In the ’90s, Pamela Anderson became one of the most visible symbols of bold glamour in popular culture, with her platinum hair, razor-thin brows and a bombshell silhouette that came to epitomize the era.
Today, she’s leading a new chapter on her own terms — one that has kicked off a natural beauty revolution, even as her earlier looks continue to influence a younger generation across social media.
How does she define beauty now?
Related Articles
“I think the biggest part for me was self acceptance at some point in my life, and I think that was not too many years ago,” said Anderson, WWD’s Style Awards Beauty Icon honoree.
That realization marked a turning point.
“I’ve learned that I have my own way of doing things, instead of following trends and trying to be like other people,” she explained. “So that’s what’s been so freeing. I think beauty is just being free to be yourself.”
That freedom is visible today in the way Anderson, now 58, steps onto red carpets with glowing skin and little to no makeup, guided by choice rather than expectation. The shift became visible to the public during Paris Fashion Week in 2023, when Anderson went viral for appearing makeup-free.
“I remember thinking, ‘I’m not trying to be the prettiest girl in the room,’” she recalled of the moment. “’Why am I going to sit in the makeup chair for two hours when I could be at the Louvre? I could go look at some architecture. I could walk around Paris. There’s so much to do at the flea market. I could do so many things.’ I just thought, ‘No one is even going to notice if I don’t do this whole beauty thing.’ So I was surprised when people did.”
She hadn’t expected the reaction: “I didn’t realize it was going to resonate so much, because I was really doing it just for myself, really questioning myself, and thinking, ‘It’s OK. The way I look is fine.’”
Looking back at her early years, Anderson described her relationship with beauty as role-playing, responsive to context and audience. It unfolded on a global stage, as she rose to fame starring on “Baywatch,” which became the most-watched television series in the world at its peak, reaching more than 1.1 billion viewers weekly.
“The beauty back in the ’90s was very rock ‘n’ roll and wild, and we had a lot to express — and depending on who I was around, who I was dressing for and what I was playing, all these characters,” she remembered.
Eventually, the line between character and self began to blur.
“I found, at some point, that I’m not trying to keep up with the Joneses. I’m not trying to look like anybody else,” she went on. “I just felt like, ‘What am I supposed to look like? Who am I?’ Maybe everybody hits that point in their life. But it’s funny when you’re doing it in public.”
Her relationship with beauty was shaped early on, growing up in Canada on Vancouver Island. Her first beauty icon, she said, was her mother.
“I remember her having a bouffant hairdo, garden gloves, jeans rolled up,” she said. “And she’s always loved beauty. She’s a very glitz and glamour kind of lady, and same with my aunts. Everyone has been very sparkly in my life.”
Anderson saw herself differently. “I’m a tomboy. I was climbing trees and in the mud when I was little.”
That connection to nature hasn’t faded. She appreciates simple, grounding rituals.
“I’ve gotta get outside,” she said. “I’ve gotta put my feet on the grass.”
It’s influenced how Anderson chooses to participate in the beauty industry at large. As cofounder of Sonsie, the vegan, cruelty-free skin care brand, Anderson sees beauty as care. And her values guide her partnerships, she said, including becoming Biolage’s first global ambassador in 2025 and serving as a Pandora brand ambassador since 2023.
“Any collaboration I’ve done has been with someone who’s forward thinking about sustainability,” she said, noting recycling initiatives and lab-grown diamonds as part of a broader responsibility.
In the past few years, Anderson has been reclaiming her story. In 2023, she released The New York Times bestselling memoir “Love, Pamela” and starred in the Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary “Pamela, A Love Story,” both of which offered an intimate account of her life and career in her own words.
“I’m always writing,” she said.
These days, she pens a weekly Substack newsletter, The Open Journal, and insists on making time for it amid a packed schedule: “I’m working more now than ever.”
She has moved from project to project; after “The Last Showgirl” — earning Best Actress nominations from the Golden Globes and SAG — came “Naked Gun,” “Rosebush Pruning” and “Place to Be.”
“I just finished ‘Love Is Not the Answer,’ and it was the hardest work I’ve ever done,” she said of the Michael Cera film, opposite Steve Coogan and Jamie Dornan.
What excites her most is the range, she said. “Every single role is different, very, very different. I feel very fortunate to be working as much, and I’m not taking it for granted.”
She also cofounded And-Her-Sons Productions with her sons Brandon Thomas Lee and Dylan Jagger Lee. “I’ve got a whole year ahead of me planned.”
Next, she’ll film Sally Potter’s “Alma” with Dakota Fanning, followed by Rania Attieh’s and Daniel Garcia’s “Queen of the Falls” with Guy Pearce.
“I feel like this is a second chance,” she added. “I don’t want any regrets. I’m going to leave it all in every film that I do.”
