I had tea yesterday with Lulu ostensibly to talk about her new skincare range, Time Bomb, which last time she was on QVC sold out in 12 minutes.  It got me thinking about how at nearly 60 she manages to stay looking so young.   Skincare helps, certainly, but what was the rest of the magic?  Here’s what I think really helps: 

1) having young friends.  I notice that all my friends who are significantly older than me, by this I mean ten years or more, male and female, have lots of friends who are younger than them.  There’s nothing like the energy of someone who is much younger than you to keep you feeling like you’re up on what’s happening out there and also make you realise just how far you’ve come in life.  At one point during our tea, Lulu got up to go and talk to a 20-something pop star at a nearby table.  Lesser mortals are often threatened by youth generally, but with a career as long and successful as Lulu’s, why would you be?  

2) having lots of friends of all ages.  But it has to be the right kind of friends - those who don’t drain you of your energy but make you laugh,  keep you feeling positive, are able to listen and not judge.   Lulu and I were talking about how we each have a best friend who lives in Los Angeles - the distance meant that time we spent together with  our long-distance friends was precious, we had quality time, and that’s what helped to give the friendship longevity.  

3) being a little bit selfish about your own needs.  Not that I’m saying Lulu is selfish (!) but it’s like they say on airplanes: You have to put your own oxygen mask on first before you can tend to the needs of others.  I once complained to my doctor that I didn’t have time to exercise.  ”What nonsense is that?” she said.  ”You have time to do a school run don’t you?  Exercise is as important as that!”   (So I won’t be taking my kids to school this week, ha ha).   Lulu looks after herself and does yoga, has acupuncture, practises Pilates, walks her dogs, works out regularly, and has been meditating since 1984. 

4) taking care of your face.  My mother used soap and water and occasionally moisturised.  She had barely a line on her face when she died, aged 72.  But a lot of that stems from the fact that she was half-Burmese.   Lulu knows her skin. Her range was developed after years of gleaning any possible advice she could from the roster of facialists she’s visited:  Micheline Arcier, Tracie Martyn, Janet Filderman, LA’s The Face Place, to name but a few. Eventually, she talked to the scientist behind the John Frieda haircare range, who developed Time Bomb for her, based on all the information she’d picked up from the experts.   She’s just as precise about her make-up.  Yesterday she used her lip liner, (MAC, Rosewood) with a lip gloss on top.  ”I can’t believe that there are still women out there who don’t use a lip liner!” she said, as I confessed I was one of them. 

5) don’t be a clone, be an individual.   For example, we’re told to go lighter with our hair colour as we age.  It’s more flattering on the complexion.  True.  But the ubiquitous blonde highlights and ambassador’s wife blow-dry firmly entrenches you in that tribe of 40-somethings trying to look younger. Result: it makes you look older, if only by association.  I noticed that Lulu’s hair (coloured at John Frieda) was far from boring - it was white blonde on top, with a dark base.   It looked great, because it was true to her. Take a look at whatever your friends are doing, and try and do something a little bit different..

6) keep busy, keep the fires burning.  Lulu is a firecracker.  She has so much energy you can still imagine her as a feisty schoolgirl in a Glasgow playground.  She’s fiery, warm and passionate about whatever she does.  A complete perfectionist (I notice by the way that perfectionism is the one quality that all successful people seem to have in common).  She is funny, has a brilliant ear for accents and flits easily from a Rab C Nesbitt Glaswegian to an Ivana Trump.  I think sometimes we overlook how important that energy is in keeping us looking younger. It’s only articles in magazines that judge us on how wrinkled we are: our friends, family, strangers that we meet will notice first and foremost how we’re acting, tired or energised? happy or listless? Being upbeat, positive, doing interesting things, these are things that ultimately keep us looking young.  My 96 year old neighbour in Shropshire has more energy than anyone I know, bombs around the countryside looking after friends who are 20 or 30 years younger than her.  She is always beautifully dressed and made-up, and at my brother’s wedding she was one of the last ones on the dance-floor..

7. Which brings me to music.  Everyone needs music in their life! It’s energising and makes you feel good!  Once you stop buying music, you give up just a little on life.  Maybe that’s another one of Lulu’s secrets.  

And if you still need evidence that Lulu’s where it’s at, check out these You Tube links and see for yourself for the ultimate before and after…  The first clip is from 1967, the second clip is now. 

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RYu02BPu4P8

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GWHMEOgl-rQ

In the mean time, I’ll be piling on her Time Bomb face masks: Lavender Anti-Stress, or Citrus Revitalising?  It might have to be both today. 

http://www.lulusplace.co.uk/

Please tell me if you have any secrets of your own that help you to keep feeling and looking young. Sex, drugs, alcohol?