The Miss England finalist has become the first ever beauty pageant contestant and beauty queen to compete without wearing any makeup in the competition’s nearly century-old history.CNN“.
Melissa Raouf, a 20-year-old university student from south London, advanced to the semi-finals of the competition on Monday.
And compete in the finals next October for the crown.
“It means a lot to me because I feel that so many girls of all ages wear makeup because they feel pressured to do so,” Raouf said in an interview with the British newspaper The Independent.
She added, “If one is happy with their skin, we should not be forced to cover our face with makeup. Our imperfections make us who we are and that is what makes each individual unique.”
Raouf said that although she started wearing “make-up” at a young age, she decided to avoid the tradition of the competition.
In the interview, she explained, “I’ve never felt like I meet the standards of beauty. I’ve recently accepted that I’m beautiful in my own skin and that’s why I decided to compete without makeup.”
And in May, Raouf posted a selfie on Instagram from the “bare face” round of the competition, writing that she “embraces imperfections.”
“We gave the Bare Face Top Model Tour in 2019 where most of the contestants were submitting highly edited photos wearing a lot of makeup and we wanted to see the real person behind the makeup,” Miss England director Angie Beasley told CNN in a statement on Friday. .
According to the organisers, Raouf plans to go without makeup again in the national final in October.
“We wish her the best of luck at Miss England, it’s a very brave thing to do when everyone is wearing makeup but it sends an important message to young women,” Beasley added.