Pamela Anderson has retired her signature smoky makeup in favour of the au naturale look, and she’s never been happier.
An icon of the ‘90s beauty era, Pamela singlehandedly popularised the bombshell makeup look, which consisted of smoked-out shadow, brown-toned lips and uber-thin brows. Essentially, she is THE 90’s bombshell.
Now, forging her own path in Hollywood, the former Baywatch star continues to share pearls of beauty wisdom (those who haven’t tried her g-string scrunchie hack are missing out).
Pamela Anderson without makeup
More recently, she’s started paring things back, which she tells Elle US has been “freeing, and fun, and a little rebellious too”.
“I just went along with what people were telling me what to do,” she said.
In 2019, her longtime makeup artist Alexis Vogel passed from breast cancer, after which Pam admitted “I just felt, without Alexis, it’s just better for me not to wear makeup.”
“I did notice that there were all these people doing big makeup looks, and it’s just like me to go against the grain and do the opposite [of] what everyone’s doing,” she continued in her interview.
Following her new stance on makeup, she’s been proudly sharing makeup-free pictures.
“I’d rather show my freckles…It’s fun getting old. It’s a relief. And at a certain age, we just look younger and fresher without makeup. This is me – I’m happy with who I am right now,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
Signifying this change, she sported a bare face in her Netflix documentary, Pamela, A Love Story.
In an interview with WWD Magazine, Pam spoke further about choosing to forgo makeup.
“I really feel powerful right now when everything’s very pared down. I like to see my freckles…when my hair isn’t done…just a really fresh face.”
Celebrity reactions to Pamela Anderson’s makeup-free era
Of course, Pam’s choice to eschew Hollywood beauty standards hasn’t gone unnoticed by other celebs. In fact, many have applauded her for going makeup-free – and looking absolutely gorgeous whilst doing so.
Jamie Lee Curtis, the queen of supporting and uplifting women in Hollywood, is obsessed with Pam’s makeup-free era (and so are we!). The actress took to Instagram over the weekend to applaud Pam’s “act of courage and rebellion” at Paris Fashion Week.
“The natural beauty revolution has officially begun! @pamelaanderson,” Jamie Lee captioned a pic she posted of a bare-faced Pam. “In the middle of fashion week with so many pressures and postures, and and and, this woman showed up and claimed her seat at the table with nothing on her face.”
The post was flooded with supportive comments from Hollywood royalty and admiring fans alike. “That’s pretty iconic,” talk show host Chelsea Handler wrote. Selma Blair also showed her support with a heart emoji and kind words: “Love this. Beautiful self-assuredness.”
And we’d have to agree.
Main image credit: @pamelaanderson
What are your makeup preferences? Do you prefer glam or au naturale?
She looks great
Definitely au naturale. She still looks fab
I find I wear less make up the older I get.
Mainly wear it for work or if I’m going out for a special occasion somewhere.
Yes it id so freeing too.
I have pared back my makeup over the years.
Good on her. Natural looks great for her.
Well done, time for a change.
Yes I agree .I wear a lot less makeup than I used to.
She looks so happy. Good for her!
Good for her, she still looks fab. For me looking after my skin is the most important
Who needs make up when you have such natural beauty.
Exactly what I think.
I prefer a more natural look.
Yeah, me too. It just looks better.
Very nice
She looks great, and she’s right – there’s an age where heavy makeup works against you.
Yep, totally agree
I watched her documentary, shes really looking after her self well
Good on her.She does look amazing with make up but good to see she is happy within herself. Good lesson.
Awesome, Well done Pam.
her freckles are really cute!
She’s got a refreshingly healthy outlook on ageing. Good on her!
I really like her positive thinking about aging.
She looks so different, I would never have guessed it was her.
She still looks super gorgeous!
looks great
She looks beautiful without makeup.
She looks great with or without makeup.
She looks so good! I love seeing her freckles
Her freckles are gorgeous.
Fresh faced look is so much more appealing!
Those are some cute freckles!
I love the natural freckle look but also the glam look – variety for me!
Well if I looked like she does without make up I would be happy and show myself off as well.
99% natural and 1% glam.
Still looking gorgeous
I love applying makeup. I know I look waaaay better with it.
I’m so glad to see that she is doing this later in life. The more people who do the better. We should all be able to be comfortable in our own skin.
She looks great!
I prefer to do what’s right for me and a significant part of that is around self acceptance
If she had fuller brows, that could be a gamechanger.
I try not wear make up.
Au natural is my preference, I think Pam looks great.
Pamela is absolutely amazing- such an inspirational and beautiful woman
quite a contrast, she is always lovely
I agree that she looks lovely. It really suits her.
Yes, I think we should normalise being bare faced. She looks fantastic!
Yes, I think we should normalise being bare faced as much as we can amongst celebrities! She looks great!
I adore her confidence and honesty to her approach to beauty.