Now everyone knows how amazing Marilyn Monroe was and she is extremely well known for always looking gorgeous (A true style icon) but what most people don’t realise is that without the genius of her personal makeup artist, she was quite plain and looked nothing like you see in the photographs. Through a vast understanding of contouring and highlighting her makeup artist was able to transform her from a very pretty but plain woman into one of the most iconic Hollywood beauties ever.
So in this blog, I’m going to attempt to explain step by step, how this transformation was achieved using the same tips and tricks that Whitey used when doing Marilyn’s makeup. A video tutorial will follow shortly.
The most important factor when applying makeup, especially when trying to recreate a 1940’s or 1950’s style is above all the skin as it was always flawless.
STEP 1: SKIN
The reason Marilyn’s skin always looked flawless was partly down to the makeup application but largely due to her skin care regime. Makeup applies better on moisturised skin, and although Marilyn used to moisturise with petroleum jelly (vaseline), you can achieve the same by moisturising routinely and using a silicon based primer (such as GOSH Velvet Touch Foundation Primer) before applying your makeup. This will smooth out any imperfections and keep the makeup fresher and longer lasting.
When selecting a foundation choose the lightest matt shade suitable for your skin tone (preferably full coverage) and apply all over as normal (remembering to blend into the neck and ears). Using a concealer that is a very similar colour to the base foundation, apply to under eye area and any imperfections visible. Due to female hormones we also tend to be quite red around the nose/nostrils, mouth and chin so apply to those areas if necessary before setting with a light dusting of translucent powder.
STEP 2: CONTOURING
Marilyn was very self conscious of her forehead as she thought it was quite wide and she also disliked the shape of her nose as it is naturally quite round and bulbous at the tip so contouring played an important part of her makeup routine. Contouring was used to exaggerate any existing shadows so slim down certain parts of the face, this can be achieved by using either a bronzer or a foundation which is approximately 3-4 shades darker than your natural skin tone and applying it to the following areas: under the jawline and blending down the neck, below the cheekbones, temples and blending up into the hairline and also down the side of the nose – IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU BLEND THIS IN WELL OR YOU WILL JUST LOOK LIKE YOU HAVE A DIRTY FACE LOL!
STEP 3: EYEBROWS
Miss Monroe’s eyebrows were almost like an upside down V in shape with the arch being fairly central, this was another trick she used to try draw attention away from her wide forehead. To achieve this look you can either use an eyebrow pencil or eyeshadow and brow brush to define and give shape. For best results I tend to use eyeshadow and a brow brush as you can achieve a closer match to your brow colour by combining shades of brown/cork.
STEP 4: EYES
Apply an off-white eyeshadow over the lid and all the way up to the brow. With a light brown eyeshadow, apply to the crease and up to the brow on the outer corner of the eye (1&2). Apply a frosted white/off white shadow to the inner corner of the eye, the middle of the lid, under the brow and just over the top of the brows (3,4,5,6 &7).
To line the eye, Whitey would apply a white pencil to the lower water line of the eye and also draw a white triangle at the outer corner of her eye which he would then blend outwards. To complete the look he would line her upper lid (close to the lash line) with a BROWN eyeliner and then add a little liner to her bottom lashes to create a shadow effect from her lashes (as shown in red). You can also add a gold eyeshadow over the top edge of the upper liner to make it a little more glamorous (but make sure it is not thick as it may start to look over the top). Coat lashes with black mascara and add strip lashes to the outer corner of the eye. Last but not least, Whitey also used to add a small dot of red lipliner to the inner corner of the eye as this will contrast with the whites of the eye and make them appear brighter.
STEP 5: HIGHLIGHTING
Apply a shimmery highlighter or eyeshadow (I use Benefit High Beam) to the top of the cheekbones, down the centre of the nose, centre of the forehead, browbone, chin and above the cupids bow (after lipstick application).
STEP 6: LIPS
For Marilyn’s perfect pout a combination of 3-5 different shades of red with bluish tones were used (this was because Technicolor had a tendancy to make everything look more orange in film). Before applying the lipstick however, her makeup artist would draw just above the cupids bow with a white eyeliner pencil and then blend in to give the illusion of a fuller upper lip. A dark/brick red liner should then be applied to the lips, just outside the lip line and rounding off any sharp angles. A lighter shade of red was used in the middle of the lips and then the darker shades towards the edges to make the lips look more voluptuous. To finish, apply a little shimmer to the cupids bow and the very centre of the lips.
Notice how the lips are nice and rounded (this was very common for the era) and also how the corners of the top lip are wider than the lower lip.
STEP 7: BEAUTY MARK
By now you should have the desired effect but there is one thing missing… The iconic Marilyn Beauty Mark. To achieve this is very simple – some people will use a black pencil (which is fine but tends to look a little unnatural). I tend to use a very small brush with some dark brown eyeshadow to dot it on the skin but you could also use a brown pencil (experiment and see what works best for you) then as with everything, apply a small amount of powder to set the look and you are good to go.
Makeup: Your Questions Answered 