In the age of frozen faces and ozempic diet culture, vanity is just as prevalent now as it has always been in society. Everyone wants to love what they see when they look in the mirror; it is natural for humans to strive for perfection, especially when it comes to the way that other people perceive us.
The 90s Vixen Look
Pamela Anderson is no stranger to the public eye focusing in on her natural beauty. Anderson, born in 1967 in Ladysmith, Canada shot to stardom immediately in 1989 when she was attending a Canadian league football game where she was suddenly put on the jumbotron. This chance encounter — leaving viewers stunned by her beauty — would go on to cement her as one of the most revered sex symbols of the 90s. She is most widely recognized from her role as Casey Jean “C.J.” Parker in “Baywatch”, the cult-classic television series that first aired in 1989. Anderson joined the cast in the series third season, and her character is remembered most for her high-cut cherry-red lifeguard swimsuit, bleach blonde beach waves and so-cal barbie girl tan skin.
One of the most iconic parts of Anderson’s quintessential 90s look was the makeup — thin brows, messy yet perfectly applied gunmetal shadow, stark black liner on the top and bottom waterline and glossy nude lips. Her signature makeup aesthetic is timeless, and often finds its way on Pinterest boards for how flattering, yet simple it was.
Bare All
Anderson has since become more widely talked about in recent years for her choice to break away from her iconic makeup look, instead opting for a completely bare and makeup-free life. The death of Anderson’s makeup artist, Alexis Vogel, was the incitement for the drastic shift. Before her tragic death from breast cancer in 2019, Vogel served as Anderson’s makeup artist ever since Anderson’s 1993 Playboy cover shoot.
Anderson went viral in 2023 for being photographed makeup-free sitting front row at the Vivienne Westwood runway show during Paris Fashion Week, prompting the public’s inquiry of her new look. In 2023, Anderson was interviewed by People magazine where she says
“I find beauty in interesting faces, older faces.”
Her decision to go makeup-free was a journey of self-discovery, of embracing natural beauty with age and of self-love. Another 90s sex-symbol starlet, Drew Barrymore, has even hopped on the no makeup trend, citing Anderson as inspiration.
Maybe this confidence and this willingness to find beauty from within can only come with time and age — or maybe it can only come when one is as stunningly beautiful as Anderson is without makeup — but only time can tell. For now, do whatever makes you feel the most beautiful — makeup can be used simply as an artistic medium to accentuate and flatter our natural features, but it is an art form of its own. Where one person might find confidence and self-discovery in a bare face, another might find the same feeling of self-actualization in a full-glamour beat or gyaru makeup.
What does makeup mean to you? Let us know @VALLEYmag on Instagram!
