Jessica Lindsay
Published November 21, 2025 3:43pm
Updated November 21, 2025 3:43pm
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The Duchess of Sussex rocked a bare face for the December 2025/January 2026 issue of Harper’s Bazaar (Picture: Harper’s Bazaar/Malick Bodian)
When Meghan Markle graced the cover of Harper’s Bazaar this week, appearing to be makeup-free with her hair pulled back in a simple ponytail, she was hailed as ‘bold’, ‘brave’, and a ‘natural beauty’ on social media.
There’s no denying she looks stunning, however when ‘regular’ women dare to do go about our lives sans slap, the reaction is rarely as positive.
Not long after Maia Gray developed acne as a teen, a classmate told her she’d ‘look prettier’ if she wore makeup.
‘From that moment, I felt like I needed to hide my skin,’ the activist and influencer tells Metro.
‘I would sleep in my makeup sometimes, because I was even embarrassed to show my skin to my family. It got really bad, like an obsession, just wanting to always look perfect.’
Maia was just a teenager when someone first told her she’d look better with makeup (Picture: Maia Gray)
Now 31, it took many years for London-based Maia to even go to the shops without ‘a full face on’, and although she now shares pictures of her unedited self to 166,000 followers on Instagram, she still struggles with the judgement she receives in public.
She explains: ‘I can see people looking at my skin, and it’s almost like they want to ask, “how long have you had acne for?”
‘Or, for example, if I had a breakout around my forehead, they’d be talking to me but their eyes would be shifting up to the to the breakout. It would make me really insecure.’
She’s learned to love herself, but spent years unable to leave the house without makeup on (Picture: Maia Gray)
For me, a day without makeup means a day of questions on whether I’m tired or ill – and when my eczema has been flaring up especially badly, I’ve even noticed people on the Tube whispering about me, presumably wondering what’s wrong.
It’s embarrassing and awkward, but beyond that, I feel more like the best version of myself with a few lashings of concealer and mascara, which affects my mood and how I interact with others.
But regardless of why I do it, if I don’t ‘put my face on’ before getting to the office, there’s no adoration, just confused looks from men who can’t quite work out what’s different. And that’s the reality for women across the world.
When you have a skin condition like me, makeup can help avoid staring and questions (Picture: Jessica Lindsay)
The Duchess of Sussex is far from the first star to be praised for eschewing makeup; take Pamela Anderson, who embraced bare-faced beauty in 2023, or Alicia Keys, who has been a vocal advocate for the no-makeup lifestyle since 2016.
There’s a unique sense of rebellion when celebrities decide to go against the norm in this way – after all, red carpet appearances or magazine photoshoots have a wider impact than the average person popping to the supermarket.
In many ways, by showing the world their unaltered selves, they’re helping to subvert the narrative that anyone ‘wakes up like’ the often-filtered images we see of the rich and famous, which is laudable.
The fact is though, their starting point is very different from the average woman’s. From luxury skin treatments to subtle (yet equally pricey) cosmetic enhancements to flattering studio lighting, the vast majority of us don’t have access to the things celebs do.
Pamela Anderson has been largely bare-faced since 2023 (Picture: Francois G. Durand/WireImage)
Various studies show that women wearing makeup are perceived by others as more attractive, competent, dominant, and socially prestigious, so going without isn’t always an option in professional settings.
It’s not just about how other people see us either. Makeup has also been proven to improve women’s self-perception, allowing ‘self-expression and identity formation’ and ‘enabling individuals to present desired traits while concealing perceived imperfections’.
While we’re all supposed to love the skin we’re in, it can be a lot harder to do with these so-called imperfections. Research from Roseway Labs found that more than half of people with a skin condition (53%) say they feel self-conscious as a result, with a British Skin Foundation survey finding up to 88% of people with acne feel embarrassed by it.
Maia highlights Riverdale actor Lili Reinhart – who has been open about her struggles with acne and developed a skincare line for others with it – as a great example of how celebrities can work towards changing things, as honesty (including when it comes to photo retouching) can ‘help so many people.’
https://www.instagram.com/p/DNyEnum2Dv1/
She also hopes to one day see magazine covers showing a wider range makeup-free skin, raising awareness that: ‘Perfection doesn’t exist no matter what you see online.’
It seems we’re not quite there yet though, and a few weeks ago Maia received a message from a young follower who said she can’t leave the house without thick foundation on to cover her skin.
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‘It’s something that I related to, because I was also in that position before,’ she says. ‘She felt so depressed over it, but she just felt she needed to use this as almost like a crutch, to help her feel beautiful.’
‘Conditions like acne can really affect a person’s mental health, and that side of it you can’t see – you can see breakouts, you can see skin conditions, but you can’t see people, and the struggle they go through.’
That’s the crux of this issue: Meghan Markle looks fantastic, and good on her for spreading a positive message – but if other people don’t feel comfortable doing the same, it doesn’t mean they’re any less brave.
Alongside the fact makeup (or lack of) has no bearing on a person’s character, the decision to wear it is both personal and steeped in privilege. Women have to contend with myriad unrealistic beauty standards, so let’s not add being ‘naturally perfect’ to the pile.
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