16 Celebs Who Embrace Their Natural Beauty
When we see celebrities on screen, on the red carpet, and in magazine advertisements, it can be easy to think that they're almost not even human. They're slim and toned, their hair is silky and shiny, their teeth are white and perfectly straight, their make-up plays up all their best features while hiding any imperfections… basically, unless you're looking at a snapshot captured by the paparazzi of a celebrity when they're leaving somewhere bare faced in their comfy clothes, we only see celebrities when they're enhanced and gorgeous.
However, more and more celebrities are fighting against that image and deciding it's actually a good thing to embrace your imperfections. Rather than creating an unrealistic image of what a beautiful woman should look like, they're owning their 'imperfections' as part of their beauty, part of who they are, rather than something to be fixed in order to attain the celebrity ideal - and we love them for it. After all, there are some things you can change to help improve the way you look and feel, such as eating a healthier diet and working out regularly and keeping up your grooming, and there are some things that can't be changed without plastic surgery - and they don't need to be changed!
Here are 16 celebs who are embracing their natural beauty and sending the message that you should love who you are, just the way you are.
15 Anna Paquin
Anna Paquin has had a pretty incredible career. She got her big break at only 11 years old, when most A-List celebrities aren't even thinking of Hollywood yet, when she snagged the role of Flora McGrath in The Piano. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role, and went on to star in several other films. Her second break, which brought her to a mainstream audience, was when she earned the role of lovable waitress Sookie Stackhouse in the HBO series True Blood, where she also met her husband, Stephen Moyer. While Paquin has the typical svelte physique and blonde hair, there is one thing that sets her apart from many other actresses - the significant gap between her front teeth. Perhaps it's the confidence that early success gave her, but while many other actresses would have opted to pay their dentist a visit in order to craft a 'perfect' smile, Paquin continues to rock the gap and embrace her natural beauty.
14 Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst is pretty much what you think of when you think of an indie California girl - the slim frame, the silky blonde locks, the gorgeous face, the sense of edgy coolness, etc. There's just one thing that is a little bit less than 'perfect' on her - her teeth, which the press always criticized by dubbing the gorgeous Dunst “snaggletooth.” Dunst, however, didn't rush out to her dentist to get them fixed in response - she owned it, commenting that “I love my snuggle fangs. They give me character, and character is sexy.” We have to agree with that! Dunst did eventually appear to get her canine 'snaggle' teeth filed down a bit, but she has still never totally fixed her slightly crooked, less than perfect smile - and we love her for it. She's gone from starring in huge films like Interview With The Vampire and Jumanji as a child, to being a teen rom com queen in flicks like Bring It On and Get Over It, entering the superhero world in the Spiderman franchise, and lately, has been moving to the independent film world and will be soon making her directorial debut.
13 Christina Hendricks
While she had been in a few small roles before Mad Men, once Hendricks got the role of the sassy, strong Joan Holloway, she officially catapulted herself to the A-List. And, she established herself as a role model for women to embrace their natural size because of her curves. While her wardrobe on the show necessitated that she show off her curves because of style of the time, she definitely didn't cover up her figure and drape herself in fabric for red carpet events - she picked gowns that showcased her curves rather than hid them, and that's a fantastic message to send. She has shown women around the world that you don't need to be a size zero in order to be sexy - you just need to have a healthy dose of confidence. While Mad Men was filled with gorgeous women, none of them held a candle to Christina Hendricks when it came to sex appeal.
12 Adele
Let's face it - no matter what she looked like, Adele likely would have become an international superstar because she has without question one of the best voices in the business. However, unlike many other pop stars who have slimmed down to rock teeny leotards on stage, Adele has always remained true to herself - from the beehive hairstyle and her trademark cat eye to the elegant gowns and dresses she wears on stage, she knows who she is and embraces that whole heartedly. When fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld criticized her by saying she was too fat, she didn't let it get to her. Instead, she took the opportunity to rock her 'love yourself' spirit by firing back “I represent the majority of women and I'm very proud of that.” Recently, Adele has made headlines for slimming down a bit, but it wasn't a move made to please anyone but herself, and that's a fantastic message to send to her fans around the world.
