A no makeup selfie can be about much more than showing off one's natural beauty. Lena Dunham's latest no makeup selfie —and she does posts tons of of au naturel shots on her Instagram feed— is the best because it has a deeper message. No, the Girls writer/creator isn't getting on a soapbox in her caption. She simply posed without a lick of product and while holding some interesting, female-centric reading material up to her face.
Dunham is certainly of women and for women and this selfie finds her with a book about solving infertility issues through nutrition. She joked that it was "light and flirty" beach reading, since it appears to be anything but.
That said, this fresh-scrubbed selfie is so impactful because it demonstrates how much awareness Dunham, whose Lenny store sells amazing nail wraps, has about a variety of women's issues. She could be reading this tome for personal reasons or for informational ones so she can discus the topic. Thirst for knowledge, yo!
Whatever her underlying intention for posing with and reading this book, the most critical thing is that she brought awareness to a female issue that might not be at the forefront of people's minds. That's what makes this no makeup shot pretty genius and so much more than a product-free facial photo.
And yeah, Dunham is always pretty adorbs without makeup! She is anything but a Plain Jane and constantly feeds her mind. She also has a knack for intelligent, sometimes self-depracating, yet always zingy wit in her captions.
She appeared pretty makeup-free in this selfie with her crew and some holiday lights.
I love that this photo, which has a little snark, feels like she snapped it and quickly moved on. She probably didn't take 16 shots from a variety of angles to get the best one as that would defeat the purpose.
She always has a sense of humor about herself(ies).
Look who nabbed a pair of Rihanna's Creepers for Puma?!
She kept her grandmother close by by wearing one of her old garments. So sweet. Even her fashion-leaning posts always carry some nugget of deeper meaning. Again, this is why I crush on her. Nothing ever feels "just cuz" but it never feels forced or overbearing, either!
Everything is done with a sense of humor, too! Just read the caption here. Dunham doesn't even need liner and mascara or her other eye! OK, yes she needs two eyes. I kid, I kid. But notice that her expressive eyes do all the work of makeup and of course she had a little fun at her own expense.
Dunham is always a source of inspo. Whether she is posting her reading material, which is also something she does a lot of, or stripping down, both literally and figuratively, as she did with this photo and its caption, she's always real.
I suggest following Dunham's Insta feed for reading suggestions and inspiration to ditch makeup and to just go where the wind takes you.
Images: Lena Dunham/Instagram (8)
