It would be easy enough to pick out a Trump woman from a lineup of other political figures for the simple reason that they have developed their own signature style of makeup. Sharply defined eyebrows, deeply shadowed eyes, highly glossed lips, and a generously pancaked face. When done well, this formula can serve as a functional recipe for stage-friendly makeup that typically requires a higher degree of dramatic enhancement than an everyday look. Nevertheless, the whole combo can just as easily go south, as the Trump family’s past makeup fails have demonstrated. While their high-glam makeup may attract more attention, it is also a surreal experience to see the Trump women without their usual cosmetics.

Despite some members of the Trump family, like Tiffany Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle, rarely venturing out barefaced, the public has been granted enough glimpses to know that underneath all that cosmetic art, they have faces as real as the rest of us do — complete with freckles, blemishes, under-eye circles, et al. Here’s a look at some such times the Trump women went makeup-free.

The coronavirus pandemic has ben held up as “the great leveler” — and it even altered beauty trends. Ivanka Trump attested to it by delivering some major relatable moments at the time, as she fulfilled her public duties during quarantine in the universally classic work-from-home attire: disheveled hair, casual wardrobe, and no makeup. 

After COVID-19 was declared a national emergency in the United States, Ivanka took to Instagram to urge her followers to comply with social distancing guidelines, talking to them in a strikingly dressed-down stance. This informal appearance may or may not have been a calculated decision for the former political advisor, who is known for her makeup indulgence, but it sure worked in her favor as far as striking a chord with her audience went. 

It was a breath of fresh air to witness what Ivanka looks like underneath all that makeup for social media users who gushed about how naturally stunning America’s First Daughter actually is. As she spoke into the camera, her flawless skin glistened — seemingly without the use of highlighters — leading many to either rave or inquire about it in the comments. Luckily for them, Ivanka’s beauty secrets have been out in the open for a while now. Her longtime makeup artist Alexa Rodulfo once told Hola! magazine, “Ivanka is someone who eats nutritious foods, exercises regularly, doesn’t smoke and protects her skin.”

When she is out and about for work, especially as co-chair of the Republican National Committee, Lara Trump is loyal to the family’s application of bold makeup. Off-stage, however, she keeps it blissfully real. While navigating the daily routines of her life — whether she’s at the beach or with her family and dogs at home — Lara revels in the comforts of a makeup-free existence. The proof is all over her social media, where she doesn’t shy away from sharing candid peeks into the time she spends outside of politics as a regular woman in messy buns and natural skin. 

Fitness is one of her hobbies, and as someone who spends time at the gym, bicycling outdoors and horseback riding, Lara knows to sweat it out healthily without layers of makeup waging war against her pores. Notwithstanding Lara Trump’s biggest (and impossible to ignore) makeup fails, she stands out from the other Trump family women who really like to slather it on with an approach to makeup that is definitely more minimal.

True to Trump form, she focuses on eyeshadow, but not typically to the degree of her father-in-law’s wife, Melania Trump, or Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle.

In 2015, a year before her father Donald Trump secured his first presidency, Tiffany Trump sat for an offbeat shoot sans makeup and also, it seems, clothes. The portrait video was part of a “Confessional” series recorded by Los Angeles-based photographer Scott Nathan, which sought to portray women’s realest selves before the camera with “no masks, no hair stylist, no makeup, no retouching and no objectification” tampering with their appearances, according to an official release. 

The multimedia project eventually premiered in 2019, showing Tiffany in a light the public had never seen. When she campaigned for her father’s 2016 presidential race, she looked much like the other blonde-haired, wide-eyed, dolled-up women in the Trump family. Nathan’s video, however, gave the world a glimpse into a radically different and real version of Tiffany. 

In keeping with Nathan’s one rule — “don’t take your eyes off the center of the lens” –  Tiffany is seen interacting with the camera for nearly 30 minutes in all her barefaced glory, leaving her freckles, under-eyes, natural eyebrows, and everything else that makeup can enhance on display. “I’m not going to lie, I was a little bit aware of the camera,” she said in a follow-up interview shared by the New York Post. She continued, saying, “But I think throughout the process I did start becoming less aware and just less focused on it and just more focused in myself.” 

Tiffany Trump’s mother, Marla Maples, was also part of the “Confessional” project by Scott Nathan, following in her daughter’s footsteps to lay her face bare for the camera. In her approximately seven-minute video, the actor effortlessly stares into the lens, playing with her expressions as the monochrome frame shows a closeup of her from the collarbones up. “I feel more grounded,” she said in her post-shoot interview, reflecting on the rawness of the project. “My life has been a journey about removing the mask. … Life has taught me through some tough challenges, to overcome and get to the core of who I am,” she added.

