Nearly ten years after it was published, the Makeover Guy’s book, Staging Your Comeback, still has a long reach. The guide – written by Christopher Hopkins for women age 45 and over – provides advice in a book format for women who haven’t been able to experience his makeovers in person.

One of those women was Debbie, who traveled all the way from her home in Australia. Don’t get confused— she’s American, but lives abroad. Debbie made a quick stop in California to scoop up her mother on the way to Minneapolis for her makeover. As longtime fans of his book, both ladies were excited to finally work with Christopher face-to-face.

Seen in the clip below is Debbie herself, whose makeover included a new ‘do for her hair, which ran a little bit past her shoulders. The cheerful woman gave Christopher the green light to do whatever he wanted. She wasn’t apprehensive at all and he was enthusiastic about having free reign!

Debbie shared that she turned 50 years old in the previous week, but her hairstyle had been the same for about ten years. Her mom also turned 75, so they both were ready for a change. Christopher’s team tweaked Debbie’s hair color to make it a tad darker but left the ends light. For makeup, expert Kami kept it light with a soft touch on her lashes and an added glow around the eyes.

Christopher gave Debbie a cute bob that was shorter in the back and longer in the front, which complemented her face nicely. To help her maintain it at home, he explained that she shouldn’t use product on her hair to give it volume. It just won’t work. Instead, the hair should be stretched enough to create tension, then teased to give it some oomph.

In Debbie’s case, Christopher said there’s no such thing as overdoing it with the tease, as it will give her hair some height. The rest of the hair can be styled on top of the bump to disguise where it’s lifted. Debbie loves it! She came in smiling and smiled through the rest of her makeover. In her own words, she had such a good day!

Check out Debbie’s before and after – she seems to have a brightened glow around her. The eyes, the hair, the million dollar grin! And while we see that she’s totally in love with her new look, the best reaction came from her husband. Click below to see what he had to say about his wife’s vampy revamp. Aww!

Debbie can’t wait to show off her new style to her friends back in Australia, and we can’t blame her. Though her youthful charm is undeniable, it was the perfect way for her to celebrate her 50^th birthday. With Christopher, she finally got to make what she read about in his book a reality. How cool!

What are your thoughts on this sweet lady’s fun makeover? How far would you travel to meet a makeover expert like Christopher? Would you gift yourself with a birthday makeover? Tell us in the comments!