丁翔

Would you dare to bare all in public？ Were not talking nudity here—nothing so crass， but the idea of sharing photos of yourself without the benefit of complexion2）-enhancing foundation3）， eye-framing mascara4） and a pop of colour on your lips and cheeks. Your face， in all its naked glory， staring out from your friends Facebook timelines5） and strangers Instagram feeds. Would you？ I confess， I wouldnt do it. There is a part of me that simply doesnt relish the prospect of being publicly “exposed” without a little cosmetic enhancement.

But many， it seems， are more than happy to embrace bare-faced chic. Search the hashtag #nomakeup on Instagram and youll be greeted with more than 12.3 million images of women of all ages， in various states of facial undress. Going without makeup is the latest social status symbol， inspired by an increasing number of high-profile celebrities prepared to discard their cosmetic facade6）.

Just last week， Adele， whose signature feline7） flick of eyeliner and pale porcelain complexion are a key component of her personal brand， shared a video on Instagram to apologise to fans for cancelling a concert. Explaining her voice “was not in working order，” the singer attracted attention because she confidently and nonchalantly8） revealed the real Adele： the face she sees each morning before makeup artist Michael Ashton sets to work creating her public persona.

Shes not alone： Gwyneth Paltrow， Beyoncé， Cameron Diaz， Madonna， Sharon Stone and Lady Gaga are just some of the stars confidently offering their followers a glimpse of their makeup-free faces. The concept of a usually highly polished celebrity—who would have a retinue of stylists on hand to primp and preen—without her gloss is somewhat refreshing in an image-conscious world.

“There is a certain way that women on TV and in entertainment have to look as part of their jobs，” says Guardian beauty columnist Sali Hughes. “I love the idea that they are demonstrating a different facet to their personality and their life， by letting us see how they look without makeup. I think the no-makeup selfie is great， because it demonstrates the level of artifice that goes in to creating celebrities public image， and its reassuring for many women to see the real person， away from the cameras.”

One such celebrity has taken the concept further， by shaking off the shackles of makeup completely. In a bid to simplify her life and find her “true self” amid the multitude of identities she created in the public eye， Alicia Keys9） penned a poignant song， When a Girl Cant Be Herself， that includes the words： “In the morning from the minute that I wake up / What if I dont want to put on all that makeup / Who says I must conceal what Im made of / Maybe all this Maybelline is covering my self-esteem.”

After much soul-searching， the singer has now pledged “to approach things differently （this time）， regarding my image and allow my real self， as is， to come through.”

In a new trailer for the US edition of reality show The Voice， Keys appears with her complexion bereft10） of cosmetics， revealing the kind of bare-faced， raw beauty rarely seen in a world of highly contrived， over-styled personalities. Some might say its a brave stance against female submission to traditional stereotypes； others simply celebrate such a move away from mask-like makeup.

“I think this growing movement for no makeup is fantastic，” says celebrity makeup artist Mary Greenwell， renowned for her portfolio11） of glossy magazine covers and red-carpet makeovers. “In a world where some really influential women are over-contouring， with really heavily made-up eyes morning， noon and night， we have lost perspective on what makeup is for—to make you feel a bit better when you need it. When you wear too much makeup， it adds years to your face， and seeing women without it shows how gorgeous they can look： natural， healthy and 10 years younger.”

“I hate to see young women addicted to makeup as a mask，” continues Greenwell， whose clientele has included the likes of Cate Blanchett， Victoria Beckham and the late Diana， Princess of Wales. “I see 14-year-old girls made up with layers of caked-on foundation， smokey eyes， the works—at three oclock on a Saturday afternoon.

“Its not about enhancing their own looks， but about striving to emulate celebrities whose lifestyles they admire and aspire to. Adopting the same makeup techniques brings them one step closer， but they are projecting someone elses look on to themselves， and hiding from their true identity. So I love the idea of celebrities going makeup-free and inspiring us all to be confident in who we are， pushing the idea of a great skincare regime to get a healthy， glowing complexion.”

However， even in our enlightened age of female empowerment and supposed equality， the very thought of capturing ourselves on camera， free of face-flattering cosmetics， is enough to send the most confident of women over the edge12）.

My own reticence largely stems from my pre-teen and teenage years， when a trio of spiteful female classmates taunted me relentlessly about my acne-ridden13） skin. A 79p stick of Rimmel14） concealer15） was clumsily applied in a bid to cover the onslaught of hormonal blemishes， but almost certainly drew more unwanted attention to my pubescent16）， spotty skin.

