Alicia Keys made her first debut wearing a bare-face on the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, which sparked a lot of controversy. Some women found the movement to be shameful to those that are frequent makeup wearers and found it to be anti-makeup in sentiment. The “No Makeup Movement” was started to do the opposite of that. Alicia even addressed the backlash shortly after by tweeting a makeup-less selfie with the caption, “Y’all, me choosing to be makeup free doesn’t mean I’m anti-makeup. Do you!”. This tweet reveals that Alicia Keys was not makeup shaming and simply made the decision to stop wearing makeup, as she has the right to do. People always assume celebrities always have an agenda, when we forget that they are normal people just like us and they are not always trying to be controversial. It seems to me like Alicia Keys wanted to start a conversation, not pit makeup wearers and non-makeup wearers against one another.
As someone who loves a bare face as much as I love a “full beat”, I think the movement was started to give women the courage to embrace their flaws and feel comfortable in their own skin. Social media plays a large role in the need to have a movement like such. When you go on Instagram, you see women who social media calls “Instagram baddies” with a full face of make-up. They set the “standard” for what women should look like on social media because these are the types of images that get the most views and likes. This can cause women, especially teens and young women, to feel insecure and like they have to live up to this made up standard social media set for them. Alicia Keys may have caused some uproar, but the important takeaway is that she has started a movement that empowers women and allows them to set their own standards for beauty. Set your own standards and flaunt them unapologetically. I am 100% here for the “No Makeup” Movement!