Pamela Anderson Makes Waves With New Skincare Acquisition

She has one of the most recognisable faces in the world, one that continues to define beauty standards, and this week actor Pamela Anderson revealed she’s turned a commitment to skin health into a new vocation: business owner.

In a not-unexpected move, given her approach to beauty conventions and longstanding advocacy for animal rights and the environment, Anderson has stepped into the ethical beauty arena.

Announced this week, the star has acquired skincare brand Sonsie. She takes on the role alongside its German co-founder and creator, Marie von Behrens-Felipe, whose husband Roberto A Felipe is also involved in the company.

“I’m thrilled to share that, as of today, I have officially joined @sonsieskin as co-founder and new owner,” Anderson revealed in an Instagram post. “I am so proud to be a part of this world … and on my terms, finally. We have so much planned and I cannot wait to share more.”

Anderson was introduced to Sonsie Skin — which currently sells a mask, serum and balm, all made in the US — by son Dylan Jagger Lee and his partner, Paula Bruss.

New products, developed with the star’s involvement, are apparently in the pipeline: including her “secret weapons”, which will be released sometime between March and May.

Touted as cruelty-free and vegan, with a skin health-led approach, the brand aligns with the actor’s values and its appeal is understandable.

Anderson says she has fielded beauty opportunities since her Baywatch tenure; even then, before it became commonplace, she would question the ethics of the companies. “Is it sustainable? Is it cruelty-free?” she told WWD. “People used to think I was crazy back then”.

It comes in the wake of Anderson making headlines last year with an unexpected and unconventional (for Hollywood) beauty look.

She attended public appearances including at Paris Fashion Week and an array of red carpet events (she was one of Viva’s best-dressed people of 2023) as well as starring in a campaign for New York brand Proenza Schouler — all with a discernably make-up-free face. The revealing Netflix documentary, Pamela, a Love Story, also saw her appear on the camera barefaced, rare in her long career.

The naturalistic look was a far cry from the heavier makeup she wore during the heyday of Baywatch and the incessant tabloid coverage of her life.

While of course, a makeup-free visage shouldn’t “break the internet”, given the beauty standards expected of women (particularly as they age) the move was received as radical and rebellious.

At the time, some people applauded the fact that this decision was uncoupled from any branding or product, while others suggested some activity in the beauty industry may be imminent — predictions that proved correct this week.

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