International Hair Growth Expert
Hair growth expert Riquette Hofstein is passionate about helping people grow hair. As an author and lecturer, she has countless fans worldwide who follow her holistic approach to grow their hair faster and healthier. Her clients include everyone from those who are going bald to those who want the gorgeous long hair of their dreams.
“I love long hair,” Riquette says from her Beverly Hills office. “I wear my own about three-quarters down my back.”

The Birth of Kitchen Cosmetics
Riquette’s background is truly international, as is her training in hair growth. She was born in Egypt and raised in France and Australia. She studied at the Schwarzkopf Institute of Hair Research in Munich and received her trichology certificate from the prestigious René Furterer Institute in Paris.

She is also known as the originator of “kitchen cosmetics” and believes that some of the best hair growth treatments can be made from ingredients found in the kitchen pantry. Take her “Spice Rack Shampoo,” for example.
“This is an excellent, all-natural recipe to dissolve wax buildup on the scalp and promote healthy hair growth,” she says. “Simply mix a tablespoon each of lavender, sage, rosemary and parsley with four ounces of Castille soap and one quart of distilled water. If you have dry or brittle hair, you can also add two drops of almond oil.”

Putting It On Paper
Riquette compiled her years of researching natural hair growth remedies into the best-selling book, Grow Hair in 12 Weeks (Crown Publishing, 1992) and her latest work, Grow Hair and Stop Hair Loss (Riquette International, 2003). One of the more interesting aspects in her new book is the emphasis on hypnosis, meditation, and visualization techniques to enhance hair growth.

“Hypnotherapy is very important for people who believe they’ll never have beautiful healthy hair,” Riquette says. “It can redirect the subconscious to correct the erroneous beliefs that aging, genetics or the environment are keeping them from growing hair. In addition, hypnotherapy is calming and relaxing, which helps people take better care of themselves through reduced stress and better nutrition.”

As a licensed hypnotherapist, Riquette works personally with clients to improve their attitudes about hair growth. She also offers a hypnotherapy audio tape on her Web site for those who wish to begin redirecting their subconscious at home.

Riquette's Recommendations
For people wanting to grow their hair as quickly as possible, Riquette has the following suggestions:

“To grow healthy hair, it’s important to dissolve wax buildup on the scalp and to promote circulation.” To do so, Riquette recommends creating the recipes from her latest book or using her own natural hair and scalp treatments.

“I recommend the Basic 4 products from my line, which include the Scalp Cleansing Shampoo, Daily Shampoo, Conditioning Protein Pack and Botanical Finishing Lotion.”

Although the products may seem expensive, Riquette says that they’re extremely concentrated and will last up to four months.

“You’ll be able to go longer between washes and will notice a definite change in hair texture within one week,” she says.

Riquette also touts the benefits of brushing 100 strokes each day with a boar bristle brush. She believes highly in nutrition to help speed growth and has created a hair growth supplement called Formula F.F – “food for follicles” – a combination of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and herbs to build protein and promote stronger hair.

So, what’s next for the woman who’s out to make the world a more beautiful place?

“My ultimate dream is to create a foundation for kids, to educate them about nutrition and grooming for healthy hair and skin, which is so important to self-esteem.” Sounds like a wonderful plan to ensure happier, healthier adults for generations to come.

[This article is from hairloss.about.com  ]

Not yet, but I'll defintely check them out.  Thanks for posting the article.   

Brushing's purposes are:
1.  Distribute the sebum, or natural oils down the length of the hair.  This is particularly important if you extend the time between washings.

2.  Stimulate the scalp which increases hair growth.

3.  Removes loose hair that could cause tangling.

If you are dealing with these areas with other methods, then you don't need to brush.  I too have thin hair that does not like to be brushed.  I comb my hair with a wide tooth comb and massage my scalp.  My hair is quite dry, so distributing the excess oil is not an issue, in fact I add oil to the ends instead (jojoba oil).

So you are not alone, Babyfine.

I flipped through her book at the bookstore.  I was impressed with her compilation of information, but many of the recipes I already had from the internet.  Was relatively inexpensive, though, so if you didn't already have the recipes, I would recommend it.  I have naturally curly hair and gave up the hair brush.  Finger brushing hair while conditioner in wet hair pulls out "old" hair and I massage scalp in the shower to promote growth.

I just switched to CO, but after reading this article, I'm a bit worried that I don't get all of that waxy build-up off my roots.  My hair feels so much better because of the transition, but does ACV get all of the gunk off?  Or would I need a clarifying shampoo?

Please discuss 

Thanks, BB for posting this article.  I went to her website and ordered her hypnosis/meditation tape.  Can't wait to hear it!

BTW, I stopped co'ing because it seemed to cause my scalp to be very flakey.  I don't think it was buildup per se, but the scalp couldn't shed properly because the co on the scalp was too moisturizing.  Using ACV exacerbated the problem and clarifying shampoo made no difference w/ my scalp.  2 cents.

I've gone back to a simple shampoo & condition ala Louise Marie Longairs and am using her scritching method to great result.  I do mean great!!!  2 cents more 

Check out this link- it will explain scritching.

http://www.hairgasm.com/horncombs/scritchycomic.htm