Because Melisa Raouf didn’t feel confident in her natural beauty, she used to spend three hours perfecting her cosmetics. Raouf, however, competed without it in this week’s Miss England pageant while other contenders put on theirs.
As a result, Raouf, 20, became the first contestant to compete in Miss England’s 94-year history without wearing makeup, giving rise to a global movement for women to go bare-faced. Raouf claimed that after years of feeling timid and insecure and being deterred by a social media ecosystem inundated with painstakingly edited and filtered images, it was a challenge to herself.
She said in an interview that “women are under pressure to look a certain way because of society’s narrow definition of beauty and perfection, and they’re frequently scrutinized for not conforming to them.” “I wanted to take that bare-face round to the next level and challenge these unrealistic beauty standards.”
Skin-positive activists have condemned the beauty industry for using manipulated photographs to advertise its goods and taking advantage of women’s concerns. Raouf, a King’s College London student studying political science, said she wanted to motivate ladies who, like her, felt unqualified.
The Miss England finals were held Sunday and Monday in Birmingham, and contestants could enter by winning a regional competition or a specific title (like “publicity queen”).
Raouf made it after first placing in the optional Miss London Bare Face Top Model competition in June and winning the Miss England semifinals in August. The Miss London Bare Face, Top Model competition is a 2019 addition that asks competitors to share a photo of themselves without makeup on their social media accounts.
Raouf participated in a 10-kilometer race and litter cleanup in London before the finals to collect money for the Miss World-affiliated charity Beauty with a Purpose, which offers food, water, and education to those in need. She also created the #barefacetrendmovement, which boosted her self-esteem and introduced her to a group of women interested in skin positivity.
“I’m very proud of her,” exclaimed Elle Seline, who made history last year by becoming the first competitor in the
Ms. Great Britain competition—a beauty pageant for women ages 31 to 44—without using cosmetics. It’s fantastic that more women are becoming aware of the issue and using their platforms to further the conversation.
Seline, 32, utilized her position as Ms. Great Britain to advocate for women’s empowerment and the freedom to make their own decisions about their bodies, including whether to wear makeup or have an abortion.
Despite having battled bulimia as a child and been teased for her olive skin tone and larger features, she claimed that being by herself during pandemic lockdowns allowed her to improve herself ahead of the competition.
She stated that she saw Raouf’s decision to become makeup-free as a pass to a revolution in beauty.
Seline predicted that society would experience beauty differently and undergo significant transformation.
There were ten rounds of competition for Raouf and the other Miss England finalists, including hair and talent. Jessica Gagen, an aerospace engineering student, won the crown on Monday night. She will now compete for the title of Miss World against contestants from more than 120 other participating nations.
But Raouf made sure to emphasize her point in her speech’s conclusion.
“For far too long, women have been pressured to look, act, or behave in a certain way, and I believe it’s time for a change: to show women that no matter your age, no matter your background, we are beautiful the way we are,” she said on Monday.
Even real-skin influencers concerned that their unfiltered photographs might draw negative feedback were surprised by the modest but steady rise of the movement for genuine skin love.
In 2018, Mariia Bilenka, a 25-year-old Ukrainian residing in Hamburg, posted her skin story on social media because she was tired of the inconsistent results she was getting from the treatments she tried to address the skin outbreaks she had had since she was 13 years old.
Bilenka, a marketing professional for a face-care app for those prone to acne, said, “I felt humiliated because skin disorders were such a taboo topic.
Now, more than 500,000 Instagram photos have the hashtag #bareface, and almost 250,000 more include the hashtag #skinpositivity, indicating the expansion of a hitherto small group as real-skin activists and influencers who don’t wear makeup connect with the movement to view unedited, unfiltered images as attractive.
Everybody has lines, veins, scars, or other types of marks. However, for some reason, we are told that we must be faultless in every way,” Northcote remarked. I did not create acne. I just mentioned that.
Likewise, Raouf.
“After entering this contest, I learned that ability to love myself [and] accept myself for who I am in my skin, whether that [be] with makeup or without makeup,” she told The Washington Post. Unlike cosmetics or filters, “that inner confidence will radiate far more than that.”
