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SKIN'S MIRACLE CURE? ARTICLE IN SKY.COM WEBSITE
Water, water, everywhere...
We drink it, we wash in it, we swim in it - but do we really understand water's true potential?
Helen Sher, so-called 'skin psychologist', does. Water forms an integral part of The Sher System, which she co-founded 18 years ago. And it might just be the saviour of my long-suffering skin.
Much to the despair of Showbiz's fashion & beauty ed, I have rejected product recommendations time and time again because everything I tried made my sensitive (some may say 'wussy') skin break out. "It'll give me a rash," I'd say, or, "My skin will go drier than day-old toast." But after months of persuasion, I was told (firmly) that there was one woman who could change all this. With much trepidation and moans of, "but what if I'm just a lost cause!" I was dispatched to meet with Helen herself.
REAL GIRL ARTICLE IN ELLE MAGAZINE
Student Roxanne, 18, felt like hiding away because of her skin problems but she’s full of self-confidence.
My problem skin first started when I was 14. My skin had been clear, but gradually spots started appearing on my cheeks and my chin. I thought they’d go away – but they just kept getting worse.
Within six months, they had spread all over my face. I felt so embarrassed because everyone at school seemed to have nice skin. My friends Sarah, Isabel and Emma were great – they tried to make me feel better but I still felt really uncomfortable. Some people teased me – I tried not to take any notice, but it hurt. I felt like people were always looking at me and laughing.
At first, I used skincare products that friends recommended. I tried anti-bacterial spot creams, washes and facial masks. Although they worked on my friends’ occasional pimples, my spots would disappear temporarily but always came back even worse!
After a year or so, my skin became inflamed as well as spotty. I couldn’t put any make-up on it because it would come up in sensitive bumps.
By the time I was 16, I was convinced nothing would work. So when Mum’s mentioned The Sher System I didn’t think anything would come of it. But mum pleaded with me to speak to Helen Sher – and I had nothing to lose.
Helen Sher was really reassuring, and immediately made me feel better, especially when she started to suggest practical things I could do – like increasing my daily intake of water from three to eight glasses. She explained that vigorously rubbing my skin when I washed my face aggravated my skin. She told me that finding a regime to suit me would take time and I’d have to take dietary supplements, like zinc. I didn’t care about how long it would take, I was starting to think it might work – especially when she showed me photos of people she’d helped.
My advice to anyone who’s going through what I did is to try not to worry, and be strong. Ignore any nasty comments and remember that it’s something that anyone can go through at some stage. Think about making slight changes to your lifestyle – increasing your water intake for example. And do ask for help – remember, you’re not alone!
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Spot Remover pimples are not only a teenage application, Adult Acne can strike at any time
Jenefer Nicholas, a high-powered PA in her thirties, whose skin broke out after a bereavement, was at her lowest ebb ever, “she says. “They were red, watery blisters, and I didn’t believe my GP when he told me it was seborrhoeic dermatitis and prescribed hydrocortisone creams and antibiotics. I was so down and desperate, I thought I had nothing to lose, “says Nicholas, “But within a week of using Helen’s products – a make-up remover, facial wash, serum and special creams for redness my skin started to improve.”
Journalist Hester Lacey, another Sher disciple – “Just talking to Helen for an hour about my skin was a pleasant experience”. Hester had been a smug teenager because everyone else had horrible spots while she always had really good skin, as does her mother and sister”, she suddenly developed an itchy patch on her elbow when she was 30. “I thought I’d been bitten. Then it spread to my legs, which was horrible, but at least no one could see it. When it reached my neck, it looked like a ridiculous love bite, but really gruesome, scabby and oozing; someone asked me if I’d burnt myself.”
When her face succumbed, it was the final straw. Lacey changed washing powders, gave up perfumes and rubbed E45 barrier cream all over before showering. Homeopathy didn’t help either. “By the time I’d got to Helen, I’d made all the changes I could think of. Hers wasn’t an overnight cure, but it only took a couple of weeks for things to improve.”
By Markie Robson Scott, Vogue
SPOTLESS IN RED MAGAZINE
The Skin We’d Love to Have
Over the years I had tried many different products, 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 have been diagnosed with. So, I was highly sceptical when a fellow journalist recommended The Sher System, the invention of an alternative skin practitioner called Helen Sher. When I rang Sher to ask her about the system, she said simply: “You have spots? You must come and see me.” She is a charming, glamorous, yet motherly Canadian. 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.
REDNESS/SENSITIVITY
A Case History in The Sunday Express
Patricia Thomas began to get pink patches on her face in her early 20’s. “It was very mild at first and I just ignored it,” she says. “But after about a year it started to get worse. It wasn’t just the redness – I got these pustules all over my face. I stopped going out – I didn’t even want to pick up my son from school.
I’ve been following the Sher skincare routine for three months now and it seems to be having an effect – the water therapy is very important. I’ve also seen a nutritionist who recommended various supplements including flax seed oil and a product to strengthen the liver.
“ I feel so much better about myself now. I don’t need to hide from people any more.”
SKIN FIX IN GQ MAGAZINE
It’s more expensive than a Balaclava, but the Sher System is the long term answer to your skin problems if you’re one of the 20 per cent of people who suffer from skin problems at some time in their lives, “One of the unique aspects of this skin programme is the recognition and utilization of the power of water”, is how Helen Sher put it. Hardly a world-shattering revelation, I thought, as we established my skin type – dry and oily; and my problem – super-sensitive skin. She went on to prescribe Foaming Face Wash, Gentle Toner and 24-hour Hydrating Formula and Oil Control Therapy. The products last from two to six months. And, most importantly, they work.
Gareth Scourfield
SKIN SOS IN HELLO MAGAZINE
The Sher System is ideal for spot prone skin and sensitive skins. Helen Sher, the founder, has always had a mission to find a skincare range that could treat problem skins without the need for drugs and antibiotics, she opened up her own Sher Studio in London’s Bond Street in 1991. Now she is in demand from men and women the world over for one-on-one or mail order consultations and treatments for problem skins.
To Helen there is no such thing as a good or bad skin, jut good and bad habits, and good skincare habits are based around water. According to the Sher System, water stimulates circulation, regulating and controlling the natural balance of the skin, while warm water hydrates, detoxifies and oxygenates the skin. “There is no such thing as open or enlarged pores, there are only full pores. My system ensures that your skin is poreless, “explains Helen.
