Passion and perfection at your service
"Life is too short to feel less than your best."
You have only to take one look at Helen Sher in the 57th year of her marriage to see a woman who passionately lives her beliefs. (A recent skin test gave her a skin age of twenty-seven!)
So when Helen claims you can look younger as you grow older, you have to believe it. Truly she is a walking advertisement for the Sher System, and the astounding benefits of temperature controlled warm water therapy for healthy, glowing skin.
Helen started off in Montreal, where she worked for Revlon and Estee Lauder before moving right to the top of the Canadian cosmetics world as corporate cosmetics and perfumery buyer for the nationwide chain Holt Renfrew.
But it was in the UK that she spotted the gap that made her name.
Looking closely at cosmetics marketing, Helen concluded that the big companies were simply not equipped to manage skin problems, because each sufferer had individual requirements needing personal attention.
In 1991, Helen set up her Bond Street studio, defining her function as a ‘skin guru’. Still working with her husband Willer in the role of company administrator, she believes in the importance of family life, and one of her daughters is a partner in the business. A clue to Helen’s perfectionism is that she prepares every meal in the spirit of a formal dinner-party, even when it’s only the two of them wanting a late-night snack. That’s how you keep standards from sliding.
Years of painstaking research, experience and a steely determination, coupled with an unwavering conviction that knowledge is the greatest weapon in her arsenal, led her to develop her unique approach to skincare. "Knowing what people want and need is vital", says Helen, "we realise how important it is to listen and to take seriously how destructive the effects of problem skin can be to people's lives. Our culture is obsessed with looking good and staying young and we are constantly presented with images that are difficult, if not impossible, to attain.”
Helen's passionate advocacy of individual care obviously strikes a chord. The office files are bulging with hundreds of thank-you letters from people who had suffered years of skin problems or who simply had not been happy with conventional mass market skin products.
Men and women from all walks of life and from all over the world consult her, "yes, we have many high profile celebrities as clients", but unlike others who trade on their client list for publicity, Helen and Glenda believe that revealing the identity of their famous clients is contrary to professional ethics.
"The secretaries, construction workers and journalists who use the system are no less important to us." The stories told in the letters received are a testament to their mentor - the 81 year old lady who travels from Glasgow twice a year, the man who writes about his daughter's new found confidence.
What makes the success of The Sher System even more remarkable is Helen's deliberate policy of not advertising. "I think people are suffering from media fatigue", she explains. "Having to wade through masses of pseudo-medical jargon or determine what is right for you as an individual based on glossy pictures can often leave you feeling confused and even less sure of what you need. We don't try and fit people into determined categories, we don't classify our clients as types. Our work speaks for itself and our clients spread the word for us". A decision to place The Sher System on the internet 12 years ago has produced astonishing results.
Orders for products and requests for information flood in daily from far and wide and Helen is delighted, believing that she can target customers more effectively and deal with their enquiries in a way she would not be able to by simply responding to an ad in a magazine.
"Healthy skin is a choice and I feel privileged to be able to help people to make the right choice." Looking at Helen as she laughs with Willer or welcomes a client with obvious pleasure, it's not hard to see why her unique service has attracted so many devoted adherents for so long.Even when they try to experiment with new suppliers, they soon come back to the fold!
