Pamela Anderson Ditches the Cleopatra Eyes for a Bare-Faced Glow at Hollywood’s Biggest Gala
Pamela Anderson appeared at the sixth annual Academy Museum Gala on October 17, 2026, with a fresh, natural face only weeks after sporting dramatic Cleopatra-inspired eye makeup in Milan.The 59-year-old actress chose a look from Carolina Herrera’s Spring 2027 collection, created by creative director Wes Gordon. It featured a crisp white button-up blouse with a sharp collar, paired with a flowing pale pistachio-green chiffon skirt tied with a bow at the waist. Her blond hair fell in soft curls, her only jewelry was a pair of shimmering stud earrings, and she carried a small satin clutch that some reports described as having decorative details.
Fashion coverage noted her signature natural, barely-there makeup.This adaptable approach has become central to her recent style. Anderson first went bare-faced during Paris Fashion Week in 2023, later explaining that she simply preferred enjoying the city rather than spending hours in a makeup chair and that the choice felt freeing and somewhat rebellious amid the heavy glam surrounding her. She has also worn soft, glowing makeup—including at the 2024 Met Gala—and in September 2026 returned to a bold,
Cleopatra-style smoky eye created by Pat McGrath’s team at Vogue World: Milano, while telling outlets she still loves makeup. A personal reason behind the shift was the 2019 death of her longtime makeup artist Alexis Vogel, who had collaborated with her since 1993 on the smoky eyes that defined her look for decades; Anderson has said that without Vogel it simply felt better not to wear much makeup.Her natural presentation forms part of a larger public resurgence following the documentary Pamela: A Love Story and her acclaimed work in The Last Showgirl.
This was not her first Academy Museum Gala; at the fourth annual event she wore an elegant off-the-shoulder gown and again leaned into her natural beauty while posing on the carpet with John Travolta. Reactions to the 2026 Carolina Herrera outfit were mixed: some praised the soft springtime feeling and how it stood out among statement gowns, while others felt the buttoned-up shirt and full skirt seemed better suited to a formal luncheon than a Hollywood gala. Still, the dominant narrative remains her quiet confidence in deciding for herself how much glam to wear after years of being defined by others’ ideas of beauty.
