I love a makeover show. You know the kind I’m talking about – where the dowdy (yet still pretty), perhaps overweight woman is sent to a camp of sorts where she works her butt off to lose weight, consults a plastic surgeon to rejig her nose a bit, and enlists the help of stylists and beauty professionals to turn her into a bombshell.

This love extends to even minor makeovers a la the ‘haircut episode’ in every Next Top Model series, and to the makeover’s more subtle, yet just as effective, cousin: the make-under. The classic tale of the beautiful – but completely way-too-done-up woman – who realises that sometimes less is more.

Case-in-point: the following three celebs who decided that over-the-top hair and make-up needed to take a break. Even if only for a moment.

Nicki Minaj

Miss Minaj is the queen of quirk. And I love her for it, I do. But when she rocked up on the red carpet looking like this I couldn’t help but applaud with excitement. Nicki has held onto her almost-white hair and slightly out-there lip colour, but the overall result is actually kinda classy. Her hair looks glorious and healthy, her eyes have that statement wing that isn’t stealing the show, and her cheeks have a beautiful flush of colour and just enough shimmer to give her that radiant glow.
Bravo, Nicki!

Nicole Polizzi

Ahhh, Snooki. The pint-sized reality star is pretty much known for looking over-tanned, over-bronzed, and ‘just a touch’ trashy. But then she became a mum, and she toned it down. She’s still got that flair for things a little left-of-centre, but in a way that’s much easier on the eyes. She’s ditched the two-tone hair colour for a beautiful eye-catching block colour and swapped her, uhh, orange skin tone for something that’s a bit more natural. She’s still the Snooki we know and love, but just a bit more grown-up.

Pamela Anderson

There’s no doubting Pammy was a stunner back in the day, but things got a little…interesting for a while there. But just one look at the photo on the right and you can see that the ex-Baywatch babe is back in fine form. Her uneven, dull, and super-tanned complexion is no more; that panda-esque eye look has been kicked to the curb; and her disheveled hair is looking so much better. Hooray for her glowing and radiant skin, the just-enough-black eyeliner, and her tousled and voluminous curls. Now we just need to bring back the red swimsuit…

Which celebrities do you think are in need of a make-under? What do you think of these make-unders?

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