Alicia Keys Has the Sweetest Take on Natural Beauty and Aging

Alicia Keys has long been a proponent of discovering self love and natural beauty. (“I can find the place to feel good and feel like myself," shared the artist in a 2021 interview with Marie Claire while discussing her skincare line, Keys Soulcare.) Now, the 42-year-old is sharing her perfectly matter-of-fact wisdom surrounding aging—I suggest writing this next line down.

"I think you get more beautiful as you get older," the "Girl on Fire" singer told The Cut earlier this week. "I feel like there’s something about it. Your heart opens more. You have a quality about you that is so much stronger in a way. I really know that you become more beautiful as you recognize these things about yourself, as you become wiser, as you become older, as you become more yourself, who you actually are."

In a world where so much time is spent trying to stop the natural process from occurring, the Grammy winner is perfectly at peace with aging.

"I love getting smarter. I love being more conscious. I love being aware of what I think," she shared. "I love being in touch with what I think and being comfortable knowing that what I know is the right thing for me, that I don't have to seek so much validation from everybody else to decide if that's a good thing for me or not."

In recent years, Keys made it a point to go out into the world sans makeup, whether it be for award shows or photoshoots. While she's beginning to dabble with products again, she has a lot to say about the experience—and how we subscribe to social standards when it comes to beauty.

"I’ve been able to take off the armor. I’ve been able to just recognize that we are perfect as we are and that doesn’t mean you don’t have days that you want to be different ways. Some days I’m totally in my sweats, I don’t care. I’m putting my sneakers on. It’s perfect. I love it, I feel great. Some days I’m like, You know what? This is a day I’m ready to just turn up in every way," Keys shared. "And some days you’re somewhere in the middle and it’s cool. But I think I’m grateful that I’ve been able to let go of the idea of having to somehow always be something. It’s so beautiful when you can just be comfortable in your skin. That’s the part that I think I learned, how to be comfortable in my skin."