Yet I felt reassured by the presence of makeup， and gradually sought further solace in its confidence-boosting powers. As I slowly learned the tricks of the cosmetics trade， my self-consciousness seeped away and my self-esteem grew. I associated the contents of my makeup bag with the ability to walk tall in public， to head off to fashion college brimming with confidence. As for so many women， cosmetics were as essential a part of my morning routine as cleaning my teeth and brushing my hair.

Later， I went on to work in television， where Id have studio makeup applied by professional artists wielding an array of brushes， skilfully blending a mask of perfection on to my pitted， scarred skin， creating the illusion of a creamy， porcelain-smooth complexion. Theyd shade my lids with smokey hues， creating sultry eyes， and artfully add radiance to my cheeks with rosy-pink blush.

It was empowering17） and addictive but， today， as a home-based freelance journalist and mum of one， I spend the majority of my days bare-faced， and largely liberated from the makeup mask I clung to in my youth. Ill open the door au naturel to couriers but Im not about to pollute social media with my naked face—more a common courtesy to the wider public than vanity on my part. I still love being able to morph into a more glamorous being with considered application of corrector18） and concealer， a dewy foundation and a sweep of eyeliner and mascara.

For years， Ive witnessed firsthand the incredible effort that goes into making models and celebrities look the way they do， and am better versed19） than most in the “magic” of the makeover. Its encouraging to see many models and actresses sharing the “before” shots in their social media output， so other women can see the reality behind the artistry. Surely， that can only restore our own self-esteem， shattered by a proliferation of “perfection” portrayed by amateur Photoshoppers and over-enthusiastic photographic filter users.

Journalist and TV presenter Ginny Buckley says that social media has been very liberating， allowing her to have the ultimate say in the way she is portrayed in public. “The only time I felt my image was controlled was when Ive been photographed for the press or been on television but， on Instagram， I show who I truly am， in all areas of my life. Of course， there are images Im not comfortable sharing but， ultimately， Im not so obsessed with my image that I wont show the reality of life. If Im filming and have some makeup on， thats what I post， but if Im camping in a field with my seven-year-old son， Im equally confident to share that side of me. I love the positive message Adele sent out with her makeup-free selfie： It can only be a good thing for young women to see the effort that goes into creating so-called ‘perfection and that being true to yourself is just as beautiful.”

在這樣一個看臉的時代，整形已司空見慣，化妝更是家常便飯。有些場合，化妝是對別人的尊重；有些時候，化妝能讓自己賞心悅目；但有些情況下，過盛的妝容反而會令人迷失自己。聽聽歌手艾麗西亞·凱斯有關(guān)素顏的歌，看看阿黛爾在鏡頭前的真實(shí)面容，也許是時候認(rèn)真思考一下：是否該卸下妝容，把自然、健康的真我呈現(xiàn)在眾人面前？

你敢在公共場所暴露無遺么？我們可不是在這兒討論裸體——沒那么粗俗，而是這么個想法：在不用粉底提亮膚色，不用睫毛膏勾勒眼睛，不涂唇彩也不抹腮紅的情況下，分享你的照片。你素面朝天，卻容光煥發(fā)，出現(xiàn)在朋友Facebook的時間線和陌生人的Instagram訂閱里。你會這么做嗎？我承認(rèn)，我不會這么做。我就是不太希望自己不施粉黛地“暴露”于眾。

然而，似乎很多人十分樂意加入素顏時尚。在Instagram上搜索#素顏#這個標(biāo)簽，你會看到1230多萬張年齡各異的女性形態(tài)各異的素顏照。隨著越來越多備受關(guān)注的名人打算放棄面具般的妝容，素顏成了社會地位的最新象征。

阿黛爾個人形象的關(guān)鍵因素就是她那標(biāo)志性的貓咪眼線和白瓷膚色。上周（原文發(fā)于2016年8月27日），她在Instagram上分享了一個視頻，為取消演唱會向粉絲們致歉。在解釋說自己的聲音“不在工作狀態(tài)”時，這位歌星引來了不少關(guān)注，因?yàn)樗孕哦ǖ卣宫F(xiàn)了真實(shí)的自我：就是每天早晨在化妝師邁克爾·阿仕頓開始替她打造公眾形象前她自己看到的那張臉。

