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Spotless
the
skin we'd love to have
Over
the years I had tried many different products, from Neutrogena
to Eve Lom, with no success. Callen confirmed what I had suspected:
that the ranges available over the counter might help control
oily skin or deal with the odd spot, but could do little to rid
skin of constant, hormonally dependant acne of the kind I had
been diagnosed with. So, I was highly sceptical when a fellow
journalist recommended The Sher System, the invention of an alternative
beauty practitioner called Helen Sher. When I rang Sher to ask
her about her system, she said simply: "You have spots?
You must come and see me. I can help you." She is a charming,
glamorous, yet motherly Canadian in her sixties. I liked her
immediately, and after a month of using her products I was a
convert to them, too. My skin was now spot-free, soft and, I
liked to think, younger-looking. Sher began her career in Montreal,
working in promotions and management for Revlon and later Estee
Lauder, before becoming a cosmetics and perfumery buyer. In 1979,
she and her husband moved to London, and in 1991, she launched
The Sher System, a skincare approach that claims to provide all
ages of both sexes with healthy, well-regulated skin.
*
by Laura Tennant, Red magazine (Sept 2000)
water therapy
is the heart of the Sher System
At
the heart of the system is water therapy, a multiple-rinse
cleansing routine that draws out impurities, oils and bacteria,
clearing the pores from within. The routine is time consuming,
but curiously satisfying.
First,
a pre-wash cleansing formula removes make-up, and softens the
skin. Next, toner removes excess oil and helps cleansing. Water
softening chromium hydroxide crystals are added to a basin of
warm water, which is temperature controlled at 98 to 100 degrees
Fahrenheit. Then the face is washed with face wash and splashed
no less than 20 times.
Finally,
the multi-action serum is applied -a wonderful-smelling oil which
has vitamin A to smooth dry skin, vitamin E to heal, amino acids
to increase elasticity, and lavender oil, an antiseptic essential
oil. A product called On The Spot, with camphor, zaps existing
spots.
Sher,
who looks more 40 than 60, says there is no one miracle ingredient,
and admits that many of the active components in her range have
been used in skincare for years. The difference, she says, is
in her assessment of what a person's skin needs, the combination
of products she prescribes, and the crucial factor of water.
She read about water therapy as a teenager, and has been splashing
her face ever since. She has no medical training, but her products,
formulated with the approval of a dermatologist, draw on years
of experience in the beauty industry. She calls herself a "skin
psychologist" because she says many of her clients are so
depressed by their skin when they come to her that someone caring
and paying attention to them is a help in itself.
The Sher philosophy, that "temperature controlled
water is the most important catalyst in keeping your skin youthful
and firm", is so simple it's hard to believe that it works;
but I can testify that it does. It also makes her beauty products
different from any that I've tried before.
I
am now back to where I started, except that I know more about
the subject. To really put Helen Sher's system to the test, I
ought to come off Dianette and let my rebellious hormones do
their worst. Her own confidence in her products, and the numerous
grateful testimonies she gave me from people with severe acne,
leave me feeling quietly hopeful about the future. Acne can't
be cured, but with the help of a combination of modern medicine
and independent practitioners such as Sher, and some research
into the approach that suits you best, at least it can be controlled.
*
by Laura Tennant, Red magazine (Sept 2000)
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