Mariah Carey Breaks a Self-Imposed Rule of 35 Years, Sharing a Photo of What She Calls the "Bad Side" of Her Face

A rude comment made during Carey’s first photoshoot when she was 19 years old has kept the left side of her face hidden in photos—until now.

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Mariah Carey
(Image credit: Instagram)

Mariah Carey is entering 2024 newly single—she split from her boyfriend of seven years, Bryan Tanaka, recently—and breaking new ground. The superstar broke out of her comfort zone yesterday by posting a rare photo of her so-called “bad side” on Instagram (she prefers to be photographed from the right side, and the photo she shared was from the left). She captioned the photo “New year, new beginnings..taking a picture from my ‘bad side’!” In the photo, People reports, Carey is wearing a sparkly Retrofête mini dress; her hair is styled in long curls.

But, though Carey might think her left side is her “bad side,” her fans—including Tamar Braxton—disagree with such a notion. Braxton wrote of the photo “You will never have a bad side MC.” Truth.

In 2016, on her reality show Mariah’s World, Carey explained the origin of her aversion to having the left side of her face shown, telling her longtime makeup artist Kristofer Buckle that when she was 19 and doing her first photoshoot, a woman on set told her, “This is your good side. Only let people photograph you from your good side, ever.” From then on, Carey said, she “didn’t like” photos taken from the left side. 

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Mariah Carey

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So good on Carey for finally throwing that awful advice out the window as 2024 begins. It follows a split from Tanaka, who shared on December 26 in a lengthy social media post that it was, indeed, over between him and the Queen of Christmas.

Mariah Carey

(Image credit: Instagram)

Mariah Carey

(Image credit: Instagram)

So yes, there is a lot of new on the horizon for Carey, but some things never change: as one does—at least if one is as fabulous as Mariah Carey—she let loose during her annual holiday trip to Aspen, Colorado by getting into a hot tub wearing a red sparkly gown and diamonds, according to a video she shared on Instagram. This has become somewhat of a tradition for Carey, who has taken a dip in Tom Ford and Louis Vuitton gowns over many years and in many places.

Rachel Burchfield
Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.