Never Enough Marilyn
I love Marilyn Monroe—not so much the glamorous, cooing movie star, but the woman who ate pork chops and ice cream naked in bed and gave brandy to Arthur Miller's basset hound Hugo when she thought it looked depressed.
So I was fascinated to find this website about her day-to-day beauty regimen. She took meticulous care of her skin, staying out of the sun ("I don't like myself dark-hued," she said. "I like to feel my body blonde all over." (Indeed, one biography I read claimed she bleached every bit of body hair she possessed.)
Her favorite products are still available today: Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil (plus, her first husband claimed she'd rinse her face with water 15 times after she'd washed it) and Erno Laszlo pHelityl Cream and Normalizer Shake-It Tinted Treatment. She slathered her body with Nivea cream. She also was fond of a firming ice bath—no water, just cubes—doused with a healthy splash of Chanel No. 5, of course.
Another Marilyn trick: Wipe saliva on your cheeks to give them a little shimmer (!).
The hair: She touched up the color every five days with a Max Factor formula (MF was also her preferred lipstick and foundation), used laundry bluing to make it white, and Wella Kolestral Conditioning Cream as a deep treatment.
There's a lot more fantastic information on the site—for example, Marilyn began every morning with light weights and a series of "bust-firming" chest presses—if you're a fan, check it out (and tell me in the comments section if I missed anything fascinating).
—Cat Marnell, associate beauty editor
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