Since when did looking like ourselves start being considered a hot mess?
In a day and age where the "natural" look includes contoured cheeks and eyebrows on fleek, it's easy to forget that there was once a time where makeup didn't rule a good part of our lives (and time for that matter). Once reserved for special events and date nights, the art of having a "beat face" is pretty standard these days, with most of us refusing to step out the house if our selfie game ain't strong or if our highlight isn't right.
Social media has us putting on for the gram and snapchat and now everyone is a critic. So it was no shock to see people weigh in on Keke Palmer's choice of not wearing makeup after posting this image to her SnapChat.
Of course people had negative things to say, but it was amazing to see the support of other women and celebrities encouraging Keke's look.
Even K. Michelle weighed in.
It's soo powerful to see other women stand up for one another instead of tearing each other down!
Teen star Zendaya did the same when she rushed to the defense of a Youtube star last year who posted a before and after makeup picture of herself after a Twitter troll took jabs at the girl. Zendaya's classy 140 character clapback included a photo of herself sans makeup as she gave the commenter a side eye. But it wasn't the first or the last time Zendaya went bare faced. She posted a video early last year encouraging young girls to be happy with themselves saying:
“Not trying to have a preach moment, but it should not be a phenomenon if a girl decides to—or not to—wear makeup. If you want to beat that face down, then beat it down. If you want to go natural, then go natural. Do you, booboo. Be happy.”
Keri Hilson also touched on something similar a while back after posting a photo of herself in high school. She wrote:
"10th grade Keri. ? Ohh, you young girls don't know how lucky you are in the fight against puberty these days. Yall have lashes, weaves, make-up counters, brow appointments, contouring, youtube beauty tutorials...WE had to figure that sh-t out. I didn't even have foundation. All I had was lip-liner & roll-on gloss. ☝️This is a tomboy trying. #braceface #ididmyownhair #stayedupallnite #sleptlikereginakingonfriday"
Preach Keri! Times are different and there's nothing wrong with wanting to have a beat face, just like there's nothing wrong with walking out without one. True beauty lies within.
[Tweet "There's nothing wrong with a beat face and there's nothing wrong not having one."]
In a Youtube video comedian, motivational speaker and YouTube star Lilly "Superwoman" Singh (makeup-free and all) vowed to never apologize again in the event that she is caught slipping. It all started when she caught herself having a busy day of meetings that left no room to get her face "beat," which led to her apologizing for wearing her natural face. The 26-year-old (who has a whopping 5 million followers on YouTube and 2 million followers on Instagram) admitted that although she loves makeup, there is nothing wrong with going a day or two without it and in the event that we do- we should offer up zero apologies.
Besides, we woke up like this, right? Flawless!
Today I was really busy running around, doing a bunch of things and I had two meetings. So before the meetings, I had no time to get ready like I usually would and I found myself texting the people I was having a meeting with, who are also my friends like 'Hey, just a heads up, I look like a mess. Sorry, don't judge me.' And I did that twice. And that's because I was dressed like [in a hoodie], but moreso, I didn't have any makeup on my face and I have dark circles under my eyes and I have a whole bunch of acne and and I have half an eyebrow or sometimes one eyebrow. But a few hours after my meetings when I calmed down a a little bit and gathered my thoughts, it really hit me that I actually apologized to people for looking like a mess and not wearing makeup.And I was like 'Girl!' Did I really just apologize for not wearing makeup? And then I yelled at myself like- since when do I have to apologize for looking like myself? And since when did looking like myself considered 'a mess'? And I really, really and truly mean this. I love makeup and I love the way it makes me feel and when I go out, I enjoy putting on makeup and it does give me a sense of confidence but since when do I have to feel bad when I don't wear makeup? And I feel like I don't just do this because I know a lot of my other girlfriends message me and say 'Hey, I look like a mess. I'm not wearing makeup, don't judge me.'
