Bunny Tales (29 page)

Besides the parties, the Mansion was also a much-sought-after location for movies, films, and TV, hosting everyone from
Politically Incorrect
to live ESPN boxing to episodes of shows like
Sex and the City
. The convent scene for
Charlie’s Angels
was shot at the Mansion, and we got to meet George Clooney and Dick Clark when they were there to shoot a scene for
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
. We were thrilled to have these exciting events take place at a place we called home.

16: Bunny 101
.

“She got her good looks from her father. He’s a plastic surgeon.”

—Groucho Marx

B
unnies are not born; bunnies are made. And they are made with the help of a whole army of people. How many times have you read or heard about celebrities preparing for a role or a photo shoot wherein they say, “I worked out with my trainer for five hours a day everyday and I had special meals delivered to me.” And you thought to yourself,
Tough life. No wonder you look good. If I had that I would look even better!
And it’s true: Celebrities have trainers and chefs and get regular massages, facials, treatments, and surgeries. They have their own makeup artists, hair stylists, clothing stylists, and personal shoppers. Who wouldn’t look good with a support system like that? Although most Playmates and Hef’s Girlfriends do not have this kind of an army of professionals, we do have access to and take advantage of many services to enhance our looks.

Many girls out there think that bunnies are like femme-bots, that not much is real. I can just hear women saying, “All those girls had so much surgery, and their hair is so bleached out, and they look so harsh.” But every girl who became Hef’s Girlfriend was pretty to begin with—Hef is not attracted to ugly girls. The face is the most important part. When people ask Hef what the first thing he looks for in a girl is he answers, “A beautiful face.” And though I have seen him get completely sidetracked by a pair of huge breasts, it is the face that is the focal point. Bone structure and large eyes are the basics. The rest can be tweaked. And though we were all pretty, we all improved significantly with time. And it was not just the surgery. Yes, almost all of us had our noses altered to some degree, but that was the only facial surgery the girls had that had any significant impact. Bridget had laser eye resurfacing (erasing the wrinkles under the eyes), and Susan had an eyelid surgery, but other than that, no one else had anything done to her face that was permanent. We all tried Botox and lip-fillers such as collagen or Restylane, but those substances disappeared in time and did not change our looks dramatically.

What seemed to have made all the difference was actually what every woman can do for herself: makeup. Proper makeup technique, colors, and quality make a tremendous difference. For example, I did not know how to do the “smoky” eye shadow look at all; I put dark eye shadow on my lids and I looked like someone gave me two black eyes. I would look at the pictures afterward and wonder why I looked stoned. I also noticed that all of the girls were wearing fake eyelashes. I never had the need for them because I have naturally long lashes, but when you have so much eye makeup on, the extra lashes really enhance and frame your eyes. Most important, they look great in pictures. I remember the first Halloween party I spent as part of Hef’s group, before I decided to move in; I did my own makeup and I looked horrible. Those pictures haunt me forever, and Emma never missed an opportunity to make fun of them when we walked by them in the Mansion gallery. When people see those pictures and then compare current ones, I look so different that they wonder what I “had done.” The truth is often much simpler than we want to believe: makeup can do a lot of good—or a lot of damage in unskilled hands.

We all blossomed over time; there is not one girl that did not look significantly better after living at the Mansion for a while. I think it is because we learned from each other; how to do our makeup, how to wear our hair, what was flattering, and what was not. We asked each other and learned. There are no beauty secrets, just a lot of experimentation and coming to understand what works. But for those who want to “bunnify” themselves, I have come up with some essentials:

Bunny beauty basics:

