Alicia Keys Stops Wearing Makeup — Good!

Singer-songwriter-actress Alicia Keys has announced that she is not going to wear make-up any more, even in performance and on television. In the midst of the over-the-top as always VMA awards on MTV Sunday night she looked fresh, natural, and comfortable. Her spontaneous a capella song from the podium matched her unretouched look.

Women are bombarded with a lot of messages about what is wrong with the way they look, mostly from people who want to see us things to make us look and smell “better.” It is great to have a counter-message from Keys that tells us it is possible to feel happy the way we are.

She says she was inspired by showing up for a photo shoot ready to be made up and photographed, and then the photographer asked if he could take her picture without makeup.

“I swear it is the strongest, most empowered, most free, and most honestly beautiful that I have ever felt,” she wrote.
“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.”