For women in the public eye, makeup is a big deal – even more so if you happen to make your living making glamorous appearances in front of the camera. Nevertheless, an online trend has emerged, featuring famous females appearing on social media without their makeup.
For some, it is an empowering move – presenting an honest face to the world and drawing attention to uncontrived looks and genuine personality rather than the superficial. Other famous women have taken it even further, and have appeared at high-profile events with their faces bare. It probably shouldn’t be a big deal, but – in these days of the #MeToo Movement – playing it cool around cosmetics and defying expectations is undoubtedly a hot topic. However, these pictures of celebrities sans slap prove that a no-makeup look can still wow us with a natural beauty where innate talent shines through.
20. Wonder what Gal Gadot looks like naked?
Does Wonder Woman need makeup? – probably not. In May 2013, long before Gadot won her coveted role for the 2016 film, the now 33-year-old posted a picture on her Facebook feed captioned, “No hair. No makeup. Morning in London.” Gadot seemed more sleepy and disheveled than Wonder Woman tends to look, but you could still see the superhero beneath the surface.
19. Adele – songbird soars without wings
Adele is considered to be one of the most down-to-earth singers in the whole music sphere, so it was not really surprising that she would choose to bare all face-wise on social media. Although Adele adores her winged eyeliner, nevertheless, the 30-year-old songbird went without it for some behind-the-scenes photos of her 2016 world tour.
18. Olivia Wilde for the natural look
Olivia Wilde has been pretty outspoken about the beauty myth and cosmetics in the celebrity world. “‘People at home watching movies thinking that they’re supposed to look a certain way, in that flawless nature that Hollywood promotes in some films… none of this is real,” the 34-year-old complained to Huffington Post in a live-streaming Q&A in early 2016. But the actress was shown keeping it real with a bare-faced appearance in her film from the year before, Meadowland.
17. Chrissy Teigen – a model of good selfie behavior
Supermodel Chrissy Teigen has always seemed to be brimming full of self-confidence. And, let’s face it, the 32-year-old has got good reason to feel that way – she looks absolutely flawless even without makeup. But Teigen’s particular brand of body positivity has proven to be so popular that fans on social media once sent the model their own no-makeup selfies after she had complained about the overuse of filters and similar in other people’s self-portraits.
16. Lorde of all she surveys
On stage, New Zealand superstar Lorde faces her public made up like a gothic queen. Off stage, the singer-songwriter seemingly prefers to go bare-faced. The 21-year-old has posted multiple snaps on Instagram of herself wearing no makeup, and even one of her putting on acne cream. Lorde’s fan base responded with a natural outpouring of love for their heroine and her highly relatable spot of bother.
15. Drew Barrymore drew fire
Drew Barrymore is big on no-makeup, and drew fire when she posted pictures of her visage baring all to the world. Unfortunately, in early 2018, the 43-year-old splashed a selfie with her slapped in makeup and haters jumped on to Instagram to throw shade on that choice too. As Barrymore can now attest – sometimes you’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t…
14. Zoe Saldana makes us go green
Actress Zoe Saldana is certainly no stranger to cosmetic changes. After all, she is best known for her product-heavy starring role in Guardians of the Galaxy, and the 40-year-old spends three hours in makeup every time she transforms into her character, Gamora. So it is probably no surprise that some days Saldana would simply rather go without anything on her face at all. Nonetheless, we are still green with envy – she still looks sensational sans the artificial sweeteners.
13. Diane Kruger – the eyes have it
Actress Diane Kruger took to Instagram in January 2016, and proudly tagged a picture, “Starting the year with an honest no-makeup selfie.” It was a bold move, as the 42-year-old was a high-end fashion model before turning to acting. But, nevertheless, fans of the Inglourious Basterds star were appreciative, and Kruger’s best features – her eyes – were not remotely dimmed.
12. Ciara showered with praise
The singer born Ciara Princess Harris looks gorgeous with or without makeup – and she knows it. Not only does the 32-year-old rock the natural look on Instagram, but she has also taken the brave step of appearing bare-faced on the red carpet. Indeed, Ciara attended the 2017 Makers Conference in California with no cosmetics and wet hair – prompting pundits to speculate that she was fresh out of the shower. However, the “Level Up” star was pregnant at the time, so she almost certainly had more important things on her mind.
11. Lady Gaga goes without
Lady Gaga is instantly recognizable for her spectacular costumes and sensationally wild makeup both on stage and off. However, without being caked in cosmetics, the star originally known as Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta looks… completely, unnervingly normal. But, for her fans, there is no doubt that Gaga is a bona-fide beauty. “You are gorgeous with and without makeup!” one of her Little Monsters wrote beneath a bare-faced selfie of the 32-year-old posted to Instagram in January 2015.
