The bare-faced beauty is reclaiming her true self.
At 57 years old, Pamela Anderson is still discovering who she is. Known as a Playboy bombshell and Baywatch vixen by the entire world, Anderson has spent the past few years reclaiming her image. She traded her voluminous blowouts, sultry smoky eyes, and pouty lips for makeup-free looks and more relaxed ‘dos. In her new cover story with Better Homes & Gardens, the actress and model opened up about embracing her authentic self.
Looking back on her young career, Anderson believes the sex symbol and femme fatale labels she was given aren't a true reflection of who she is.
“[Going bare-faced ] was the beginning of me letting go of the image I had always had of myself. What is this cartoon character that I’d created? Okay, that was fun. But I’m not that person anymore,” she said.
She explained her beauty philosophy has never been about striving for perfection.
"I started thinking that I want to challenge the idea of beauty and this mask we put on. As soon as I took the mask off, the whole world opened up," she told the publication. "It just happened to be this silly thing of being at Paris Fashion Week and me saying, 'I’m not going to sit in a makeup chair for three hours. I’m going to the Louvre.'…It was such a refreshing way to see everything, and I didn’t think anyone would even notice."
However, Anderson's move did just the opposite, with her makeup-free decision making headlines everywhere. She joked that people have even told her they didn't like her before, but now that she doesn't wear makeup, they have a newfound appreciation.
In the current stage of her life, Anderson is embracing homemaking as a big part of her identity, something she has always "been into." She recalls often opening up her house and cooking for her kids and neighbors.
"My kids have always seen that part of me. And it hurt them to think that those other things are the only things people think of their mom," she shared. "Yes, she’s been in Playboy. Yes, she’s done all these things, but we know who she is. It’s different now."
In 2020, after living in France for a couple of years, Anderson moved back to Canada, where she was born and raised. She has since been living a quaint, slower-paced life, spending time with her sons, Brandon Thomas and Dylan Jagger Lee; launching a skincare line, Sonsie; and writing a cookbook, I Love You: Recipes from the Heart, filled with plant-based recipes.