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Pamela Anderson’s super glam makeup look in the early 90s was and is iconic. But recently Pammy has been going makeup-free in public appearances. When she did a campaign for fashion brand Aritzia back in August, she was also wearing very minimal makeup–if anything just a bit of mascara and concealer. It’s a big change from how she’s normally presented herself in the public eye. And other celebrities are applauding her for it. Pamela has been attending shows at Paris Fashion Week, including Victoria Beckham and Isabel Marant. Jamie Lee Curtis reposted one of Pamela’s IG posts from the Isabel Marant show and wrote that the “natural beauty revolution” is underway. Jamie called it an act of “courage and rebellion” for Pamela to go makeup-free.
Jamie Lee Curtis was totally wowed by Pamela Anderson, who recently decided to shake up beauty standards while attending Paris Fashion Week barefaced.
The Halloween actress — who’s one to hype up her Hollywood comrades on Instagram — shared a post on Sunday dedicated to Anderson’s recent makeup-free outing at the Isabel Marant show on Sept. 28.
“THE NATURAL BEAUTY REVOLUTION HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN! @pamelaanderson in the middle of fashion week with so many pressures and postures,” Curtis, 64, captioned a reposted photo of Anderson in the front row wearing a sleeveless yellow dress.
Curtis continued: “And, this woman showed up and claimed her seat at the table with nothing on her face. I am so impressed and floored by this act of courage and rebellion.”
Anderson later continued to embrace her natural features at the Victoria Beckham and Vivienne Westwood fashion shows.
On the one hand it is courageous for Pamela, who is 56, to go without makeup in front of a bunch of high-def cameras. I would be terrified to do that–I have acne scars and head injury scars that flash photography always picks up. But it also makes me a little bit sad that it is so courageous in the first place, you know? It shouldn’t be. Men are just allowed to visibly age. Their skin gets a bit blotchy and textured, their under eyes get hollow, they get wrinkles, and they still get to be considered attractive and desirable. Mads Mikkelsen has crows feet and nobody cares, he’s still hot. Pam is a naturally beautiful woman with great bone structure and striking eyes. It shouldn’t be a big deal if she doesn’t wear makeup. Women shouldn’t have to wear makeup in order to be seen as groomed or presentable.
The other reason why she hasn’t been wearing makeup recently is a touching one: her longtime makeup artist Alexis Vogel died of breast cancer in 2019. She told Elle magazine that “without Alexis, it’s just better for me not to wear makeup.” Alexis did her makeup for Playboy back in the early nineties and developed Pamela’s signature look. They go way back and were very close. Being bare faced is, I think, Pammy’s way of mourning her friend and collaborator.
Photos credit: Backgrid, Getty and via Instagram
I never realized how lovely she is until now. All the makeup hid her natural beauty.
Agreed!
She really is and always has been a natural beauty. She’s so pretty.
Absolutely agree that the made hid her natural beauty!
So, so true. She is stunning. The heavy makeup was iconic and truly of its time, but hid her natural beauty.
She looks great and it’s a lovely way to honour her friend ❤️ Alexis was courageous
Exactly my thought, too.
Oh that’s so sad about her friend. I’m someone who feels like doing the whole cut all my hair off thing in grief so I find this a really touching and understandable expression of grief.
I have been LOVING her makeup free fashion week looks! Yes, yes, she’s rich and has amazing skin but you’re totally right that it IS a big deal to see skin texture and she looks like a very beautiful 56 year old woman. Give us more of that! It’s extremely refreshing and makes me feel better about going makeup free in my own life (including to formal events).
I started going make-up free 2 years ago…I do wear lipstick. I wish I had done it years ago and I’m never going back. I’m glad Pamela is out there leading the way but I agree that it’s sad this is considered brave. Hopefully the “brave and courageous” reaction is just a step towards normalization.
I stopped wearing make up in my early 20s. I’m now 39 and look no where near my age. I still have wrinkles and dark circles under my eyes. I still get pms pimples. But I stopped caring what society tells me I should be.
I decided in my early 20s that I wanted to age naturally. I don’t die my hair, I don’t even wear make up for special events. If this bothers anyone, thats a them problem. While I acknowledge that genetics play a big part in this, I wish more women could embrace their natural self. It’s only society and marketing that tell us we need to be young and beautiful and buy all the products. No one will ever live up to their standards. But if you commit to a solid skin care routine with products that work for you (I’m into the ordinary, affordable good products) it will do wonders.
I’ve been make-up free for years. I wish women would seriously think about all the chemicals they put on their bodies and all the extra money they spend just to feel presentable, and mostly for the male gaze. We shouldn’t have to wear a ‘mask’ to leave the house.
