Clean, bare-faced and beautiful

au naturel

When did you last go make-up free? Last week, when Hillary Clinton delivered her first post-election speech apparently sans mascara, sans foundation, sans everything, she was praised and pilloried in equal measure.

After battling Donald Trump in one of the most heated, and petty, election cycles in history, you'd think she might be forgiven for giving the blusher a miss for a day. But some slammed the former US secretary of state for looking tired and frail.

But in ditching the war paint, Hillary tapped into a growing backlash against make-up. Because sometimes, women’s time is better placed than getting the perfect eyeliner flick.
What will people think?

Yesterday, Drew Barrymore, along with Cameron Diaz, Gwyneth Paltrow and Nicole Richie, snapped themselves on a hike, bare-faced and beautiful. Earlier this year, Alicia Keys wrote candidly about her decision to give up make-up.

Explaining her decision, on Lena Dunham’s newsletter, she said: “Every time I left the house, I would be worried if I didn’t put on make-up: What if someone wanted a picture?? What if they POSTED it??? These were the insecure, superficial, but honest thoughts I was thinking. And all of it, one way or another, was based too much on what other people thought of me.

“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.”

Social conditioning

The make-up-free movement has gained considerable traction, with more than 12.8 million #nomake-up posts on Instagram alone, typically accompanied by a bare-faced selfie.

Beth Meadows, 21, stopped wearing make-up four years ago, having caked it on every day before.

“I guess I was just socially conditioned into thinking that a lot of make-up was the most attractive thing, so I was scared not to wear it,” she says. “I used to be genuinely terrified to leave the house without a full face, but now I couldn’t imagine anything more unnatural."

After abandoning her make-up on a year abroad, Beth, a third-year History student at the University of Liverpool, now only wears make-up on special occasions.

“I feel so much more comfortable and myself without make-up,” she adds. “It’s ridiculous that women feel pressured to wear it in order to be socially accepted. On the rare occasion I do wear make-up, it is for me and no one else — I shouldn't have to justify either.”

Think, who is it for?

A recent poll by SheSpeaks found that 30% of American women would skip make-up for an extended period of time, with a further 20% saying they rarely/never wear make-up. This, compared to 9% who refused to go out of the house without make-up, shows a change in mood.

Mia Delve, 23, first stopped wearing make-up to “spend more time in bed” before realising that she preferred her appearance without it.

“I felt like I was only wearing make-up for other people,” the artist and filmmaker says. “But there is so much less hassle without it, my skin looks better and I feel better.

“People should be more mindful of wearing make-up, instead of just putting it on as a routine, consider why they are doing it — it should only be for you.”

Even when women are wearing makeup, there is an appetite for a more natural look. Recent research by market analysts NPD found that 50 % of UK make-up sales fall into the face category — foundation, concealer, moisturiser and brushes — while sales of the more visible lipstick and eyeshadow were down.

“People are seeking a more natural effect that suits their face shape,” senior account manager of NPD UK Beauty, Teresa Fisher, said of the results.

The choice is yours

But surely if you want to wear make-up, you should be able to? This weekend, Lindsay Lohan publicly shamed Ariana Grande on Instagram for wearing ‘too much makeup’, and was criticised for being anti-feminist.

“I don't think there's a problem if women do want to wear make-up, as long as they feel empowered by it either way," Beth adds.

And she’s right. Being comfortable with the way you look is empowering, whether that’s wearing no make-up, lots of make-up or copying David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust lightning bolt across one eye — it’s about choosing your image, free from pressure and judgement.
Pin-up model and blogger, KirstyMyDear, puts it perfectly. More accustomed to wearing a full face of 1950s style make-up, she posted a bare-faced selfie and said:

“Make-up, no make-up — still the same person inside. All that matters is that we each get to express ourselves how we choose to. Your face = your rules. Just like my face, my rules.”