SOME celebrities have the amazing ability to seemingly defy the ageing process. One is our very own Lulu, who celebrates her 60th birthday tomorrow.

The lady herself is about as far away from settling down to a comfortable retirement as it’s possible to be. Having already had huge success as an actress, singer and radio DJ, she is now enjoying a new role as a businesswoman with her own Time Bomb range of beauty products. It’s hardly surprising that she should launch such a range given the fact that everyone constantly remarks on her appearance.

When I caught up with her she was her usual bright, bubbly and energetic self. She was thrilled with Time Bomb but also excited that she had just been asked to perform at a fundraising event in the US for Barack Obama.

In the UK Lulu is loved as a good all-round show business star, in the US she is revered for that voice. 

“When I think that I’m about to be 60, I’m just incredulous. I find it shocking! In my head I only feel that I’m about 34. I didn’t want to make a big thing of it but my friends are making a big fuss for me. They’ve told me to keep the day free and I know they are planning something so it won’t be a complete surprise, I just don’t have to organise anything myself,” she says.

At an age when some people are starting to think wistfully about a bus pass, a Saga holiday, or daytime TV, Lulu is busier than ever and has major plans for 2009 and beyond. “I’m not someone who ever thinks about retirement. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. I enjoy working and I’m used to it,” she says.

She is particularly excited about a top secret music project for next year. “I’m going to America to work with some very prolific songwriters and see what comes out of it. I’d really like to tell you who they are but I’m too superstitious. I’m very excited about it and I was amazed when they called me. I think they see me as an original and someone who’s been around for a long time, and my kind of music sounds like a lot of things that are current now. There are so many facets involved in making it all work though, you have teams of people who are part of it all. From the outside it can all sound glamorous and fun and it is, but you also have to have real focus and discipline,” she says.

As someone who has been in the public eye for over 40 years, she knows only too well just how difficult life in the spotlight can be. “When I hear people say they want to be famous I just go ‘don’t even think about it’ — I fear for some of them and I think if it ever happened they would be in for a shock,” she says.

Whatever else is going on, it’s music that is her driving force and she can’t imagine life without it.

“People ask me what I listen to at home. The thing is I just walk about singing all the time and if I’m not singing out loud then I’m singing in my head. I love singing, it’s what I do, so why should I stop? I want to continue my career till I’m in my eighties and beyond, but in order to do that I have to look after my body physically as well as spiritually. Life is so fast these days you don’t want to get knocked over,” she says.

When I last interviewed Lulu, she admitted that sometimes she got irritated that people talked so much about her appearance rather than her music. However she admits that people complimenting her on her looks isn’t all bad. In fact the constant attention her age-defying appearance received was what helped prompt her launch of the Time Bomb range.

It includes versions of her own unique formulas that she has used for the past 15 years and has now decided to share with the public. There are day and night creams, cleansers, body lotions and oils, as well as a range of face masks. 

Lulu explained just how the Time Bomb range came about with the help of top chemists from her ex-husband John Frieda’s hairdressing empire.

“Over the years I’ve worked with great stylists and make-up experts and I always like to work with the best. I’ve studied the stuff they do in great detail. It was my aunt who pointed out that because I’m Scottish I had pale, thin skin that would age. I became an expert on my own skin. People were always asking me what my secret was and what I did, and I used to think, they’re more interested in that than my music. A friend of mine said ‘why not just tell them?’. In reality it meant saying that I was mixing one oil with another oil or adding a capsule to some other cream product I’d bought, or going to LA for a special eye cream.

“In the end I got together with the chemist who had worked with John Frieda on his hair products. I’d known him and worked with him for years and he became a sort of skin soul mate,” she says proudly.

The success of Time Bomb has tempted her into other areas of the fashion and beauty industry where her knowledge and expertise could come in handy, as people spend more time and money on their appearance than ever before.

“People are living longer these days and it’s getting very hard to tell how old people are. I’d like to get involved in more areas such as perfume and fashion but it all takes a lot of time. I’d also want to be personally involved in all the aspects of it rather than just putting my name to something,” she says.