Viva la natural beauty revolution!
I wear makeup for my own gaze. As I’m a stay at home parent, it’s pretty much just me seeing it. It’s my hobby.
@Betsy Same. I love playing with makeup, and I also wear it for my own gaze. I love the act of applying makeup, and I often wear it on days when I’m not seeing another human. Makeup feels like a form of art to me. I paint with acrylics and watercolors on canvas, and I “paint” with makeup on my face. They’re both fun hobbies for me. That said, everyone should do what feels fun and enjoyable for them, regardless of society’s expectations, and I 100% applaud and celebrate Pam Anderson’s makeup-freedom. She’s absolutely gorgeous, and I love seeing people do what feels right for them.
This is awesome! The only time I would question your motives is if you couldn’t or wouldn’t leave the house without having a ‘face’ on. If you can’t leave your house without make up then your not truly wearing it for your own gaze
women have to deal with billion dollar industries in makeup that basically tell us we are not enough. not young looking enough, skin is not perfect enough, pores are not tight enough, eyelashes are not long enough, lips are not full enough…just endless. it’s good to see one woman who fueled beauty ideals for a time totally shed all of it to just be her…which is enough. she looks stunning.
I only wear tinted moisturizer/sunblock and lipstick. Not sure if that is makeup free. What is interesting is that my husband says he prefers me makeup free and I think I look younger without it.
Was speaking with my son about how in the animal kingdom the males are brightly colored to a attract females while we humans have it reversed – the females use color on face, hair and fashion to attract males.
I’m 56 as well and I’ve worn a bit of makeup off and on over the years but have been makeup free since menopause and covid. Hot flashes and masks are not makeup friendly. A little lipstick does me good. Without eyeliner, mascara and eye shadow, I joke I’m rocking the rabbit eye!
I think it was Alicia Keyes who led the way, but whatever. Pamela has been soft pedaling the blonde bombshell makeup for a while, specifically the super dark eyeliner, and she’s looked beautiful without it – she looks fine here, too.
In theory, because there are multiple recounts of people saying Alicia wore “no makeup” makeup for her campaigns, video shoots and appearances. More power to her because we believed it, but she didn’t walk the walk.
Not sure if I’m disappointed or not – whatever Alicia is or isn’t doing, she’s still gorgeous.
Last month, Alicia keys was a trending topic for her so-called “no makeup.” Apparently, she’s was/is doing what they call in the industry, a no makeup makeup look. Where are you wearing makeup, but it looks so natural that you look like you’re not wearing any at all.
I mean the no makeup-makeup look is always a little odd to me. Like, I don’t get spending 30 minutes applying stuff just to look like you applied nothing. But I don’t think Alicia needs any makeup at all. She has great skin and bone structure so if she’s doing the minimal thing, I doubt she’s investing a ton of time into it.
It’s a surprise to see a woman without her makeup, especially a woman like Pamela Anderson who wore a full face, but after looking for a minute… she’s really pretty. There’s something soothing about a person looking like a person.
Erin Parsons on YouTube bought the Alexis Vogel kit, which comes with a book and DVD and she did their – Anderson and Vogel’s – signature look. It’s fun, and definitely of the time. I wonder how Vogel’s style would have evolved had she not gotten sick.
I think Pamela Anderson looks beautiful. Knowing she is honoring her friend makes it even more poignant.
Going to be honest. I don’t think she looks good. She looks very tired like she hasnt slept in weeks. Wouldnt hurt to have intensive facials to restore moisture… wouldnt hurt to have a little under eye powder either
Hi Mercury,
I’m used to being around women without makeup, so I probably understand beauty differently. However, I will say this: skin hydration and brightening dark spots can be helpful when you don’t wear makeup.
I just turned 50 and am OVER dealing with makeup. I wear light concealer around my eyes, a little blush and lipstick for work. Takes about 3 minutes. I’m fortunate to have good skin, but I’m at the point in my life where if a person doesn’t like the way I look, then they don’t have to look.
I wear little to no makeup and think I look better without it, so I’m glad celebs are doing it, too. I think most of the celebs and news anchors and such have been wearing “makeup gun turned up to 11 clown makeup” for the past 20 years, and I hate that look.
Don’t come @ me but seems to me this is largely a white women thing (i.e., big deal to not wear makeup). I’m thinking of women like whoopie goldberg and black women in general?
I hadn’t considered this before, and you might be right. I appreciate your comment, and I hope no one comes @ you!