11 Lorde
In the music world, Lorde is one of the coolest chicks on the block. Somehow, she always seems effortlessly chic, and she continues to put out fantastic song after fantastic song. However, unlike some celebrities who never appear in public without a full face of make-up, Lorde has always kept it real. She's shared photos of herself that seamlessly blend her glam life as a superstar singer and the realities of being a real human, such as when she Instagrammed a shot of herself in bed in a Paris hotel with acne cream on. She's also not afraid to call out others who try to gloss over reality in the quest of a 'perfect' celebrity image. At a performance awhile back, two photos were taken of Lorde - one that was not retouched, and one that was heavily retouched to make her skin look flawless. She responded with this classy gem: “I find this curious - two photos from today, one edited so my skin is perfect and one real. Remember flaws are ok.” Copy that, Lorde.
10 Kate Winslet
Once upon a time, Kate Winslet was a 20-something starlet bursting onto the scene. Then, she aged out of her twenties, and unlike some actresses who fight every year of ageing and try to remain forever 20-something, Winslet has whole-heartedly embraced the process - and is urging others to embrace it as well. She has become one of the most outspoken celebrities when it comes to Photoshop, and while some actresses might request more retouching to look truly flawless, Winslet often asks for her image to be less retouched in magazine spreads and on movie covers. In response to a GQ cover that she graced, she commented that “I do not look like that and, more importantly, I don't desire to look like that.” We think everyone would agree that Winslet is absolutely gorgeous, and while some actresses bent on looking 20-something forever are ageing out of the roles they once had, Winslet is continuing to get meatier and more impressive roles year after year.
9 Amanda Seyfried
It might be tough to imagine what flaws Amanda Seyfried has - after all, she's absolutely beautiful! However, Seyfried herself has said that there's one particular aspect of her beauty that has received criticism over the years - her pale complexion. Apparently, Seyfried used to get made fun of because of her pale skin. Rather than running off to the tanning salon to get a faux glow, Seyfried embraced her natural skin, saying that “I'd rather not be ordinary looking. I want something different about me. We all want to be originals.” We couldn't have said it better ourselves, Amanda. While many starlets are fake and baking in an attempt to get that California girl glow, Seyfried has always kept her alabaster complexion, and it's part of what we love about her. Don't be concerned with looking like everyone else - embrace your natural beauty, embrace your quirks and 'imperfections,' because they're what make you an original.
8 Helen Mirren
If you look at a photo of Helen Mirren in her 20s when she was just starting out, she's absolutely breathtaking. If you look at a photo of Helen Mirren in her 60s, she's absolutely breathtaking. The point is - you don't need to fight ageing to hard that you become a caricature of yourself. Helen Mirren proves that by embracing your natural beauty, the end result is often a lot better than if you had nipped and tucked your face year after year. She does things like add pink to her hair and wear gowns that some might deem too risqué for someone at her age, because she has the confidence to pull off whatever she wants. Helen Mirren is Helen Mirren - she doesn't care what anyone thinks, and neither should you! While there are certain things you can and should do to combat the signs of ageing, such as wearing sunscreen and moisturizing regularly, there's no need to totally reshape your face to make it look more youthful.
7 Chrissy Teigen
Chrissy Teigen is a model, but that doesn't mean she has no flaws - and she's the first one to admit it! Teigen's Instagram account is a true gem where she shares hilarious pictures of her daily life as well as delectable dishes she's cooking up, and one post of hers made headlines recently. Teigen took a shot of her legs, which normally appear incredibly slim and toned, with the caption “stretchies say hi!” Teigen was actually showing off her kitchen war wounds in the form of the bruises on her legs from cabinet handles, but she also proved that even supermodels have stretchmarks - and it's totally fine! And it's not the first time that Teigen has showed that kind of body positivity. Back in 2013, she shared an image of her legs with the caption “hi thigh stretchies I hate you but you are mine so I'll accept you.” Take Teigen's example - even if you don't particularly love certain features of your body, learn to accept them and be at peace with your natural beauty.
6 Lea Michele
While she has been a Broadway darling for quite some time, Lea Michele officially became an A-List star when she snagged the role of Rachel Berry on the hit television show Glee. However, there's one imperfection that has been brought up throughout her career - her nose. Michele spilled to Harper's Bazaar that she was told by several potential managers that she should get a nose job and that she wasn't pretty enough to make it in the entertainment industry. She also told GQ about her mother's words of wisdom - “my mom always told me, growing up, 'Barbra Streisand didn't get a nose job, you're not getting a nose job.” Michele kept her natural nose, and in a sea of gorgeous brunette starlets, it makes her stand apart and gives her face character. She has carved out a hugely successful career, so we hope that the former managers who told her she couldn't make it because of the size of her nose know what they missed out on!
