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*Alicia Keys revisits her #nomakeup choice on the cover of Variety’s “Power of Women” issue, and touches on the “prison” young women in the entertainment industry are put in when it comes to their looks
“We’re supposed to be this big, and so tiny, and so skinny. If we have any hips or any thickness or width with us, we’re fat. We torture ourselves; we don’t eat. I’ve experienced all of that,” she said. “I was subscribing to this sick identity. … Stay in your place, be feminine, be a lady, don’t make too much noise. Argh! If you go to work without makeup, it’s like, ‘Are you tired? You look tired.’ And it’s like, I’m not f—ing tired!”
Keys wanted to be free of those constraints, which meant she also had to come face to face with how she looks without them.
“That was one of the hardest things for me, in the beginning,” she admitted. “I’d literally look at myself in the mirror like, Yeah! That’s me! OK. Hi!”
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Her decision to go makeup free also became challenging when it birthed a movement. One local TV journalist even thanked her for the message she was sending at the Grammys earlier this year, much to Keys’ surprise.
“Suddenly it was a movement, and I don’t even know what that means. It doesn’t have anything to do with makeup or no makeup. It has to do with who are you, what makes you feel good, how do you want to express that and even just asking the questions — What do I feel? How do I feel good? However that is, you should do it.”
And that’s why Keys is not really here for the #NoMakeup Movement, saying: “Sometimes, I want some damn makeup, and I’m going to wear it! Guess what — if I want to wear red lipstick and put eyelashes on, I can do whatever I f-cking want. I am the creator of my own destiny.”
