Holly Madison, former star of Girls Next Door, recently shed light on Hugh Hefner’s strong dislike for lipstick. Hefner, who passed away in 2017 due to sepsis caused by an E. coli infection, was renowned for establishing the iconic Playboy empire.
Playboy, which started in 1953, originated as a lifestyle and entertainment publication. Over the years, it expanded into areas such as sexual wellness, gaming, and beauty. Known for its photo spreads, the magazine has featured well-known personalities like Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, and Raquel Pomplun on its covers, with many becoming Playboy Playmates, a title given to models who appeared in the centerfold of the monthly magazine.
Although Madison, now 44, was never a Playboy Playmate, she did appear in four pictorials alongside her Girls Next Door co-stars. Her first appearance was in the November 2005 issue, four years after she took up residence in the Playboy mansion and became one of Hefner’s companions.
Madison reportedly moved into the famed California residence while dealing with credit card debt, and by 2002, she had become Hefner’s ‘top girlfriend’. The couple dated for seven years before parting ways in 2008.
On the Ahead of the Curve with Coco Mocoe podcast, Madison recounted Hefner’s stringent rules for the women residing in the mansion. Discussing Hefner’s ‘control tactic’ concerning his disapproval of red lipstick, Madison stated: “I think it was a control tactic, but also, when I was brand-new, I wore red lipstick out a couple of times, and he didn’t say anything about it, because when you were the new girl in the group, you were always treated well.”
Madison elaborated on a concept she had heard: “Somebody said, like, the higher up you are in a cult, the worse you’re treated, because they want the new people to bond and feel into it.”
However, after Madison had been living at the Playboy mansion for about six months, the dynamics shifted.
“It wasn’t a big deal until, like, six months into it, when I was living in his bedroom and I was the main girlfriend,” she continued.
“That he felt like he had the leeway to yell at me over it.”
Madison shared her thoughts on why Hefner was so particular about his girlfriends’ makeup preferences. “I think he didn’t love it,” she suggested.
“Because when he invented the concept of a Playmate in the ’50s, he wanted the women to look very young and fresh-faced because he felt like the look in the ‘50s at the time was very – he described it as ‘somebody’s older sister’.”
Madison further explained Hefner’s perspective: “It was more sophisticated, fashion model, red lipstick. It was a lot of fabric and big skirts and everything, and he hated that.”
Instead, she claimed: “He wanted skimpy and fresh-faced and very young-looking.”
She added that for Hefner, bold makeup was associated with ‘older mature women’, which didn’t align with his preference for the ‘barely legal look’.