1. Blonde hair

2. Tan

3. Perfectly white teeth

4. Fake nails

5. Fake eyelashes

6. Hair extensions

7. Full lips

8. Botox

9. Boobs

10. Photogenic nose

The most commonly altered feature is the nose. Six out of seven girls at the Mansion had their noses surgically altered. Nothing changes your look as much as nose surgery. Holly had her nose done twice. The first time was not enough of a change for her; she wanted a smaller, perky, button nose, so she went in the second time. She came out so bruised and swollen that she had to have tubes inserted to drain her nose. She looked scary at first, but she got the nose of her dreams. My procedure was very minor in comparison; I just had the tip of my nose shortened. Essentially, the doctor took off some extra cartilage from the tip. I had never had an issue with my nose, but after I moved into the Mansion and had to look at hundreds of pictures of myself each week, I began to scrutinize them and I realized my nose drooped when I smiled—the tip of my nose was close to my upper lip. Emma eagerly confirmed my realization. We were all quite critical of each other; other girls are very quick to point out imperfections, and of course when other people think there is a problem, you really begin to evaluate yourself. When I noticed that, I hated the way it looked when I smiled. And because all of the other girls had their noses done, I wasn’t afraid to do it. When I woke up from the surgery, I came home and felt great; I was joking around with the staff and hanging out with the girls. I think what made a difference for me is that my nose didn’t have to be broken like some of the other girls’, so there was not much bruising or swelling. The worst part is that there is gauze stuffed up your nose and you can breathe only through your mouth. After the first night, your mouth is so dry that you get what I call the alligator tongue—all dry and rough. A couple of days later, I went in to have the stuffing removed and it was not painful at all, it was just surprising how much of it they put up there. About a week after the surgery, the protective cast came off. The nose looked swollen and weird, but in time I noticed that the tip did not drop down like it used to. When I went to Canada, no one noticed that I had my nose done; only when I told them and showed them pictures did they realize the difference. I was happy and relieved not to have the pinched, botched nose-job look that so many women sport in Los Angeles. In fact, when the girls ask for a nose job, Hef always warns them that accidents happen. But in the end, no one thinks that anything will go wrong in their case, and luckily, everyone’s noses turned out great.

But I have to point out that no one was ever 100% satisfied with the results. There was always something: this side was different than the other, the bridge could have been flatter, the tip shorter, more refined, thinner, etc. And then the girls would say, well I did it once and it’s better, so I’ll do it again and it will be even better. I think that is when plastic surgery becomes addictive and dangerous; the never-ending quest for perfection can lead to the opposite effect. When Susan had her eyes done, she really did not need to—she looked great. After the surgery, the lids looked different and you could see the scars in the crease. It wasn’t worth it; you should not do anything prematurely or it will have the reverse effect of making you look older. Bridget had laser resurfacing done underneath her eyes. I don’t think it worked for her, because, to me, her eyes still looked tired and had lines underneath. This is what led us to think that she is older then she claims to be, because we did not know anyone who was having their eyes resurfaced in their twenties. What did make a difference for the eyes was the laser eye surgery. Many of the girls who moved into the Mansion wore contact lenses and glasses, and the first small surgery they had was the laser eye surgery. Holly used to wear these freaky blue contacts that looked cloudy or something, but she was almost blind and had no choice. That was the first treatment she had done when she moved in.

Besides the nose, the most popular procedure for girls living at the Playboy Mansion was breast implants. Some girls didn’t have any before they moved in, and some girls wanted to upgrade. Everyone, except Bridget (at least when I lived there), had implants; we saw so many boobs on a weekly basis that we became breast connoisseurs. We could be happy with only the best. Boob jobs were as regular as a cavity fill. It was easy to get them; first of all, Hef did not need any convincing, he always agreed to pay the $8,000 or more it cost to have the procedure. We all went to the same surgeon, who always gave us preferential treatment and squeezed us in despite his busy schedule, so we could have them done whenever we wanted. We were driven in a limo to the doctor’s office in Beverly Hills—five minutes down the street from the Mansion. We were picked up and escorted home, where our medication was waiting for us, as was a nurse if we needed one. We only had to press “0” to order anything to eat or drink. A breast enhancement surgery can be painful, particularly the bigger the implants and the smaller the breasts are naturally. It is also more painful to get them under the muscle. Usually it takes a week to get past the pain and discomfort. But for us, it was a piece of cake.

