The pressure of having perfect skin isn’t just unrealistic, it can be mentally disrupting, too. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy for us to let go of the myth of a ‘flawless’ face.

Here at Stylist, we believe in championing the reality of women’s skin in all its glory. And we’re not the only ones.

From JVN and Alicia Keys to Cynthia Nixon and Cara Delevingne, plenty of famous figures have been outspoken against skin-shaming and supportive of embracing your natural beauty. Here are 13 times they did just that. 

Royals singer Lorde opened up about her acne in an honest Instagram post in 2018, where she admitted that while “acne sucks”, she doesn’t let it hold her back.

“For everyone out there who’s got bad skin – and actual bad skin, not just the kind of bad skin you can just use fancy skincare for a few days and it’ll all get better – I feel your pain. We’ll get there, we will, I promise,” she shared.

In 2016, Alicia Keys made the decision to go make-up-free indefinitely after admitting that she felt “addicted to it” and “didn’t feel comfortable without it”. Since then, she’s been outspoken about celebrating natural beauty in all its forms, whether she’s having a ‘good’ skin day or not.

As she told Elle UK in an interview: “I mean, I know how it feels to have a face full of bumps and pimples. I lived through that in the public eye.”

Actor Ruby Rose has no time for her 23 million followers analysing her skin from every angle. After facing trolling for her acne back in 2017, she responded via an Instagram story, writing: “Yeah it sucks… for me. I don’t see how it’s bothering so many others. But I’m a human. It happens… one side of my face is clear and the other is a mess.”

Throughout her career, Winnie Harlow has been open about being typecast as a ‘vitiligo model’. After she was described by a publication as a “vitiligo sufferer” she took to Instagram to set the record straight.

“PSA: I’m not a ‘vitiligo sufferer’. I’m not a ‘vitiligo model’. I am Winnie. I am a model. And I happen to have vitiligo. Stop putting these titles on me or anyone else.”

“I am not suffering! If anything I’m succeeding at showing people that their differences don’t make them who they are!” she continued.  

Back in 2018, the Queer Eye host shared an intimate look at his psoriasis flare-up on Instagram. He told Allure that he was originally going to Facetune the spots away, but instead decided to post an unretouched photo and open up about their experience.

“It’s just been such an issue since I’ve had it,” they said. “The first time I had a flare-up, I was 23, and I got it from like a scratch. I was scratched and then that scratch turned into what was a psoriasis flare-up, but it took me like five doctors to figure out what it was. I was on antibiotics for months.”

While Van Ness has shared that the flare-ups could be “a little frustrating, a little defeating”, he also admitted that they can feel “hopeful because it’s an opportunity for you to take care of your body”.

“I’m incredibly self-conscious about the fact that I get bad skin,” the actor told Vogue Australia in 2012. “If you’re using your face, if you’re selling it, then you become so aware of the flaws because people tell you,” she said in that same interview. “And they do so brusquely.”

Cara Delevingne was widely praised for her 2022 Met Gala look, which saw her whole body wrapped in gold, with only her tattoos and skin condition visible.

“I’ve always talked about my psoriasis, so it wasn’t new. But I’ve never been more naked in public and showing my psoriasis there was just overwhelming. I didn’t realise at first what that would mean,” she told German Glamour. “At first I was like, ‘Wait a minute, I should cover this up, right?’ and then I remembered, though, that it’s not good for my skin and a lot of people live with psoriasis.”

She continued: “It’s not a beautiful thing to have – but you also have to be proud of it. I’m proud of it in the sense that it’s something that belongs to me. I used to hate my psoriasis, but that only made it worse.”

After delivering a keynote address to the Girl Collective summit in 2018, singer SZA offered some helpful advice for fellow sufferers of cystic acne. “Don’t get discouraged with your skin when it doesn’t do what you want it to do. Give it some time,” she told Teen Vogue at the time.

She also shared that she has worked to learn to love parts of her appearance that previously made her feel self-conscious. “Acne is so crazy,” she added. “It’s like, your face is your base. That’s what you’re supposed to be in the world with. How am I supposed to be in the world?”

While the And Just Like That actor says she didn’t know the cause of the facial redness she struggled with her whole life until when she was finally diagnosed with rosacea in adulthood, she has since made a point to discuss the condition openly and offered help to others. As she told the National Rosacea Society in 2012: “Rosacea might always be on your mind, but it doesn’t have to be on your face.” “If you think you might have rosacea, go see a dermatologist. Trust me – it’ll be so much better.”

Chat show host and actor Busy Philipps had an epic response after she was trolled for starring in an Olay commercial when “her skin is terrible”.

“TBH, my skin is f—ing amazing and always has been and I’ve yet to inject Botox or filler into it and I’m 40,” she shared on her Instagram story following the comments.

When Rihanna shared her first photo of 2020 – captioned “First selfie of the year doe” – thousands of fans were quick to comment on her bare face. One follower, however, noticed a (barely visible) spot on her cheek, commenting: “Let me pop your pimple.”

In true Ri-Ri fashion, she clapped back at the skin shamer in a matter of moments, saying: “Let her have her shine, PLEASE.”

The Riverdale actor regularly uses her platform on social media to dispel myths around mental health, beauty standards and more.

“My breakouts don’t define me,” she captioned her Instagram story alongside a photo of her face dotted with spot cream. “To anyone out there who feels embarrassed or ashamed by breakouts… I feel you. We have each other. So let’s get through this acne experience together.”

Model and Gurls Talk founder Aboah famously shared selfies from a years-long project that documented her experience with acne, explaining that she had taken the pictures for herself as an exercise in acceptance.

She shared that it was “only ever meant for my eyes in order to obsessively scrutinise over my up and down battle with my skin. Some days it was acne, some days it wasn’t too bad, then mass breakouts followed by clear-as-day skin.

“It was exhausting never knowing what your skin was going to look like from one day to another; it was even more exhausting caring so much about what work thought or if people noticed,” she added.

However, she eventually chose to share the photos publicly: “Not because my skin is the worst you’ve everseen but because it feels time to let that sh*t go, time to join force with a community who bare their pimples for the world to see.”

This article is part of Skin Freedom, a Stylist Love Women series that aims to champion the reality of women’s skin in all its glory.

Images: Getty