Pamela Anderson has entered a new phase of self-acceptance and aging gracefully. The 59-year-old Baywatch actress embraced a (mostly) no-makeup philosophy in 2023.
Known for her glam looks throughout the ’90s, Anderson has continued to speak her mind about her changing beauty ideals. Her decision to go makeup-free was also inspired by the 2019 death of her long-time makeup artist, Alexis Vogel.
“I will not be told what beautiful is,” Anderson recently told PEOPLE. “I have my own version of beauty, and it’s ageless.”
Deciding to ditch makeup
Anderson had worked with Vogel for 26 years before Vogel passed away from breast cancer.
“She was the best. And since then, I just felt, without Alexis, it’s just better for me not to wear makeup,” Anderson told Elle in 2023.
Losing Vogel changed how Anderson thought about beauty. She debuted her fresh face during Paris Fashion Week in September 2023.
“I am much more comfortable in my own skin, but I also am in an industry that really focuses on beauty. And I thought, ‘I’m going to challenge beauty,’” she told TODAY in 2024.
She also told Elle that the decision to continue to embrace her fresh face felt “freeing, and fun, and a little rebellious too. Because 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.”
Another reason she decided to ditch makeup was to shed tired stereotypes about her.
“Without context my name [suggests] a wrong image. I’ve been on this journey, from Playboy to Baywatch — all these Halloween costumes, I like to say — and now I come back home to self-love and self-acceptance; I just feel like it’s OK. [What I’m into now] is a conscious choice,” she told Allure in 2024.
Aging gracefully without makeup
The choice not to wear makeup was also inspired by getting older.
Anderson told Elle, “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…I feel rooted for. I feel good. I’m in a good place.”
Without spending time on glam, Anderson can invest more time in other passions.
“Now I’m going to have a little more time for myself than trying to keep up with the Joneses, or chase youth or anything,” she told TODAY. “I do feel free and it was a choice. I feel great. I feel good in my own skin.”
Choosing to wear makeup selectively
Although Anderson has decided to go mostly makeup-free, she remains open-minded and will wear makeup when she feels called to. In September 2026, she rocked a smoky eye for Vogue World: Milano 2026.
She’d told Allure, “My intention is to accept where you are in your beauty journey. I love makeup, too, by the way and I just finished a project (Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl) where I wore a lot of makeup and I loved that.”
Anderson also recently started a skincare brand called Sonsie that is clean, vegan, and cruelty-free. She told PEOPLE that one of her favorite products is Sonsie’s Basic Balm, paired with a swipe of mascara when she decides to go glam.
