At the clinic, we met the owner, Helen Sher. She 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 treated. I tried the cleansing process she suggested. I applied a facial oil, followed by a cleanser. After that I dissolved neutralising crystals into warm water, applied another cleanser and splashed my face about 30 times. Then I lightly patted serum into my skin. It smelt like tea-tree oil and was really soothing - straightaway it seemed to calm all the redness and puffiness. Helen gave me a special make-up base too. When I looked in the mirror I couldn't believe it - and Mum was so happy she cried!

Immediately my skin started improving and people told me that I seemed more confident. It felt great. I stopped hiding away and started going out! Even before the spots had really begun to go away, I felt so optimistic, and by the time I did my GCSE's, I felt like a different person. I was using less products, but still keeping up with the regime and drinking lots of water. Now, two years later, I'm using much gentler products and my skin is still clear.

Having acne and dealing with the teasing and the funny looks has made me a much stronger person. It's also strengthened my friendships with my best mates. Even before I had spots I was shy - I was too scared to even talk to boys! Now I love going out and meeting lots of new people. My health's also really important to me - what I've been through has taught me you have to take care of yourself.

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!

Sher diagnosed Nicholas with acne rosacea. "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 spot cream for rosacea -my skin started to improve."

The key to Sher's system is water - rinsing 20 times after using her face wash or cleanser, and drinking a glass before and after every meal. The system doesn't come cheap,but her clients'testimonials are impressive.

Journalist Hester Lacey, another Sher disciple -"Just talking to her for an hour about my skin was a pleasant experience" -who'd been a "smug teenager because everyone else had horrible spots while I always had really good skin, as do my mother and sister", suddenly developed an itchy patch on her elbow when she was 30. "II 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. Adult-onset eczema, said her GP, and produced a cortisone cream. 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

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.

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.

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.

The Sher system feature's in Style quite regularly.

The Sher system also feature's in the YOU quite regularly.

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.

"Eventually, I went to see a dermatologist privately, who prescribed antibiotic cream. I tried it for a few months but it didn't work. After that he prescribed a medicine called Roaccutane, which I took for eight weeks.

It got rid of the rosacea for a while but about six months later it came back.

"Then I found out about the Sher system on the internet.

I've been following this skin care 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 about myself now. I don't need to hide from people any more."

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, try the Sher System. Created by mother and daughter team, Helen and Glenda Sher, it is especially effective at treating acne, rosacea and the symptoms of extremely sensitive skin.

The Shers believe in a "less is best" holistic approach and have eschewed lucrative over-the-counter sales in elaborate packaging, in favour of one-2-one consultations.

"One of the unique aspects of this skin programme is the recognition and utilisation of the power of water", is how Helen Sher put it.Hardly a world-shattering revelation, I thought, as she 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

The Sher System is ideal for spot -prone skin, rosacea 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, and she opened 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 consultations and treatments for problem skins.