Lulu knows more than most how tough the industry can be. She’s had fantastic chart success and other times when good work was overlooked. Her 2004 Back On Track album contained some of the finest work of her career but struggled in the charts. Lulu admits she finds such knockbacks frustrating and disappointing but she has always bounced back with something exciting. “It’s so hard these days. You only have to look at the state of the music industry. I haven’t got the answer to guaranteed success. Of course I was disappointed but I’m resilient,” she says defiantly.

With a 60th birthday looming, Lulu can still vividly remember another major landmark birthday back in 1969, when she was at the height of her first wave of fame, just eight months after winning the Eurovision Song Contest. 

“I remember my 21st birthday party. It was in a restaurant in Baker Street and we took over the place. Maurice Gibb bought me an eternity ring. I still have photos from it — I was dressed in a very hippy dippy style suede dress. I threw most of my stuff away over the years and sometimes I walk around the shops and think that I wish I’d kept certain things,” she admits.

Despite the age on her passport, the age in her heart is much younger and she is more than happy to keep up to date with current musical trends. “The other day I was working with a young photographer and he was playing all old music in the studio. I was asking him to play all these new tracks and he didn’t have any of them. It was hilarious.”

Last year Lulu went to the US to appear on the smash TV show American Idol with Simon Cowell, where she mentored a group of young US wannabees, giving them help and advice. Despite the fact that most of them weren’t too sure who she was and were happier with hip-hop or heavy metal, she impressed them, especially when she got to sing live herself — showing the kids just how it’s done.

“It was wonderful. I was wondering what I could offer them but I really got a lot out of it, too. I think the kids weren’t that aware of me. They might vaguely have heard of To Sir With Love or their parents had, but they loved my mad energy. I like the idea of mentoring. People have told me that I’d make a great manager, but I don’t want to manage someone. I wouldn’t have the time for that and my own career,” she admits.

Another role she loves is that of Mum, but how does grown up son Jordan feel about having a trendy mum like Lulu?

“I think Jordan has to put up with a lot from me. I don’t think he ever thinks that I’m a cool mum. I don’t think kids would ever think their parents were cool. As a mum you’re always repeating yourself to them. Even when he’s in his forties I’ll still be telling him to make sure he puts his coat on if it’s cold. I can’t wait to become a granny. I’m getting older now and I want to be young enough to be able to enjoy the grandkids. I think it’s better to be a grandparent rather than a parent because you haven’t got the pressure and you can hand them back at the end of the day!”she laughs. 

Lulu wouldn’t be human if her thoughts didn’t turn to health matters as the years go by. A few years ago she was the high-profile face of a cholesterol-lowering campaign, which at the start revealed that she had higher cholesterol than she should but she got this down to healthy levels. “I’ve always been interested in my own health and I’ve had every test there is and, so far, everything is OK — touch wood. That campaign really made me aware that I wasn’t invincible, and I’m not superhuman. Beforehand I thought there was no way it would ever show that I had high cholesterol. I’ve always tried to look after myself but I ain’t perfect!” she shrugs.

Perhaps one of the reasons that Lulu is still the powerhouse of health and vitality she is today is that she never allowed the temptations of the industry to distract her from her goals of making music. Many of those around in the ’60s haven’t managed to equal Lulu’s graceful ageing. It’s hard to comprehend that she’s just five years younger than Rolling Stone Keith Richards! Lulu admits that her health and appearance aren’t all about good genes and clean living — you also have to be prepared to work at it.

“In the ’60s I’d just sing and keep my head down. It’s not easy to avoid all the distractions and temptations which mean that you simply don’t do the work, but I think somebody up there likes me. I’m not really a believer in luck — I think you make your own. Nothing is ever achieved in any area of life without putting in the work. If you want a good result, you have to have a good regime and put the work in and stick to it. There’s no genie and no magic lamp,” she says.

Lulu’s Time Bomb range of products is available at www.lulusplace.co.uk  and on QVC.