To put on make up or to chuck it away

Award winning Musician and Writer Alicia Keys rocked up at the recent MTV VMAs with no make up. Crazy how an incident like this can cause havoc on the internet, isn’t it? Sadly here i am blogging about it. Just after the hair incident in Pretoria in South Africa.This is not surprising to me considering that she did say she will no longer be applying make up on a permanent basis. She is her own woman and i respect her decision, what i appreciate even more is her consistency in sticking to this decision. So why is this making the headlines?

Alicia Keys attends the 2016 MTV Music Video Awards at Madison Square Gardens on August 28, 2016 in New York City.

I know women who would no dare set foot outside their homes with no make up.You know that girl right? The one who swears on her looks and will invest what she can on her beauty products. It is funny how some of them even say they feel naked without make up. I personally love make up and more importantly when i am going out to events or if i have a speaking engagement. I have recently become a sucker for lipstick it is a shame..lol. Can i walk around with no make up, absolutely. Have i done that , yes i have. I still do. Not every woman can say the same.

As a stylist one of the key things that i encourage any client that comes my way is that the key to truly feeling comfortable in your own skin is to know you are and what you like and accentuate that. What is strange though is how magazines and lifestyle shows are influential to a certain extent in driving trends which sometimes become a culture in societies. It then becomes expected that if you are a celebrity you must wear make up.To wear or not to wear make up is about consciousness and freedom as well as respect. I will break it down :

1. Be conscious of who you are, how much your purpose and not beauty adds value to yourself and those around you. If you wanna rock the all natural look all day and still slay at what you do, please by all means go ahead girl but if you want to also do it rocking your make up do so. Be also conscious of the fact that make up just like clothes do not maketh a man or woman, it is the woman or man who is genuine and shows up as themselves that people will connect to or with.

  2. Freedom is state of mind. It is also a state of being. How we think, act and behave shows those around us how much we know ourselves and those around us. Alicia Keys like any woman on the street or on Tv is exercising her right to be. Why is an issue? Is also at times a test those of us on the receiving end. As much as we pay our Tv licences ( if you do ) or our Dstv subscriptions because we want to be entertained, it does not give us the right to dictate how other people live their lives and present themselves to us. Why does it rub other women up the wrong way when they see another woman walking around with no make up? How does that affect you?

3.People often say respect is earned but sadly that has never worked in our society. We should be able to respect anyone and everyone around us regardless of whether they work for it or not. There will be so much peace if we operated in that way but then again that is also your choice. I love Alicia Keys ‘s response to the spat she received on Social Media about her no make up look. ” Just because i do not wear make up does not mean i am against it, DO YOU”. Even i would not have a come back or a response like that.

As women we still have a long way in appreciating each other as we are, make up or no make up, wig or no wig , Brazilian or not. We are not the sum of our looks. There is more to us than meets the eye. I think we can show up with no make up but with a neat hairdo, some vaseline and a killer attitude and still excel at what we do.

While make maybe a promise of beauty it does not in anyway edify our beautiful souls, that is what primarily who we are. While others wear it to hide childhood pains of bad skin or painful memories of not being the most beautiful yellow born on the block it should not be an excuse to be mean to the girl who does not care much for it. It is her choice.

Recently some girls in Pretoria stood up for their right to wear their natural hair the way it is. If we can stand up for that and allow our children to actively fight for their right to be surely we can appreciate our fellow sisters who choose to be awesome with no make up on. Our greatest test as human beings is learning to tolerate and appreciate the decisions others make regardless of the magnitude and to do it with love…