Cher and Skin

Cher had more than a toe dipped into skin care concerns. She, for a time in the 1990s, owned a skin care line.

The 1960s

From 16 Magazine:

Dear Cher, I have terrible pimples and, at times, acne. Please tell me what I can do. I am desperate. Bumpy, New York City

Dear Bumpy, There are several things you can do, and here they are—but you really must do them: In the future, avoid all fried foods, chocolate, nuts, greasy foods, soda pop with sugar in it (the no-calorie type is better for you), butter and coconut. The next thing you must do is keep your skin clean at all times. Wash your face with a mild soap morning and evening (using a very gentle complexion brush and patting dry with a spotlessly clean towel). Carry some Fresh Ups or Wash ‘n’ Dry face cleaners with you to use from time to time during the day if necessary. There are many medicated, tinted make-ups in cream and liquid. pHisoHex puts out a very good line—you can get them at your drugstore. If your acne is bad, see your family doctor. They have some great new antibiotic injections that really work—I mean, they usually get rid of acne from one to two weeks.

[pHisoHex was banned in 1972 for the use of hexachlorophene. The product has relaunched later using the ingredient salicylic acid.]

Dear Cher, When I look at a picture of you, I just flip. You look so beautiful—your eyes are sparkling and your hair is long and shining. Then I look into the mirror and I just hate myself. Please, please tell me how I can get to look like you! Miserable

[Skin-care parts of the response only]

Dear Miserable, I am glad you like the way I look, believe me—but in doing so you are overlooking a most important fact. I am me and you are you! I am quite sure you are just as pretty (if not prettier) than I am, in your own way. So forget about me and let’s concentrate on you. To have sparkling eyes, you must get enough sleep, keep your face and eyes clean…Be sure your eyes aren’t dull because you need glasses. Don’t laugh—that is sometimes the case! 

Dear Cher, I have these dreadful dark circles under my eyes. They make me look like I have two black eyes. I get plenty of rest and have a proper diet—I’ve tried to cover the circles with makeup, but nothing helps. What can I do? Black Eyes, St. Clair Shores, Mich.

Dear Black Eyes, I have three answers. One: dark circles are sometimes inherited and there is nothing you can do about them. Two: are you in good health? Dark circles sometimes indicate anything from kidney disorder to a mild virus. You should ask your doctor about these dark circles. Three: if you find they are not inherited and not caused by poor health, then go back to the makeup treatment. I suggest that you try Yeardley Eyeliter (you know, like they advertise on The Monkees).  I, too, have a tendency toward dark circles, and this product has done miracles for me.

Watch the hilarious Yardly Black Label commercial (“Be the guy’s who’s got it!”) for the eyeliter product. It’s listed as an “antique,” on Pinterest.

Cher enjoying a face mask in the 1960s:

The 1970s

In Cher Superstar (1975) Cher talks about acne again and the “hot studio lights” and getting a facial three times a week. She flies to New York for special skin treatments.

I found this article in my scrapbook, “The Other Man In Cher’s Life” (date and magazine unknown, CBS era).

Daniel Eastman, “the world-famous beauty expert,” uses a deep pore cleaners. It’s “grainy texture open pores and pulls out impurities.” To close the pores again he applies astringent made from natural lemon and mint. He wipes that away. Then he applies a light moisturizer for under makeup. “At night Cher uses a special cream…[which will] slow down the skin’s drying and aging process as long as possible.”

Eastman emphasizes cleanliness and hygiene. “The face must be kept as clean as possible, so it can breathe freely, promote good circulation, eliminate excess oils and release a natural oil flow. Follow a daily “clean routine….a good diet is a must” and he tells Cher, “try not to be too tense. It doesn’t do a thing for your complexation.” [She’s in the middle of a big breakup with Sonny, but okay.]

