Marilyn Monroe’s Beauty Routine

Are you curious what went into the routine of an icon who continues to inspire art and is considered one of the most beautiful women to grace our screens?

1. Erno Laszlo: Marilyn Monroe’s skincare routine was specially curated and prescribed to her by her dermatologist. A letter from Erno to Marilyn has a list of items and detailed directions for the actress to follow every morning and night, and it is on display at the Makeup Museum New York. Every evening Marilyn reportedly splashed her face 20 times in a row with hot water, then proceeded with her prescribed night routine using his products.
2. She was very conscious of her pale skin, and she never went out in the sun without UV protection. “I’m personally opposed to a deep tan because I like to feel blonde all-over.”
3. Only chanel no.5 to bed — she even spiked her bath water with it.
4. “pillow case white” blonde hair, bleached every three weeks and dry shampooed by applying baby powder on her hair roots to conceal greasiness.
5. ‘Marilyn told me, “I rub my entire body down with Vaseline and then get into a three-hour hot bath every morning. It gives my skin a shiny glow.”‘ said Oscar-nominated actress Renée Taylor.
6. Her sleepy eyes: painting eyeshadow with white eyeliner to elongate her lower lashline.
7. 3 colors of eye liner: black for upper lid and wing, brown for lower lashline, white for the water line and a dot of red in the inner corner of her eye.
8. bust firming: she told pageant magazine that she lifted two 5lb weights in a spread eagle-arm-like fashion 15 times then repeated at a 45 degree angle, every morning in a supine position till she was tired.
9. Monroe’s makeup artist used 5 distinct tones of red, layering the deeper and softer shades to create dimension. Her fave shade was Max factor’s Ruby Tuesday.
10. Cut lashes in half for volume and perfect eye shape.
11. No nuts, chocolate, olives, oysters , clams or foods high in salt to prevent dry skin — prescribed by Erno Laszlo.
12. Utilizing blush to contour her nose and cheeks.
13. Regular Ice baths to tighten her skin.
14. Monroe would apply large amounts of Vaseline or white Nivea Creme under her makeup to get her characteristic on-screen radiance.
15. The actress would layer Active pHelityl Cream — hormone cream — and a powder foundation on top of each other to create a radiant base that shimmered and shined on camera. On the negative side, she developed a delicate coating of peachy-blonde hair all over her face. She was persuaded to shave it off, but she resisted since it gave her a shine in images.
16. Washed 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 and Elizabeth Arden’s 8 hour cream protectant.

Below are Erno Laszlo’s products in an actual letter to her at the Makeup Museum… lots of phelityl!

Instagram of the Makeup Museum