10. Zendaya – a clear winner
Former Disney child-star Zendaya is a big advocate for body positivity, and therefore the actress and singer is more than happy to strut her stuff makeup-free. Zendaya still looks amazing – of course – and enviably clear-skinned. But it appears that the 21-year-old is eager to share her organic take on skincare with her fan base. She took to Twitter in June 2017 to tip them off about the secret of her perfect complexion. Zendaya recommended, “African black soap, rose water/witch hazel, vitamin E oil and tea tree oil for problem spots.”
9. Laverne Cox – black is beautiful
Transgender activist and Orange Is the New Black actress Laverne Cox posted a no-makeup selfie in 2015, simply tagged “#TransIsBeautiful.” And the outspoken small-screen star subsequently made it plain that she largely avoids makeup on first dates. Speaking to TV entertainment show Access Hollywood Livein 2017, the 46-year-old admitted, “I don’t glam up. I give maybe a little powder for shine, and I’m like – this is it.”
8. Zooey Deschanel still positively cute minus cosmetics
The idiosyncratic Zooey Deschanel has an instantly recognizable look, so it was all the more surprising to see her cast aside the cosmetics on Twitter in May 2014. But, although the singer and actress looked far from her perky pixie self in her candid-camera pose, nonetheless, her natural beauty still won the day. “Wow, you look just as cute without makeup,” one fan gushed in response to the 38-year-old’s selfie – and who’s to argue?
7. Gwyneth Paltrow presents a brave face to the past and the future
A-list actress Gwyneth Paltrow believes in living life naturally, so obviously her skin would enjoy a healthy glow regardless of any makeup she may have on. In fact, the star proved as much with a bare-faced Instagram selfie on the occasion of her birthday in September 2016. Paltrow captioned the shot, “#nomakeup for my 44th birthday, embracing my past and future.”
6. Gina Rodriguez and her bare-faced cheek
Freckles are a beautiful feature, so it was lovely to see actress, author, model, director and producer Gina Rodriguez show hers off in a revealing Instagram selfie. “No makeup, no filter, no worries,” she captioned the self-portrait in June 2015. However, it was actually a brave move for the 33-year-old Latino star, as Rodriguez suffers from a long-term thyroid condition and attendant anxiety problems.
5. Simone Biles still gold under eyeliner
It may not actually score you any points in the world of gymnastics but, nevertheless, image still counts. Which is perhaps why gymnast Simone Biles got so glammed up for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. The 21-year-old scooped four gold medals and one bronze while sporting a stylish, glittering eyeliner. But it turns out that Biles looks just as brilliant without the eye makeup, and the serious money would probably say that she would be just as brilliant on the gymnastics floor too.
4. Bella Thorne faces up to blemishes
Up-and-coming actress Bella Thorne made a brave move in June 2017 when she put up an Instagram picture to specifically show off her bad complexion. “Acne is on fleek,” the then 19-year-old captioned the offending post. But Thorne’s aim was nonetheless altruistic, and promoting the spotty image had the honest intention of making other teens feel better about their blemishes. “I hope I help somebody out there because I’m spreading the word,” she told People magazine later that same year.
3. Cindy Crawford still has skin in the game
To this day, Cindy Crawford is considered to be the supermodel. The sometime actress has reached the grand old age of 52, but, regardless of the passing of the years, Crawford still looks stunning. And, refreshingly, it appears that she remains perfectly happy to pose for her public without recourse to makeup. In a selfie posted on Instagram in January 2017, the supermodel’s skin looked like it had barely aged at all. Reportedly, Crawford’s nightly regime is to splash her visage with water to keep it looking cool.
2. Alicia Keys unlocks her natural beauty
Seemingly, Alicia Keys has taken the no-makeup movement a step further than any other female celebrity. Ever since May 2016, the 37-year-old has pretty much stopped wearing cosmetics altogether. Later that year, Keys explained her thinking in an online article for the Lenny Letter website hosted by comedienne Lena Durham. “Every time I left the house, I would be worried if I didn’t put on makeup – what if someone wanted a picture? What if they POSTED it?” the singer-songwriter wrote. “[It was] based too much on what other people thought of me.”
1. Tyra Banks keeps it really real
Tyra Banks is arguably the queen of the no-makeup selfie. In June 2015, the TV personality and actress posted her first raw image to Instagram, telling her followers that she had “decided to give you a taste of the really real me.” And it seemed that her online fans actually had a large appetite for Bank’s candid imagery. Ever since, the 44-year-old has been super busy serving up social media shots of her naked face, including one simply captioned, “Me.”
