Holly Madison shares gross reason why Hugh Hefner banned Playboy models from wearing red lipstick

Girls Next Door star Holly Madison has explained why Playboy founder Hugh Hefner had an ardent hatred of lipstick.

Hefner, who died in 2017 from sepsis brought on by an E. coli infection, is best known for creating his larger-than-life Playboy empire.

Founded in 1953, the business initially began as a lifestyle and entertainment magazine, but has since branched out into sexual wellness, gaming, and beauty spaces.

Famous for its photo spreads, the magazine has had famous faces such as Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, and Raquel Pomplun grace its front cover and becoming Playboy Playmates - a model who appeared in the centerfold of the monthly publication.

Despite never being a Playboy Playmate herself, Madison, 44, appeared in four pictorials beside her Girls Next Door co-stars.

Her first was in the November 2005 issue, four years after she moved into the Playboy mansion and became one of Hefner’s girlfriends.

It’s understood Madison was facing credit card debt when she began living at the infamous Californian abode, and that she became the founder’s ‘#1 Girl’ in 2002.

The former flames dated for seven years before calling it quits on their romance in 2008.

Speaking on an episode of the Ahead of the Curve with Coco Mocoe podcast, the mum-of-two recalled Hefner's strict rules when it came to the women living in the mansion.

Talking about Hef's 'control tactic' surrounding his aversion to a bit of red lippy, Madison explained: "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 went on to share a particular phrase she had previously 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.”

But after half a year of Madison living at the Playboy residence, everything began to change.

"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 then opened up on her theories as to why Hefner was so controlling over his girlfriends' makeup choices.

"I think he didn't love it," she claimed.

"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'."

Explaining a little more behind the businessman’s reasoning, Madison went on: "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."

And if you thought that was a bit odd - wait for this.

For Hef, Madison revealed, bold makeup was reserved for 'older mature women', which was certainly not his type because 'it wasn't, like, the barely legal thing anymore'.