^She wears quite a lot of it when on stage. Much less now than a few years ago, though. I get the feeling she is sort of abandoning the doll-like apperance.

Hm~ like powder or something? Blush? Eye stuff? I'd expect mostly eye stuff xD

More like liquid/cream foundation since the sweat would probably expose streaks on Ayu's face if she wore powder.

wow. she looks so normal.

Ayu looks like during release of poker face... sniff I want that Ayu back again :(

Argh. Not very pretty here...

Yeah, she was so simple and clean back then, but we all know how artistes change with popularity and money :/

Who doesn't?

Ayu still looks very gorgeous without make-up. A lot better than many stars, I can safely assume and say. ;)

I absolutely agree with you!!! I saw many starts without make up and they are so..HORRIBLE! she is just normal without make up ^^

wow... =o

she looks so different~

different, but nice nevertheless :yes

I disagree strongly with your last statement. Ayu is VERY reliant on makeup. When is the last time you have seen Ayu look the way she does in the pics at the beginning of this thread? And she does wear quite a lot at concerts as well, sometimes all over her skin. For example, the My Story concert tour features her wearing sparkly makeup on her skin that helps cover up how much she is sweating.

There is no question that Ayu relies heavily on makeup to create and maintain her image. It's not very different from other female celebrities. Ayu even wears those giant sunglasses that celebrities wear in order to hide from the paparazzi how "bad" their faces look without makeup.

Ah~ I always thought the glasses were so that no one notices its her.. :/ [cause at airports and stuff people'd recognize her, right? :o]

The glasses are more to not be noticed and for looking good/cool. The theory that SheFliesHigher put forth isn't entirely correct when it comes to Japan as paparazzi barely exist in Japan, comared to the US. Or am I completely wrong?

She do rely heavily on makeup, but I think that in the last few months she's been giving us more and more pictures where she is wearing a more "normal" amount of makeup. When it comes to magazine shots she has no control over what makeup she will be wearing. During concerts it is needed because of the heavy sweating, you'd want that makeup on aswell instead of having the sweat drip all around while in the spotligth ;).

Isn't SheFliesHigher in Japan right now though..? :\

Totally agree with this paragraph.

Huge sunglasses do nothing to hide a person because something that covers half your face will draw attention, not lessen it. It is a fashion statement but the sunglasses also do well to hide the eyes (whether it's because one has bags under them or because one isn't wearing any makeup).

Paparazzi in Japan do exist, they are where the HK papers get the rumors from. A number of women's magazines (note: not the fashion ones) focus on paparazzi pictures and rumors. Just because we don't see a lot of these articles in Ayumi sites, doesn't mean they are any less prominent in the home country.

True, didn't think about the HK tabloids >_>. I was a bit quick on posting and I updated my post a bit immediately after I had submitted it.

I agree on your view on the sunglasses devilayu, you made good points.

Hm.. what kind of makeup would she be wearing then[at concerts and etc.? :O] I'm not an expert on this sort of stuff so.. xDD~ I would expect a lot of eye makeup and glitter.. but I'm not sure on the details of the other types she wears. :o

I'm no expert on makeup either, but I have heard about 'stage makeup'... o.O;

A tired-looking Ayu, but her eyes are still nice and big. The second pic isn't that off from her make-up pics. I can still recognize that the girl is Ayu. Which artists don't have their make-up on when they are on screen these days? So it's okay that Ayu or anyone look different from their make-up face. It doesn't bother me too much about her heavy make-up anyways. I just listen to her songs.