LIFE

Celebrity Skincare Guru Nurse Jamie on Why At-Home Beauty Tools Are the Future

The Los Angeles-based nurse and aesthetician has a cult-following thanks to her unique approach to skincare. Here, she shares her secrets.


Miranda Kerr

Over the past twenty years, Jamie Sherrill has become one of the most in-demand skincare gurus in Hollywood. But you may not know her name–she goes by the moniker Nurse Jamie, which is also the name of her line of cult-favorite beauty tools and potions, as well as her Los Angeles spa, Nurse Jamie Beauty Park. Before you ask–yes, Sherrill is, in fact, a nurse, but she’s also a certified aesthetician, which means she can offer her devoted clients, who range from Jessica Alba to Ruby Rose, a wide-range of services that promise flawless skincare through some very unique methods that can be done both at home and in the office. “At Nurse Jamie Beauty Park, our vision is simple – to offer not only the best non-surgical beauty solutions available on the market, but also a customized combination of the most cutting-edge technical advances in anti-aging, skincare and beauty today,” Sherrill explains. “High-tech tools, devices and home-based care are a big part of my regiment and I make everyone participate.”

Here, Sherrill offers insight into the most in-demand celebrity beauty desires, and offers tips on improving your complexion at home.

You have a wide range of high profile clients, all unique with their own concerns and skincare regimens. What are the most common concerns you hear? Celebrities come in all shapes, sizes and ages, so everyone is going to have a different treatment plan. This year body sculpting is big — from banning the bra strap fat to firming the tush, while laser hair removal, Botox, fillers and glowing skin are year round trends. Those requests never go out of style.

What types of treatments are most requested before a red carpet appearance? Some are genetically blessed and don’t really do more than an oxygen facial and an “electric facial” to be fully red carpet ready. But that said–we start to lose collagen production and skin elasticity starting at 25, so we will typically use a range of key technologies in lasers for skin texture and complexion. The ACELLerator at home beauty tool is ideal to help serums and product be absorbed for a lifting and tightening effect, and has a great anti-inflammatory property. You can use every day but specifically just before an event for a more open eye look or more defined cheek even if you just flew in! This works well for the face and body, so it helps with stretch marks and skin smoothing for waistline, hips and thighs. Trust me this is a celeb secret. If you don’t believe me, do one side of your face for just one minute then look into a mirror.

But don’t forget red carpet prep needs to happen every day, too. Eat well, sleep well on the right pillow, take off make-up at night and use good quality products with the best raw ingredients. Home care matters as much as in office does.

When your clients are on location for months at a time, what tips do you give them? Think “maintain, not reclaim” and always try to be preventative. Think of the rules of eating that are good for your body; most apply to your skin as well. It is the largest organ of the body so treat it like one. Be consistent with taking off makeup nightly and never with a washcloth. Use a hypoallergenic and antibacterial surface to cleanse your skin. Exfoliate regularly, manually or with a tool, but gently and consistently.

Invest in a beauty tool to help increase absorption of products like my Instant Uplift or ACELLerator Ultra. Just like the machines we have in office, they increase absorption and efficacy of your products while helping to improve and maintain tone. Also, wear sunscreen. It seems basic, but all helps. At-home devices are the future of beauty — you can have the best raw ingredients in the world, but as skin is the largest organ of the body its main function is to protect. The number one cause of aging is UV damage, the number two is smoking, and the third is sleeping on a traditional pillow. Use satin only and a shape that will help you train to sleep on your back, so that the most delicate areas around the eyes, cheeks and neck do not form permanent wrinkles.

It’s the middle of summer. Other than sunscreen and hats, what other advice do you have for fending off skin discoloration? Use good quality products with the best raw ingredients. Old school skincare was to use aggressive products that caused chemical cell turnover reaction, which can make you more susceptible to sun damage. (Retin-A is so 1980s!) My opinion is to use retinol ingredients sparingly. Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) – causes cell turnover and has significant effects on delaying the aging process – including preserving skin’s cells and skin’s overall vitality and radiance, without leaving you red, flaky, and shiny. I hate the shiny face – it kills me overtime I see I can spot the “glare” from across the room. The Nurse Jamie tools that you incorporate into your treatments seem to have a loyal following of their own. Like the Beauty Stamp, for example. How does that work? The Beauty Stamp may very well be the best investment anyone can make. A small pad features a cross section of micro needles in a grid that helps with micro exfoliation, opens channels for product delivery and efficacy and aids in the body process of collagen and elastin production. It is my triple threat. For day of events you need to focus on complexion and texture in a non-invasive way or only protocols with no downtime and no risk. Don’t try something new with a high risk to low reward for the day of an event. Nothing worse than redness or inflammation when you are dressed to impress and need your face to match! What is your top selling tool? UpLift Massaging Beauty Roller. It has a huge celebrity following. Are there any foods or vitamins that you recommend for vibrant skin? A B12 Energy Shot. Close to a decade ago I injected Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie with it right in their bums on national television for The Simple Life, and in turn injectable vitamins became one of our most popular treatments…

What are the biggest skincare mistakes people make? Side sleeping and over exfoliating. We need to treat our skin like a silk fabric not a piece of leather. When you over exfoliate (physically and chemically) and with too much frequency it destroys the protective barrier that your skin has – once it is removed or compromised you are you exposing your skin to environmental toxins, sun damage pre-mature aging, acne, etc. It’s very common.

