We’re used to seeing celebrities perfectly polished on the red carpet and across our social media feeds. However, a number of stars have increasingly been sharing photos without any traces of makeup, professional cameras, or flattering lighting—perhaps as an attempt to appear relatable, or perhaps because they, too, have grown tired of curating their every move and look.
Fans have welcomed these natural looks with open arms. From Gwyneth Paltrow’s makeup-free selfies to J.Lo’s “just woke up” post-bed photos, these stars are embracing their natural beauty and showing fans that confidence doesn’t always require a full glam routine.
Here are 31 stars who have stunned fans with their barefaced looks.
In 2010, the Queen of Pop was photographed makeup-free while filming her historical film W.E. on the streets of Manhattan.
In an interview with Vogue, Madonna’s former makeup artist Gina Brooke revealed some of her secrets for making clients red carpet ready. These include lining and filling in the lips before applying lipstick, using powder to fill in eyebrows, and creating the illusion of larger eyes by applying dark brown liner and smudging it along the upper and lower lash line.
The actress has undergone a noticeable transformation since her breakout role in Transformers.
Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Megan detailed all the cosmetic procedures she has had, including breast augmentation, which she initially underwent when she was “21 or 22,” as well as rhinoplasty, Botox, fillers, and lasers.
Explaining that she doesn’t “take surgery lightly,” the superstitious star said she has very specific pre-op requirements, “All my doctors have to meet with me before and have to tell me if they’ve seen any omens. If they saw any owls, crows, if anyone stepped on a spider, if there were any de*d insects. My doctors have to go through this with me.”
“Doesn’t it feel free? I feel free,” Pamela told Drew Barrymore, reflecting on her decision to go makeup-free during her appearance on Drew’s show last year.
The Baywatch alum said she feels “empowered” after ditching her signature smokey eye and embracing a barefaced look in her late fifties.
“I started realizing, ‘Oh, I feel great as me, I don’t want people to think of me as all those cartoon characters I created for protection. That’s why I think I did it, looking back,” Pamela explained.
The 58-year-old star said she’s determined to age “gracefully and naturally” and that she has chosen to avoid cosmetic surgeries.
“It’s a shame that as women, we’re being told that we have to find a way to stay eternally young,” Halle expressed. “Forever 30, as though we’re not allowed to be human and do what we’re naturally born to do. We’re born to age and d*e.”
Last year, she posted a natural mirror selfie, which she captioned, “The way you see yourself is what matters most!”
In honor of her 50th birthday, Drew shared a bare-faced selfie on Instagram. “50 = The B-Side of life — where the real magic starts to spin!” she captioned the post, which showcased her smile lines, as well as her forehead and eye creases.
The mom of two revealed that as she ages, she hopes to be more kind and caring toward herself and how she talks about her appearance, because the “more loving, embracing, less dismissive that we can be, the better it is for our mental game and spiritual game, which affects the face.”
Chrissy kicked off 2025 with a relaxing sauna session, documenting the moment on her Instagram page. In the selfie, the model posed with her hair in a bun and wore no makeup.
The star has admitted to undergoing different cosmetic procedures in the past, including breast augmentation surgery, buccal fat removal, armpit liposuction, and an eyebrow transplant surgery, “where hairs are taken from the back of a patient’s head and placed on the face to create a fuller set of brows,” as per People.
“I never wear makeup if I can avoid it so I was so excited for this eyebrow transplant surgery,” Chrissy wrote. “They look so cool.”
In 2022, the Frida actress took to Instagram to showcase her natural beauty, sharing a makeup-free selfie in a purple swimsuit.
“There was a time when I was the s*xy girl, but thank God age came and gave me the ability to expand to other territories. Although I’m still s*xy and I embrace it,” Salma told Marie Claire.
She added: “Another calling that I have is to remind everyone that women are not disposable after a certain age in any department. We should battle that with all we’ve got.”
In 2020, Rihanna showcased her barefaced beauty at the start of a makeup tutorial to promote Fenty, her cosmetics and skincare line.
“I always say good makeup starts with good skin,” she captioned the post.
