Once upon a time, there was an ever so hopeful princess, and though maturing in age, she wanted a happily ever after too. Yes, it is that time of year when you are not only up to your ears in work, but you’re expected to juggle it with the dreaded Christmas shopping and organise everything for the holiday period. For many, it is when you also dress up and try and look your very best for the party season.
But wait a minute – checking yourself out in the mirror, you realise that this past year you feel as though you have aged a decade what with lockdown and the sheer stress of living through 2021. In your heart, only an emergency facelift is going to make you look like the belle of the ball. So how do you magic up a Fairy Godmother or father so you too can lose a slipper at midnight?
Denise Welch
Meet our heroine in this tale — 62-year-old Princess Pamela Sharrock, as she struggles to get ready for friend of OutNewsGlobal Denise Welch’s annual ball in aid of the Gem Appeal charity in Manchester.
You may not know Pamela Sharrock, but she is a favourite and trusted friend of so many celebrities and, at one point, one of London’s must-have socialites. She formerly ran Café de Paris, the West End’s premier nightclub, which sadly closed last year.
Life is a bit different for Pam these days. She lives in the countryside and juggles her job as a hostess at Aston Martin with driving to take care of her pride and joy, her 18-month-old granddaughter, Summer, in Birmingham. With all of this, she barely has time to have her hair done. But she simply couldn’t miss her best friend’s ball. She has attended for the last twenty years, with this year marking an important anniversary, and there are rumours a huge Hollywood star making an appearance…she might just meet her prince!
Pam tells me that she feels her usual youthful appearance is beginning to feel every bit its 64 years. She jokes, “Cinderella? I am looking more like one of her sisters!”
La La Land
Suggestions of a mini facial had Pam joking, “Does it come with a full-face mask to wear to the ball?” But fear not, for this tale of woe could see her go to the ball and be whisked off to La La Land to live happily ever after.
Friends have been sharing stories of something more permanent that almost immediately takes effect, does not freeze your face like Botox, and can take years off without the steep costs or downtime of a facelift. Could she have found her answer? Two weeks before the ball, she found herself talking to her own Fairy Godmother, Iryna Stewart – the lead therapist and CEO at Imagine You in London’s fashionable Wimpole Street.
Iryna may not have a magic wand, but her list of celebrity clients has seen her linked to even the Martial Girl herself. She assures that she can work some magic. Iryna suggests that Pamela has a PRP treatment (Platelet Rich Plasma). To create platelet-rich plasma, clinicians take a blood sample from the patient and place it into a device called a centrifuge that rapidly spins the sample, separating out the platelets from other components of the blood and concentrating them within the plasma.
PRP injections are used as an anti-ageing treatment and can heal and rejuvenate the skin. It is a highly popular treatment and is also used for hair loss. Iryna also suggested that she lift her smile with derma filler to give the lips a more youthful appearance.
Pam was worried at the thought of her blood being drawn – it sounds a little drastic, and it’s Christmas, not Halloween! Iryna put her at her ease by describing how simple it is, and moments later, Pam’s blood is spinning around the centrifuge. Iryna puts a numbing cream on Pam for thirty minutes. Iryna shares, “It’s not that painful, but for some, it can be a little uncomfortable, so we use the cream as a precaution”. Iryna has been in the medical field for three decades, in addition to being a trained artist.
Pouting
Iryna says that it is best for Pam not to wear make-up for the day after treatment and to avoid any alcohol as she is using the filler on the lips to lift and renew her youthful appearance. “Lips are an important area – you use filler to lift and rejuvenate rather than to give you a pouting look.”
The PRP treatment was a doddle, and Iryna was able to tell me a little about my health as the separated plasma was a little cloudy. She suggested that I avoid fatty foods and maybe drink more water.
Pam noticed an immediate effect, and though her lips were a little swollen, they looked more youthful.
“Immediately, it looked like I had a course of facials”, Pam tells me.
Iryna treats a lot of women around Pam’s age and says many do not want facelifts or anything drastic. Therefore, combining the PRP and Botox with some filler can really take years off a client, depending on their lifestyle.
Groomed to perfection
Two weeks later, Pam was “party season” ready for the ball. Denise had chosen a “Hooray for Hollywood” theme and had some fabulous guests in attendance. The ball showcased performances by M People’s Heather Small and S Club 7’s Jo O’Meara (and let’s not forget that secret Hollywood celebrity Pam was hoping to slip a shoe too!).
Denise has raised over £800,0000 for the Gem Appeal: it was the glitziest of evenings and, with her make-up done, hair groomed to perfection and a dress from the House of Whistles, Pam was looking youthful and stunning. She entered the room to so many whispers and questions as to what had she done to turn back the clock.
Pam joked that she felt like a princess, and Iryna had certainly worked her Fairy Godmother magic. “Yes, I did dance the night away and lost a shoe, but that was because I was a little drunk! Oh, and as for the mystery guest from LA – I was neither his type or gender. They turned out to be a friend of Denise’s who was from Yorkshire but was appearing down the road in Bolton in panto although he now lives in LA, Oh well, next time!
And he moral of the story: is if you lose a shoe at midnight chances are that you’re drunk, not a princess!
