Hear us on this: We’re not makeup haters over here. We think makeup is a fun way to express yourself, polish up for an event or simply try out something new for awhile. We’re not saying everyone needs to toss their lip gloss ASAP. We are saying it shouldn’t be a gold-standard for everyone to layer on six shades before leaving the house.
Which is why we can totally get behind the latest celebrity “trend” we’ve been seeing pop up in our newsfeeds. Celebs going bare-faced and without makeup presents us with balance; it shows us another side of the coin so that we can adopt the look we feel most comfortable in. This is extremely important in a world where celebrities, entertainers and bloggers have an almost divine-like level of influence, particularly among young women and girls.
These ladies say it best:
ACTRESS CAMERON DIAZ
So, let’s start celebrating and living an engaged life, and stop punishing ourselves for not looking a certain way, and instead [hold] ourselves accountable for actually taking care of ourselves inside first, knowing the results on the exterior will be a shining side effect.
via The Body Book
SINGER DEMI LOVATO
‘Cause we deserve to show the world our beauty and our confidence!
via Huffington Post
BLOGGER LEANDRA MEDINE
… I am comfortable with how I look. I don’t hate what I see when I look in the mirror. Even if legions of others don’t agree. I have accepted the reflection that reliably bounces back at me for its perks and its flaws. I understand that there are thick, dark circles under my eyes. I have grown to appreciate them. I have noticed that my nose grows a little hookier on a near-monthly basis. That’s fine. I know there are wrinkles ready to stake their claim as full time residents on my forehead any moment now. My dad has those, too, and I find that endearing.
via Man Repeller
SINGER ALICIA KEYS
I hope to God it’s a revolution. ‘Cause I don’t want to cover up anymore. Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles, not my emotional growth. Nothing.
via NY Mag
4 comments
Leandra Medine, you’ve just become my inspiration.
Love this! Chrissy Teegan is always great about keeping it real with those IG selfies, too.
I think this is a very neat trend. I find that no matter how conservative or liberal a woman is, unrealistic beauty standards is just one of those things where nearly all women agree that they exist. We’ve been socialized so that our sense of being lovable is bound up in whether or not others find us attractive and it’s often in the interest of money for us to conclude that we’re not. If we felt absolutely 100-percent okay with our bodies exactly as they were we probably wouldn’t go out to buy makeup and certain clothes and products for our hair and body, or whatever else it is that people want to sell. But it’s almost impossible to get out of the mindset where we don’t want to fix or cover up something about ourselves, even if we know that milking our insecurities is what beauty companies do. Meanwhile, celebrities tend to be the embodiment of this beauty ideal. We know that stylists work on them and that they are often Photo-shopped, but often they are the standard that we hold ourselves up to and so it’s exciting for more celebrities to be saying, “This is my real face. I look like everybody else.” And it’s not done in the awful way of paparazzi mags when they get shots of celebrities without makeup and fawn over how ordinary they look. It’s done in a consenting, empowered way. I think it’s powerful for people to see women who look like them hailed as beautiful.
You forgot the best fresh face celebrity of them all, Stacy London! She does a #freshfacefriday hashtag on IG and is the Queen of helping women love their real faces on Love, Lust or Run.