'She saved my skin'

When advertising executive Jaclyn Archer went to book a jazz band for one of her clients recently, she little thought that the meeting would lead to a new complexion. However, when one of the musicians recommended an appointment with a skin-care expert, she thought she had nothing to lose. Archer, 40, had suffered from acne for years. "I've always had crap skin, big open pores, lumps, spots," she says, with disarmingly bouncy candour. "And the myth that you grow out of acne is the biggest lie since Santa Claus."

Archer, who runs her own advertising agency, ArcherShields, in west London, had already tried many remedies, including conventional dermatology. "One of London's leading dermatologists said he could laser three layers off my skin, but that he wouldn't, because it would mean I couldn't go in the sun. He prescribed me steroid-related cream, but when I read the leaflet on the side-effects, I didn't want to use it; it's still in the cupboard."

Over the years, Archer has spent huge amounts of money on skincare products, to no avail. "The only time I ever had a facial was on a cruise ship – I hate people touching my skin, especially facials with people poking at your zits. The girl was leaning over me going 'Oh my god! Oh my god!' as she squeezed around. She said that my skin was just falling apart when she touched it, that it was abused. I then spent $900 on products that did nothing."

Archer also consulted a leading doctor of Chinese medicine. "A friend of mine had been cured of terrible psoriasis and he had been left with clear skin and shiny hair. But when I went in, this Chinese guy just looked at me and said: 'Why are you here? How do you think I can help you?' When I said 'I want clear skin', he said 'Psoriasis is easy to fix, acne is a lifelong problem'."

However, when Archer walked into Helen Sher's consulting rooms on New Bond Street, she felt straight away that she had happened on something different. "It was so friendly, a warm little family team." One of Sher's first actions was to clean off all of Archer's existing make-up. Archer was initially alarmed. "I said: 'Are you mental? I've got to get home afterwards!' But Sher said she'd do my make-up before I left."

Helen Sher's demonstration of the Sher System took two and a half hours. "She took me into the gorgeous bathroom there and showed me the routine, how the products work and how to use them. Then she re-did my make-up and it was the best natural look in the world." Archer expected a huge bill for this attention, and was amazed to be charged just £75. "On New Bond Street, I'd have expected to pay 10 times as much for a consultation. I left looking fantastic."

Even so, Archer didn't expect miracles. "She said I'd have good skin in a month. I thought that was rubbish, frankly." In fact, Sher fulfilled her promises. "I could see the difference in my skin after two weeks, all my friends were asking what I was doing."

So who is Helen Sher? She has clients all over the world, ranging from celebrities to construction workers, teenagers to grandmothers, though most of her clients are men and women aged between twenty and fifty. She's refreshingly discreet about their names – who, after all, wants their pimples discussed in public? She never advertises, and all her business comes from personal recommendations. She has resisted offers to expand her business; she would never franchise her skincare system, or license any distributors of her products other than herself. She has only trained one member of her staff to do client consultations, the rest she does personally. So, despite her success, she remains one of skincare's best-kept secrets.

Sher launched the Sher System in 1991, working with her husband and daughter. They spent two years researching and developing the range. "Everyone thought we were mad," she says. "If we weren't going to advertise, or be in a large store, they said that no one would know about us."

Her cleansers, facial washes, creams and serums are all water-based and contain only pure, natural ingredients, including vitamins and naturally antiseptic essential oils. All are formulated and tested under the supervision of a dermatologist. She also produces a make-up range to complement her skincare products. What makes the Sher System so different is the way the products are used. Sher prescribes a strict routine, individually tailored to each client, that always includes splashing the face at least 20 times morning and night with warm water softened with Sher crystals; this is called water therapy. Sounds simple? Perhaps it is. But the number of clients that clamour for appointments and also recommend her to their friends is impressive.

Not everyone is convinced that her approach can be effective. Nick Lowe, a consultant dermatologist and professor of dermatology at the Cranley Clinic in London, says that the Sher System over-simplifies a complex problem. "Adult acne can be down to a number of different factors," he says. "Water-based products may help. But there is a wide variety of clinically tested medical treatments available, there have been many major new advances in this field, and there is lots more to treatment than simply using water-based treatments."

However, Sher receives hundreds of grateful letters, many from people who, like Archer, have already trailed round an assortment of doctors, dermatologists and alternative practitioners. So why does the Sher System work when other methods have failed? Sher says the secret lies in the way she combines the products for each customer. "It's like baking a cake: if you had a recipe that called for eggs, butter, flour and milk, but you didn't have any eggs, the cake wouldn't turn out well. It's the whole approach that is important."

When Sher started her business, after a successful career working for many of the major beauty companies, her main aim was to provide the personalised skincare service she felt was hard to find. But she soon found that word-of-mouth recommendations meant more and more people with problematic skin were finding their way to her. "Some people we see now have good skin and want to make it more beautiful, but most have problems of some kind," she says. "People come to us with purple faces from acne and rosacea. Some are very distressed. They say they're in their thirties or forties, and shouldn't still be dealing with this kind of problem, they don't know where to turn."

One of the keys to her success, she says, remains individual attention. And for women, her make-up is an essential part of the service. "It's not worn for frivolous reasons, it actually protects the skin. It makes women look wonderful, particularly those who have never been taught how to make themselves up, but it is not just to make them look good." One of the more rewarding parts of her work, says Sher, is helping teenagers. "We specialise in teens, both boys and girls, and often the parents are more worried and upset than the child; they say we've changed their child's life."

Sher has devised a detailed questionnaire that customers who can't get to her New Bond Street salon can use, so that she can work out which products suit them best. This is now available over the internet. Those who can't come in for an individual demonstration receive a video showing them how to use the system. Even so, Sher retains the personal touch. "If someone starts on the programme and has a problem, we call them at once." Launching on the web, she says, has been instrumental in bringing in men, a notoriously hard group to reach when it comes to skincare. And she has also developed a nutritional supplement to benefit all skin types.

How much does all this cost? It's not bargain basement, certainly. But compared with better-known top-of-the-range brands, it's a snip at around £15 per product. The products are high-quality and last for ages. "The costs are so low, half the price of anything I've already used, and you can throw out everything else," says Archer. "These are better than the expensive brands, and I know, I've spent thousands."

Sher herself is perhaps the best advertisement for her system. She has used water therapy since the age of 15, is now nearly 68, and looks amazing. Archer is already sending her girlfriends to consult Sher. She says: "I would call Sher a miracle worker. And she puts love into her job."

Contact Helen Sher on 020-7499 4022, or visit www.sher.co.uk