Bare Face, No Problem

By now we’ve all viewed hundreds of makeup ads and commercials throughout our lives, that constantly stress “cover up”. Watching these things and trying to figure out how to master the perfect contour and highlight, puts a lot of pressure on women. But then there are those women that ditch the makeup altogether, like Alicia Keys.

     It's called embracing your skin. Young women have witnessed their mothers and friends cake pounds of makeup on their faces, to try and “hide” what society deems as blemishes. Others have studied their favorite celebrities and watched YouTube tutorials so much, that they feel compelled to be “flawless” every day of the week. Not knowing that no one ever looks like the girl on television or the girl on the cover of the magazine, they hide and hide themselves to try and be society’s version of “pretty”.

     The Hollywood Anti-Makeup Movement is a movement that encourages celebrities to literally be themselves-blemish and all. The movement is attracting stars like Alicia Keys, Kylie Jenner, and Lady Gaga. Although Alicia is the most recent celeb to boldly post selfies without makeup, they have done the same too.  Alicia is currently leading the movement.

    Keys wrote an essay titled “Alicia Keys: Time to Uncover”, to express why she's decided to go bare-faced. She explained how the entertainment industry has caused her to “more than ever, become a chameleon”. Alicia then revealed that at one of her photo shoots for her new album, she was completely natural. “I’d just come from the gym, had a scarf under my baseball cap, and the beautiful photographer Paola said ‘I have to shoot you right now, like this! The music is raw and real and these photos have to be too!’”

      Keys has since  gained the strength to showcase her “raw” self to the public after that photoshoot. Photos of her without makeup have circulated the media, causing all kinds of confidence to rise in females around the world.

Ashley Lambert