While some may know Marla Maples best as Donald Trump’s ex-wife, her entertainment career — which spans films television, and theater — has endured beyond that reputation, and she’s gotten away from the noise of her ex-husband’s extracurriculars. In many ways, she has since built a life unburdened by the optics that come with being in the political arena. Like some other Hollywood celebrities, Maples’ social media accounts share a balance of glam photoshoots and candid photos that can relate her to modern audiences. Given her seemingly thriving social life and love for the great outdoors, she likely gets plenty of opportunities to break away from the monotony of making up her face and just be. 

One can safely assume that makeup would be the last thing on the mind of someone who has just pushed a baby out of their body. So in 2006, when Kimberly Guilfoyle gave birth to Ronan Anthony Villency — the son she shares with ex-husband Eric Villency — it marked a rare makeup-free moment for the former television host whose facial upkeep forms an intrinsic part of her public image. 

Social media users got a glimpse of what Kimberly Guilfoyle looks like without makeup in one of many heartwarming photos she shared on Instagram for Mother’s Day in 2024, which showed her newborn snuggling up to her as she held him close to her bare face. Her perfectly manicured nails were the only semblance of cosmetic enhancement amidst the candid moment. In the caption, she gushed over having “the best job on the planet.” 

A glimpse of this real mother-son moment was a refreshing departure from routine for Guilfoyle, who is frequently trolled online for goofing up in the makeup department. A joke about her makeup artist hating her is a common refrain on social media when one of Kimberly Guilfoyle’s makeup fails inevitably makes the rounds. Her faux pas are all the more apparent to the public, given these more intimate, relaxed glimpses of Guilfoyle’s more au naturel days.

Kimberly Guilfoyle’s heavy makeup looks are pretty much a public uniform for the Republican media personality by this point. Dark smokey eyes, intensely defined lips, a fully caked face — these have come to be so closely associated with Guilfoyle that they seem now to exist less for beautification than for identification. In their absence, it might be hard to pick Guilfoyle out of a crowd. Such an occasion can, in fact, arise since the Trump campaigner does know how to let her hair down every once in a while. 

In a rather relatable Facebook post from 2017, Guilfoyle showed that, just like the rest of us, she likes to take it easy while traveling. She was pictured sporting an all-black jacket and slacks ensemble that perfectly complemented her lazy girl makeup-free look as she jet-setted to a formal gala in Virginia, where she would have to deck up in her signature style. It was a wise decision by Guilfoyle to let her skin breathe on the way. 

Going surfing with a full face of makeup would result in a thorough mess — and thankfully, Ivanka Trump has the foresight to consider that. Donald Trump’s oldest daughter — who, on a regular day, is a makeup-loving beauty queen — keeps her face clean when she goes into the water, whether that’s to ride the waves or just lounge in the pool. While we only catch very sporadic glimpses of her no-makeup looks on social media, one can believe that her residence in beachside Florida provides Ivanka with more opportunities to ditch the vanity kit and dive right into the water, like a true blue surfer babe. 

“It’s really humbling to be so small amidst that vast sea,” Ivanka said on the “Lex Fridman Podcast,” gushing about wading out into the waves. “It feels really beautiful, you know, with no noise, no chatter, no distractions, just being in the moment.” Not having a made-up face to worry about likely adds to the spirit of carefreeness Ivanka feels in the water. Unlike politics, surfing doesn’t demand stilted, error-free performances and this flexibility has proved well in Ivanka’s favor — not just in terms of allowing her to ease away from the makeup but also in giving her room to trip without judgment, quite literally. An Instagram photo that showed her taking a tumble on the surfboard was delightfully candid — and many people loved it! 

Tiffany Trump has, on occasion, taken the stage to beat the drum for her father ever since he made his first Republican presidential bid. But for the better part of Donald Trump’s political career, his youngest daughter has eschewed the spotlight in favor of a more regular life than the rest of her family’s. Her approach to bureaucratic fame has been evident not just by way of her low participation in the Trump legacy, but also in the treatment of her celebrity status. 

A year after Trump became the President of the United States in 2016, Tiffany was photographed looking her relaxed best while on holiday in Tuscany, sporting a bikini and a makeup-free face. Now, for any other Trump foot soldier on the front lines, this could well have caused a PR faux pas, in terms of the strait-laced optics expected of America’s first family. (Though the Trump family has hardly been the pinnacle of decorum.) 

Given Tiffany’s position as a low-key member of Team Trump, her paparazzi pictures didn’t warrant much of a peep in the otherwise in the tabloids. In fact, the whole thing had such an unassuming air about it that a passing look at the photos — in which Tiffany had her hair down in all their frizzy everydayness and wore her face au naturel — might not even have given away her standing as the then-sitting president’s daughter.