The Love on the Brain singer revealed that she began wearing makeup at age 16. Since then, she has always considered it a “secret weapon.”
“Depending on my mood, my look, or the occasion, makeup can go from very subtle to a complete transformation, and that’s the fun in makeup: being able to play and create in endless ways,” she explained.
Two years ago, J.Lo posted a “just woke up” photo from bed, still wearing her green pajamas.
“Good morning and Happy Monday! It’s going to be a great week!!” she captioned the photo, which showed the star without the heavy glam that we’re used to seeing on the red carpet.
“I love being fully made up and looking glamorous and being kind of the JLo that everybody knows in movies and videos and all that kind of stuff. But there’s also just you with no makeup on and without all of the embellishments and that is just as beautiful,” the On the Floor singer told People.
“I know I don’t look how you’re used to me looking, but this is me too, and I love this side of me. You don’t need all of that stuff all the time.”
Messy hair, don’t care. In a post captioned “Okay, Humidity…🥵😵💫,” Jennifer shared a photo of herself wrapped in a towel post-shower to promote her haircare line, LolaVie.
“I’m trying not to think about growing older. I try not to think about age,” the Friends actress told Allure, sharing that she approaches aging with “positivity and gratitude.”
She continued: “The world will always be there telling us what your age is and what women should do in society when you’re this or that. (…) But then you go, ‘No! Who’s making these rules?!’ We can make our own rules. It’s all bullsh*t.”
While Billie typically rocks bold eye makeup on the red carpet and at her concerts, the singer-songwriter isn’t shy about sharing her barefaced beauty on social media.
Discussing her personality and aesthetic choices with Elle, she said, “I don’t need to always prove to everyone that I’m a tomboy. Like, that is what I am, but I also am this kind of girl. I’m also feminine, and I’m also s*xy, and I’m also cute, and I’m also just like, none of the above, and I’m just me.
“I’m allowed to be whatever I want to be when I want to be it.”
As per Vogue, the Birds of a Feather musician doesn’t have a glam squad on tour, instead doing her hair and makeup herself.
The Kardashians have built an empire based on their looks. Kim has even admitted that she’d go as far as to eat excrement if it contained an elixir for eternal youth.
“Now that I think about it, I would probably eat s**t if someone told me, ‘If you eat this bowl of poop every single day, you’ll look younger,’” the star told Allure in 2022.
Kim, then aged 41, admitted, “I really, genuinely care about looking good. I probably care more than 90 percent of the people on this planet. It’s not easy when you’re a mom and you’re exhausted at the end of the day or you’re in school, and I’m all of the above.”
The mother of four recently shared photos from a spa session in South Korea, where she appeared without any traces of makeup.
We’re all used to seeing Gwyneth in a glowy makeup look with rose-colored lips and warm eyeshadow that accentuates her eyes. Still, the Oscar-winning actress has recently shared several makeup-free selfies with her fans on social media.
In 2023, she told British Vogue that she was “embracing” aging. “As women, we want to be healthy, we want to be aging. This idea that we’re supposed to be frozen in time is so weird,” she expressed.
“It’s handsome to go grey [as a man], but for women it’s like, ‘What do you plan to do about your wrinkles and your aging skin?’ There’s definitely a double standard.”
In a 2021 post, Courtney kept it real by filming herself from her car as she entered Warner Bros. studios after a shower.
The Friends star has admitted to getting fillers when she was younger, a decision she later came to regret.
“Thinking I was getting older when I was really young, that’s just a bummer, a waste of time; it’s a domino effect, it’s like you don’t realize that you look a little off, so then you keep doing more cause you look normal to yourself.
“I think I messed up a lot and now luckily I can, I was able to reverse most of that, now I’m actually just older.”
Kylie revealed that she started wearing makeup because she felt insecure about her lips.
“I had an insecurity because this guy said something to me one time,” she said during the Keeping Up With The Kardashians reunion in 2015. “Then I got an obsession with makeup because I would over-line my lips and it just made me feel confident.”
The reality star recently shared her bare face on social media while filming a makeup tutorial at home, with a special appearance by her daughter, Stormi.
