Alicia Keys’ ‘daring’ red carpet look

USUALLY when we talk about a “daring” red carpet look it involves a low-cut dress, a thigh-high split or a see-through garment. But this is something entirely different.

Singer Alicia Keys has made headlines for her red carpet look at the BET Awards.

USUALLY when we talk about a “daring” red carpet look it involves a low-cut dress, a thigh-high split or a see-through garment.

But Alicia Keys, 35, made jaws drop at the BET Awards for an entirely different reason: she went completely make-up free.

Alicia Keys smiles for photographers at the 2016 BET Awards.

It’s a concept that would make many Hollywood starlets feel a bit giddy. Not only was her face devoid of a statement lip or a smoky eye, her hair was bundled up in a silver turban (which means she may not have even had to wash her hair before the event ... respect) and instead of a skin-tight dress requiring Spanx and pre-event fasting, she wore a billowy pantsuit.

Recording artist Swizz Beatz and his wife, Alicia Keys.

Last month the singer penned a piece for Lena Dunham’s Lenny newsletter about the moment she realised she no longer wanted to hide behind a full face of makeup.

She wrote the manifesto (which started the #nomakeup hashtag on social media) after she arrived for a photoshoot and the photographer insisted on taking photos of her just as she was, without any makeup.

“I was shocked,” Keys writes. “Instantly, I became a bit nervous and slightly uncomfortable. My face was totally raw. I had on a sweatshirt! As far as I was concerned, this was my quick run-to-the-shoot-so-I-can-get-ready look, not the actual photoshoot look.”

Alicia Keys picture from RCA Records.

For Keys, it was something of a epiphany.

“I swear it is the strongest, most empowered, most free, and most honestly beautiful that I have ever felt,” she wrote.

“I hope to God it’s a revolution,” Keys continued.

“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.”

Keys has gone for a more done-up look in the past.

The singer admitted that the pressure that came with being in the spotlight contributed to her insecurity.

“Every time I left the house, I would be worried if I didn’t put on makeup: What if someone wanted a picture??” she admitted. “What if they POSTED it??? These were the insecure, superficial, but honest thoughts I was thinking. And all of it, one way or another, was based too much on what other people thought of me.”

Keys followed her refreshingly fresh-faced red carpet moment yesterday with a killer performance inside the awards ceremony, in which she played all the instruments herself.

Alicia Keys performing "In Common" completely solo while make up free on live television is a work of art #BETAwards https://t.co/bOsLepRjs9

— Music News & Facts (@musicnews_facts) June 27, 2016