After facing some major backlash over her decision to go fresh faced to the MTV Video Music Awards this past Sunday (Aug. 28), Alicia Keys is still advocating for the natural beauty a bare-face exudes.
During a recent stop on the Today show Friday morning (Sept. 2), Keys made it clear that she still likes makeup; however, the choice to go without it is strictly her personal decision for now. “Look, I love makeup too. It’s about how you feel. It’s about who you are. It’s about just being who you are and not letting anyone tell you who you should be. Even this conversation shows our obsession of the standard we hold women,” she said.
Because of her boldness, the Grammy-winning artist gave anchors Tamron Hall, Al Roker and Billy Bush the confidence to shed all of their makeup as well on national television, which to say the least isn’t an easy thing to do. In an extended version of the interview, Keys sat down with Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie, and revealed that getting to such point of self-awareness wasn’t easy.
“The biggest difference is my knowing of myself and the ability to really be comfortable exactly as I am, who I am,” she said. “It’s hard to get to that place. I think that’s something we battle with through our whole lives.Whether or not, one will choose to go makeup free is up to them. It’s not about the external, but more so, about knowing on the inside that we are all special in our own way. “We each have something that no one else has and it’d be so amazing to just embrace each other how we are,” she continued. “I think the most important thing is that you do what feels good for you. It’s not about anything else.”