrating her art of "kitchen cosmetics," offering audiences a healthful, inexpensive alternative to over-the-counter beauty products using fruits, vegetables and other natural ingredients.

Her unique blends include a special "vegetable soup" for the hair, a mixture to rid the scalp of excessive wax build-up to promote hair growth; a homemade Retin-A, using only natural ingredients; and a salad you can eat and wear, because according to Riquette, many of the ingredients in your salad bowl are the same components found in expensive cosmetics and beauty products.

In accordance with her philosophy of natural beauty and her concern for the environment, Riquette also has her own line of beauty and hair products, made out of natural ingredients. All her formulas are environmentally safe, contain no chemicals, and are not tested on animals.

Born in Cairo to French parents and raised in Paris, Riquette received her beauty training in the classic European tradition under the masters of makeup, hairstyling, and skin care. She holds eight degrees and certificates in skin and hair care from colleges and institutes around the world including the prestigious Schwarzkopf Institute of Hair Research in Munich. She is professionally licensed in 14 European countries, North America, Australia, and the Far East.

Riquette has made numerous television and radio appearances including CBS This Morning, Live With Regis and Kathie Lee, The Merv Griffin Show, CNN, A.M. Los Angeles, and Late Night with David Letterman. She was an instant success with Letterman's audience, mixing up toothpaste as a scalp tonic, and using kitty litter and eggs for a facial mask amid ever more exotic creations from the average household pantry. Her witty banter played off Letterman's wry humor, and she was consequently booked on an almost unprecedented 15 shows in the past several years.

In addition to lecturing, writing, and making television and radio appearances, Riquette does private beauty consultations at her Beverly Hills clinic, Riquette International, where her star-studded clientele includes celebrities such as Ally Sheedy, Joan Van Ark, David Hasselhoff, Elizabeth McGovern, Morgan Fairchild, and comedian Dennis Wolfberg, as well as studio executives, doctors and attorneys.

Riquette has been described as a beauty queen who's never won a title, but in the business of making people beautiful, she is a winner with a royal touch.