When a girl decides that she wants to get implants, there are many other decisions that must be made: Over the muscle or under the muscle? Saline or silicone? And of course the key decision of how many cc’s to get, how big the implants will be. There was a degree of competition between the girls as far as the size and look of breasts; it seemed like everyone always wanted to have the biggest breasts. However, implants don’t look the same on everyone; there are many factors that come into play in determining how they will look: the size of your natural breast, the shape, and of course your overall weight and height. It is an individual decision and must be discussed with your surgeon; and finding a good surgeon is the first step. Holly and I ended up getting the same amount. We had the largest breasts among the Girlfriends; no one had outrageously big breasts. Although Hef was fascinated when he saw really big breasts and slept with a couple of girls who had them, he thought they looked comical and did not want any of us looking that way.

Breast enhancement surgery is not always successful. It is a surgery, and there are always risks involved. The decision must not be made lightly. One of the girls at the Mansion had to have several surgeries to get them right. First she went too big and then switched to smaller implants. During the second surgery, the doctor (not our regular doctor) had injured one of her underarm muscles and she had a lot of discomfort there. She also developed a lot of scar tissue and her breasts did not look the same. When she moved into the Mansion, she went in for a third surgery so that the surgeon could remove all of that scar tissue. The surgery did not work, her implants looked tight, and she had to go in for a fourth surgery that finally made them better. Her recovery was not as easy; she had tubes in her breasts that were draining blood and liquids and needed a nurse the whole time. So although it is easy as pie for some girls, other girls have had complications. Also, breast surgery is not a one-time deal: those implants will have to be replaced in several years, and that means more risk, time off, and money.

Anything else the Girlfriends did was minor, such as lip enhancement. Everyone experimented with getting fuller lips at some point; collagen, Restylane, or Perlane. Emma had silicone put in her lips, and personally, I think it looked the best. The problem is that it is permanent, and if the doctor makes a mistake or you don’t like the effect, you are out of luck. She had thin lips when she was younger, but you would never know; now she has fabulously luscious lips. And that is how it is in a house full of girls; one girl does something and she looks better, then everyone wants to look better too. I only tried Restylane because collagen required testing for an allergy and, having an intense dislike for needles, I wanted to avoid the extra poking. Restylane worked well initially, but it dissolved in about four months. After that we would go and have little touchups when special occasions like photo shoots or big parties came up.

To finish off the mouth area, a beautiful, healthy smile is also important. Bleaching is standard. You can get trays at the dentist office and buy special bleach and do it yourself, or do the one-hour bleaching at a specialist. I remember Susan remarking on how yellow Kendra’s teeth were when she moved in.
Just give her time
, I thought.
She will go through the list and make the adjustments in time; we all did
. To fix teeth that are crooked, you obviously need braces. Braces are unsightly, and I don’t think Hef would go for one of his girls having braces, but if the teeth were really messed up, the clear aligners are not so bad. Another possibility is veneers. A lot of girls had their teeth replaced with porcelain veneers. One of the girls had them put on because her teeth were badly damaged by drug usage as a teenager. Another girl had them to get bigger teeth. The con is that they are quite expensive, often costing $1,000 per tooth, and if not done properly, they can look too big and obviously fake.

Skin is key to the way you feel. We all tried to take care of our skin the best we could. We usually had a facial every two months. To treat minor facial lines, we all tried Botox. Even Holly at the age of twenty-four tried Botox, although she did not need it. But it was so easy to get sucked into doing what other girls were doing. I find that Botox doesn’t last that long, maybe because they are diluting the solution so much. In any case, Botox won’t change your look drastically, but it will take away or soften that one line you may have on your forehead or your frown lines. I tried it on my frown lines (the consequence of years spent studying and reading under dim lights), and it worked great but did not last long. For some girls, it became a regular treatment, while others did it when there was a need to look great for a special occasion.