阿黛爾并非個例：格溫妮絲·帕特洛、碧昂斯、卡梅隆·迪亞茲、麥當(dāng)娜、莎朗·斯通和嘎嘎小姐等一眾明星也自信地讓粉絲們一睹自己不施粉黛的面容。名人向來都妝容精致——有一群造型師伴隨左右替她精心打扮。在這個看臉的世界，想到這樣的名人卸下妝容，人們感到有些耳目一新。

《衛(wèi)報》的美容專欄作家薩利·休斯說：“有一種要求，那就是在電視上和娛樂節(jié)目中出現(xiàn)的女性，她們的形象必須同其工作相協(xié)調(diào)。而我非常樂于看到的是，通過讓我們看到她們素顏的樣子，她們向我們展示出自己個性和生活的另一面。我覺得素顏?zhàn)耘恼瞻魳O了，因?yàn)檫@些照片說明了名人的公眾形象中有多少非天然的成分，也讓眾多女性因看到了鏡頭之外的真人而倍感安慰?！?/p>

其中一位名人走得更遠(yuǎn)，徹底擺脫了化妝的桎梏。為了簡化生活，并從自己在公眾心目中創(chuàng)造的眾多身份中找尋“真我”，艾麗西亞·凱斯寫了一首辛辣的歌曲——《當(dāng)一個女孩不能做自己時》，其中有這樣一段歌詞：“清晨醒來那一刻/即使不想化妝又何妨/誰說我非要遮掩本來的樣貌/或許美寶蓮掩蓋了我的自信心?！?/p>

經(jīng)過一番深省，這位歌手如今發(fā)誓“（此次）在自我形象上要做不同的嘗試，展示出本來真實(shí)的自我”。

在美國版真人秀《美國好聲音》的最新預(yù)告片中，凱斯素顏出鏡。在這個眾明星爭相矯揉造作、浮夸虛偽的世界里，她展示了難得一見的那種不加修飾、未經(jīng)潤色的美。有人會說這是一種反對女性向傳統(tǒng)刻板形象屈服的勇敢態(tài)度；有人則真誠地為這種與面具一般的妝容劃清界限的行為叫好。

“我覺得這股風(fēng)頭漸盛的素顏潮非常好?！狈?wù)于名人的化妝師瑪麗·格林韋爾說道。她曾為多個上過雜志封面和走紅毯的名人化妝，因而赫赫有名。“這個世界上，一些富有影響力的女性妝容過盛，眼部整天都化著濃妝。我們已迷失了化妝的本意——需要時化點(diǎn)妝讓你感覺更好一些。化妝過度會令人顯老?？吹讲换瘖y的女人，你才知道她們看上去可以有多美：自然、健康，年輕十歲?！?/p>

“我討厭看到年輕女孩沉迷于化濃妝，像戴面具似的?！备窳滞柦又f道。她的客戶包括凱特·布蘭切特、維多利亞·貝克漢姆和已故威爾士王妃戴安娜這樣的人?！拔铱吹?4歲的女孩們涂著一層層結(jié)塊的粉底，畫著煙熏妝之類的——出現(xiàn)在周六下午3點(diǎn)。

“她們不是為了讓自己更好看，而是在努力去模仿那些名人，因?yàn)樗齻兞w慕和渴望那樣的生活。采用同樣的化妝技巧讓她們距離明星的形象更近，但她們只是把別人的形象放在自己身上，而隱藏了自己的真實(shí)身份。因此，我十分欣賞名人們不化妝，她們鼓勵我們每個人對自己本來的樣貌要有自信，推廣了更好的護(hù)膚方法，讓人們擁有健康而靚麗的膚色?！?/p>

然而，即便在這個女性權(quán)力增加和看似男女平等的開明時代，素顏出鏡的想法也足以讓最自信的女人抓狂。

我沉默寡言的性格很大程度上源自青少年時期，那時三個討厭的女同學(xué)總愛奚落我滿是粉刺的皮膚。我會笨拙地用芮謎79p遮瑕棒掩飾激素斑點(diǎn)的猛攻，卻反而讓我那青春期長滿粉刺的皮膚更加惹人注意。

然而，化妝品的存在還是讓我感到安心，我也漸漸沉迷其中，在它那增強(qiáng)自信的力量中尋找更多慰藉。隨著我逐漸掌握了化妝竅門，我的難為情心理消失，自信增強(qiáng)。包里的化妝品越多，我越能在公共場合昂首闊步，走向時尚學(xué)院時也顯得自信滿滿。我也像眾多女性一樣，將化妝視作如刷牙和梳頭一般重要的早間日常。

