How long have we been talking about the no-make-up make-up trend? Having worked in the beauty industry for over a decade, I've lost count of the number of barely-there make-up stories I've written. Don't like heavy make-up? These products will help you achieve a barely-there look. Seriously, I could write the headlines in my sleep.
I'm a beauty editor who has never been into wearing loads of make-up. I am all about the so-called natural look. But, in recent months, the whole concept has left me feeling a bit sour. I have become bored with writing about skin tints and foundations that look like nothing on the skin, rounding up cream blushers that blend into near-nothingness, and editing down the 'best' results-free mascaras. Why can't we, as women, feel comfortable wearing our faces exactly as they are? Why do we feel the need to strike a frankly impossible balance between looking 'perfected' and not appearing to wear make-up?
It's something I have been thinking about for months, and honestly, I have felt a bit lost when writing about make-up while trying to figure out my stance on the whole thing. And then, last week, as I scrolled through the live trend reports from Paris Fashion Week, I found myself in awe of Chemena Kamali's Chloé girl—a new, bare-faced Chloé girl.
As I looked at images of models with seemingly bare faces, I was taken aback. They looked beautiful and comfortable in their skin. The concept of the new Chloé girl is, after all, rooted in the notion of total freedom. And, it seems, this beauty look is about having the freedom to own your face, just as it is—the freedom to opt for a bare face should you want to.
And, of course, I know these models were wearing make-up—of course they were. But this bare-faced make-up trend isn't the same as previously seen no-make-up make-up looks. Skin isn't dewy and it doesn't need to appear 'lit from within', lashes aren't coated at all, and lips aren't layered in plumping glosses or balms. Instead, skin looks like skin. The concept of needing to look youthful isn't being championed, rather it's about applying make-up only where you want to. Maybe covering a spot that's making you self-conscious—or maybe choosing to leave it as it is. Perhaps brushing your brows through—or perhaps letting them do their own thing. You could add a touch of blush to the apples of your cheeks—or you could simply embrace your natural flush.
This groundbreaking catwalk moment has articulated everything we, as women, seem to want from beauty right now—the freedom to wear as little make-up as we want to without being told what needs fixing. The notion that walking out of the house with a bare face is a statement-making act is, to me, ridiculous. Women should find just as much freedom and empowerment in not wearing make-up as we do in wearing it—and it shouldn't be a topic of conversation.
With new social-media make-up trends cropping up every minute of the day, I truly believe this beauty moment is the antithesis we've all been waiting for. We're bored of trying to keep up with ever-evolving micro-trends, we just want society to grant us the freedom to do what we want with our faces. And it's not coincidental that this moment came from the catwalk—a place where artistic expression flows free for people to interpret in any which way they like.
In all of my years attending fashion week shows and dissecting beauty looks, I have never felt as passionately about any as I do this. I fervently believe 2024 will be the year we are granted the freedom to choose a bare-faced look without feeling self-conscious about it. Through her work at Chloé, Chemena Kamali is acting as the voice of women everywhere—telling the world that many of us don't want to wear make-up every day, and that, actually, we don't have to.
