My "Reggie" Is Bald and Wears an Ear Ring. But He's Ready. Oh, Is He Ready

I hadn't planned on starting a cosmetics company.
But sitting in a hair salon in Rome a few years ago, I made a discovery. As I saw women leaving the salon, I couldn't help noticing that some would linger by the door. After a few minutes, their colorist would come back with a little paper bag, hand it to them and send them cheerfully on their way.

When I inquired about this mysterious ritual, the receptionist said: "Per sotto, per farli combaciare," meaning: "For the hair down there... to make it match."

Back in New York, I told a salon-owner friend about it. She responded, "I'm sure my clients would love a product like this, and I'd use it myself!" Not only did she like the idea of matching her chestnut brown hair, but also - she confessed - she desperately needed to cover some grays she'd recently discovered down there!

Over the next two years, I worked with our manufacturer to perfect a product that would address this need. . . .

I'm thrilled to be sharing my discovery of our easy-to-use betty colors with you. We call them BLONDEbetty, BROWNbetty, AUBURNbetty and BLACKbetty.

I also came up with a hot pink color not just for special occasions - our FUNbetty.

Fortunately, I've yet to run into one that wasn't a Funbetty, but I, admittedly, have lived a charmed life (as you know if you've read this blog before).

If you haven't been similarly blessed -- say, you've met UN-FUNbetty, STDbetty, or CRYINGGAMEbetty (unless you're into that) -- I'm sorry.

But if you think I don't want to read about those encounters in the Comments section, you're wrong, so very, very wrong.