We Barely Recognize Brenda Song Without Makeup

Fans who have caught Brenda Song on TV shows or at red-carpet events know that she usually wears a healthy dose of makeup. The "Dollface" actor will typically wear plenty of concealer and heavy eye makeup. Even when she was dressed down in a candid photo posted to Instagram to promote a fundraiser in October 2019, she still wasn't skimping on the glam.

Song may wear a lot of product when making public appearances, but she is also a celeb who has shown fans how she looks without makeup. In December 2015, "The Social Network" actor uploaded a fresh-faced photo to Facebook where she posed alongside her pooch. "No make up lazy selfie with Panda," she wrote alongside the pic. The absence of beauty products made the former child actor look much younger, and it changed the contours of her nose and cheeks. Followers filled the replies with praise for her sans-makeup look. "When Brenda Songs is a goddess without makeup," one wrote. Song received a similar reaction from her fanbase when she recorded a Lasik surgery testimonial video in June 2009 with no beauty products on her face. Multiple fans commented how great she looked au naturel.

Years later, Song employed the makeup-free look while filming "The Last Showgirl" with Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis. "When you didn't see us in our showgirl makeup, we weren't wearing any makeup. None at all," she told Bustle in January 2025. According to Song, it was Anderson who suggested the women skipped wearing makeup on set. That was a major change for Song, who said she has rocked makeup on camera since her child star days. Of course, the no-makeup filming was a rarity, and something fans likely don't know about Song is how meticulous her skincare routine is on typical work days.

To get an idea of just how much makeup Brenda Song usually wears, fans can watch her nightly skincare routine. "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" alum broke it all down when she recorded a video for Harper's Bazaar's "Go To Bed With Me" series in December 2021. That clip showed just how much makeup Song usually had to wear on set at the time. "I did a first cleanse and there's still makeup on my face. Gotta double-cleanse," she told the camera. The product she used to remove her makeup was Tatcha's The Camellia Cleansing Oil. "I've been using this for years," she said.

Song treated fans to another look at her makeup-free face when she posted a skincare routine video to Instagram in March 2024. That clip was much shorter. "I try to keep my routine pretty simple 'cause I simply don't have the time anymore," she told the camera before applying a serum and Clarins Multi-Active Day Moisturizer.

An interview about her skincare routine revealed a big difference between Song and Macaulay Culkin. The pair have a child and have been together since 2017, but it seems that Song's stringent facial care has not rubbed off on the "Home Alone" star. "He has no skincare routine. If he washes his face with water at night, I'm lucky. I'm the one that has to smear stuff on his face," Song told People in a joint red-carpet interview with Culkin in March 2024. Similar to the replies from her adoring online followers, Culkin is also a fan of Song sans makeup. "I have someone who makes me feel beautiful without a stitch of makeup on," she added.