Just in case you were not aware, Alicia Keys went sans makeup to the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards last Sunday and everyone lost their minds. Social media blew up and all sorts of comments were released into the Twittersphere. Some of them were less than kind, but others were pretty uplifting.

Keys has helped reignite the #NoMakeupMovement by appearing on The Voice and several magazine covers with a naked face. She speaks openly about her choice to put away the metaphorical concealer in a personal essay she wrote for Lenny:

"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 is a very important concept.

A public figure like Alicia Keys has created a conversation for women everywhere to engage in, and with social media it is much easier to participate in the discussion along with her. Keys has encouraged the idea that your worth is not found in a painted-on face and that is a good reminder for everyone. But she also added a more recent statement to her #NoMakeupMovement platform that should be taken just as seriously:

This too is a very important concept.

Keys makes it clear that she is not promoting one look over the other. We have to be careful not to fall into a trap where we celebrate one type of woman and look down upon another. There is no reason to shame women for wearing or not wearing makeup. This is something we tend to get wrong these days and Keys finds a tasteful way to address the double standard: just do you. She chooses to wear a natural face because that holds a deep meaning for her. We as women have to interpret for ourselves what staying true to ourselves means, even with something as trivial as Maybelline.

Makeup or no makeup, we all have the right to feel good about ourselves. I will even go so far as to say that we deserve it. But it only happens when people like Alicia Keys dare to walk the walk and speak up. We need to continue to go forth and cheer for each other. We need to be able to walk down the street and know that we are being judged by our character and actions rather than whether or not our face has been primped appropriately according to social standards.