Actress Mila Kunis is the latest celeb to go makeup free for a photo shoot. The result? This image on the back cover of the August issue of Glamour magazine:
Kunis follows in the footsteps of Alicia Keys, who recently called for a #nomakeup movement. Keys appeared barefaced everywhere from the red carpet to the DNC, and she shared an inspiring message in Lenny Letter. (“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.”)
But as much as we agree with her, we started to reconsider our blind praise of any celeb who goes makeup free after reading this story on Fusion. Lux Alptraum, the article’s author, makes an important point: “While offering women freedom from makeup is an admirable goal, the truth is the #nomakeup revolution does not send the message that women don’t need to be pretty—it simply endorses the notion that we don’t need makeup to be pretty.” Come to think of it, all of the barefaced women we’ve seen fall within the traditional confines of beauty—with or without makeup. There aren’t blemishes, pimples, puffiness, or wrinkles.
Yes, it’s important to send the message that women don’t need to put on a full face to greet the world and it’s OK to want to look pretty. But we still have a lot of progress to make in rethinking society’s beauty standards—and the need to follow them so closely.
