Life on the Ramona Coaster (13 page)

I’ve also been focusing on helping my daughter become a businesswoman in her own right. Since she was a little girl, I have involved her in many ways and she has learned firsthand by watching me from start to finish in all my ventures. When Avery was applying to colleges, the President of Nickelodeon Networks, Cyma Zarghami, came to speak at her high school and said, “To be successful in business you need to love what you do.” She came home so excited, squealing, “Mom, that’s what
you
always tell me!” Avery has grown into a sharp, ambitious young woman and she has been approached by different companies who want her to be the face of their product. My job is to help guide her and ensure that, no matter what business she decides to become involved with, her health and happiness come first.

Healthy on the Inside, Beautiful on the Outside . . .

I
T IS SUMMER
2009. I walk into Oscar Blandi Salon. The stations are set up in a long row, and the entire salon is bathed in natural light and subdued earth tones. I look at myself in the mirror. Although I generally look and feel exhausted when I go to the salon, today I am in a playful and daring mood. In the back of my mind, I have a purpose. I want to do something different.

I walk past the exposed brick walls and sit in Oscar’s swivel chair. I first met Oscar Blandi in 2007.
Harper’s Bazaar
was doing a spread on
The Real Housewives of New York City
and Oscar was the head hairstylist. I was impressed by how he was able to handle us boisterous and demanding ladies on that long shoot and he has been cutting, coloring, and styling my hair ever since. I figured if he can take on all the Housewives together, he can certainly handle me on my own.

I take a sip of Pellegrino and start talking, “I feel like doing something different today. I want a new look. What do you suggest?”

He looks stunned. “Really? What’s going on?” He runs his fingers through my long blonde hair, “I know how much you love your long locks.”

“I just feel like it’s time for a new look. I’m going through a process of renewal in different aspects of my life. I’m renewing my relationship with my husband, my daughter and my girlfriends. Why not renew my appearance, too? I want to make sure my inner self matches my outer appearance.”

He smiles devilishly, “Well, how short are you willing to go?”

I laugh. His question reminds me of being on an awkward high school date, where the guy asks if you’re willing to go to third base. I look around the salon and spot a stunning picture of the vivacious and lovable Kelly Ripa on the cover of a magazine. I turn to look at myself in the mirror and place one hand on top of each shoulder. “Right to here,” I say.

“Ramona, are you sure?” he asks. I nod my head. He continues, “Okay. We won’t make it so drastic. I will keep the front of your hair the same—long layers and the bang—and just cut and layer the back. I promise I will make it short, sexy and sassy.”

“Cut away,” I insist.

When the steels scissors hit my long locks, I start to freak out. I have had long hair since I was sixteen years old. I wonder if I have just made a huge mistake. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so bold. I try to calm down. I close my eyes and put my complete faith in Oscar. I trust him. I tell myself that I can handle this. After all, it’s just hair. It will grow back . . . eventually.

“All finished,” Oscar says happily.

I stare into the illuminated mirror. My eyes open wide. I barely recognize the woman looking back at me. I feel like a new person inside and out. The woman getting her hair done a few stations over says, “Wow, I love your hair. You look so much younger. You look fabulous.”

“I’ll take it,” I say, “who doesn’t want to look younger?”

I run my hands though my soft, short, sassy hair. I actually feel lighter. I feel free. As I open the salon door and walk out onto Madison Avenue, I want to scream,
hey everybody, look at me. This is the new Ramona
.

T
HE PHYSICAL ACT
of cutting my long hair was a symbolic moment in my life. After my father passed away, I let go of a lifetime of negative energy and suppressed depression. In cutting off all those inches, I was actually severing ties to a past that had weighed me down for most of my life. My new look was an outward, physical sign that I was beginning a new chapter in my life and taking control of my destiny. I was setting myself free and opening myself up to new experiences. I was saying to myself—and to the world—
I am a new woman. I am no longer going to hide behind my long blonde hair. I am renewing myself inside and out.
I am a firm believer that how you look on the outside should reflect what you feel on the inside. Cutting my hair short was symbolic of where I was at in my life at that point. I was going through a period of self-reflection and renewal and to honor that I wanted to radically transform my whole look.

A few years later I found myself in a much different place than where I was that day at Oscar’s salon. I was rundown from working too much and it had taken a toll on my health. We took almost eighteen months off between filming Seasons 5 and Season 6, time I had needed to regroup and focus on my health and my family. Avery left for college in the fall of 2013, while we were in the middle of filming Season 6. No mother is ever ready for her child to go off to college. It meant I could no longer go into her room every night and every morning to kiss her. I could no longer cuddle up in her bed with her, or chitchat as we picked out an outfit for her wear out with her friends. I was overwhelmed by a sense of loss. Obviously, I was happy for Avery, but I was also sad for me. Part of being a mother is letting go, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Avery leaving the house was a very difficult transition for me, and then almost immediately my marriage of twenty-one years began to fall apart. I was completely blindsided by the revelation that Mario had been cheating on me. I never even saw it coming. It would have been so easy to give in to depression and let my body fall apart, but I decided not to allow that to happen. I started working with a personal trainer and eating healthier. I actually look better now than I did ten years ago.

