Here's what Lucille Ball had to say about staying young and beautiful
Lucille Ball was a legendary actress, comedian and producer best known for her roles in I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show and Here Comes Lucy. Her portrayal of Lucy Ricardo put Ball's groundbreaking physical comedy and slapstick humor on the map.
Ball may have had one of the best personalities in the business, but in a 1952 interview with The Los Angeles Times, Ball said she used her personality to compensate for what she thought she lacked in physical appearance.
In the interview, Ball said she didn't consider herself beautiful in the conventional sense, but she always created an illusion of beauty. An aura surrounded Ball wherever she went. So, what was Ball's beauty secret?
"Happiness," Ball said in a 1952 interview with The Miami News.
According to the interview, Ball had a few beauty routines that she followed quite regularly. For example, after a bath she would put cologne on herself and then after she was dressed she would add a finishing touch of perfume.
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She said: "This way you've built an aura of fragrance rather than having perfume concentrated in one or two spots."
Even with her many beauty routines and hacks, according to the interview, Ball usually dreaded dressing up and doing her makeup.
"Not being a beauty, I hated any part in a picture which depended on beauty," Ball said. "I resented work where looks were that important. There are so many glamour girls that I felt it was silly for me to try and compete with them."
"I had to learn to concentrate on my personality — to have an individual approach," Ball said. "The way you feel about yourself has a lot to do with the impression you make. Then, too, my hair was nothing-brown, and I hated it."
Ball's red hair, of course, became one of her many trademarks in Hollywood. Ball believed that hair health was more important than hair color. She used henna in her hair, temporary dyes and tried to only towel-dry her hair.
According to the interview, when Ball first appeared on camera she didn't like what she saw... and heard.
"I was startled to find how high my voice was," Ball said. "I hated it and had to lower it in a hurry, and managed to do it by screaming. I wouldn't advocate this method though — a much more sensible way is to listen to yourself and try to say everything lower. Once you check on yourself constantly, it's just a matter of time before you'll speak low without thinking about it."
Whatever her beauty secrets were, Lucille Ball was beautiful both inside and out.
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