Bare Beauty

Full-coverage foundations are seeing a decline in popularity in the past few years, with more women opting for foundation-free looks. We find out what's behind the shift.

- Vanessa Chia

At the recent Fashion Awards in London last month, actor, model and author Pamela Anderson showed up without a lick of makeup. This is not the first time the Baywatch star has chosen to go makeup-free on camera. Back in September 2023, she made waves at Paris Fashion Week with her bare face.

Speaking to foreign news outlets, the 56-year-old describes discarding her heavy makeup as "freedom" and "a relief", adding that she is "much more comfortable in my own skin".

Anderson's decision to discard heavy makeup is part of a larger foundation-free movement that is rooted in skin positivity and self-acceptance "I also am in an industry that really focuses on beauty. And I thought: I'm going to challenge beauty," she says.

“I want my skin to still look like skin even with makeup on,” says Anda (@andathesea_), a local influencer, who regularly sports a lightweight skin tint paired with concealer to remind her 41.1K followers on Instagram that it is natural to have blemishes.

While Anda believes that “there’s nothing wrong with wanting to enhance your features with makeup”, she thinks that as an influencer, it’s important to use her platform to “remind women that they are beautiful as they are (with or without makeup)”

Globally, the beauty industry has been shifting towards lighter skin-loving formulas, fuelled in part by the demands of the pandemic (where more time was spent at home), and mandatory mask-wear coupled with the introduction of tinted moisturisers, sunscreens and hydrating water tints, taking the place of conventional, pigmented foundations.