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Miss London 2023 Wins the First-Ever “Makeup-Free” Beauty Pageant

By Margherita Cole on November 1, 2023

Miss England Makeup Free Beauty Pagent

Makeup can be an empowering way to show off your personality and personal style. However, it can also give young people, especially teenagers, unfair beauty standards. In an effort to help women embrace their natural face, Miss England hosted the first-ever makeup-free Miss London beauty pageant. All 19 contestants competed without lipstick, foundation, or other products, with 26-year-old Natasha Beresford coming in at first place as the winner.

“I launched the Bare Face round in 2019 after receiving so many entry images where I couldn't recognize the contestants!” explains Miss England director Angie Beasley. “This was due to thick makeup and filtered photos they were submitting thinking that's what we wanted to see. I felt we needed to do something so I invited contestants who reached the final stages to submit images of themselves makeup-free and post on their own social media to encourage more natural beauty images. The entry age to Miss England which leads to Miss World is 16-27. I'm all for make-up to enhance your natural beauty but there's no need to wear a complete mask, especially at such a young age.”

Miss London 2023 was the first pageant to be completely makeup-free. Beresford, who works as a dental nurse in London, was crowned the winner and face of Cetuem Cosmetics. “It is such an honor to be the first-ever makeup-free Miss London. I hope to inspire young women and girls to feel confident in their own skin. We are all beautiful in our own, unique way and we should embrace that!” says Beresford. She will move on to compete in the Miss England finals in May 2024, but it is still undecided if she will compete makeup-free in that pageant as well.