How Going Makeup-Free Has Empowered Pamela Anderson to Embrace Imperfections

The actress and author opened up to ‘Glamour’ about her fresh-faced outlook.

Pamela Anderson / Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Pamela Anderson’s highly-discussed decision to go makeup-free for major events like the Oscars and the British Fashion Council Awards over the past year was never meant to be some big declaration or statement. It was simply a casual conclusion she came to after realizing she liked how she looked without it better.

The actress, best known for her role as C.J. Parker in the iconic ’90s series Baywatch, graced the cover of Glamour as a Global Women of the Year for 2024, and she opened up further about how her ideas of beauty and self-love have changed over the years.

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“I’ve nothing against makeup, but I felt like it just looked better on me in my 20s than it did now,” Anderson explained. “You’re going to hit a crossroads in your 50s, and you go, ‘Am I going to chase youth? Am I going to be miserable? Or am I going to be self-accepting?’ And it’s a practice. And it’s hard to say that you’re attempting all this if you’re still doing the red carpets and the covers of magazines plastered in makeup.”

The 57-year-old, who was born and raised in Canada, moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting in 1990. Over her past three plus decades in the industry, she’s had to work for others and sometimes prioritize her career over her well-being. Today, Anderson is completely herself and fully in charge, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Part of that means showing off her bare skin with the inner peace of not caring what others think.

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“This process is really empowering. I know it seems a little bit crazy. I’m also trying to find myself and who I am, kind of, underneath it all and trying to peel back the layers,” the mom of two said. “ ... It’s important, no matter where you are in your beauty journey, to accept yourself as you are. And right now I’m having a big moment accepting scars I have or imperfections. I think, instead of trying to be this polished person, I’d rather be raw. One eye is smaller than the other, my nose is crooked, my lips are weird. Everyone is weird.”

The former Broadway star recently finished filming the highly-anticipated reboot of the American crime comedy The Naked Gun. When she’s not busy on set, she’s channeling her energy into Sonsie, the vegan and cruelty-free skincare line she acquired earlier this year. Over the past few years, Anderson has been in a deeply reflective state, highlighted by the release of her New York Times best-selling memoir, Love, Pamela, and her candid Netflix documentary, Pamela, A Love Story.