What is your personal daily skin routine? Taking off my make-up–I can’t go to bed with my make-up on. Period. The UpLift Facial Massaging Beauty Roller, EGF Stem Cell Complex–I don’t go anywhere without this cream. I would bathe in it if I could–and I use my ACELLerator for 10 minutes each night on both sides of my face while I sit in bed. I practice what I preach. That way I can give them my best face – and tell them it is what I do and mean it! I’ve dedicated my life to skin and created my line for products that I felt that were missing in the marketplace. As a busy working mom of three toddlers – I’m proud to say that I’m my own client.

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10 Celebrities Who’ve Quit Botox and Fillers Throughout the Years

Cameron Diaz is no stranger to aging and beauty, having penned two books on the subjects of health, wellness, and living your best life. However, when promoting her first title, The Body Book, in 2014, Diaz told Entertainment Tonight that she had tried Botox and it had changed her face—not for the better. “I’ve tried [Botox] before, where it was like a little tiny touch of something. It changed my face in such a weird way that I was like, ‘No, I don’t want to be like that,’” Diaz said. “I’d rather see my face aging than a face that doesn’t belong to me at all.”

However, Diaz doesn’t judge anyone who wants to go under the needle. “They’re to help people feel a little better about themselves,” she told the Huffington Post in May 2016. “If they do feel better about themselves, then those procedures have worked. I have no problem with that. And [in] a lot of instances, it does make you look like you’ve taken a nap … or that you might be a little younger than you looked maybe the day before.”

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In an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians that aired in 2010, Kim Kardashian tried Botox. “I had some bruising around my eyes after the procedure, which is totally natural, but because I hadn’t looked into the side effects, I freaked out. Botox just wasn’t necessary for me at [that] age,” the reality mogul reportedly said.

Just a few years later, when pregnant with her second child, Saint West, went on the defensive after filming a makeup tutorial, when many of her fans believed she’d had some work done on her face. “No I don’t do fillers or botox when pregnant like some tabloids are reporting, you would have to be really sick to endanger your child like that,” she reportedly wrote on her site, KimKardashianWest.com. So at least that issue’s open and shut.

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Nicole Kidman is arguably one of the most famous Botox users, but after many years of injections, she too bid adieu to the Botox. In her quest for staying youthful and healthy. She admitted to German magazine TV Movie in 2011 that she’s “also tried Botox.” But she “didn’t like how my face looked afterwards, which led to her quit going under the needle. “Now I don’t use it anymore—I can move my forehead again,” she joked.

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Naomi Watts likes to keep the matter of injections close to her chest. (Face?) “Personally, I feel for me it’s tough to do Botox — but it’s also tough not to! Sometimes, I think I need the help. Whatever anyone else chooses is fine with me, no judgment,” she told New Beauty Magazine in 2016. “Of course, I want to look the best I can, but I am playing characters that should match my age and the women and the material that I am interested in are usually going through something. I have to be able to live in my face and tell the story of the character I’ve taken on. But…I’ll never say never.”

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The seemingly ageless model and actress has a balanced outlook when it comes to Botox and fillers, preferring the latter over the former, according to People. And when talking with New Beauty Magazine, Brinkley believes that “if you want to look refreshed, [Botox] has to be [administered] with a light hand.”

Because what’s most important when it comes to beauty, Brinkley says, is looking like yourself. “Don’t change your face; maybe just change a wrinkle or two that’s bothering you,” she said. “You still should look like you.”

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The Revenge Body host may be fitter than ever these days, but that never stopped her from being interested in dabbling with some fillers and Botox in the past. However, after Khloe Kardashian tried ’em, she reportedly knew they weren’t for her: “[Facial fillers] did not work for me. I looked crazy, and I still think the effects are in there — I went to have it all dissolved like three times,” she said, according to MTV UK.

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The OG Baywatch babe may be a portrait of plastic surgery in excess, she’s admitted that Botox and fillers may not have been her best decision. In 2015, Pamela Anderson opened up about her decision. “I am the last person to try Botox but I did,” she told People. “I felt like my eyes sunk into my head so far that I didn’t look look like me anymore! I’m not into all that stuff.”

Yet she does admit that trying to look youthful is not necessarily a bad thing. “I think a little bit of maintenance is good. There are things we can do to perk ourselves up. Some people go to far. I’m not obsessed,” she said.

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The singer-cum-fashion designer may be known for her blonde hair and those famous Daisy Duke shorts, but Jessica Simpson has admitted to falling under the spell of injectables. After having Restalyne injections for fuller lips for a few years, she recanted from the cosmetic procedure. “[The injections] went away in, like, four months,” she told Glamour back in 2006. “My lips are back to what they were. Thank God! It looked fake to me. I didn’t like that.”

Andrew Toth/Getty Images for Fashion Footwear Charitable Foundation

Kelly Ripa may be the perkiest morning show host around, but even Ripa’s been enchanted by the proverbial fountain of youth. After being told by her a.m. colleagues her face was looking angry, Ripa reportedly joked that she knew it was time for Botox. But in 2016, the pint-sized star confided to Megyn Kelly (on-air…). “I got bad Botox about … what was it, a year ago? And it was bad. It did something to my good side, so then I had two bad sides,” she joked, according to People. “I’m starting to look myself again, but there was about a six-month period where people were like: ‘What’s wrong with Kelly? She doesn’t smile anymore.’ And I was like: ‘I am smiling!’” Needless to say, that’s when Ripa decided to put the needle down.

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Actress Dana Delany had arguably the scariest experience with injections, Botox, and fillers—a story that could probably swear off even the most ardent of filler fans. “[My dermatologist] injected my forehead, hit a nerve and created a huge hematoma,” Delaney told Prevention in 2010, as reported by the New York Daily News. “The nerve has been dead ever since. It affected the muscle in my right eye, so my eye has started to droop a little bit. I notice it more than anybody else, but I was symmetrical before and now I am not.”

Enough to make you think twice, right?

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