Would you take a selfie without makeup?

Women are judged when they wear too much makeup, yet they’re criticised if they don’t wear any as well. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Leading the charge is Alicia Keys who declared that she will no longer “cover up”, following a makeup-free photoshoot for her latest album.

“Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles, not my emotional growth. Nothing,” she wrote in Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letter.

Seen on MTV Video Music Awards and as one of the mentors on The Voice on our TV screens sans makeup, Keys said she felt empowered as she finally let go of her insecurities on how people judge women, reported Huffington Post.

“I felt powerful because my initial intentions realised themselves. My desire to listen to myself, to tear down the walls I built over all those years, to be full of purpose, and to be myself!”

Of course, this is Alicia Keys we’re talking about, so the #nomakeup movement she’s driving is made all the more successful simply because of the celebrity she is.

It’s by no means anything new, as two years ago Marc Jacobs had already sent his models down the runway naked … their faces, that is. This year’s New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2017 also saw barely-there makeup, with Alexander Wang pushing the trend with only mascara and shine-free faces on his models.

Alexander Wang’s Spring/Summer 2017 show in New York. Wang is pushing the trend for barely there makeup. Photo: AFP

On the other end of the spectrum is Sylvia Jones-David, 72, who has never let her husband of seven years see her without makeup, revealed The Telegraph.

Makeup can cover a multitude of “sins”, and most women seek refuge in cosmetics as it helps one create a certain persona or feel more confident, real or imagined.

Business analyst Leyna Chiong, 45, says she rarely goes out without wearing makeup as she feels “for many regular women, putting on makeup is a way to feel empowered and feel like the best version of themselves”.

In a The Straits Times, Singapore article, she said: “The truth of the matter is that not all of us look like Alicia Keys without makeup on. If we did, then perhaps more women would be willing to go without makeup.”

In the same story, Singaporean actress Joanne Peh, 33, who had written a column in Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao on her decision to go easy on cosmetics, said turning down magazines and clients who force heavy makeup looks on her might have made her an unpopular choice to work with. “It is the cost of speaking my mind,” she said.

Lane, a marketing communications director in an education institute in Kuala Lumpur, observed that most women here don’t wear tons of makeup anyway.

“Personally, I wouldn’t go to work/functions without makeup as I have blemished skin. I feel it’s important to look groomed and presentable, and to me, that means having at least clean-looking skin, some concealer (to cover flaws) and a dash of colour on the lips or cheeks.”

Case in point is copywriter Abby, 35, who never bothered with cosmetics until she started attending beauty events a few years ago and someone suggested that perhaps some colour on her lips would be flattering.

Tze Wei, 40, general manager in a skincare company, shares: “I never used to wear makeup at work, simply because my colleagues at that time were all ‘aunties’ anyway … LOL! But a few years later, I had to dress up after I started attending functions. My colleagues always knew when I had something on. Getting dressed and made up also depends on the position you hold as I felt I also represented the company’s brand image.”

As someone who writes about beauty, I feel compelled to try the products so that I could understand them better and test if they work. Then again, I also love playing with beauty stuff. But I know lots of other writers who don’t.

One might argue that #nomakeup is a personal choice, but in truth, it never quite is as there will always be societal expectations of how women should look, though a lot depends on the industry as well.

The key here is to be true to yourself, and being comfortable and confident of how you look and the image you send out, regardless of whether it’s makeup-free or not, and not be controlled by what others expect of you. And that in itself can be a huge challenge.

Now excuse me while I touch up my lipstick …

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Do you find #nomakeup cramping your style? Leave your comments below.

Source : Star2.com