My fit body

I always strive be in the best physical shape that I can be for my age. Some women treat themselves to expensive shoes or purses, I prefer to spend my money on ways to stop the aging clock as long as possible. When we use makeup artists for the show they are always amazed at the quality and youthfulness of my skin. Using anti-aging skincare products on a regular basis helps with wrinkles, pore size, elasticity, hydration, and age spots. Botox injections are an instant, temporary fix for wrinkles that typically lasts three to four months. Anti-aging skincare revitalizes the skin and improves its texture, something that Botox does not do. It also minimizes wrinkles. I’ve tried Botox, but I believe a good skincare regime is much more effective over time. That was a big reason why I had been inspired to develop my own skincare line.

I feel plastic surgery should be put off as long as possible. If you take care of your body by working out regularly and eating right, you will look naturally younger for longer. That’s just a fact. I have done extensive research into anti-aging skincare and nonsurgical options for maintaining a youthful face and body and, for the most part, when it comes to preserving the skin on the face and neck it boils down to this: use SPF 30 sunscreen and always wear a hat in the sun. Eventually, however, most women as they age do get brown spots or freckles, particularly on the face, no matter how much sunblock they use. That is why the Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) machine is so great. It uses a broad-spectrum light source to erase all kinds of sun damage. You’re in and out in an hour. Youre face will be red and sometimes your skin will crust over, so you’re not going want to go to a black tie that night, but it’s a minimally invasive procedure with virtually no pain.

For most women, as we get older cellulite becomes a harsh reality and exercise is only half the battle. As our skin ages and loses collagen and elastin, it’s replaced by clusters of fat cells just below the surface of the skin. When those fat cells increase in size, they bulge to create that unsightly cottage cheese look, particularly on our thighs and buttocks. A lot of women are quick to go under the knife, but there are so many alternatives to plastic surgery. My good friend, Dr. Sharon Giese, offers a treatment in her office called VASER Shape, which eliminates unwanted fat cells and reduces the appearance of cellulite through the use of ultrasound and massage therapy. Studies on these treatments have shown deep tissue massage can break down fibrous bands of fat, aiding circulation and resulting in an improvement on how the skin appears. I have tried this non-surgical, painless procedure and had excellent results.

I’ve never had any surgery on my face, but I recently did have my breasts done. While filming Season 7, the girls kept asking me if I had them done, but I just kept telling them, “Oh, no. I’ve been doing push ups and because I lost weight it made my breasts look a little bigger.” At that point I hadn’t decided if I wanted to tell anyone, but I’ve always been honest about the work I’ve had done and I don’t believe it’s anything to be ashamed of. I feel good about my body. I’ve worked hard to maintain a youthful look, and I’m proud that I was able to put surgery off as long as I have.

In fact, a year before I actually had my breasts done, I went to see Dr. Giese and she didn’t even want to do them. She said, “You have great breasts. They’re better than most women half your age.” I’ve always felt great about my body, but for the last couple of years I felt like my breasts weren’t as perky as they used to be. Now that I’m older they had lost some of fullness on top. Some women go crazy and get huge implants, but I didn’t want to be bigger. I just wanted to enhance what I already had. I was always a 34 C and I’m still a 34 C. When I went in for my consultation, I put on my Victoria’s Secret push up bra, that has a little padding, and I said to Dr. Giese, “This is how I want my breasts to look with a non padded bra. I don’t want to have to buy a whole new wardrobe. I want to be able to fit into my clothes. You better not make me any bigger than what I look like right now with this bra on.” I wear a size 2 and I didn’t want to have to alter all my clothes. I didn’t want to be top heavy, I just wanted to be more enhanced. I always had perky boobs; now when I take my bra off I look just as good as I do with it on.

Dr. Giese has a machine in her office that creates before and after images, so I was able to be very specific about what I wanted as well as see what the end result would look like. There are several different kinds of implants; some are contoured to mimic the natural shape of the breast and some are textured to encourage scar tissue to form and prevent repositioning. I chose saline implants because I felt they were more natural, but that’s just my preference. The surgeons can go in through the armpit or even the nipple, but I didn’t want to do that because it requires a longer recovery period. Dr. Giese put my implants in from underneath the breast; the incision is in the fold. It was a fairly quick procedure and I went home that day. The next day I was a little swollen, and I had to wear a bra that didn’t have any wire, but basically I felt fine. I took some Motrin and was actually able to go out to lunch with a friend.

I could go on and on about the alternatives to plastic surgery and the importance of keeping your body and skin healthy, but the truth is that getting my breasts done was the right choice for me when the time came. The most important thing is that you feel as healthy on the inside as you look on the outside.