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---
title: VMAs 2016: Alicia Keys Goes Without Makeup
description: Alicia Keys continues to go out barefaced in public, after saying in a Lenny Letter that she doesn&#x27;t &quot;want to cover up any more.&quot;
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author: TIME
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article:published_time: 2016-08-29T15:15:30.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:15.515Z
og:title: Alicia Keys Continued Her Makeup-Free Movement at the VMAs
og:description: The singer appeared at the awards show totally bare-faced
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og:image:alt: 2016 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals
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twitter:title: Alicia Keys Continued Her Makeup-Free Movement at the VMAs
twitter:description: The singer appeared at the awards show totally bare-faced
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![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85509f1e807d5573/6988a3ff524fc00c35df9502/gettyimages-597606340.jpg?branch=production&width=702&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)


# Alicia Keys Continued Her Makeup-Free Movement at the VMAs

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by 

[Jillian Ruffo/People](https://time.com/author/people/)


## Jillian Ruffo/People


Contributor

Aug 29, 2016 3:15 PM UTC

![2016 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85509f1e807d5573/6988a3ff524fc00c35df9502/gettyimages-597606340.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Alicia Keys attends the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Alicia Keys attends the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images) Anthony Harvey/Getty Images

by 

[Jillian Ruffo/People](https://time.com/author/people/)


## Jillian Ruffo/People


Contributor

Aug 29, 2016 3:15 PM UTC

[Kim Kardashian](http://site.people.com/style/kim-kardashian-wears-sheer-vmas-dress-wet-hair/) in [minimal clothing](http://site.people.com/style/kim-kardashian-wears-sheer-vmas-dress-wet-hair/), [Kanye West](http://site.people.com/style/kanye-west-gives-yeezys-paparazzi/) in a T-shirt, and [Ariana Grande](http://site.people.com/style/ariana-grande-ombre-ponytail-vmas-2016/) wearing a high ponytail: All looks we expect to see on the MTV VMA white carpet. But what we didn’t expect? A star without a single visible stitch of makeup, which is exactly what [Alicia Keys](http://site.people.com/style/alicia-keys-makes-her-makeup-free-red-carpet-debut-at-the-bet-awards/) went with to present the award for best male video.

The star first made her makeup-free red carpet debut at the [BET Awards](http://site.people.com/style/alicia-keys-makes-her-makeup-free-red-carpet-debut-at-the-bet-awards/), when her makeup artist Dotti Streeters shared a [photo](https://www.instagram.com/therealdotti/) of the star, writing “#nomakeupmakeup”. And she took her bare-faced look one step further last week, when she appeared on a season preview of _The Voice_ totally bare-faced.

[RELATED PHOTOS: Celebs’ Best Makeup-Free Looks](http://site.people.com/style/celebrities-without-makeup-photos)

Before heading out to the carpet, the singer shared a photo of herself and husband Swizz Beatz, writing, “We ready… #VMAs.”

And according to the essay that she penned for Lenny earlier this summer, it’s a look that she plans on sticking to for a while. “I hope to God it’s a revolution,” Keys wrote about her makeup-free mantra. “‘Cause I don’t want to cover up anymore. Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles, not my emotional growth. Nothing.”

_This_ [_article_](http://site.people.com/style/vmas-2016-alicia-keys-goes-makeup-free/) _originally appeared on_ [_People_](http://site.people.com/style/)_._

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