Alicia Keys, a high-profile proponent of the "no-makeup movement," is getting back into cosmetics.
Under her beauty and wellness brand Keys Soulcare, launched in partnership with e.l.f. Beauty in 2020, the artist will debut a makeup collection including blush, brow gel, and lip balm.
Dubbed "Color Care," the range of cosmetics will make its debut on the Met Gala red carpet: after six years of going (mostly) makeup-free in public, Keys will don her new products at fashion's biggest night out. (According to WWD, she's attending with Ralph Lauren.)
Keys' sharp pivot reflects changing attitudes towards makeup. An increasing number of beauty brands are marketing cosmetics as tools for self-expression and self-care, rather than ways to "correct" perceived flaws.
But why? The wildly creative looks on Euphoria helped fuel this shift towards beauty as self-expression, spawning the rise of colorful, maximalist makeup more concerned with creativity than perfection.
And during the pandemic, "no-makeup makeup" flourished, inspiring many to streamline their daily routines and embrace a less-polished appearance.
Euphoria and "no-makeup makeup" might seem antithetical, but both instances go to show how beauty has become less about concealing and correcting, and more about embracing one's identity.
As Keys herself said of her former rejection of makeup: "I was taking on these tremendously oppressive beauty standards that I thought somehow applied to me in regards to being perfect, and I obviously rebelled against that," she said. Eventually, though, she realized: "I get to create my beauty standard, I get to choose what is beauty to me, and how I want to express that."
