#nomakeupselfie takes Social Media by storm

For those that have been on social media over the last day or two, you will come across many women getting behind the #nomakeupselfie campaign by ‘bravely’ uploading a photo of themselves without make-up. The outcome has been phenomenal and the campaign is continuing to grow.

While the majority of the comments about this latest social campaign have been positive, there are also been a lot of negative comments made about it:

Although the more worrying thing is the amount of superficial comments being made labelling women ugly without their make-up…and some of these are off women themselves:

We live in a society, where some women feel forced to not leave the house without make-up on. And misogynistic comments like this don’t exactly make it any easier.

I have not seen one image of a woman who is ugly without make-up. I have however, seen a lot of ugly personalities come through from this campaign. And while an “ugly” woman can put make up on, there is no way to hide your ugly personality!

Cancer Awareness

First and foremost, this campaign was never set out to raise money…it was about raising awareness.

Awareness is such a powerful tool, we have seen what happens when cancer is in the press. When Jade Goody was diagnosed with cervical cancer, the awareness meant that 400,000 extra women were screened, which became known as the Jade Goody Effect. When Kylie was diagnosed with breast cancer, screening increased by a third.

So while the awareness may not “find a cure”, it can save lives by reminding people to check themselves out and go get screened.

Donations

While the main purpose was awareness, there has also been a really positive side-effect…an increase in donations. It’s reported that over £15,000 has been raised from this campaign…not bad for something that is seen as pointless eh?

UPDATE (20th March): The donations keep on growing. It’s reported that Cancer Research UK has received over 800,000 donations raising £1 million in 24 hours through this campaign. (http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/nomakeupselfie-raises-1m-Cancer-Research-UK/story-20832307-detail/story.html).

Some of the criticisers of the selfie campaign have said we should be donating money instead. In fact some of them (among others) have donated to charity since this campaign started.

I am curious to know, would these donaters, even contemplated picking up their phone and making a quick and simple £3/£5 donation to a cancer charity if it hadn’t been down to this campaign? Probably not.

For those that do want to donate to a charity, then feel free to send a quick text to any one of the following:

Cancer Research

Macmillan Cancer Support

Text MOBILE to 70550 to donate £5

The Christie

Breast Cancer Campaign

Marie Curie

More Importantly – The Campaign Is a Success!!!

This campaign has been a huge success, whether people like to admit it or not. And everyone who got involved, supported or even criticised the campaign have all been a major factor for making the campaign more successful. So congratulations to everyone who got involved in whatever capacity.

Finally, total kudos to the guys who are doing #makeupselfie to help promote cancer awareness. See even guys can get involved too.