A woman has stunned judges by becoming the first make-up-free beauty pageant contestant to take part in Miss England's 94-year history. Politics student Melisa Raouf from London made to bold choice to embrace her natural looks on the catwalk to challenge pageant stereotypes. The 20-year-old competed in the semi-finals on Monday (August 22) where she walked bare-faced and earned herself a spot in the Miss England final. After her triumphant make-up-free appearance at the competition, Raouf will now compete against 40 other women to be crowned Miss England in October. Check out her look below: [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/ChpXlHRIRJb/]] Raouf - who plans to also ditch her makeup for the final - revealed that she chose to go fresh-faced to make a statement on ideal beauty standards on social media, per the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/miss-england-makeup-free-finalist-b2151644.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Independent</a>. The official <a href="https://www.instagram.com/missenglandofficial/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Miss England Instagram page</a> posted the contestant on their feed and she has been met with praise from online users. The account captioned a striking shot of her sans makeup: "Our next award winner to be announced on social media is the The Cetuem Cosmetics Bare Face Top Model semi final winner 'Melisa Raouf'. "The politics student is pictured at the Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Suites and Residences @taj51bg which hosted the Miss England Semi final on Monday ... Melisa is posing against the gorgeous gold backdrop created by @sequinwallsukofficial "Melisa is the first Miss England contestant ever to make it to the final totally make up free, isn't she gorgeous!" The snap has since been flooded with gushing comments, with one user writing: "What a refreshing contribution <3 Well done on the win!" Another commented: "Absolutely stunning." A third user wrote: "Congratulations to you, a truly worthy winner. You are an inspiration, who deserves all the success you can achieve. All the best in the final, keep being the amazing you." <img class="wp-image-1263166692 size-full" src="https://img.vt.co/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-26-at-09.52.20.png" alt="" width="550" height="160" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram.]] <img class="wp-image-1263166693 size-full" src="https://img.vt.co/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-26-at-09.53.12.png" alt="" width="550" height="124" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram.]] <img class="wp-image-1263166694 size-full" src="https://img.vt.co/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-26-at-09.53.32.png" alt="" width="548" height="262" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram.]] The university student said that she has had an influx of supportive and positive messages from other young girls on social media after making the brave move to the event. [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg1mztOo4jT/]] Previously, Miss England's organizer Angie Beasley introduced  a makeup-free modeling round to the competition but said Raouf is the first person that has chosen to compete without makeup. <h6>Featured image credit: John sanders / Alamy</h6>

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