Noughties star Amanda Bynes is unrecognisable after having eyelid ...

Amanda Bynes at Nickelodeon's Annual Kids' Choice Awards 2003. Photo / Chris Polk, FilmMagic

Former actress Amanda Bynes has made her first public appearance in years this week, revealing her new look after going under the knife.

Bynes, who has battled with her mental health over the past few years, has been back in control of her own life after a judge ended her nearly 10-year conservatorship at the beginning of 2022.

The former child star, now 37, posted a photo on an Instagram Story, where she admitted to undergoing a cosmetic surgery called blepharoplasty - a procedure that removes excess eyelid skin.

In the video, the once-brunette star showed off her new unrecognisable look, boasting platinum blonde locks and dyed blue eyebrows.

“I was never open about this before, but I actually had blepharoplasty surgery on the skin folds in the corner of my eyes. So I don’t have those skin folds anymore,” Bynes shared in a candid post.

“It was one of the best things I could’ve ever done for my self-confidence, and it made me feel a lot better in my skin, so I just wanted to post about that, just to clear up that rumour as to why I have a new look.

“I feel a lot better now about myself, and I’m so glad I had the blepharoplasty surgery. It was one of the greatest things I could’ve ever done.”

In a follow-up clip, she slammed paparazzi photographs of herself, saying they make her look worse than she actually looks in real life or on social media.

“I usually don’t look good in paparazzi pictures and that’s because paparazzi pictures are taken outside,” she claimed.

“The sunlight is usually really harsh and bright on my skin.”

She added: “Even though I’m only 37 and I don’t even look old … the harsh lighting can create shadows on my face like it cast shadows in different areas and I look terrible.”

After her conservatorship was terminated in March last year, Bynes shared a statement saying she had spent many years “working hard to improve my health”, expressing her hope to “live and work independently”.

“I will continue to prioritise my wellbeing in this next chapter,” she said.

Earlier this year, Bynes was found walking the streets of LA naked prior to being placed on her first of many psychiatric holds.

At the time, her ex-fiancé Paul Michael alleged that she had stopped taking her medication, which led to the public episode.

She was then put on a second psychiatric hold in June, prior to checking herself into an “intensive inpatient mental health treatment centre” in July.

Bynes has been focusing all of her attention on her recovery and recently made a return to social media to let her fans know that she was starting a new podcast with a friend she met in treatment.

The first episode of the Amanda Bynes & Paul Sieminski podcast, which was released on December 9, featured an interview with tattoo artist Dahlia Moth. The podcast episode marked Bynes’ first on-camera gig since she featured in the 2010 film Easy A with Emma Stone.

“At first we are going to interview our friends, and then we’re hoping to take it mainstream and interview celebrities and artists,” she revealed when first announcing the podcast back in November.