Bizarre beauty tricks from 20th century celebrities/Joan Crawford, Maril...

Bizarre beauty tricks from 20th century celebrities/Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn



n the 20th century, the women of the Hollywood elite created their own ways of keeping the virtue they held most dear: their beauty.

Still today - the lengths we go to immortalize youthfulness and desired features are seemingly endless.

However, we now have advanced cosmetic procedures and technology that can ensure it's done in a safe and sophisticated manner. In the centuries prior, the process wasn't quite yet perfected - and the women took it into their own hands.



Oscar winner Joan Crawford soaked her eyes with acid, washed her hair with six raw eggs and ALWAYS kept a 'yes' expression



Academy Award-winning actress Joan Crawford meticulously detailed her bizarre beauty techniques in her book, My Way of Life, in 1971.

Her most shocking sounding suggestion was to soak the eyes with a boric acid solution to keep the eyes bright and shiny - one of her most notable features.



Boric acid is a weak acid that's used as a stain remover, an insecticide, a flame retardant but also as an antiseptic. Crawford was onto something when she used it for the eyes because as harsh as it sounds, boric acid is the basis for many eye drops and washes on the market today.



Crawford also claimed to have been taught a special trick by Katharine Hepburn: washing hair with raw eggs, which she would massage into her daughters' hair one-by-one. Four raw eggs, she claimed, would be fine for most, but her daughters had especially long hair. A little bit of red wine or a splash of rum served as a good dilution for the shampoo. For those with oily hair, a problem Crawford said she never had, she learned that simply dousing hair with cologne was a formidable solution.



She was also fond of do-it-yourself face masks. Some of her favorite recipes were the 'old fashioned mixture' of oatmeal, warm water, and honey - and witch hazel, baking soda, and a whole egg.

Any beauty routine, Crawford said, would of course need to be done before the husband returned.

'Europeans have known about these simple treatments for years,' she wrote. 'Their husbands don't know about them though, because beauty treatments should be reserved for the end of the day, before your husband comes home. You look awful while a masque is drying- just as awful as you do in hair curlers,' she said.



She also noted the importance of having a 'yes' face - looking cheerful and willing at all times was, in her opinion, a necessary component to maintaining youth and beauty.

'All the beauty products in the world can't disguise a disagreeable expression.  Have you ever noticed that when you say "no" you begin to resemble a prune-faced schoolmarm?' she wrote.

Of course, no woman can say yes all the time, she noted - much like Marilyn Monroe - who Crawford deemed 'vulgar'.





Marilyn Monroe used five different lip colors to achieve the perfect pout - AND sewed marbles in her bra to make her nipples look erect



Marilyn Monroe's signature pout has a lasting legacy - but it was no easy feat.

The stunning actress was said to have used five different kinds of lipstick and lip gloss - penciling in dark reds on the outside corners of her lips, slightly lighter shades in the middle to add dimension, and very bright notes on the crest of her top and bottom lips to highlight.

The process was so extensive that sometimes it could take up to an hour and a half to get the colors just right.



Another peculiar habit of Monroe's was her penchant to sleep in a bra, to prevent her breasts from sagging - and would often tuck in a few marbles, or three buttons sewn together, inside her brassiere to create the appearance of firm nipples. 

She was also fond of applying several different kinds of cream to stay shimmering and protect her skin from the sun, because she 'liked to feel blonde all over,' she said in 1952.

She also refused to shave any of her facial hair because she liked the way it made her face shine in the cameras, according to Monroe expert Gene London. 

Gloria Grahame stuffed her top lip with cotton to keep her pout supple after a series of botched surgeries paralyzed it



At the young age of 24, movie star Gloria Grahame had already gone through one divorce, and had begun to feel the pressure to look perfect in Hollywood.

Much like today, the popular look was a puffed, full lip - and Grahame who had been signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios for her 'sex pot' style - was determined to achieve it.

She underwent a series of surgeries on her top lip - which left it completely paralyzed.



Desperate not to lose any roles because of her impediment, Grahame began stuffing cotton balls behind her lip to help it looking supple. However, this didn't quite have the outcome she anticipated.