Romanian-born Christine Valmy, the founder of Christine Valmy International School of Esthetics & Cosmetology, the first skincare school licensed in the United States, died January 18, 2015, at the Cardiology Institute in Fundeni, Bucharest, Romania. She was 88.

Born Cristina Xantopol, in Bucharest in 1926, Valmy graduated from the Law School of the University of Bucharest in 1946. While working on her law degree, the young beauty also studied skin care and dermatology. She was hooked. Valmy (then still Xantopol) opened her first salon in Bucharest, practicing skin treatments based on traditional botanical remedies.

Inspired by the victory of the French against the Austrians during the French Revolution, she eventually changed her name to Christine Valmy. To avoid Communist pressures, Valmy emigrated to Greece in 1959 and eventually made her way to the United States. Penniless and unable to speak a word of English, Valmy worked in various beauty establishments before eventually opening her own salon. In 1966 she opened her own school where she taught the “Valmy Method” with a goal to “reveal, not to conceal” the natural beauty of skin. 

Valmy managed to become one of the most appreciated estheticians in the U.S. and is credited with creating the American Association of Skincare Specialists (estheticians), an association that gained the respect of the international governing body of skin care professionals, CIDESCO. In her years as a skincare professional, Valmy received countless awards and recognition.

In 1985, Valmy was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve on the United States National Council on Vocational Education, in recognition of her contribution in the education field, to assist in developing the country’s policies of vocational education—a capacity in which she served until 1991. (Her appointment to the National Council on Vocational Education was reconfirmed by President George H.W. Bush.) She was also the Director of Christine Valmy International Schoolin New York. The school currently resides at 261 Fifth Avenue, 24th Floor. She was also the Executive Vice President of Christine Valmy Inc.

In April 1968, Christine Valmy was awarded a special merit honor by the French Congress of Aesthetics held in Versaille, France, for promoting the esthetics profession in the United States. In 1976, President Gerald Ford nominated Christine Valmy as the “Business Person of the Year” for the State of New Jersey, where her second school and laboratories are located. Valmy was a member of many boards of different groups. She was also a trustee of the Famous People and People International, an organization founded by President Eisenhower to promote friendship and understanding in the world.

In addition to training tens of thousands of skincare specialists, Valmy found time to write three books on skincare and esthetics:

• Esthetics: The Keystone Guide to Skin Care

• Christine Valmy’s Skin Care and Make Up Book

• Christine Valmy Method of Scientific Facials

Christine Valmy is survived by daughter, Marina Valmy de Haydu & her husband Peter de Haydu, and her two grandsons.