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We met an excited Lulu at Fenwicks in York ahead of her official opening of the new beauty area in the store. "It's so nice to come up and visit," Lulu explains. "They're so supportive of my products, and I always have a fun time here. My manager will say 'We're off to York again!' and I'll say 'Yay!' like a kid going to the seaside. I always end up buying something at Fenwicks, but there's never enough time, which is probably a good thing!"
Child star
Now in her sixties, Lulu still has a strong childlike energy, and an overwhelming sense of fun. Being massive Spice Girls fans, we couldn't resist asking Lulu about her stint in the spoof Comic Relief performance with the Sugar Lumps, headed up by Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French. Lulu laughs raucously. "I can't believe you remember that! I was in LA recording an album at the time, and I figured out I could do it in a two-and-a-half day period. When I watch it back I can see I'm not really there. That's a thing in pink with bunches, but it's not me!"
Time is something that Lulu, real name Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, has had in short supply throughout her career. From storming the pop charts to acting on TV and in the West End, plus presenting on the radio and now running a skincare business, she's been a very busy lady. Now, though, she says that she does things differently. "I've had a very varied career; it feels like I've been here for many lifetimes. Nowadays, I take the time to find sanctuary. As you get older I think you realise you have to find a moment's peace and a place to be quiet, wherever or whatever that is, to be able to get back into work," says Lulu. She says she's not ready to slow down too much, though. "I'm the sort of person who has always been full steam ahead, but I don't mind that because I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie - and I love a challenge."
Changing direction
Lulu's latest challenge has seen her delving into the business world with her skincare and haircare range, though she admits to being slightly reluctant to the idea at first. "I would never have thought I would make a skincare line - I have to pinch myself. At first I said to Gail, who is involved in the business with me, that I couldn't see it being my business, but she replied 'it quite clearly is - you always say that you get crazy at people asking about how you look more than asking about you - it quite clearly is your business!'" Lulu says that she's a champion for women fulfilling their potential throughout their lives. "I know a lot of women who say to me 'Oh, I'm 40. I've had my kids. It's over for me' and I go woah! Wait a minute! There's no reason why you should stop until you drop."
Having been patron to several charities in years gone by, Lulu now focuses her attention on a select few so that she can get more involved. "Charities would ask me to put my name to their cause, and I'd say go ahead. It ended up that my name was all over the place - it was ridiculous! It just didn't sit right with me - if I can't be involved I shouldn't put my name to it." Lulu says that she was inspired by the strength of the women she met in Cambodia on a trip for the Elton John AIDS Foundation last year. "Several of the women I met are HIV positive and bringing up their children alone, after their husbands gave them the illness then left them. They have to be industrious. The things that women throughout the world can do, and put up with, and achieve, and rise above amaze me - I could go on for hours about what I feel about women and how they're treated throughout the world, even in this country," enthuses Lulu. "As you get older you realise how much you've been given, and you've got to give something back. It might not be much in the scheme of things, but it's something."
Being discovered
Having performed throughout five decades, Lulu says she finds it interesting to see young women taking charge of their recording career - something that she wasn't able to do as a youngster. "A lot of the stuff I did, even though I had success with it, wasn't really where my voice sits. I remember crying and saying 'Do you want me to sing this?' I just thought the producers knew better. I really wanted to sing things like Walk Me Out in the Morning Dew - I like stuff like that." Lulu says that though she hasn't written any songs in several years, she's looking to create more music in the not-too-distant future. "I'm determined at this late stage in my life to try to make that album that I never made. When you've been around as long as I have I'm sure lots of people think they've seen everything you've got to give, but hopefully there's something still to be uncovered," she says. "I'm still waiting to be discovered. I was 'discovered' when I was 14, but I don't think the real me has been discovered yet. I'm still ambitious."
Lulu's skincare and haircare range is available at Fenwicks. Call 643322.