Hopefully no one comes for me either but I feel like it’s the equivalent of natural hair for black women. It’s just nice to see people looking like themselves and not caving to the pressure to change/alter their appearance to conform to some antiquated notion of beauty. That being said, I do wear makeup but less and less as I get older because heavy eyeliner, foundation, shadow, blush etc just erases my features. I think Pamela looks so pretty here–you actually SEE her face and that glowing smile of hers in a way that you don’t with a full face of makeup.
Yes. No disrespect to Ms. Anderson her skin is lovely, however, her (FL) scars are showing maybe that is the bravery?
I’m just glad to see Pamela taking her power back and doing things on her own terms. Brava!
Male actors are pressured to look young too.
One of the few who is really letting himself aging is Hugh Grant, and people are shocked.
Pamela is taking the Brigitte Bardot route, kudos to her.
Hugh look terrible. And it’s because he doesn’t take care of his skin. His skin is so dry it looks painful.
Last month, Alicia keys was a trending topic for her so-called “no makeup.” Apparently, she’s was/is doing what they call in the industry, a no makeup makeup look. Where are you wearing makeup, but it looks so natural that you look like you’re not wearing any at all.
Vogue Italy has a nice spread on Isabella Rossellini out. She is wearing what feels like light makeup and is unretouched. That’s gorgeous too. It’s all a nice change.
I think it’s great she has the confidence to go makeup free but as a senior I can say that most women I know including myself aren’t as insecure about not wearing makeup once we reached our 50s. It’s another stage in our development. You begin to not GAF because you become comfortable in your own skin. Same with dyeing hair. This is the real me. If you don’t like it, don’t look.
I used to never leave the house without make up – ever – in my younger years. I would have never thought of it. I’m 61 now and rarely wear makeup and my skin is better for it. It’s weird, but even when I just use a little lip gloss, mascara and color in my eyebrowns now, I think that I look really made up!
I let my hair go grey during the lockdown and I get so many compliments on my hair. I got so tired of constantly trying to stay ahead of my grey hair revealing itself with constant visits to the salon for color. So time consuming and expensive. And my hair is so much healthier now too. I had allover grey hair by the time I was in my mid-40’s, so many years of coloring.
@olliesmom–Same here!
Pam has always been such a sweetheart, it’s nice to see her leading the way on this.
I pretty much stopped wearing makeup during lockdown, don’t miss it.
She’s stunning with makeup and stunning without. That anecdote about her makeup artist passing was very sweet.
I’m in my 50s and haven’t worn makeup in at least a decade. Also stopped dyeing my hair. Wear makeup, don’t wear makeup. Dye your hair, don’t dye your hair. As long as you’re doing it for yourself and no one else or because of societal pressure.
I think she looks good without makeup. But, I wish she would stop with the super-thin over-arched eyebrows. That looks is so dated and aging.
She may not have a choice with the eyebrows. A lot of people, myself included, did too much tweezing in the 90s and the brows didn’t grow back. Those super thin brows might just be what she is stuck with now.
I mean, she is Pamela Anderson, so when I say she doesn’t have a choice, that’s inaccurate. She could them tattooed on. Or there may be fancy procedures like hair implants or something. But my point is that she may not be plucking them like that now, that might be their natural state. And I agree that her thin eyebrows are a little out of place because to me, that doesn’t fit with the rest of her natural look. (ironic given that to make them thicker, would now require artifice)
I echo everyone’s sentiments.
Pamela Anderson looks so much more beautiful without all of that makeup.
She’s so beautiful, she doesn’t need it.
The heavy makeup actually hid her natural beauty.
When you age less makup makes you look younger.
That’s so sad about her makeup artist passing away, that relationship sounds so special. She looks great.
Pamela shows what it’s like to have inner beauty, because she’s at peace and values herself after a turbulent and at times very unhappy life. She lives not far from me on Vancouver Island, a town called Ladysmith, in her grandmother’s old house. She’s filming an HGTV show about the renovations and decorating she’s doing to it, and has clearly found herself in a tranquil, happy environment.
I love this story. She really deserves this peace.
The Netflix documentary where she tells her story is really great.
I find her breathtakingly beautiful – then and now with or without makeup. Her features are amazing.
Well, not really. Men use make up, tanning, skin care, hair plugs, plastic surgery and skin treatments too.
She looks so much better!
Part of me thinks when her makeup artist passed away it gave Pam a good enough reason to ditch her signature look. I remember reading that for years she dyed her own hair platinum blonde. I get what her industry demanded of her and what the patriarchal facets of society expected but it really bothers me that when a famous privileged white woman does anything she’s called brave by another famous privileged white woman. When someone like me who never wears make up does it I’m called unprofessional, tired looking, asked to atleast try putting in more effort etc. I guess solidarity is only for white feminists because they sure as sh*t don’t call me brave, rebellious or a revolutionary.