Alicia Keys Wears ......No Makeup?

Yeah, I know, it's old news now. And I meant to do a post on it when I first heard about it. But I never got around to it.

There seems to be a couple of opinions about Alicia Keys and her decision to go makeup free.

1. Some people feel like her going makeup free means she is shaming women that wear makeup.
2. Some people feel like she's leading a bare-faced movement. Who needs makeup? Not us!
3. Some people don't care. She's probably just doing it for publicity since she's dropping a new album anyway.
4. Some people say "Well, she's pretty anyway." It would only be impressive if Alicia looked like an ogre (sorry shrek!)
5. Women go makeup free everyday. What's so special about Alicia?
6. Ugh, what is wrong with her. She needs to wear makeup when she goes to a special event! (I hate this opinion!)

Now, I'm not the biggest Alicia fan. She came out when I was in the 6th grade, and I became a fan almost immediately. Fallin' is still my Jam. Her voice has never been the greatest but her song-writing and piano abilities....yes please! Her voice didn't really start bothering me until I felt like she was steady trying to sing songs completely out of her range. Then her relationship with a then married Swiss Beatz kind of ruined her for me. I think because I thought of her as a great role model and above that type of behaviour, so it was kind of a let down. But who am I to judge (even though I definitely did!).

I haven't really heard too much about her lately until, well, she went makeup free. Which is great! I'm happy for her. Makeup doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. I love it, but I might not feel the same way if I felt pressured to wear it every time I stepped out the house. Or if I had a job that required it. Just not everyone enjoys makeup, and that's OK.

But being a celebrity and going makeup free can be brutal. I've seen countless makeup free celeb photos where people/media rip them apart for they way they look without makeup. So yes, I think it's brave of her to go makeup free. Especially to high profile events...like the VMA's. How many people are brave enough to do that? Maybe going makeup free makes her feel liberated. Maybe she struggled with being insecure without it and she's finally come to feel comfortable in her own skin.

And yes, I did notice that she waited until she had clear skin to do it. Apparently she used to struggle with acne, but has it under control now. And yes she has tons of money, but does money buy great skin? I don't think so but maybe I'm wrong. I wonder if she still had acne if she would be going makeup free? Or maybe the makeup caused the acne?

One thing I am confused about is her freckles. I love freckles and think hers are beautiful. But...where did they go? I know the sun causes them to become more prominent, it's definitely still hot out and hers are gone. Umm, what? * Never mind, I found them, must have been a camera flash thing. Whoops.

Beautiful with makeup, beautiful without makeup!

The only part I'm confused about is how her decision to not put makeup on her own face is "makeup shaming." When I put on my face paints in the morning, her decision does not cause me to feel shame in any way, shape, or form. When I go makeup free, it has nothing to do with a movement.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you wear makeup, wonderful, you should be celebrated.
If you don't wear makeup, wonderful, you too should be celebrate. Let's just celebrate!

Wear it, or don't. But don't another woman's decision to give it up make you feel "shamed".