This week, Alicia Keys launched a mini self-empowerment movement to go makeup free. She wrote an essay on Lenny Letter sharing her journey.

“Women are brainwashed into feeling like we have to be skinny, or sexy, or desirable, or perfect,” she wrote. “One of the many things I was tired of was the constant judgment of women. The constant stereotyping through every medium that makes us feel like being a normal size is not normal, and heaven forbid if you’re plus-size. Or the constant message that being sexy means being naked.”

“Every time I left the house, I would be worried if I didn’t put on makeup: What if someone wanted a picture?? What if they POSTED it??? These were the insecure, superficial, but honest thoughts I was thinking. And all of it, one way or another, was based too much on what other people thought of me.”

Her husband Swizz Beatz joined in the effort and Instagrammed a now widely circulated photo of his wife who looks absolutely stunning without makeup.

She isn’t the first celebrity to embrace #Nomakeup and shared a selfie on social media to expose their true and real selves sans make up. Cameron Diaz did recently while promoting her new book. Lady Gaga, Gigi Hadid and Cindy Crawford have braved the makeupless route. And as in the photo collage above, Kim Kardashian, Gwynth Paltrow, Tyra Banks and Jennifer Lopez too have gone makeup free in social media.

Michelle Klug curated a few more:

Check out Celebs Who Really Went Makeup-Free for Selfies

by Michelle Klug at Mode

photos: Lenny Letter/Instagram