Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York — better known as Fergie — is turning 60 in just a few days. As she prepares for her big day on October 15, she's making sure she looks her best. She has no trouble admitting that doing so includes some cosmetic procedures, and they're far from her first.
Fergie opened up about the procedures she swears by, even admitting that she had some done in preparation for Princess Eugenie's wedding last fall. Not only did she open up entirely about what she's tried, what she likes, and what she doesn't, but she brought her doctor and friend along for the sit-down with the Daily Mail. While most of the work she's pursued has been on her face, she's also had some things done in other areas, including her feet!
The Duchess of York's open way of discussing what many people do behind closed doors and deny in public is a prime example of why she's so beloved. Being a member of the royal family has never stopped her from being herself, for better or for worse.
Sarah Ferguson has always been known for her lively and carefree demeanor. Now that Fergie is nearing her 60th birthday, the Duchess of York is proving once and for all that getting older doesn't have to mean slowing down.
Fergie looks great for her age. Many people marveled at her appearance when she stepped out last year to celebrate her daughter, Princess Eugenie, marrying Jack Brooksbank. She has another such celebration to look forward to thanks to Princess Beatrice's recent engagement.
Ahead of her 60th birthday, Fergie is opening up about her looks. She's unabashedly admitting to having had some cosmetic procedures, a choice she owns despite the fact that many women try to keep it under wraps.
Speaking of Princess Eugenie's wedding, she told the Daily Mail, "The happiness was shining out of me because my daughter was getting married. I was so glad. I love Jack. When I’m passionate about anything, my eyes shine."
She added, "Above all, it was being joyful for Eugenie that made me look good. But I’d had some laser treatment on my face which helped, too." Her choice of laser treatment almost sounds too good to be true. It claims to be painless, noninvasive, and quick, and it does not require recovery time.
Fergie learned of the treatment, called the 6-Dimension Platinum Laser Lift, from Dr. Gabriela Mercik. The two met in 1992 when Fergie was visiting young cancer victims at a facility in Poland where Dr. Gabriela was a medical student.
The face-lift is designed to promote the skin’s natural production of youth-restoring collagen over the course of weeks, with the procedure itself taking about 90 minutes. Fergie said she much prefers it to Botox, which she tried when other options didn't yet exist.
"I had Botox a long time ago when there was nothing else available. … I really don't like the frozen look," she noted. "I’m so animated and I like to be myself. I don’t like the thought of needles and am very glad if I look well and happy."
Fergie also tried mesotherapy — an injection of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids under the face’s mesodermal layer to plump skin — in 2013. From there, she moved on to organic fillers, which are noninvasive injectables that fill out facial lines.
Dr. Gabriela proposed a thread lift five years ago. It involves the insertion of medical threads into the skin to create a supportive layer that lifts the face upward. The threads take six to eight months to dissolve, but the results last up to two years. Dr. Gabriela was one of the first to perform the procedure in the UK.
"It’s like garden trellising for sweat peas. You insert the threads under the skin with a fine needle and they hold everything up," Fergie said of the procedure. While she's been happy with the results of all these procedures, she's looking forward to what she's having done ahead of her birthday.
"I need to repair the damage that was done on the beach when I was a child. It’s why I had the mesotherapy, the vitamin cocktail to hydrate and boost the skin. I’ve started the laser treatment, but it’s not finished yet," she explained. "The collagen needs to rebuild. I hope it will all be done by my birthday."
Fergie's even found a surgical assist for the pain that is wearing heels. Earlier this year, she went to the Bahamas to have pioneering regenerative stem cell therapy on her feet.
"I think my toes were ruined by all the riding I did when I was young. They shaved the bone here," Fergie described as she indicated a spot near her big toe, "and implanted stem cells — 20 million of them taken from my midriff — into my feet to make new cartilage. It takes about six months to heal but now I can walk in heels!"
Fergie doesn't see these procedures as matters of vanity. Instead, she sees them as ways of taking care of her body as best as she can while also making up for past damage. If she can look more youthful in the process, then good for her. She's clearly making the most of it.
