Marilyn may have had a milky complexion, but every skin tone can benefit from avoiding the sun's harmful rays. “I'm personally opposed to a deep tan because I like to feel blonde all over,” Monroe reportedly once said.
Monroe's natural eye color was most likely to be blue, as recorded in her sister's autobiography (48) – “but our eyes were different … Norma Jeane's were blue like our mother's” – and on her autopsy report (49), in addition to Capote's description of her “blue-grey eyes” while wearing glasses (46).
Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926, at the Los Angeles General Hospital in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Gladys Pearl Baker (née Monroe; 1902–1984), was born in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico to a poor Midwestern family who migrated to California at the turn of the century.
She was a natural blonde
Monroe, who joined her first modeling agency as a curly haired brunette, was dedicated to doing whatever it took to get noticed. She started lightening her hair in the mid-1940s and was instantly hooked.
However, what many fans might not know is that Monroe was actually born with brown hair and brown eyes. Despite her natural appearance, she managed to create a lasting impact on the world with her hair and eye color, which have become synonymous with her iconic status.
While Monroe was racially white, she consciously built up and hewed to her image of an all-American girl.
In 1950, Norma purchased herself a bottle of peroxide dye before heading to a screen test. Entering her bathroom a natural curly-haired redhead, Norma emerged as the most iconic blonde of all time: Marilyn Monroe. Yep, you read right, Marilyn Monroe's natural hair colour is red.
She liked a very specific shade of blonde
To avoid washing it too much (which can affect the colour), she swore by a makeshift dry shampoo – Johnson's Baby Powder – applying every two days to keep her hair looking fresh.
Marilyn had naturally red hair. Her hair was also naturally curly. However, in most photos Marilyn's hair is a light golden blonde.
The actress, who was best known for movies like Niagara (1953), The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), Some Like It Hot (1959), and more, had a unique 'breathy' voice with a distinct accent. According to Vogue, Monroe's voice accentuated the audible sound of her breathing.
Marilyn Monroe would be 96-years-old if she were alive today.
Because Gladys was mentally and financially unable to care for young Marilyn, Gladys placed her in the care of a foster family, The Bolenders. Although the Bolender family wanted to adopt Marilyn, Gladys was eventually able to stabilize her lifestyle and took Marilyn back in her care when Marilyn was 7 years old.
For dinner, she never dined out. Instead of opting for the best restaurant in town, she'd stop at a market near her hotel for steak, liver, or lamb chops, which she'd broil herself using an electric oven. On the side, she'd eat raw carrots. And when she wanted to treat herself, it was all about an ice cream sundae.
Marilyn Monroe's eye makeup
Marilyn was known for her sultry, sleepy-looking eyes that always made her look effortlessly sexy on and off the screen and it turns out, they were the result of a very clever hack.
You don't see a lot of photos of Marilyn wearing prints. She favored neutral shades and black and white, with stand-out shades of red, pink, green or blue for emphasis.
From the personal wardrobe of Marilyn Monroe: A natural mink collar with brown satin lining. An obvious favorite, Marilyn wore this jacket and fur regularly when living in New York City.
Apparently uninterested in harvesting her own hair (we really don't blame her), Monroe opted for a hair extension extension instead.
To get her signature on-camera glow, Monroe would apply thick layers of Vaseline or white Nivea Creme under her makeup, while dermatologist Erno Laszlo kept her well stocked in his Phormula 3-9—a reparative botanical balm, specially created to heal a scar of hers—and Active Phelityl Cream, an all-purpose moisturizer.
The classic red shade Marilyn so often wore on her nails was revealed to be the Revlon colour 'Cherries a la Mode' which the brand has since sadly discontinued.
Marilyn Monroe: Floris Rose Geranium
Like millions of other women, Monroe was a fan of Chanel No 5. However, in 2002, it was revealed that she also had a secret penchant for Floris Rose Geranium.
Updated: May 3, 2022 Born in Los Angeles in 1931 to a single mother, Monroe spent much of her childhood with a foster family. Although her birth certificate gives her name as Norma Jeane Mortensen, she was later called Norma Jeane Baker. Many people do not know Monroe actually had naturally curly red hair.
A frequently asked question in 2012 is, “Was Marilyn Monroe's beauty mark real?” Most reports say it was a natural feature on her left cheek but she covered it up early in her career.
Her favourite shade of blonde
According to Vogue, the author Pamela Keogh noted that Monroe had her hair bleached every three weeks and swore by dry shampoo— baby powder on her roots.