So, I was at the grocery store about a few weeks ago picking up a few things, and the headline on one of the celebrity tabloids was “Celebrities Without Makeup!!!”

I’m dying to remember which tabloid it was, because I want to adaquately criticize them.

We tend to ream out celebrities who get work done or who don’t leave the house without having seen their stylist first, for perpetuating unrealistic standards of beauty. Ashlee Simpson took a lot of crap for getting her nose done and there is just a general sense of animosity towards “perfect” celebrities, like Beyonce, Jennifer Aniston, and Angelina Jolie for always looking professionally coiffed when they’re out in public.

And while we can blame celebrity tabloids and the media for perpetuating such negative standards of beauty, I think we set ourselves up. I don’t think celebrities would attempt to be this “perfect” if they knew that they wouldn’t be publicly criticized for their imperfections if they allowed themselves to go in public wearing flip-flops or without makeup. However, if I knew that I would be on the cover of Star magazine for running to Starbucks without eyeliner, I would have black lines tattooed on my eyelids to prevent any kind of embarassment.

When I googled, “Celebrities Without Makeup,” not only did Google fill in the phrase for me (which it does, for frequently searched items), but dozens of web-sites, videos, and photos surfaced, specifically showcasing celebrities without makeup. Which means that there is a market for it. Perhaps Jennifer Aniston would stop perpetuating an image of women as effortlessly perfect if we, as a society, would allow her to be imperfect.

I’m making two points by posting the following video: 1. The song they play to accompany pictures of celebrities being regular people implies that if you don’t have makeup on, you’re ugly, and 2. It has had 500,000 views! People seem to really demand “Celebrities without makeup” YouTube videos.

Not to mention, my amazing friend Casondra, a CA-based artist and writer, sent me a link to an article the other day that shows that the average makeup-sporting women absorb five pounds of chemicals into their faces annually–and I don’t think that includes the chemicals in the firming lotions, tanning lotions, self-tanners, scented shaving creams, cream hair removers (eww… think about how much more chemicals you absorb if you reguarly use Nair!), perfumes, and chemical skin treatments women use. It makes me rethink the value of my last spree at Sephora.