He then warns her about tanning. [She was very tan at the time.] He asks her if she’s been using his “special sun cream that filters out the ultraviolet rays which are damaging to the muscle tissue and fibers.” [What? Damaging to muscle fibers??] “Of course,” she says. Eastman continues to remind her, “even though you’re crazy about the sun, take it easy. As it can also promote premature aging and drying.”

“Cher reaches for a jar of Eastman’s cleansing cream and remembers it’s time for a refill. This is a very special formula. The label reads PH Balance and hypoallergenic. “There is too much alkali on an oily face, it creates a lot of problems like blemishes and blackheads. If there is too much acid on a dry face, it causes premature lines and drying.”

In Sonny & Cher, A Family Again (1977) Cher talks about her own skin problems with acne due to long hours and those TV lights. Don’t diagnose yourself, she says. See a dermatologist.

The 1990s

Tips from Forever Fit (1991)

Cher is using Retin-A for acne.

Robert Hass explains there is bacteria on the skin that is good for you (mutually beneficial) and the skin is like the kidney and the liver;  the skin excretes waste. It also breathes, which is why that model/actress died in the making of the movie Goldfinger.

There’s a lot of science talk, the point of which is to tell you to eat well. A lack of protein has led to skin lesions in some places. You need the B-group vitamins and vitamins C, A and E. But the most vital thing is to get enough fiber and water, both which help the excretion process.

Haas also covers sunscreen and skin cancer. He says 500,000 Americans a year get skin cancer and living in the sunbelt is the worst. [It’s much worse now with “9,500 Americans being diagnosed with some form of skin cancer every single day” according to the American Academy of Dermatology.]

Haas talks about sunscreen reflectors like iron oxide or titanium dioxide and UV-filter creams like PABA and Benzophenone. Tanning beds are just as bad. And you need an SPF of at least 15. Similar to what Victoria Principal once said, Haas says a higher number may not be better. [I think science has changed on that. The American Academy of Dermatology and the Skin Cancer Foundation now recommend a minimum of 30 SPF.] Wear sunscreen even on a cloudy day and wear hats.

There are also those free radicals in the environment which cause premature aging and cancer, There are some antioxidants creams made by Shiseido, Estee Lauder, Avon and Guerlain. It’s also good to eat foods with Vitamin A, C, and E, and zinc, copper, iron, manganese, bioflavonoids and amino acids. They don’t list out those what those foods are though.

Use moisturizers to keep your face hydrated. Moisturizers can’t prevent wrinkles or “renew cells” or improve microcirculation, as was often claimed. They recommend Twin Laboratory’s Moistique. [They recommend a lot of Twin Laboratories products. According to Google, Twin Labs has become Twinlab and they are still selling supplements.]

Haas talks about the cutting-edge science using Sodium Pyrrolidone Carboxylic Acid, urea, hydroxy acids and soluble collagen protein.

Liposome technology is no better than greasy petroleum jelly, according to Haas and he admits that moisturizers just feel good on your face but only penetrate the upper layer of skin.

Cher talks about her acne during The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and how she was in makeup for 18 hours at a time under hot lights. This caused her to develop an allergy to makeup and eventually makeup poisoning. She said her skin was like a pizza. It was recommended she get radiation treatments  (!) which turned her skin brown (and now she needs her thyroid check periodically until forever).

But she eventually found Dr. Norman Orentreich [the father of the hair transplant and dermatological cosmetic surgery according to Google] in New York City and she began chemical peels and it took four years to fix the whole mess. She said she had been eating bad food, was under a lot of stress, and the L.A. smog.

Dr. Arnold Klein of Beverly Hills also helped her with the cystic acene by getting her on Retin-A, By the time Forever Fit was published she had been on Retin-A for10 years. And her use of it helped discover its de-aging properties, its ability to reverse sun damage and delay wrinkles, But she says you have to be careful with the dosage and that there are early side effects. Your skin turns red and peels. You have to strictly avoid the sun while on it.

She recommends some creams by Lancôme (Progrès eye cream), Kiehl’s and Mario Badescu and also says she gets Mario Badescu facials in New York City. Cher uses The Skin Place for facials in L.A.. She also mentions a new product called Buf Cream.

