Why people are missing the point of the “no makeup selfie” trend on Facebook

Women are posting selfies of themselves on Facebook without makeup on, in a bid to "raise cancer awareness"… but have they missed the point of this social media craze?

fb-selfie2

by Kayleigh Dray |
Published on

We're sure you've already seen them on Facebook; women are flooding the social media sites with pictures of themselves without makeup on to raise awareness of cancer charities.

However, while we applaud these women for going bare-faced (and you all look fabulous, by the way), we can't help but feel that some of them have missed the point of the exercise...

Via Facebook
Via Facebook

The craze originally kicked off in September 2013, when beauty retailer Escentual.com launched the nationwide DareToBare campaign for women across the UK to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer Care.

The campaign aimed to persuade women of all ages and walks of life to get sponsored to go to work, social activities or even a night out without their make-up on.

Escentual.com Beauty Editor Emma Leslie said: “It’s a very simple step for any woman to take – just not to put on make-up. It’s easy to do but it’s a really strong public statement and it’s for a fantastic cause.

“It might seem a bit strange that a company such as Escentual.com that sells cosmetics is actually asking women to stop using them for a day or two, or maybe even a whole month, but that’s how strongly we feel about this cause and we hope that with Dare to Bare we can really make a difference.”

Luisa Zissman took the Dare To Bare challenge in 2013

**The difference between the #DareToBare campaign and the latest "no makeup selfies" craze is this; women were being sponsored to go makeup free. Escentual also donated £1 for the first 1000 women to tweet their #DaretoBare photo. And, essentially, a lot of money AND awareness was raised for cancer charities.

Several people on Facebook have attempted to hijack the new 'awareness" craze and get some big bucks raised for cancer charities, donating money themselves to the cancer charity of their choice or sharing helpful advice on how to look for cancer.

And Cancer Research UK have even started encouraging people to text BEAT to 70099 to donate £3, alongside their selfie, and help beat cancer sooner.

Via Facebook
Via Facebook
Via Facebook

We can only hope that more people are inspired by these takes on the "no makeup selfie" craze and add their own charitable spin to the latest Facebook and Twitter fad.

Why not donate money to Cancer Research, Macmillan Cancer, Marie Curie, CLIC Sargent (who provide support exclusively for children and young people) or the Teenage Cancer Trust today? Then you can post a photo of yourself looking absolutely beautiful without a scrap of makeup on, knowing you've also done something truly beautiful to help brave cancer sufferers everywhere.

Or text BEAT to 70099 to donate £3 and help beat cancer sooner. Every little helps, seriously.

Will you be donating and posting a photo of yourself without makeup on today? Let us know in the Comments Box below now.

Just so you know, we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website - read why you should trust us