Celebrities without Makeup

Lusting After a Façade

Bombarded by our media, countless teenage girls are spending money and time soaking in our culture through magazines, television shows, movies, and the Internet. What are they finding? More often than not, they are gazing at the images of beautiful women and then in turn comparing what they see to themselves.

No wonder we have such issues with self-esteem running rampant throughout the lives of our youth when this is what they have to compare themselves to - perfectly coifed hair, flawless makeup, and even more flawless bodies. It is enough to make anyone going through the awkwardness of adolescence feel inferior.

These feelings are spreading past our teens and into the adult scene as well. With many grown women going under the knife each year to achieve the face and appearance they've always dreamed of, we as adults are comparing ourselves to the media darlings that we can't help but notice on a daily basis.

However, what many people don't realize is what we are seeing and what we are admiring is more often a complete façade. Celebrities without makeup and their stylists often look the same (and sometimes even worse!) as the average Jill walking down the street. We aren't often given the luxury of seeing celebs in their "real life"; instead we are spoon fed the air-brushed, computer-enhanced photos and are more than halfway fooled into believing their looks are an act of God and good genes rather than an act of Hollywood magic.

The Truth

Ask a celebrity how they stay looking so fantastic, and most of the time they will credit their stylist. Lohan is a perfect example of this, as she is well known for having an entourage of assistants and curling irons with her wherever she goes, from a photo shoot to rehab.

These stylists are paid quite the pretty penny to take celebrities without makeup and make them look glamorously together and picture perfect. But what would these stars look like without their cosmetics support team?

Websites such as Skoopy.com are catching celebrities without makeup on a regular basis and posting the pictures they manage to snap on their website. While some of the photos are purposely unflattering and in some cases downright mean and embarrassing to the subject at hand, the site really does prove a point – celebrities can be just as awkward, sloppy, and average as the rest of us.

Oprah Leading Celebrities Without Makeup

Oprah, as she has many times before, is pioneering a new sort of female boldness. A few years ago, she appeared on her national daytime TV show without a smidge of makeup on her normally made up face. The result? Critics slammed her, while real women embraced her.

Since then, Oprah has been seen running races, helping African orphans, and covering hurricane damage all au natural, stopping the media dead in their tracks. To have a wealthy and powerful woman such as Oprah step out and declare to the world "This is me!" was something that very few, if any, celebrities had done in the past.

Oprah has in turn helped other women to feel better about themselves and has empowered them to look at themselves from the inside out, rather than the reverse way of thinking our society holds to so strongly.

How This All Helps

Seeing celebrities without makeup will continue to inspire young women of today to realize they are not intended to live their lives devoted to looking like a Barbie doll. Rather, beauty comes from within. Just as culture is slowly starting to embrace women with curves, we will eventually get to a point where a makeup-free face will be deemed as acceptable in the public eye.

Celebrities without makeup are often made fun of as if they were caught doing something horrendously embarrassing, and hopefully with time this perception will stop. Women both young and old need and deserve the opportunity to feel good without having to fit a specific style or image. Fortunately, slowly but surely, we are well on our way.

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