Pamela Anderson is done with makeup.
For the last few months, the Ladysmith, B.C.-born Anderson — who for much of her career was best-known as a Hollywood bombshell and Playboy model — has ditched her makeup almost entirely, opting instead for a relaxed, fresh-faced look with her freckles on full display.
Even at the most high-profile events, like last week’s Vivienne Westwood Paris Fashion Week show, Anderson has done away with social norms and embraced her natural beauty.
The former Baywatch star wore only a light coat of mascara and vintage designer clothing from her own closet to the Paris event.
In an interview with Vogue France before the Vivienne Westwood show, Anderson, 56, said the choice not to wear a full face of makeup came subconsciously.
“I was dressing in these beautiful clothes, and I thought, ‘I don’t want to compete with the clothes.’ I’m not trying to be the prettiest girl in the room,” she explained in the interview released Tuesday. “I feel like it’s freedom. It’s like a relief.”
Anderson did not have a glam team or stylist for the event, which are nearly ubiquitous for any celebrity.
“You have to challenge beauty sometimes,” she explained, adding that her mother had always said Anderson would one day tire of wearing makeup.
“If we all chase youth, or we’re all chasing our idea of what beauty is in fashion magazines and everything, we’re only going to be disappointed, or maybe a little bit sad.”
Anderson said as a woman in the public eye, she wants to be a role model for others and prove that women of any age do not have to abide by rigid beauty standards.
A ‘natural beauty revolution’
Many of Anderson’s fans, along with other celebrities, have praised Anderson for her new makeup-free look.
Actor Jamie Lee Curtis applauded her for not wearing makeup. In an Instagram post Sunday, Curtis, 64, said Anderson has launched the “natural beauty revolution.”
Curtis shared two photos of Anderson from the Isabel Marant show at Paris Fashion Week on Sept. 28.
“This woman showed up and claimed her seat at the table with nothing on her face,” she wrote. “I am so impressed and floored by this act of courage and rebellion.”
In the comments, some of Curtis’ followers took issue with the actor’s categorization.
“I think that rather applauding women wearing no makeup, we should be applauding that she seems to have found her comfort zone and seems to be embracing what that is for her at that age,” one Instagram user wrote. “I don’t think we should start applauding less makeup, more makeup, etc., but rather women embracing what THEY want to do in the moment and not what anyone else wants them to do.”
Another chided that Anderson’s makeup-free look is “great but women should not be labeled brave for feeling comfortable in their own skin.”
Curtis made another post about Anderson only days later. She shared two stills from the Vogue France interview.
“FREEDOM IS BEAUTIFUL!” Curtis wrote.
Many others on social media echoed Curtis’ sentiment and shared their admiration for Anderson.
In August, Anderson said she stopped wearing makeup after her friend and makeup artist Alexis Vogel died from breast cancer in 2019. The star told Elle she felt “better” not wearing makeup since Vogel’s death.
“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 what everyone’s doing,” she explained. “I think we all start looking a little funny when we get older. And I’m kind of laughing at myself when I look at the mirror. I go, ‘Wow, this is really…what’s happening to me?’ It’s a journey.”