Everyone has a preferred beauty routine, whether it’s on the simpler side (say, lip balm and mascara) or a full-on ritual that rivals the likes of Kim Kardashian. Of course, the queen of #IDidNotWakeUpLikeThis was the ultimate blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe.
The star’s beauty routine was rumoured to be three hours long, which explains why her make up artist Allan ‘Whitey’ Snyder was one of her closest friends. Monroe not only spent hours on her appearance, but she employed some seriously bizarre beauty hacks. For instance, she used to shock her system with ice baths to keep her skin tight and firm (hello, cryotherapy!) and wash her face four to five times a day out of fear of breakouts. This obsessive cleansing obviously caused extremely dry skin, so she would slather on coats of olive oil, Vaseline and Nivea face cream (the latter contributing to her famous glowing white skin). She was also known to sew marbles into her bra to ensure a permanent hard-nipple effect.
Marilyn Monroe beauty secrets
Erno Laszlo, the go-to derm for Hollywood’s A-list at the time, created an iridescent gel infused with gemstones called Morning Beauty Rescue for the starlet. This little bottle allowed the bombshell to maintain her late night party antics while making sure she was camera-ready in the morning.
Morning Beauty Rescue ($95, dermstore.com)
Marilyn Monroe beauty secrets
When asked what she wore to bed at night Monroe famously responded: “Five drops of Chanel No. 5.” She even spiked her bath water with the fragrance.
Chanel N°5 ($136, chanel.com)
Marilyn Monroe beauty secrets
Marilyn Monroe was the original famous pout (sorry Kylie) and the star had her lipstick routine down pat. Monroe would get her makeup artist to use 5 different shades of red and would layer the darker and lighter shades in order to create dimension. Her favourite shade? Max Factor’s Ruby Tuesday.
Max Factor Ruby Tuesday ($16, shopstyle.ca)
Marilyn Monroe beauty secrets
Face shaving (or dermaplaning as it’s technically called) is a procedure that scrapes the face of the outer layers of skin. It is said this is what helped to give Monroe her iconic glow.
Marilyn Monroe beauty secrets
For her face, Monroe used a natural hormone replacement, Active Phelityl Cream. Although it helped to improve her skin, it also caused her to grow blonde peach fuzz all over her face—which she shaved off (more on that in the next slide).
Active Phelityl Cream ($72, ernolaszlo.com)
The post Marilyn Monroe’s beauty secrets: The most surprising tips from Hollywood’s ultimate icon appeared first on FASHION Magazine.
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