后來，我進(jìn)入了電視行業(yè)，有專業(yè)的化妝師在工作室為我化妝，他們揮舞著一把把刷子，靈巧地在我那坑坑洼洼、滿是痘印的皮膚上混合出一張完美的面具，創(chuàng)造出看似白皙嫩滑的肌膚。他們將我的眼瞼畫上煙色眼影，使我的雙眼性感迷人，還巧妙地在我的雙頰涂上玫瑰粉色的脂粉，讓我容光煥發(fā)。

化妝曾令我自信，讓我上癮，但如今，作為一名在家工作的自由記者和一個孩子的媽媽，平日里的大多數(shù)時候我都是素顏，基本上從年輕時崇尚的面具妝容中解放出來。開門見快遞員時，我會不加修飾，但決不會用我赤裸裸的臉龐去污染社交媒體——這與其說是自身的虛榮，不如說是對公眾的基本禮節(jié)。我依舊喜歡適當(dāng)涂點(diǎn)遮瑕霜，擦點(diǎn)保濕粉底，畫上眼線，涂上睫毛膏，變得更具魅力。

多年來，我目睹了為了打造模特和名人光鮮亮麗的外表，人們花費(fèi)了多少功夫，也比大多數(shù)人更懂得化妝的“魔力”。許多模特和女演員在社交媒體貼出化妝前的照片，看后人們備受鼓舞，這讓其他女性了解了化妝這門技藝背后的真相?？梢钥隙?，這反而能讓我們恢復(fù)自信。要知道，我們的自信已經(jīng)被到處傳播“完美”照片的業(yè)余P圖者和勁頭十足的照片濾鏡使用者打擊得粉碎。

記者兼電視節(jié)目主持人金尼·巴克利說，社交媒體一直都令人感到自由，讓她對自己的公共形象擁有最后的話語權(quán)。“只有在為報刊拍照或上電視時，我才感到自身的形象是受人控制的，但在Instagram上，我會從生活的各個方面展現(xiàn)真實(shí)的自己。當(dāng)然，有些照片我不愿意分享，但說到底，我不會因糾結(jié)于自己的形象而不愿展示生活的真實(shí)一面。如果帶妝拍攝，我就發(fā)那樣的照片；如果和七歲的兒子一起野外露營，我會同樣自信地分享自己的那一面。我很欣賞阿黛爾素顏?zhàn)耘乃鶄鬟f的積極信號：讓年輕女性知道創(chuàng)造所謂的‘完美形象需要下多大功夫有益而無害，而做真實(shí)的你也同樣美麗?！?/p>

1. au naturel [??? ?n?tj??rel] adj. 自然的，天然的，裸體的

2. complexion [k?m?plek?（?）n] n. 膚色；面色

3. foundation [fa?n?de??（?）n] n. （化妝打底用的）粉底霜

4. mascara [m??skɑ?r?] n. 睫毛膏

5. Facebook timeline：Facebook的時間線功能。該功能可以按照時間順序組織個人和品牌所有的信息流。用戶可以通過它共享信息。

6. facade [f??sɑ?d] n. 假象，虛假的外表

7. feline [?fi?la?n] adj. 似貓的

8. nonchalantly [&apos；n?n??l?ntli] adv. 平靜地，若無其事地

9. Alicia Keys：艾麗西亞·凱斯（1981～），美國R&B新生代女歌手、唱片制作人、演員、作家等

10. bereft [b??reft] adj. 喪失……的；缺乏……的

11. portfolio [p??（r）t?f??li??] n. （尤指藝術(shù)家的）代表作選輯

12. over the edge：瘋狂，精神錯亂

13. acne-ridden：長滿粉刺的

14. Rimmel：芮謎，為全球歷史最悠久的化妝品牌之一，1834年創(chuàng)建于英國。

15. concealer [k?n&apos；si?l?] n. 遮瑕膏，遮瑕霜

16. pubescent [pju??bes（?）nt] adj. 青春期的

17. empowering [?m?pa???r??] adj. 使感到有自立能力的；增強(qiáng)自信的

18. corrector [k?&apos；rekt?] n. 遮瑕膏

19. versed [v??（r）st] adj. 精通的；熟練的