
Pamela Anderson’s 2023, to date, can best be summarized as a full-fledged profession renaissance. Last month, the Baywatch star returned to the popular culture scene with the discharge of her candid Netflix documentary, Pamela, A Love Story, and her memoir, Love, Pamela. Within the weeks since, she’s quickly reestablished herself as a method icon, influencing a complete recent generation along with her beauty and fashion decisions prefer it’s 1992 all once again. Look no further than the hashtag #PamCore on TikTok for proof of users emulating her iconic bang updo hairstyle or signature smoldering smoky eyes.
Nevertheless, on the subject of her recent press, there may be one significant distinction. After spending the vast majority of her profession objectified by the media, at 55, Anderson is finally controlling her narrative—and that features selecting how she presents herself to the world. In Pamela, A Love Story, she decided to look completely bare-faced, a liberating move that her makeup artist, Eileen Madrid, said was fastidiously deliberated.
Courtesy of Carmelo Redondo
“Everyone already knows what Pamela looks like glam, which is why she desired to be raw and show the world her real, authentic face,” says Madrid, who’s based in LA and has been doing Anderson’s makeup for 2 years. “She was like, ‘They’re gonna take it or leave it.’”
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Audiences loved Anderson’s unvarnished, freckled look and couldn’t recover from how good—err, amazing—her natural skin looked. But because the star has publicly proclaimed that she won’t “do all of the crazy shit” to chase a younger appearance, a lot of us were left wondering: What exactly does she do to maintain her Baywatch-worthy glow going strong, 26 years after leaving the beach behind?
“Moisture is the perfect anti-aging trick,” Anderson exclusively tells ELLE.com. “I exploit a humidifier in dry climates, and a healthy rose water spray is the right toner and pick-me-up. I keep mine within the fridge and use it each time I open the door.” Aside from that, Anderson takes an easy approach to her routine. “I don’t exfoliate often; I allow my skin to do its thing,” she says. She credits her no-fuss skincare approach to time-honored practices. “Skincare is nothing recent. I like to make use of common sense remedies, nothing fancy. I’m a lover of old wives’ tales, history, and the potions and wonder oils of ancient goddesses.”
Courtesy of Carmelo Redondo
Anderson, who’s lived a vegan lifestyle since her mid-twenties and established her own foundation for human, animal, and environmental rights, seems to take a holistic approach to many things, beauty included. “Skincare, in my world, is best described as skin nourishment, or skin food,” she says. “You’re what you eat, watch, and hearken to.” For her, which means considering fastidiously about what she puts into, and onto, her body. “I take excellent care of my natural teeth,” she says. “I exploit a prebiotic toothpaste, which can be best for gut health. And for my lips, organic lip balms of all types are my go-to. Even with a fresh, clean face, I placed on natural lip balm.”
She may prefer a more low-lift regimen at home, but when it comes time for public appearances, Anderson turns to trusted pros like Madrid, in addition to her go-to esthetician, Klara Chrzuszcz. “Pamela’s skin routine is easy: clean and consistent,” says Chrzuszcz, the founding father of luxe Latest York City medical spa Klara Beauty Lab. “She does weekly facials for cleansing and toning, and since she favors fresh skin over foundation, we concentrate on a very powerful elements of skin maintenance: hydration, nourishment, and oxygenation to maintain her skin plumped and healthy.”
When she stepped out for the premiere of Pamela, A Love Story, Anderson turned up the glam. Making her way down the red carpet in a slinky red Naeem Khan dress that recalled her Baywatch swimsuit, the star’s signature smoky eye, darkly lined lips, and platinum updo made time travel feel real. But her makeup artist says all of it starts with a face mask the night before. “We love Knesko’s Rose Quartz Antioxidant Collagen Face Mask and the Amethyst Hydrate Collagen Face Mask [because] they’re charged with Reiki energy. I all the time begin our glam by organising my crystals,” says Eileen Madrid. “Pamela loves its jelly texture and the way it holds loads of serum, and it’s also constructed from hydrogel and is totally biodegradable.” For early-morning start times, she’s also a fan of the brand’s Collagen Eye Masks, which have a cooling effect and help with de-puffing.
So as to add much more hydration, Madrid applies Knesko’s Nanogold Repair Serum to Anderson’s T-Zone and Lise Watier’s lifting cream to her face and neck. She blends all of it in with Infynit Skyn’s Anti Wrinkle & Aging Facial Device, which “has LED lights and likewise gives somewhat massage that Pamela loves.” When it’s time for makeup, Madrid stays away from powder foundations, choosing creamier products like Lancôme’s Teint Idole Long Lasting Foundation Stick with contour, Makeup by Mario’s Soft Pop Blush Stick, and Milk Makeup’s Flex Foundation Stick, which she mixes with 111Skin’s Rose Gold Radiance Booster serum for extra moisture.
Courtesy of Carmelo Redondo
In terms of Anderson’s dramatic eye—which she prefers to be less perfect, more “smudgy”— Madrid uses Lancôme’s Le Khôl Eyeliner Pencil in black (when taking it off later, she uses Lancôme’s oil-infused makeup remover). She goes for nude or pink lips, using different mixtures of lip liners and matte moisturizing lipsticks from Charlotte Tilbury, Elise Watier, Makeup By Mario, and Nude Envie. “We all the time darken the outer lip-liner, and Pamela says it makes her feel like she’s within the ’90s again,” says Madrid. The result: A mix that the pair calls “The Iconic Pam Look.”
In fact, that look wouldn’t be complete without Anderson’s signature platinum blonde hair. In Love, Pamela, the star hit up her local drugstore to purchase a Garnier Nutrisse hair-dye kit, confirming that she is, in reality, her own colorist (“It’s true, she all the time does that,” says Madrid). She also recently revealed one in every of her more, err, eccentric beauty hacks, demonstrating how she uses a g-string as a scrunchie to attain her tousled updo in a pinch. Anderson knows what works—and she or he’s not afraid to take control, explains Madrid. “If another person is doing her hair, she’ll be like, ‘We’ve got to tease it more,’ after which she grabs the Balmain Hair Couture hairspray and does it herself.”
Ultimately, all that matters to Anderson is how she feels. Straight away, she’s embracing a newfound sense of freedom regarding her relationship with fame. “A peaceful, smiling face is all the time probably the most attractive,” says the star, who reportedly caused searches for “bleach blonde hair dye” to skyrocket after her doc aired. Now, with so many TikTok “for you” pages inundated with #PamCore tutorials, it’s evident she continues to be thought to be a pillar of Gen Z style. “Pamela doesn’t follow the trends; she’s all the time been a trendsetter,” says Madrid. “That’s why everyone seems to be on TikTok without delay attempting to recreate her look.”