Think back on all the beauty advice you’ve received in your life; if you’re like most women, it’s a long, long list.
Some days, it seems like absolutely everyone has an opinion about how you should take care of yourself, doling out pieces of advice that range from the surprisingly sensible (applying winged eyeliner with a spoon) to the undeniably dangerous, like adhering to any crash diet.
Of course, some of the best advice most of us receive about our beauty regimen comes from — where else — our mothers and grandmothers. It makes sense that the women who came before us would know a little something about getting dolled up.
That’s also true of my other favorite resource for beauty advice: the starlets of Old Hollywood.
If anyone knows a beauty secret or two, it’s going to be the gorgeous sirens of the Golden Age of film, as famous for their beauty and lavish lifestyles as for their incredible talent on the stage and screen!
Scroll below for Old Hollywood beauty secrets that run the gamut from brilliant to batty!
Would You Ever Follow These Beauty Tips From Old Hollywood? Scroll Down To Find Out!
Just about every femme fatale from the Golden Age of cinema had her own signature beauty tip, but do you know what they are?
Scroll through our breakdown below to learn the mysterious cosmetic secret behind each of these beautiful celebrities!
Marilyn Monroe: Raw Eggs + Warm Milk
Marilyn Monroe was a true original, and there's no doubt about it.
The quintessential Hollywood sex symbol was renowned for her high-profile relationships and for playing ditzy blondes on-screen.
Behind the scenes, she took her health very seriously. She was a fanatic about regular exercise, and started every morning with a two raw eggs whipped into a glass of warm milk.
As she told Pageant magazine back in 1952, "I doubt if any doctor could prescribe a more nourishing breakfast for a working girl in a hurry."
Bette Davis: Cucumber Slices
Bette Davis was best known throughout her film career for her large, heavy-lidded eyes.
Like Claudette Colbert before her, her look was associated with bedroom eyes and sultry antics of the characters she played.
She kept her signature feature bright by laying cucumbers over them, to hydrate the skin and reduce dark circles and swelling.
Mae West: Coconut Oil
Mae West, playwright and Broadway ingenue of the 1920s and '30s, was a trendsetter before her time.
She was using coconut oil — everyone's favorite "it" product today — decades ago.
She applied the oil liberally to her skin, and used it to keep her face supple and bright. No wonder she got her first film contract just before her 40th birthday!
Marlene Dietrich: Removed Molars
German actress Marlene Dietrich was a well-noted Hollywood eccentric, and her beauty secrets are no exception.
The icy blonde beauty lived an unconventional life in the rollicking alternative scene of the 1920s, and had no fear of going to the extreme to achieve her goals.
One notable example? In order to further accentuate her dramatic cheekbones, she has several molars removed, to make the hollows of her cheeks more prominent.
Not our cup of tea, but you have to admire her vision.
Sophia Loren: Olive Oil
Sophia Loren, the Italian actress renowned for her sultry scenes in 1950s blockbusters, is now in her eighties.
Despite being a grandmother several times over, she posed for the Pirelli calendar as recently as 2007, still looking better than many women decades younger.
Her secret may be her innovative twist on the Mediterranean diet.
Throughout her life, Loren ate lots of olive oil, and supplemented by using the healthy oil as a moisturizer in her baths!
Audrey Hepburn: Safety Pins
The ultimate gamine, Audrey Hepburn was known for her huge doe eyes and long, luxurious lashes.
Well, it turns out that those lovely fringy lashes were no accident.
The Breakfast at Tiffany's star swore by an old-fashioned trick: after applying mascara, she separated her eyelashes one by one with a safety pin!
Sounds a bit dangerous to us, but we guess it's worth it to look like Audrey!
Vivien Leigh: Heavy Lip Liner
These days, Kylie Jenner gets a lot of credit for how she applies lipstick, but she's really just copying a trick that Vivien Leigh was using decades ago!
The Gone with the Wind Star used to deliberately overdraw her bottom lip, which she felt was too narrow.
The result was a more pronounced pout, accented with a Cupid's bow upper lip!
Elizabeth Taylor: Razors
Violet-eyed superstar Elizabeth Taylor was widely acknowledged as one of the most beautiful women of her era.
She was known for those eyes, her thick black hair, and her perfect ivory skin. But her trick for maintaining that skin was pretty unusual!
She kept a razor and shaved her face regularly!
You might think that it would have a harmful effect on her skin, but she swears that it removed fine and downy hair, and dead skin cells, keeping her skin youthful and glowing!
We'll have to take your word for it on this one, Liz.
Did we miss your favorite Hollywood beauty trick? Let us know in the comments,
And don't forget to SHARE these beauty tricks with anyone you know who loves Old Hollywood, beauty secrets, or both!
