It is a #nomakeup movement and it has been captivating us for months. Alicia Keys, the ‘face’ of #nomakeup, is in the mists of releasing a new album, a new coach on NBC’s hit show The Voice, a devoted mother, a loving wife, but you almost wouldn’t know any of this because she now spends most of her time talking about her decision to go publically makeup free. Keys wrote an essay on the online magazine, Lenny, about her insecurities she felt being a woman in the public eye and the unique parallels makeup played as her armor. She vulnerably wrote about the anxiety she felt if she left her house ‘unarmored’. Deciding then to strip herself of her defensive mask, she immediately felt liberated. “I hope to God it’s a revolution” she wrote. Keys is not just talking about the mask of makeup, she’s challenging the culture’s relentless standards of feminine conformity and the beauty industry’s constant push that makeup is a necessity rather than a luxury. Keys has faced her fair share of internet trolls and their scrutinizing comments against her, but it’s not impacting her influence on the #nomakeup movement. Vogue’s iconic September issue released in detail that a ‘bare face’ is what’s happening and the smoky eye is in our beauty rearview mirror. No matter your opinion, #nomakeup is powerful and brave.