Cher talks about collagen injections as something people were then doing but that she is allergic to collagen and she doesn’t think doctors know how to use it yet.

She says she has stopped washing her face. [This conversation will come back during the infomercials.] She says soap dries the face and she uses a lipid-free cleanser lotion called Stearyl instead made by Syosset Laboratories.

For a body lotion she uses a product called Aqua Care and mixes it in the shower with Jafra Royal Almond Body Oil.

The Aquisentials Infomercial (1992)

Soon after the first hair infomercial for Lori Davis, Cher developed her own infomercial for Aquasentials Skin Care.

For argument’s sake, I can maybe be made to see how Cher was (mis)perceived as a shill for doing the hair care infomercials, although she gave a shout-out to Lori Davis in her book Forever Fit and seemed to really believe in the products (and Lori Davis helped fix her hair after Mask) and Cher is a hair icon so we should be interested in her hair product recommendations…but okay.

This is entirely different proposition because Cher was a skin-care entrepreneur. Do we fret and fuss when men start their own booze brands? No. We don’t. We appreciate that there is something else they are interested in and we think this gives them depth. Well, it’s the same for women. End stop. Even if they are selling women things.

In the Broadway show about Cher’s life, it was indicated these infomercials weren’t all that pleasant to make, like maybe the director was an asshole. That’s a different thing, too. If Hollywood decided Cher was a less-than-serious thespian because she loved beauty products, what a sham slam that would be.

Like the Lori Davis Hair Care Club, the Aquasentials products, (parent company Cher Beauty Products, Inc.), came as a kit which included, instead of magic purple bottles of potion, magic midnight-blue bottles of potion:

• The Cleanser.
• The Ultra Fine Facial Scrub—this is the exfoliator, or as the press kit says, a “very fine pumice, not using nut shells or polyethylene.” It “stimulates circulation…polishing your skin.”
• The Revitalizing Lift—this is the eye cream or “Leonard’s miracle stuff” [Leonard Engleman] which “rids puffiness lines under eyes and forehead.” It uses a wheat derivative instead of egg whites.
• The Continuous Release Moisturizer or Cream Gel (for oilier skin)—which, according to the press kit, comes in an innovatively designed blue jar. You twist the jar and moisturizer dispenses from the top. This helps you avoid trying to dig out the moisturizer from the bottom and getting goo in your fingernails.
• The Fine Line Serum—for age lines.
• The Mask—this is “the product that started it all,” the product for which Cher bought the company.
• The Eye Makeup Remover.
• The Continuous Release Eye Cream—this contains ten different oils to condition your skin and promises to “never looks greasy” although it’s “so rich and emollient.”
• You can also purchase the Continuous Release Body Lotion.
• Facial Toner—is also available for excessively oily areas after cleaning.
• The kit also includes cotton pads.

Similar to Lori Davis Hair Care products “unfortunately quality doesn’t come cheap.” But they are setting up the club system with “radically reduces prices.” This is all a $190 value that Cher and Engleman are providing at the low rate of three payments of $29.95 in three month cycles. The fifth kit is free. You also get a free copy of the “Saving Face” video.

In the infomercial itself, we continue the conceit of Focus on Beauty, the Second Edition. They recycle the same music as from the hair infomercials.

Cher introduces us to the products in a leopard-print dress. She talks about the skin care line she has launched with her makeup artist, Leonard Engleman. “If your face is as important to you as mine is to me, you’ll want to tap into “Len’s knowledge.”

In this episode, it looks like we’re in an atrium with stone furniture softly lit. Is this Cher’s house? This infomercial has the best lighting of all her infomercials. Her Aquasentials bottles really shine on that coffee table, which is in the middle of a deep-set living room with plants, couches and mission-style chairs.

