The way I feel about Pamela Anderson today, as a 27-year-old, reminds me of how I felt as a little girl with my favorite teacher or as a tween with my best friend’s aunt who lived in the big city. This is to say, I think she’s the coolest, wisest woman in the room—and I want her to teach me all her ways.
Anderson’s latest best-kept secret comes via her natural, cruelty-free skincare brand, Sonsie, which she joined as a co-founder alongside blogger Marie von Behrens-Felipe in January. Having launched with just three products—a serum, a moisturizing mask, and a lip balm—their newest offering is a huge step for the small-but-substantial brand. It’s also the first product that Anderson, who fell in love with Sonsie as a user before becoming part of the company, has sown from the start.
Sonsie Cleansing Mousse, which launches November 1, is a gentle foaming cleanser designed to distill your double cleanse into one sweet and simple step, leaving your skin feeling hydrated and soothed. Oh, and it was inspired by Anderson’s own rose garden and proclivity for carrying her “magic potion,” AKA homemade rose oil, wherever she goes.
Alongside the natural rose essence, key ingredients include inflammation-fighting ginger root extract and natural bisabolol from chamomile, plus the brand’s Multi-Soothing Complex, a blend of glycerin, allantoin, and aloe vera juice that makes up 45% of the formula. It’s light yet luxe, and ideal for even the most sensitive-skinned amongst us.
The cleanser was born from not only the public's begging, but Behrens-Felipe's own struggles with finding a product that worked for her skin.
"Both Pam and myself are very pragmatic and genuine when it comes to our skincare routines. We apply the products on the go: when I am outside with my little baby and husband, Pamela when she's in the garden or cooking," she tells Byrdie. "We have the products lying around everywhere. It feels so natural to use them—like it's no big deal, not hours locked in the bathroom. [ … ] The cleanser has the same characteristics almost, you only need a bit of water to rinse it off: no extras, no scrubbing, nothing."
The model adds that the product underwent months of personal testing; these women are nothing if not thoughtful. Upon my first test, I was whisked away to a fairy garden (Pam's? I hope so) for the entirety of my 30-second sudsing period and as long as the scent lingered thereafter. The roses bloomed, the dew glistened, and all my worries melted away with my makeup. And yes: Upon rinsing and a gentle towel-dry, my skin was oh-so-soft.
But enough about my experience. What does Anderson *herself* think?
Ahead, the actor, writer, and activist clues us in on the launch and her thoughts on beauty in general, openly and without any cover-up(s).
Her Vision for Sonsie Cleansing Mousse
I think it's the missing ingredient we needed to round out the skincare routine, and cleanser was what most of the community wanted us to create next.
I wanted to bring in a little bit of my rose garden, because my morning rituals always start in the garden. I’ve been kind of a DIY girl making rosehip oil, harvesting my roses and rosehips before, so I wanted to bring that rose essence into the cleanser. So that’s how that happened. Then I can have a piece of home wherever I am.
On the Fresh Rose Scent
Scents are transportive. [Rose] is my favorite scent, and I miss home now—I haven’t been home for a couple months. So, it’s kind of a way to bring things with me. I really wanted to bring my personality to the Sonsie line and make it really authentic with the things I truly love and what I really want to share with people. All those little things are meaningful to me.
Her Daily Beauty Routine
The cleanser first, the serum, the mask, then the lip. This is what I use for my makeup every day. Sonsie is my makeup.
I [travel] a lot, so the mask is incredible. Some people that don't wear such a heavy moisturizer—because it is a heavy moisturizer—use it when they travel. I use it all the time because my skin needs it.
I love the serum and the mask. In place of makeup, it feels really moisturizing, which I like, and it kind of gives a little bit of a blur to the skin. Even though I'm running around with no makeup and kind of raw, I feel a little more polished when I'm wearing that.
Her Beauty Memories
I remember back in day, back in the ’90s, when you went to a French drug store and you found those great creams and things. My grandmother used, I don’t know exactly what it was, but some kind of vegetable hardened, whatever she ate, on her skin. It was just really simple skincare that made sense.
I guess [Sonsie] is kind of reminiscent of that time. It's not too complicated. I like things simple. Things have to be simple for me or I won't follow the rules. I'll do things backwards or something.
Her Best Beauty Advice
[Have] a sense of humor. I think it's attitude. I think it's embracing who you are and not chasing youth. Kind of just chasing where you're at, accepting where you are. That's the best.
My mom is really into—not beauty products—but being pretty, being beautiful, and I was always a bit of a tomboy. Even though it may not seen that way, you know, part of my life I wore a lot of makeup and I played fun characters. But now, this is the best time of my life.
I think we need to be gentler on ourselves. And I wanted the line to really be a part of that messaging.
Her Best Non-Beauty Wisdom
A smile is a beautiful quality. Or just being easy on yourself, like I said.
Happiness is a choice, and I think that's a nice reminder of that and to really embrace where you are, no matter where you are in your beauty journey. Think happy thoughts, and you'll look great.
Her Approach to Self-Care
Keeping it as simple as possible is important. Just have clean skin when you wake up and clean skin when you go to bed.
I think it's not necessary to get too much [skincare], but I mean, it depends. People can do what they want, obviously. No judgement.
But, yeah, you could have a complicated skincare routine, and that would add stress to your day. We're not adding stress. We're trying to take stress away. It's an attitude. We love the affirmations and the journaling and the walks in the park.
I really want to find ways to communicate that, too—through my products that I create—that the most important thing is to make sure you're out in nature when you can be. Read a book, get off your gadgets. I think that's self-care, too. Taking time for yourself.
