No one is more intriguing, classic and seductive as Marilyn Monroe. Even from her early years as Norma Jean, she was the epitome of a glamour girl: flawless skin, ruby-red lips and eyes that lure you in. From her time on the silver screen to way past her untimely death Marilyn has always been regarded as an iconic inspiration to the beauty and fashion industries, and right now she is having quite a moment (due in no small part to the success of My Week With Marilyn and Smash!)

The wonders of Hollywood makeup!

One: Skin

Her flawless skin is obviously good genes, but with a great moisturizer and some foundation you will be well on your way to movie star status! You should be moisturizing everyday anyways but today use a little extra and mix in a makeup primer to give yourself a really great base. Then, use your foundation and concealer as usual and finish by buffing on a light or translucent powder (no bronzer today!) with a Kabuki brush for that flawless finish. Next you will contour your cheekbones with blush and a highlighter. In the video below, Kevin James Bennett will show you how to get stand-out cheekbones using only a single brush!

The last steps for your Marilyn face are blush and highlighter. Apply blush with a smaller domed brush like the GreenLine Blush Brush, which I use everyday and am obsessed with! Lastly you can use a highlighter on your forehead, the bridge of your nose and on the upper cheekbones to get you skin glowing and provide more contour.

Two: Eyes

First you need to fill in your brows. Marilyn had flawless eyebrows and this drew attention to her eyes without having to wear much actual eye makeup. She made hers very thin and pointed, because she thought she had a wide forehead! Next, apply falsies to just the outer corner of your eyes. Then you are going to use a white eyeliner pencil first: apply a small “v” shape to the outer corner of your eyes and blend. Then line your waterline also with white. Brown eyeliner comes next because, contrary to many beliefs that she used black, brown was Marilyn’s color of choice. Use the dark liner and line over the lashes and create a sweeping cat eye out past the corners, and line slightly under the eye but do not cover the white liner.Marilyn’s makeup is all about the contrast, and the contrast of light and dark shadows will make your eyes really pop. Eyeshadow is going to be minimal, so use a natural shimmering nude or a golden hue and sweep across the lid. Then use a lighter off-white on your brow bone and inner corners. Top it all off with a quick curl of your lashes and a coat of mascara!

See the white space on the outer corners?

Three: Lips

Red lips are the icing on this bombshell cake! Ms. Monroe actually used 5 different lipsticks to create the perfect color, a blue-red to counteract the cameras that turned every color orangey. You would be best off using a true red since none of us have cameras following us around! First, line your lips with a slightly deeper shade than you will be filling with. Apply your lipstick as you normally would, but take care to create perfect edges by using a Pointed Lip Brush. Blot, apply a layer of translucent powder and apply once more for some real staying power! Lastly, grab that white eyeliner again and very lightly draw a line around your cupid’s bow for extra definition.

Extra Step:

Grab your liquid liner and dab it just above the left side of your lips… you can’t be Marilyn without the beauty mark!

P.S.: Keep a lookout for MAC’s Monroe Collection which will be hitting stores in the fall! The Marilyn trend isn’t going to be going away anytime soon.