READ MORE: Moment exhausted woman leaves house for work – forgetting her trousers<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nBut during the most recent regional round in the Midlands, just five women from the 40-plus taking part chose to participate without makeup.<\/p>\n
The segment had previously sparked debate, with some saying it restricted women’s autonomy over their appearance choices.<\/p>\n
But others felt it empowered women by highlighting natural aesthetics and promoting healthier body image standards in a social media-dominated age.<\/p>\n
The competition now hopes more contestants will step forward to display their natural beauty ahead of next month’s semi-finals.<\/p>\n
Angie said: “It seems the Midlands girls are a little shy auditioning makeup free as some think they have to go makeup free in the whole contest, its not the case .<\/p>\n
![\"Melisa](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1_miss-england-mo-993882.jpg\")
Melisa Raouf, Miss England bareface winner (Image: Miss England \/ SWNS)<\/p>\n
“When I first introduced this round in 2019, it was because I was receiving so many filtered, edited and heavily made-up images from contestants.<\/p>\n
“I wanted to remind young women that natural beauty is something to be proud of and its who we are.”<\/p>\n
The challenge involves contestants sharing an unfiltered, makeup-free photograph of themselves on social media and strutting down the Miss England runway completely bare-faced.<\/p>\n
Politics student Melisa Raouf, 21, claimed victory in the 2022 competition and remains the sole participant to have competed throughout the entire Miss England finale without any cosmetics.<\/p>\n
She previously said: “I’m so glad to hear the Miss England makeup-free round is staying.<\/p>\n
“This round was key in helping me feel confident and empowered in myself, and I’m sure many other girls who participate in the future will feel the same.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2_london-undergro-1042963.jpg\")
Afrose Ameen secured the national Bare Face Top accolade in Miss England 2024.(Image: Afrose Ameen \/ SWNS)<\/p>\n
“I’m truly excited to see how this round continues to evolve, as I believe it’s what sets the Miss England pageant apart from other pageants-offering a unique opportunity to embrace natural beauty and empowerment.”<\/p>\n
Afrose Ameen, who secured the national Bare Face Top accolade in Miss England 2024, delivered a presentation about the category at the Midlands audition in Wolverhampton.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_SWNS_BAREFACE_BEAUTY_001.jpg\")
More make-up free contestants are wanted to enter Miss England.<\/p>\n
The engineer said pageant participants were often viewed as inspirational figures for young women, with the category promoting “authenticity and confidence” without depending on “filters, editing, or layers of make-up”.<\/p>\n
Angie said: “By showcasing their natural beauty without the aid of makeup, the contestants can celebrate their individuality and self-confidence.<\/p>\n
“This round also promotes natural and realistic beauty on social media which can only be a good thing”. The bare-faced beauty round is just one of nine stages in the Miss England contest, with applications for the Midlands heat open until 19 September.<\/p>\n
For further details, visit: www.missengland.info<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pageant chief appeals for entrants for ‘Bare Faced Top Model’ contest to bolster entered the make-up free roundMiss…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[21579,855,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-429597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-beauty-and-skincare","9":"tag-birmingham","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115215705445994925","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Miss](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_SWNS_SCRAPPING_BEAUTY_015_038793.jpg\")
Miss England organisers are appealing for contestants to take part make-up free.<\/p>\n