At Milan Fashion Week, eyes were on the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II for Vogue World and an unexpected beauty moment. Under the glass roofs, an icon known for having made bare skin his manifesto arrived in a golden dress, glamorous blow-dry, deep black eyes. A striking contrast for the one who had turned her back on spectacular makeup for several years.
This icon is
Pamela Anderson56, who marked a turning point by appearing with a smokey smoky eyesymbolically breaking with its strict “no make-up” era. After the death of her makeup artist Alexis Vogel in 2019, she declared to Elle US: “Since then, I just felt that, without Alexis, it was better for me not to wear makeup.” In Milan, she returned to wearing black around her eyes, without giving up the freedom she had gained.
Pamela Anderson’s no make-up, an intimate revolution
Revealed by the series BaywatchPamela Anderson has long worn the combo of smoky eyes, false eyelashes and defined lips, the symbol of hypersexualized femininity. For two years, however, she has appeared on the red carpet with a bare face, until the London Fashion Awards where she confided to Vogue UK: “I think it’s a time in my life where I accept myself, where I lay myself bare… It’s almost like I’m wiping the slate clean“.
In Women’s Wear Daily, she detailed this new relationship in her image: “I like to see my freckles. I like when my hair is not combed. I just like to have a really fresh face. I don’t like these injections and it doesn’t work on me. I want to see what’s going to happen. And I feel like now I feel free to just put on a nice silk blouse and pants, always wear heels, don’t put anything on my face, let my hair dry after I get out of the shower and to sleep like this. It’s my favorite thing. And I feel like it’s a statement of power because I accept myself a lot more these days, and it feels good.”
In Milan, a spectacular smoky on an almost bare complexion
For Vogue World in Milan, Pamela Anderson chose another register without erasing the previous one. Under the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, she displayed a look framed by intense black eyeliner, smoky on the eyelid, with XXL eyelashes, while her complexion remained light, almost naked, worked with her skincare brand Sonsie. Her curly bob by John Nollet was reminiscent of 1950s Hollywood stars, matching a gold Ferragamo dress.
In a video filmed before the event, she insisted: “I am convinced that skin is more beautiful naturally”, before adding that she was waiting for Pat McGrath’s team for “a ‘Cleopatra’ makeup for the evening.” She concluded: “And then, just a little Cleopatra touch, but modernized… it’s going to be perfect with my Ferragamo dress.” The message is clear: glamor is coming back, but on its own terms.
A smoky Milan 2026 that redefines glamor after 50
This choice comes at a time when the “clean girl” trend is tiring many women, while grunge or smoky eyes are making a comeback. Pamela Anderson’s look balances the two worlds: almost bare skin, assumed wrinkles, but intense eye contour, like joyful armor. On mature skin, this contrast avoids the mask effect and emphasizes the look rather than correction.
To get inspiration, the idea is not to copy her makeup from the 1990s, but this softer version: bold black pencil at the eyelashes, blended outwards, blended dark shadow, lots of mascara, then very simple glossy pink lip. Between appearances without makeup and ultra-glam parentheses like this Milanese smoky, Pamela Anderson is charting a path where makeup is no longer an obligation, just a game that she chooses to take back in hand.