How far would you go without make-up on? To the shop for a loaf of sourdough? Out for post-work drinks on a Friday night? Or, would you - hypothetically - step in front of the lens of a world renowned photographer and get your shiny-faced portrait taken for the cover of a magazine.

If we're to take our lead from the world of celebrity, option C is correct.

Clearly, we haven't tired from seeing famous faces sans cosmetics, but there's been a notable shift in the message these faces purport. It's no longer a caught-out-by-the-paps-and-splashed-across-the-front-page-scenario. Now celebrities are willfully stepping up to renounce post-production and a full face of make-up. And that's an aspirational statement.

A decade ago, and even now to some extent, stars without make-up was guaranteed to shift magazines from the newsstands. Now, however, the message is one of togetherness, optimism, self-celebration and sisterhood. Of course, there's been a degree of cynicism towards this barefaced chic which, frankly, is by the by. What's important is that women's media is presenting a more varied image of modern beauty, stripped-back and laid bare. 

Click through the gallery above to see the best bare-faced magazine covers to date.