Au Naturel
WE’RE GOING NUDE! (KIND OF.) OVERDONE MAKEUP IS, WELL, OVER — WELCOME TO THE ERA OF PARED-BACK BEAUTY
PHOTOGRAPHED BY MIKAEL SCHULZ WORDS BY SALLY HUNWICK
It’s a modern phenomenon that every single person in our immediate orbit comes packing a camera. With that fact comes the very real possibility that we could be snapped at any time — and the feeling that we should be ready in case someone side nudges us to nuzzle in for a selfie.
For a long time, we complied. The potential for a spontaneous pic meant we felt the pressure to tick all the beauty boxes: our hair appointments kept militantly regular, our nails perennially manicured and rogue pimples hidden from view. Heck, some of us were doing a full look before going to Pilates, just in case.
And we have Instagram to blame. Starting out as a platform of curated and manicured images — and let’s not forget filters — we watched post after post of pristine, glossy faces gazing back at us. All too soon, those pictures started to look the same and any uniqueness was literally filtered out. Everyone had exaggerated brows, overdrawn lips, layers of lipstick and precision eyeliner.