Looking Good in Later Life 14
                                               2002

Helen Franks pays a visit to Helen Sher, specialist in alternative skin treatments and make-up 

Helen Sher is a one-off in the world of beauty. She has created her own exclusive range of preparations for sensitive and older skins, working with chemists whom she knows personally. ‘We discuss the ingredients like a chef,’ she says.

She runs her small family business from a suite of rooms in London’s Bond Street.  Her husband of 51 years and two daughters are part of the firm. She is 67 and looks - well see her picture just above here. 

Helen believes that the only real moisturiser is water and she bases her products on this. ‘Think of prunes’, she says. ‘They shrivel because they dry out.’   

This, she admits is something of a simplification. The ageing skin suffers from hormone changes, muscle-tone loss, collage depletion, environment too.  Nevertheless, she has a loyal band of customers who wouldn’t go anywhere else.  And latest trends in the cleanse-and-tone world suggest that others are copying her ideas.

She gets her clients through word of mouth: 30% are men who come with specific problems like acne and rosacea. Women customers may have similar conditions or sensitive skin. And many are women in the 50-plus age group who, she says, can’t face the big stores, the anonymity of countless cosmetic counters and the enormous, competing choice. ‘They come to us and get one to one attention.’ 

Alternatively, they can answer her questionnaire and learn her techniques on a video, and receive her recommendations for skin care and make-up based on her assessment of their personal needs. ‘We mail order all over the world.’

Her ingredients, she says, are not unique, but it’s the combination and balance that count. ‘They are designed to be interactive.’ 

It’s very obvious that Helen really believes in her products and gets enormous pleasure from seeing results, working as she says, on a borderline between dermatology and cosmetology, with a bit of psychology thrown in. She served her apprenticeship at Revlon and Estee Lauder, and for years experimented with the effects of rinsing the skin many times in warm water combined with very mild products - a face wash, crystals that change the chemistry of the water, mild cleanser and tonic. 

She teaches people suffering from skin blemishes how to use make-up, showing special techniques with very light camouflage creams and lotions. She recommends creams or lotions with a sun protection factor of 20.  And she’s very very keen that we drink plenty of water.

 My personal consultation

My questionnaire revealed that I have a fine, not-too-sensitive skin, but it is thin - something that happens with age. Here’s the advice she gave me (some of it may not suit people with other skin types):

• Don’t use hot water on the face when skin is thin. The cleanser I had been using stipulated hot then cold rinses

• Don’t use creams on naturally greasy areas - in my case, the nose

• Don’t put eye creams under the eyes, only at the sides

• Use cotton buds to cleanse make-up from under eyes

• Don’t put mascara on the lower lids - it always seems to smudge on me

• To make sure I drink plenty of water, start every meal with a glassfull and drink another glass before midmorning or midafternoon tea or coffee

Helen Sher’s water-moisturising routine (again, these instructions were specifically for me, and may differ slightly for other people):

• Fill basin with water at 98degF (she gave me a thermometer to make sure)

• Add a small capful of her Normalising Crystals

• Apply Foaming Face Wash to face and neck

• Rinse it off by cupping hands in the warm water, repeating this twenty times

A cleanser, a toner, a soothing skin serum were also part of the package. Then she then went through a simple make-up session, using some of her own products and others that she specially selected. I complained that I never used face powder, but she dusted on a fine, translucent version and a bronzer for highlights. 

And yes, the result was rather good - according to that sternest of critics, my husband.

I do try to keep up the Sher moisturising regime, but must admit that I dropped it on holiday then resumed afterwards. And yes again, my skin looked clearer after all that rinsing, and surprisingly didn’t feel dry. So I am trying to keep to it, though I get the sequence wrong from time to time. That’s ageing for you! 

If you would like to know more about the Sher system, see her website:  www.sher.co.uk/skincare or email:  skincare@sher.co.uk

or telephone 020 7499 4022

On request, you will be sent a Skin Profile questionnaire

• A personal consultation with Helen Sher costs £75 and lasts 1-2 hours

• A one-to-one consultation with a trained expert costs £50

• The teaching video demonstrating the Sher system costs £20

• Most products cost in the range of £12-£20 (ie 150 ml Foaming Face Wash is £18)

Clear leaflets provide full back-up information 

Previous editions of Looking Good in laterlife 

Edition 1 (including a visit to Estee Lauder)

Edition 2 (including a visit to Clarins)

Edition 3 (including a visit to Medestea Internazionale

Edition 4 (including a visit to Martha Hill Skincare)

Edition 5 (including a visit to Harrods)

Edition 6 (Including a visit to Belgravia Centre)

Edition 7 (Including a visit to Vichy Laboratoire)

Edition 8 (Including a visit to Avene Spa)

Edition 9 (Including fashion tips)

Edition 10 eyebrows, eyelashes, sun and skin

Edition 11 (Including a visit to Lasercare Clinics)

Edition 12 - Lasercare Clinics offer their expertise on common skin conditions

Edition 13 - Ageing skin in the new millennium

laterlife.com occasionally visits one of the great cosmetic houses, up-and-coming beauty collections or other organisations of interest to the more mature visitor.

Edition 1 Estee Lauder

Edition 2 Clarins

Edition 3 Medestea Internazionale

Edition 4 Martha Hill Skincare

Edition 5 Harrods
Edition 6 The Belgravia Centre

Edition 7 Vichy Laboratoire

Edition 8 Avene Spa  

Edition 11 Lasercare Clinics

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