Alicia Keys recalls having acne in her 20s and 30s, and says it was caused by stress

• Alicia Keys recently spoke with Byrdie about her beauty routine and history with acne.
• The musician said she experienced breakouts in her 20s and 30s due to stress.

Alicia Keys is the latest celebrity to talk about having acne.

Speaking with Byrdie about her beauty routine, the musician recalled struggling with her skin throughout the course of her life. She said she first experienced breakouts when she was "very young," and continued to have acne into her 20s and 30s.

"I was like, 'What the hell? I thought this was supposed to be a 16- to 18-year-old thing. When am I going to be free from this?'" Keys, 41, said. "I definitely had to learn patience with myself."

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Keys, who now runs her namesake Keys Soulcare beauty line, attributed her acne to stress, saying her skin "was a reflection" of how she was feeling internally.

"I internalize a lot, and I present well, but a lot of times, it's tumultuous underneath," Keys told Byrdie. "I didn't realize how much I held in and how that would affect my skin, how the stress of all of that would reveal itself through my skin."

She added: "Through experience in my journey, I definitely started to look at how I was processing stress. I got better over time at removing them and being comfortable, realizing that I'm not comfortable with people and things that aren't good for me. "

Years prior, Keys publicly denounced makeup in a 2016 essay for the Lenny Letter newsletter. She wrote about the pressures women face to look perfect and explained why she wanted to start a #nomakeup movement.

"I hope to God it's a revolution," Keys said at the time. "'Cause I don't want to cover up anymore. Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles, not my emotional growth. Nothing."

Now, the musician says her relationship with beauty is more "fluid."

"Some days you feel a little bit more turned up. Some days you feel like you just want to be fresh-faced," she told Byrdie. "My relationship with beauty now is I get to choose however I want to experience and express. It's not an imposition; it's something that I get to create for myself."