Ahead of her 60th birthday on Tuesday Sarah Ferguson has opened up about her cosmetic treatments at the hands of her friend Dr. Gabriela Mercik - an aesthetician who has given her everything from laser facelifts to organic fillers.
In a candid interview with the Daily Mail, Ferguson and Mercik talked about the cosmetic procedures the Duchess of York has had done over the years, with Ferguson revealing she was Mercik's “guinea pig with new treatments”.
The pair spoke to The Daily Mail about their close relationship, as well as Ferguson’s history with both invasive and non-invasive procedures including botox, mesotherapy and even stem cell therapy - specifically for Ferguson’s feet.
Ferguson said she was comfortable talking about her treatments, saying “I’m really happy to be open about what I’ve had done.”
Ferguson revealed in the interview that she used to get Botox, however as technology has advanced she’s opted to move away from it. She explained, “I had Botox a long time ago when there was nothing else available.”
With her aesthetician calling it “passe now”, Ferguson added, “I really don’t like the frozen look. 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.”
Botox is a cosmetic procedure which is designed to help diminish wrinkles and fine lines, by injecting a chemical solution with a micro needle into specific target areas.
It was revealed in the Daily Mail that Ferguson started getting mesotherapy in 2013, though she has since moved away from it in favour of other treatments.
Ferguson said that she had chosen mesotherapy to tackle sun damage, saying, “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.”
What is mesotherapy?
According to HealthLine, mesotherapy involves injecting a mixture of “vitamins, enzymes, hormones, and plant extracts”. Designed to tighten skin and rejuvenate it, it also removes excess fat and is used by people to do everything from reduce cellulite, diminish wrinkles and tighten loose skin.
HealthLine continues, “The technique uses very fine needles to deliver a series of injections into the middle layer (mesoderm) of skin. The idea behind mesotherapy is that it corrects underlying issues like poor circulation and inflammation that cause skin damage.”
Following this, Ferguson chose to move onto organic fillers.
What is an organic filler?
Face fillers are designed to both fade wrinkles as well as plump up parts of your face that you want to add volume to. In the case of Ferguson’s, hers were organic and were described as being “non-invasive injectables”.
One of Ferguson’s more unusual facial procedures involved something called a thread lift. She explained, “Before I had it done I thought,’Oh this is going to be painful,’ but it wasn’t bad. My skin responded well. I think if you look at photos of me after I had it done, I look much better.”
However, Mercik added that Ferguson had since “swapped the threads for laser because it’s non-invasive”.
What is a thread lift?
Both Ferguson and Mercik explained what a thread lift involves. Patients have medical threads “inserted into the skin to create a supportive mesh that pulls the face upwards” - with the threads dissolving after 6-8 months and results lasting two years.
Ferguson explained, ‘It’s like garden trellising for sweet peas. You insert the threads under the skin with a fine needle and they hold everything up. They also encourage collagen production. It takes a couple of months, then the sweet peas bloom!”
Mercik went into more technical details, explaining, “We inserted nano peptides (synthetic growth factors) under the skin which, with the synthetic threads, stimulate collagen production.”
Sarah Ferguson revealed that she personally swears by Mercik’s 6-Dimension Ultimate Laser Treatment facelift. Revealing to the Daily Mail that she “much prefers it to Botox”, Ferguson explained that she had actually had it done by Mercik prior to her daughter Princess Eugenie’s wedding.
She explained, “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.”
She also added that she was undergoing it at the moment, ahead of her birthday on Tuesday. She said, “I’ve started the laser treatment, but it’s not finished yet. The collagen needs to rebuild. I hope it will all be done by my birthday.
What is a laser facelift?
Mercik’s laser facelift is non-invasive, pain-free, involves no recovery time and “accomplished in no more than 90 minutes”. It reportedly helps “promote the skin’s natural production of youth-restoring collagen” and “is said to continue the work as the weeks pass.”
Following a sunscreen-averse childhood (which involved Ferguson’s mother thinking “Nivea moisturiser was sunscreen”), Ferguson revealed that she was now very careful about preventing sun damage now - especially after her father and best friend died of skin cancer. She explained, “It made me realise you have to look after your skin just as much as your other organs. It isn’t just about aesthetics. We have to think about our skin health.”
“That’s why I don’t go in the sun now,” she continued. “The tan I have is out of a bottle. Fake.”
One of Ferguson’s more recent procedures includes a trip off to the Bahamas, which saw her undergo stem cell therapy to improve her feet. She explained, “I think my toes were ruined by all the riding I did when I was young. They shaved the bone here and implanted stem cells — 20 million of them taken from my midriff — into my feet to make new cartilage.”
