Women Take Bare-Faced Selfies To Spread Cancer Awareness - Would You Do It?

Would You Take A No Make-Up Selfie For Cancer Awareness?

With everyone from Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt and Barack Obama snapping self-portraits, it's no wonder the word 'selfie' made it into the dictionary in 2013.

But while selfies are predominantly used as an outlet for vanity, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Recently the hashtag #NoMakeUpSelfie has started trending on social media, with women across the UK turning the camera on themselves to raise awareness (and funds) for Cancer Research UK.

The way it works is simple: women upload a make-up free selfie to social media and, much like the 'neknomination' trend, nominate their friends to do the same.

Even celebrities, such as Kym Marsh, are getting involved.

Although the trend has evolved to start driving cancer awareness, it began in solidarity with Hollywood actress Kim Novak, 81, who was criticised for her appearance at the Oscars in February.

In response to the nasty comments, crime novelist Laura Lippman tweeted a picture of herself with no make-up using the hashtag #itsokkimnovak and the rest is history.

Carolan Davidge, director of communications at Cancer Research UK said in a statement: “The #nomakeupselfie Twitter trend isn’t something Cancer Research UK started – but it’s great to see so many people getting involved to help raise awareness of cancer amongst their friends and family. If people would like to choose to support our work to beat cancer sooner, they can visit cruk.org.”

Critics are questioning the effectiveness of the campaign. They suggest that the women should donate money rather than take pictures of themselves.

Donate to Cancer Research UK here.

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