Born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie in Glasgow in 1948, Lulu released her first single, Shout, at 16 years old. She has performed with, among many others, Paul McCartney and Elton John; sung a James Bond theme tune and most recently launched her own beauty range called Lulu's Time Bomb.

When Elton and David [Furnish] got married, I wore Alexander McQueen, but I said to them: “if I'm going to spend this much money on a dress, I have to know that no one else will be wearing it”. So, they found out what everyone else would be wearing for me. Once, I turned up to an Ivor Novello lunch and Trudie Styler and I were wearing the same Voyage dress, hers was actually the shorter version, but Sting kept coming up behind me and pretending that I was his wife.

I achieved fame very young in life, so I had to get used to growing up in the public eye. I was awkward about my appearance when I was young, mainly because I didn't conform to the Sixties model type, which was so dominant. I was shy and felt like the odd one out, even though I always looked so confident. I have learnt to feel comfortable in my own skin now.

When I was on tour with Take That, we all stripped off together for costume changes. I would happily have any of those boys, they are all so gorgeous, but in the end, after we'd been touring for a while, I didn't notice the nakedness. My costumes for stage are always over the top. Mostly, I have them made for me, or we embellish pieces with lots of Swarovski crystals to make them a bit flashier. I always wear heels on stage but once I lost my balance and slid under the grand piano. There was a collective gasp from the audience, but I just kicked them off and carried on.

I need two dressers to help me during costume changes; one holds my hair in place and the other one tugs my tops and trousers off. I like to be in the dressing room for about two to three hours before a show. I have a whole ritual: I am religious about warming up my vocals, then I meditate and have my hair and make-up done - it becomes my home really.

I received my OBE from Prince Charles and he was adorable. He was very relaxed and so charming. I ended up wearing a black Versace coat, which was very nice. I had tried on most of my wardrobe in preparation because I just didn't know what to wear. He was very flattering so I said I was glad he was presenting me with the award - I think he liked that!

I am a beauty product junkie. Because I have thin Celtic skin, I did become slightly obsessed when I first started getting wrinkles. I want to be able to sing until I drop and to do that I have to look good. I don't want to be the type of act that just stands in the dark wearing boring clothes, it's got to be about the whole package.

I used to plaster on the make-up but now, because of my product range I actually barely wear any at all. In my opinion, having glowing skin is all about removing dry and discoloured dead cells. I think we are catching up with America in terms of beauty obsessions. Men even come up to me these days and ask how they can look younger; usually I tell them to back off because they age so well!

Lulu's latest product, the Eye R&R launches on QVC on April 30 and on www.lulusplace.co.uk

Explore Women

• Fashion

• Beauty

• Diet & Fitness

• Relationships

• Families

• Celebrity

• The Way We Live

• Horoscopes

Times recommends

• Are eldest children really a cut above?
• Peaches Geldof: censored
• Top 10 style-setting films of all time