Alicia Keys Hosts the Grammys Wearing Wearing Barely Any Makeup

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 27 January 2020

Musical legend Alicia Keys never wears makeup anymore, and the fact that she has a fancy job as the host for this year's Grammys doesn't change a thing. Last year, she owned the stage as the host of the 2019 Grammys with her makeup-free, glowing complexion. And tonight, she did the same while serenading us into the award show with a stunning gemstone-studded look.

Her luminous, natural, no-makeup makeup glam, done by Romy Soleimani, is consists of a feline-flicked eyeliner and glossy lids that are topped off with two gemstones on the inner corners of her eyes.

Can someone scream STUNNING:

I'm just waiting on the 39-year-old to drop her glow-inducing skincare routine right tf now.

Her cornrows coupled with styled baby hairs, perfected by the one-and-only Nai'vasha Johnson using Emerge Haircare and T3 Hot Tools, are adorned with crystals, which beautifully pull together her look. The inspiration: "Classic, quintessential 'Alicia; but with a fresh approach," is how Johnson described the look in a press release. "There are notes of '90s edge to perfectly align with all the custom '90s-inspired wardrobe. I wanted to accent the mega drama of her Versace clothes with edgy braids and delicate accents of custom Jennifer Behr crystal embellishments." Johnson relied on Emerge Style Goals Gel along with T3 Cura Luxe dryer to style Keys' baby hair.

In case you forgot, here's her bare face, beaming in all of its natural beauty, at last year's Grammys:

Keys has gone without makeup on her album covers, magazine covers, and more. "I don't want to cover up anymore," Alicia Keys wrote in a Lenny Letter a few years ago to introduce her #nomakeup movement. "Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles, not my emotional growth. Nothing." Her no-makeup routine even inspired me to try it out back in 2016 as a baby beauty assistant at Cosmopolitan. But just because she's skin-first, the singer has made it clear that she's not anti-makeup:

Y'all, me choosing to be makeup free doesn't mean I'm anti-makeup. Do you! 😘😘 pic.twitter.com/Mg0Ug9YA9qAugust 29, 2016

Either way, she looks absolutely beautiful. And as soon as I get her skincare routine, I promise to drop in the deets because everyone deserves unicorn skin. Thank you, Keys, for inspiring me to take off my makeup tonight and let my skin breathe without the fear of judgement.

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Maya Allen is the former Digital Beauty Editor at MarieClaire.com where she covered makeup, skincare, haircare, wellness, you name it! She has a 15-step skincare routine, owns over 200 red lipsticks, and enjoys testing the latest and greatest in beauty. On most weekends, you can find her at her happy place, which is her makeup vanity. There, she’s usually blasting her speakers while singing along to lyrics at the top of her lungs, and making sure her highlighter is on point.