There appears to be priority seating. In a circle going left from Cher (in a lepard-print dress) are Georganne, Cher’s sister (in a patterned dress), Paulette Betts (with curly hair and in another suit with a short skirt), Doriana Sanchez, Cher’s longtime choreographer, Cher’s mom Georgia Holt, Deb Paull (Cher’s blonde assistant in a sweater), Cher’s workout buddy Angie Best, another mystery woman (out of camera, Georgia calls her Nola), Dr. Howard Steinman (a Southern California, now-retired-dermatologist) and finally Leonard  Engleman (in a button down shirt). [Those are my best guesses anyway.]

Cher reminds us that Engleman is the only person she thanked at the Oscars.  She says that whenever she’s doing a music video and working with him she would try these products. Engleman explains that cosmetic trade shows inspired him. In fact, he found the amazing mask product at a tradeshow and was so impressed with the way it smoothed his forehead.

Engleman tells us about the moisturizing breakthrough and worldwide patents on Hydrobond 5000. He introduces dermatologist Dr. Steinman who has published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the British Journal of Dermatology. Steinman disparages the hype from over-the-counter skin products which contain such large molecules that the guck can’t penetrate your skin. Plus the proteins in the skin are water repellent, so it’s very difficult for the moisturizer to penetrate. Aquasentials’ moisturizer, however, does penetrate the skin. It does hold moisture. In fact it traps moisture into the top skin layer.

The Continuous Release Moisturizer: German dermatologist Dr. Otto Jacoby discovered the miracle, got a patent and was contacted by the Medical School at University of Utah. Dr. Steinman worked with the University of Utah professors to develop the product.

There are two moisturizers: Paulette uses the regular moisturizer because she has dry skin; Cher must use the cream gel because her skin is oily. Georganne chimes in to say the product “moisturizes but doesn’t break you out; it really works well.”

Georganne interjects quite often to say how the products “really work well.” She has no-nonsense opinions.

They tell us it’s a misconception to think oily skin needs no moisturizer. Many people have a fear of breaking out from moisturizers. Steinman reminds us that “oil on the surface has nothing to do with the moisture needed below.”

The Fine Line Serum is small and reminds me of the Crystalline Shine bottle from Lori Davis; and when its brought out it causes oohs and ahhs from the women. Paulette calls it a more intense moisturizer and is really good for fine lines. Cher’s mom, Georgia, talks about the lines on the side of her mouth and how the serum helped. She has a regal air about her and seems really tall.

Then they talk about the Eye Makeup Remover next. Georganne loves this product. Cher’s fitness partner, Angie Best (once married to Northern Irish Football player George Best), loves the eye makeup remover because it’s “not too greasy.” Cher says that unlike “lots of eye makeup, this product doesn’t sting or burn your eyes.” Georganne agrees that those other products can blind you.

Cher uses the makeup remover for her waterproof makeup that she uses on stage. Paulette then teases Cher by saying, “we all don’t have to wear as much makeup as Cher, the star among us.” Cher rolls her eyes.

Georganne says, “it’s not hype.”

Leonard then talks about the Facial Cleaner. You should not use soap and water but instead use their cleanser with cotton balls. You can use some water to create suds. Dr. Steinman says you can view the cleaner as soap. Water and soap washes out needed molecules. Cher quips an old age joke, “I’ve got so few molecules, I’m naming them.”

Cher says we will now take a break so we can learn how to order these products. Actress Mary Kate McGeehan (from the Lori Davis infomercial) is back on the job, this time with straight hair. She implies that by using these products you will become so good looking you’ll depend less on makeup and that “a few weeks from now, a few years from now, you’ll be amazed and envied.” We see another PowerPoint slide of the club’s virtues: kits cost three payments of $29.95; you will receive a replace kit every three months;  fifth kit is free; you can buy additional products for discounts at 50% and you can cancel at any time. The company lists a Waterbury, Connecticut, address.

Back to the show, we learn about the Scrub, which has very fine beads. Cher says this is so gentle she uses it everyday. The mystery woman off camera complains about other products feeling like the beach. Angie Best works out a lot, sweats and has delicate English skin. She says the product is gentle, too.

