Here's What Yara Shahidi Looks Like Going Makeup Free

Already considered a beauty icon (via Nylon), Yara Shahidi has a reputation for slaying on the red carpet. And she's spent plenty of time there, having attended the People's Choice Awards, MTV Movie + TV Awards, Kids' Choice Awards, BET Awards, and the NAACP Image Awards — all of which she has attended as a nominee, and in some cases, the recipient of the trophy, according to IMDb.

Shahidi made her official on-screen debut in a 2007 episode of the series "Entourage," when she was just 7 years old. Two years later, she made her first feature film, starring as Eddie Murphy's daughter in "Imagine That." She had regular parts in the series "In the Motherhood" and "The First Family," before landing her breakout role as Zoey Johnson in the ABC primetime series "Black-ish" (per IMDb).

When it came time for her character to attend college, a spin-off series was created for Shahidi. "Grown-ish," broadcast on Freeform, centers around Zoey experiencing life at CalU. In her real life, Shahidi also attended college, Harvard to be exact. As noted by Black Enterprise, she was working on a double major in sociology and African American studies, and officially graduated in 2022, according to a post of her in a cap and gown on Instagram.

Yara Shahidi is confident being makeup free

Having to wear makeup was a new experience for Yara Shahidi when she began filming "Black-ish," and she found that experience bleeding into her everyday life, she confessed to InStyle. "I realized I became a little dependent on it, and I didn't feel finished unless I had my makeup on."

She eventually came to find a happy medium, though. "I learned how to love makeup, have fun with it, but not feel totally dependent on it," she remarked to InStyle. "I don't feel like it makes or breaks who I am anymore, and being able to say I feel confident with no makeup on as much as I do with a full face is really empowering."

Shahidi tends to put more emphasis on taking care of her complexion than on her makeup palette. "Skin care is what I do on a more daily basis, whereas makeup is really more spontaneous," she shared with Vogue. The star told Vogue UK her "glowing skin" is a combination of good genes, good habits, and good products. "I think the first thing I ever learned to do was wash [my] face, moisturize, all of that, at the end of the day. I've had that process since I was young."

The star likes to be bold with her makeup

In 2021, Yara Shahidi was named the newest global brand ambassador for Dior, as reported by Vogue, and has appeared in both their fashion and makeup campaigns. She promotes and wears many of the products herself, explaining to Vogue, "It's always important that if I'm going to represent something, I genuinely love and use the product." Dior's brow formulas are amongst her favorites. "As somebody that doesn't touch their unibrow, they give me the fluffy brow that I love!"

On a daily basis, her makeup look usually consists of a moisturizer, lip gloss, and some brow-grooming. "I'll have combed my unibrow, I'm shining," she dished to Vogue UK. "I love concealer and foundation, but that's usually when I'm fancier and out and about for an event."

When Shahidi does hit the red carpet, she likes to be fashion-forward with her clothing and makeup, and already has a portfolio of iconic looks. "I've learned to look at beauty as a creative outlet," she explained to E! News. "This is why I gravitate towards louder colors — there's that feeling of taking up creative space when you go bold."