Last night at the Brits, Jess Glynne and H.E.R. performed “Thursday,” a song exploring themes of self-love and promoting feeling beautiful without the need to wear make-up. The performance featured a diverse group of women, of all shapes, sizes, age and ethnicity, including Jess Glynne and her mum, on stage taking off their make-up using what appeared to be a Face Halo, filming it on their iPhones, the footage of which was projected on to a screen behind them. This empowering statement of embracing your natural self is an important message that targets growing rates of anxiety, depression and dysmorphia related to appearances and social media.
There have been recent reports of younger demographics, especially young women, feeling increasing pressure in regards to their looks. In a similar stance against this, Alicia Keys performed barefaced at a number of award shows in 2016, including The X Factor and vowed to henceforth, to be make-up-less. She discussed her decision in an open letter on Lenny Letter, where she said her inspiration came from writing songs about feeling masked, and not wanting to feel covered up anymore. This No Make-up Movement was followed shortly by a wave of #NoMakeup selfies by female celebrities on Instagram, setting a tone against the need to hide and feeling enough in their own skin.
