Melisa Raouf going make-up free in Miss England final

LONDON: Beauty pageants can have a reputation as glitzy, glamorous events where young women are cloaked in a thick layer of make-up.

According to BBC News, the first part may still be true, but Melisa Raouf is on a mission to change the second. The 20-year-old student will be the first person to compete in the final of the Miss England contest without make-up in its nearly 100-year history, in a bid to show girls they don’t have to wear it to feel beautiful.

Ms Raouf, from south London, won a special “bare-face” round of the competition last week, cementing her place in the final between 40 contestants on 17 October. But while previous winners of this round have returned to wearing make-up for the final, she will not. And if she wins, she says she will leave it off for the Miss World competition, hoping to “inspire the world”. “I wanted to prove we have a choice,” she tells BBC News. “We don’t have to wear make-up if we don’t want to.”

Like many of her peers, Ms Raouf began wearing make-up in her teens. She says she was “significantly insecure”, and found comparing herself to the “unrealistic standard of beauty” shown on social media had a negative impact on her mental health. “I never felt comfortable in who I was, never felt comfortable in my skin,” Ms Raouf says.

But as she got older she gained confidence - and she thinks taking part in the beauty pageant, while “very daunting” at the time, has increased this. “I just thought, I’m doing this for all of us.” Since last week’s bare-face round, Ms Raouf says she has been “overwhelmed” by positive messages on social media. “I’ve heard from girls of all ages, from women in their 40s and 50s, saying they feel more comfortable in their own skin,” she says.