Debbie McGee reveals she’s found the confidence to go makeup-free after undergoing a high-tech skin transformation – and thinks she looks better now than she did in her 40s.
Debbie, 67, says her makeover has removed age spots she spent years covering up with foundation. Sharing her results, the former Strictly Come Dancing contestant says she is surprised to be the ‘proud owner of a face with clear skin at my grand old age’.
Debbie, who shot to fame as magician Paul Daniels’ assistant, and later wife, says she has always been too scared to try cosmetic procedures. (‘I had never, ever had any treatments whatsoever. I didn’t even have facials.’) However, she was persuaded to reconsider after seeing the results achieved with NeoGen Plasma by her friends Christine Hamilton and Shirley Ballas.
Courtesy of Neogen
Debbie says she was self-conscious about pigmentation before having NeoGen Plasma treatments
Looking at her before and after photographs from NeoGen, Debbie says she’s impressed at how the treatment has improved the visible signs of being a sun worshipper in her younger years. ‘I’m not expecting my skin to be perfect, but I actually think it’s better now than it was when I was probably in my 40s because it’s so much smoother,’ she says.
Courtesy of Neogen
Debbie, 67, says her skin looks better than it did in her 40s
‘The biggest thing that NeoGen has done for me is now I don’t wear makeup anymore,’ she says, speaking on a shoot at the Oxfordshire home she shared with Paul until his death in 2016.
‘I’ve had to put some on today because there’s lots of lighting and things recording, but on a day-to-day basis it’s given me a confidence in myself that I didn’t have before because I just feel much more natural.’
Courtesy of Neogen
Debbie posing for a post-treatment shoot at the marital home she shared with Paul for many happy years
Debbie says that her main motivation for having NeoGen was to tackle the pigmentation she’d become increasingly self-conscious about. ‘I had a great big brown age spot,’ she explains. ‘It was two, they kind of covered this area of my cheek. I always had to cover it with makeup, and if I didn’t, people would say, “What’s that?”’
With her autobiography, A Magical Life, out this October, Debbie decided that it was time to finally do something about it.
Courtesy of Neogen
Debbie had never had any cosmetic treatments before NeoGen
Debbie says her results have exceeded her expectations. ‘What it actually did was more than get rid of this unsightly brown double mark that I had,’ she says. ‘I had lots of little freckles ’cause I was a sun worshipper when I was younger. They’ve all gone.’
‘I used to look at people on TV and in photographs and think, “They’ve got such clear skin. Mine will never be like that because I’ve got all these tiny little brown freckles.” But Neogen has got rid of them all,’ she says. ‘It’s actually quite life-changing for me.’
Mirrorpix
Debbie married Paul Daniels in 1988
How does Debbie’s treatment work?
For the past year, Debbie has been having a series of NeoGen Plasma treatments with aesthetic nurse practitioner Jenny O’Neill at the Aspire Clinic in Reading, the same clinic that treated Christine Hamilton.
Explaining how it treats age spots, Jenny tells GH, ‘Pigmentation and age spots are among the most stubborn concerns to treat because excess melanin can sit at multiple depths within the skin. NeoGen converts medical-grade nitrogen gas into plasma, delivering controlled thermal energy uniformly across the skin’s surface and deeper dermal layers. The treated tissue remains intact and then gradually peels away, carrying the pigmented cells with it, and revealing fresh, newly regenerated skin underneath.’
The controlled thermal injury of NeoGen also prompts the body to produce more collagen and elastin, helping skin look tighter and firmer. Jenny adds, ‘The skin is not simply cleared of pigmentation — it is actively rebuilt from within.’
Courtesy of Neogen
A glowing Debbie in her garden at home
In Debbie’s view, it’s done exactly that for her. ‘The most amazing thing about Neogen is it doesn’t just get rid of all your blemishes, but it actually affects the quality of your skin, the texture of your skin and how it looks,’ she explains. ‘You have the treatment, you have the downtime for a little while, not long, and then over the weeks, your skin just keeps improving.’
In Debbie’s case, it’s also tackled wrinkles on her top lip. ‘I’ve still got some. I don’t want to get rid of them. That’s my life. But when I look now at what I look like, they hardly show.’
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Debbie, seen with Paul in 2014, used to cover her age spots with makeup
What appealed to her about NeoGen was the promise of natural-looking results. ‘One of the reasons I didn’t have any other treatments and I’ve gone for NeoGen was because I didn’t want people to look at me and think, “She’s had work done.”
‘But what’s been fantastic about NeoGen is all my girlfriends, and lots of guys I know, keep telling me, “My goodness, Debbie, you look so good.” But they don’t say, “What have you had done?”’
Debbie says she opted for lower-energy NeoGen treatments to fit in with her lifestyle. ‘You can go for higher energy treatments and then you get the results quicker, but the more energy you have the more downtime you’ll get,’ she says. ‘It’s a little bit uncomfortable. You can have your face numbed before you have it done, which means you hardly get any pain whatsoever. I have had that done.’
Courtesy of Neogen
Debbie was wary of any treatment that would make her look ’done’
The cost of Debbie’s treatment course comes in at £4,500, or around £750 each. Debbie says it ‘sounds a lot’ but is balanced by ‘how much I’ve saved on not buying foundation for a year. This is far better than spending on expensive moisturisers. I’ve been there, I’ve done it.’
* Debbie McGee had a series of six NeoGen treatments at the Aspire Clinic in Reading. Treatments available nationwide, find clinics here. Always see a registered NeoGen practitioner and remember that results vary from patient to patient.