Cher says that when she’s working on a video, she uses the Mask. Leonard showed it to her one day in her makeup trailer and told her it would make her look younger. She says “bells went off.” Because Cher’s assistant Deb could only find the mask in health food stores, Cher bought the company. She felt the product needed to be publicized,

Angie loves the mask and says it is pore shrinking. Georganne says it “pulls your face up.” Cher says that when she works, she uses it everyday.  Georganne says, “it’s a very unusual product.”

Georgia, Cher’s mom says, “Palm Desert where I live, they ask me, ‘Have you had a face lift?”

Engleman talks about how he used it only on one side of his face and Cher said it looked like he had had a stroke. Cher says she won’t leave home without it. Paulette laments, “boy, if we leave it in the hotel room!”

Engleman says the mask changes the texture and color of your skin.

Cher tells the story about the boyfriends who tell them they look so beautiful and natural and all the women laugh.

Paulette maintains that “it’s not drying….all the others have clay as a base.”

Engleman then moves on to The Revitalizing Lift. All the women say “Ooohh…something new.” Leonard says this product continues the lift below the eyes. You put it on before the moisturizer.

“We’re just about out of time,” Cher says and notes that “none of our products were tested on animals. Thanks for joining us.”

Georgia, Cher’s mom, is the last to speak with her testimonial about the moisturizing gel that “didn’t break me out…I take an oath. This is the most wonderful product in my life.”

The infomercials breaks down how and when to use the products but the VHS Saving Face video goes into more detail.

In closing, Cher comes back to remind you that “your face doesn’t have to be a victim” although it’s “assaulted daily by circumstance, sun, pollution, and the natural aging process.”

So to summarize, there’s not only the private club aspect, the academic aspect and the carnival elixir aspect but there’s also the Rare Mineral Dug Up Like Gold from Some Exotic Land aspect. Who can resist trying the Chinese herb or the Native American secret earth ingredient or the Tibetan tea-infused goop that’s been blessed by a monk?

The Saving Face VHS (1992)

Cher begins the VHS tape, (she’s curly haired and wearing a cream business suit), standing in the cosmetic section of a department store.  She admits that a department store is one of her favorite places. She also admits she’s had problems with her skin and that “miracle products over the counter don’t do what they promise” because “behind cosmetic counters [they] are not dermatologists.”

The first part of this video talks about the best way to use the products. Engleman talks about the HydraBond 5000 “which penetrates deep into the surface layer of the skin.”

The video breaks down the usage of the Aquasential product into a five-step regimen, which Cher at one point accidentally calls a five-step regime. Possibly a Freudian slip. But what beauty regimen isn’t also a tyrannical regime in its own way?

A.M. Routine

1. Clean and Polish
   • Facial Cleanser: Cher explains how it took her dermatologist years to talk her out of soap and water on her face. She uses the cleanser with water or with cotton to take off makeup. It doesn’t leave her skin feeling greasy or tight. Engleman explains how you can use it without water or with a little water. Make sure to massage it into your face.
   • Facial Scrub: Cher uses this three times a week. She says it makes her face feel smooth and polished. Paulette only uses it once a week because her skin is dry. Engleman talks about the finer grain of this product. Apply it to the forehead and cheeks and rub it in circular motions. You can use it between every other day to once a week.
2.  Lift & Replenish
   • Revitalizing Lift: Engelman calls this “one of the great rescue products” for puffiness or fine lines around the eyes or lines on the forehead. Apply “one drop extending out a little” and let it dry for a minute without moving your face. You can refresh with a spray of water later in the day. The lift reactivates as it dries. Cher says some of the girls testing it used too much. Less is more.
   • Continuous Release Moisturizer or Cream Gel: Cher uses the cream gel because she has more oily skin. It makes your face smooth and supple, she says. “It’s fabulous.” She knows women who even in their 40s have oily skin. Engelman says here, too, a little bit goes a long way. Massage it in.
   • Fine Line Serum: Engelman says to apply to fine lines around the mouth, eyes and forehead. A little bit goes a long way. One or two drops at the most.
3. “Now you’re ready for makeup” says Engelman.