5 Patricia Arquette
Actress Patricia Arquette is definitely not a wallflower content to let sexism stand in the entertainment industry - she has been incredibly outspoken about women's rights and the need for change in certain aspects of the industry, and we totally dig her attitude. As you might expect, her outspoken nature extends to female beauty as well. Arquette is beautiful, but her teeth are slightly crooked - and she fully embraces that. When she was a teenager, she shares, she was told that if she fixed her teeth she'd be more desirable and could easily snag photo spreads in magazines like Playboy. Her response? “I didn't want to look perfect. I didn't want to have to change myself to be attractive. I've had so many of these conversations in my life… what I look like on film, what I don't look like on film. What are we supposed to look like? Men are not having these conversations,” she told People in an interview. Well said!
4 Kate Bosworth
To see Kate Bosworth's beauty 'imperfection,' you have to get really close and look right at her eyes. Bosworth was born with a gene mutation by the name of heterochromia iridum, which basically means her eyes are a different colour - one eye is a gorgeous blue while the other is hazel. While this might seem like a beauty flaw in a world of symmetrical, uniform beauty, it's actually something that makes Bosworth's beauty more unusual and interesting. While throughout her career she's had her eyes coloured the same colour in certain spreads and photo shoots, she recently proved to doll-buying girls everywhere that imperfections are beautiful. The Lois Lane dolls that came out after she played the role of the iconic journalist by Clark Kent's side were sold with two different coloured eyes - how cool! As more celebrities become outspoken about embracing their flaws, more and more toy manufacturers start to create options for young children that embrace flaws, and everyone's attitude about beauty changes - and that's a beautiful thing.
3 Cindy Crawford
Cindy Crawford is basically the perfect example of how an 'imperfection' can and should be embraced. Back in the 1990s, Cindy Crawford was one of the hottest supermodels in the world, and she had one distinct feature that set her apart - a noticeable mole on her face. Rather than covering it up with make-up for every photo shoot, Crawford let her natural beauty shine, and girls around the world responded by drawing on a fake mole to mimic Crawford's sexy imperfection. Crawford has expressed that, after being teased in school for the feature, she wanted to get it removed, but upon her mother's urging she left it - and now it's one of her most well known characteristics. “It's the thing that many people remember about me, and it made a lot of women who also have beauty marks identify with me,” said Crawford. Whatever type of beauty mark you have, embrace it, don't try to cover it up.
2 Karolina Kurkova
The tall, leggy blonde supermodel Karolina Kurkova has been slaying in the fashion world since she was a teenager, and she shows no signs of slowing down - however, even she has an 'imperfection' that might have escaped your notice. We know it's hard to ignore the toned legs and abs, but take a closer look at her abdomen - Kurkova actually doesn't have a belly button. According to her rep, that's a result of an operation she had when she was an infant. However, while some people might respond to that 'flaw' by never exposing their stomachs, Kurkova has done the exact opposite, carving out a career where she frequently strutted her stuff down the runway in just lingerie, with her stomach on full display. No one cares about that slight imperfection because she's absolutely gorgeous and rocks her body with confidence - and we can all learn a lesson from that.
1 Ariana Grande
It can be tough to believe that Ariana Grande's voice comes out of her petite frame - she's just so tiny! While being slim and petite is definitely a hot thing in Hollywood, generally it's an ideal accompanied by an ample bra size to create an hourglass figure. Ariana Grande's bust is, like her frame, very petite - and she doesn't mind in the slightest. She constantly showcases her figure in her stage outfits and red carpet choices, and has even sported sweatshirts proudly proclaiming that her curves are slightly smaller than average. Her body confidence proves that you should love your body, no matter what it looks like - whether you've got crazy curves or a more petite figure. Not everyone might feel comfortable declaring their body 'imperfections' on a sweatshirt, but the message is a good one - love your body, rock your imperfections, and keep that confidence high because you're fabulous!
Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton is basically the poster child for embracing your natural beauty. While Hollywood has a few breakout starlets who rock slightly different looks, as a whole, there's a certain mould that female celebrities are expected to fill - and Swinton basically took a look at that mould, shook her head, and kept being herself. In a sea of traditionally feminine actresses, Swinton has always kept her androgynous look, and it's part of what has made her so successful - it's basically impossible to ignore her striking looks on the screen. She has also proven that she's utterly unafraid to wear whatever she wants on the red carpet, she takes on projects she feels passionate about, whether that's a comedy or an indie flick, and she just is herself, no matter what the circumstance. Regardless of what anyone says about her androgynous looks, she's not going to start growing out waist-length locks or wearing frilly gowns, because that's just not her.