Pamela Anderson Reflects on Her Makeup-Free Movement: 'Do We Even Know What a Face Looks Like Anymore'

Pamela Anderson is sharing more reflections on her recent makeup-free statement at Paris Fashion Week.

In a new interview with Vogue, the Baywatch alum, 56, explained what inspired her to ditch her usual glam and make the rounds of the runway shows in the French capital wearing only some homemade rosehip oil on her face.

"I know I wasn’t making strides toward world peace, but I was making a statement,” Anderson told the magazine. “I just thought, ‘I’m doing this for all the girls out there.’ I’ve had stepdaughters in past relationships and my sons have girlfriends, and this was for them."

"In this day and age, do we even know what a face looks like anymore? This is it," she added.

However, Anderson was quick to note that she isn't banishing makeup from her beauty routine for good. She said she simply "wasn't in the mood to play the game" that first day in Paris when she was preparing to step out to the Vivienne Westwood show.

“Once I put the clothing on, I thought, ‘I’d rather go for a walk and look at the architecture of Paris than sit in the makeup chair for three hours,'" she recalled of her decision to skip out on her glam team.

She admitted that posing bare-faced in front of photographers at the fashion events made her feel "a bit insecure" — especially when she remembered digital photography, which allows for zooming in on the smallest of imperfections.

“It felt a bit like jumping off a bridge, but I just smiled. And when I got home from the show, that’s when I decided I wanted to go makeup free the entire week," she said.

Anderson's bold statement comes after she moved back to her hometown on Vancouver Island in British Columbia in 2019 with the goal of getting "in touch again with the person I was before I left for California [in 1990].”

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She said she feels proud to have sparked a broader conversation about the pressures of unattainable beauty standards. “Taking those chances are what makes life interesting," Anderson said of her makeup-free moment. "And if you have an open heart and you are being vulnerable, you can’t lose. This experience proved to me that people resonate with authenticity and with courage.”

In a video for Vogue France, filmed as she was getting ready to attend the Vivienne Westwood show on Sept. 30, Anderson offered more insight into her sudden inspiration to go bare-faced.

"I don't know, something just kind of came over me and I was dressing in these beautiful clothes and I thought, 'I don't want to compete with the clothes,'" she shared. "I'm not trying to be the prettiest girl in the room. I feel like it's just freedom. It's a release."

She said she was also motivated by the fact that she's recently felt the "happiest I've ever been in my own skin."

For Anderson, it was also about pushing back against unrealistic beauty norms. "You kind of have to challenge beauty sometimes," she insisted. "You know, if we all chase youth, or we're chasing our idea of what fashion magazines and everything, we're only gonna be disappointed or maybe a little bit sad. So I feel like this is it."

The Alone at Night star has earned wide praise for her daring decision to ditch the makeup — including from her own peers in the entertainment industry.

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis shared a photo of a makeup-free Anderson on Instagram earlier this month and declared, "THE NATURAL BEAUTY REVOLUTION HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!"

"@pamelaanderson in the middle of fashion week with so many pressures and postures, and this woman showed up and claimed her seat at the table with nothing on her face,” Curtis, 64, wrote. “I am so impressed and floored by this act of courage and rebellion.”

Scarlett Johansson praised Anderson for "sending a powerful message" to women everywhere.

"I think it is definitely different to see somebody that's in the public eye, a woman in the public eye, go to a fashion show or big event with no makeup on. It's just very different from what we're used to," Johansson, 38, told PopSugar.

"It's a powerful message for women to see that, whether they follow suit or whatever the effect is, in the zeitgeist. It's powerful for women to see other women rejecting standard beauty norms," she continued.