Why do we do that? That is not okay! Looking like yourself is not something you need to be sorry for. And I feel like I just had the greatest realization of life today. And I mean this in the most humble way. I try to be a really nice person and really kind to people and just humble and honest and that's what makes me pretty. Not the makeup on my face.
And when I see other people and what draws me to other people is how they make me feel. Not the makeup on their face.
She ended the video with this encouragement to young girls:
So I just really wanted to remind all of you girls, especially if you are younger, you don't need to wear makeup. You can and there is nothing wrong with it, it's awesome but if you don't, you're still awesome!
Yes!!!
Peep Lilly's (aka Superwoman) powerful PSA on the next page.
What do you think of people feeling like celebrities should always have a beat face?
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Shaina, who has held roles at companies including ESPN and the NBA and has taught strategic sports marketing at esteemed institutions like Georgetown University, officially launched the network as a business in 2019. Since then, it’s hosted high-impact events like the Toast to Black Sports luncheon during Super Bowl weekend and built student chapters at both HBCUs and PWIs to pipeline underrepresented talent into the industry.
She shared with xoNecole more on the early days of launch, the turning point that made her realize she had a platform with real influence, and what keeps her going. With 17 years of experience across agencies, teams, and networks, Shaina is proof that grassroots efforts can turn into transformative change—especially when backed by passion, vision, and community.
xoNecole: How did the Minorities In Sports Business Network come to life?
Shaina Wiel: So, I just started the group chat and added a few of my friends who work in the industry as well. We were all kind of in New York at the same time working in the sports space… Very quickly over the next few years, the chat grew to over 800 individuals within the chat. Then, we had over 1000 individuals.
xoN: What was your ‘aha’ moment to expand?
SW: I noticed a bunch of employees from the Big Four leagues— NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB— within my group chat had all started posting roles. And when I asked, 'What is going on? Why are there so many posting jobs within the group chat?' I was told that HR had sent a note to their Black Employee Resource Group and had told them they had heard about this group chat.
That's when I realized, ‘Okay, this is more than, you know, my little friend group chat. Let's see if we can turn this into an actual business. And then in summer, 2019 I decided to do this full time.
Brittany Dacoff
xoN: What was the transition like growing the group chat into a full platform offering membership perks like access to job listings, networking opportunities and more?
SW: I was working at an agency, and the agency had lost their account. It was the account that I was working on. So they were like, you know, we can try to find another or we can separate. I decided to leave. And then, as we know, COVID happened, which actually was a blessing in disguise.
I was able to really focus on building the vision with this group chat and turning it into an actual company, seeing what works, seeing things from an events and a relationship standpoint, in terms of like, how we were interacting with different partners from different companies, and actually turning that into something substantial that could last.
xoN: Speaking of events, talk more about what inspired the Toast to Black Sports event you held earlier this year during the Super Bowl. Why is it important?
SW: This was the second year. There are so many dope people of color, specifically Black people, who work in this industry who are just doing the work behind the scenes. They’re not getting their flowers. I took it upon myself to say, I want to celebrate you. We’ve honored Kimberly Fields, Esq. of the NFL, Kevin Warren, CEO of the Chicago Bears, sports executive Jason Wright, sports and entertainment vet Carmen Green-Wilson, and NFL coach Jennifer King—all of whom have made major contributions to the industry.
xoN: What do you enjoy most about your role today?
SW: I think the work that I enjoy the most, honestly, is with our college students. We have 12 chapters across different colleges and universities. We help eliminate some of the barriers a lot of us had coming out of college. What I love seeing is that we have students who are now looking at roles they never even thought of.
xoN: What’s a bit of career advice for women breaking into the sports industry?
SW: I would say, build relationships. That’s really it: Build authentic relationships. Make sure it's a give and take and that you're supporting other people because once you're building those relationships, then it's a lot easier to either get into a space or to have those conversations when you want to do something.
And always be willing and ready to do the work.
Featured image by Hosea Johnson