P.M. Routine

1.  Cleanse
   • Eye Makeup Remover: Cher likes it because she has sensitive eyes and it doesn’t burn. Cher says you put it on a cotton ball and you don’t have to scrub. It looks like water. The makeup “just dissolves…we spent a lot of time on this product.”
   • Facial Cleanser
2.   Replenish
   • Continuous Release Moisturizer
   • Fine Line Serum
   • Continuous Release Intensive Eye Cream (this is new!): Cher loves that it doesn’t make your eyes puffy. Use on days when you’re not wearing makeup or at night. It’s very emollient, she says, but not like bacon grease. Engelman says it’s “concentrated so use it sparingly.”

1-3 times a week Facial

1. Facial Cleanser
2. Facial Scrub (then dry your face)
3. Mask: Engleman says to use a generous amount on your face, avoiding the eye area, about one and a half tablespoons for thick coverage. Sit back and let the mask dry. Engleman recommends using a hair dryer on the face to help it dry, alternating between warm and cold. The cold invigorates the skin and the warm is soothing and relaxing. The mask will dry in 10 to 15 minutes, longer if you let it air dry. Your skin will get taut. Don’t talk. (On the model that they have spread the mask a bit down the neck as well.)  It takes “a great deal of water” to remove the mask. Use a wet washcloth. Follow with a splash of cold water on your face to close the pores. Your face will look flushed due to increased surface circulation.
4. Revitalizing Life: For areas you want to tighten
5. Continuous Release Moisturizer

Cher says the mask is her favorite product and why she bought the company. She always uses it before work in concerts or movies.

The 2010s

From the article What Cher Has To Say About Beauty in Into the Gloss (2019):

“I never had any serious skin problems until I was doing The Sonny & Cher Show, and my face was in makeup for 18 hours at a time…I looked like Freddie from A Nightmare on Elm Street.”

“In the early ‘70s I developed what is called adult acne. With Dr. Arnold Klein in Beverly Hills I began using Retin-A to treat chronic cystic acne… But what I learned is what everyone else has discovered over the past couple years: that Retin-A also acts as a de-aging agent.”

“My skincare routine is very eclectic. I don’t stick to one particular product, I just have things that I love from different people. I have a friend, her name is Dr. Barbara Sturm, and she makes an eye cream and face wash that I love. I love Jan Marini products too. I also have Proactiv products that I love.”

“I stopped wearing makeup to go out. And I know that I really like to wear makeup, but I also want to be able to not have to. I started wearing less makeup on stage, too. I used to go for an hour and put makeup on. Now I don’t. I still want to look really attractive and I still like to get dressed up, but it’s a terrible thing to know that you have to look a certain way for people to like you.”

[The MAC Microfine Refinisher Gommage is a discontinued facial exfoliant.] 

The 2020s

In the YouTube video “Cher’s Favorite Beauty Products that you can still buy today” (2020), these products are mentioned:

• Proactiv Skin Purifying Mask
• Dr. Barbara Sturm Glow Drops
• Jan Marin Age Intervention Retinol Plus

This is the YouTube video “I tried Cher’s Favorite Shampoo and Conditioner for a Week!” (2022) in which an influencer goes through recent Cher product plugs.

The video talks about:

• Proactive skincare
• Hyla products
• Olay Regenerist cream
• and Mac lip scrub

In the Yahoo! article “Cher, 75, Reveals the $7 Drugstore Face Wash She Loves for Sensitive Skin” (2022) Cher mentions Aveeno Ultra Calming Foaming Cleanser.

The Spa Mask

Ever since the 2000s, Cher has often been seen in public sporting face masks. Would any of us have the courage to do the same? Well, the mask part of the spa facial is pretty awesome so maybe I would.