Miss England national finalist Leah Green, from Warsop, has joined others to celebrate International Women’s Day this week by posting bare face, no make-up images of themselves on social media.

The contestants have won their places virtually and are now featured on the Miss England app, which is free to download, make-up free.

“Beauty starts from the moment you believe in yourself, you are enough and you can do anything you set your heart on,” said Leah.

The reigning Miss England, NHS doctor Bhasha Mukherjee,  said: “Women and men, frontliners, including myself, have had to hide behind layers of PPE. Across the world, everyone has had to don a face covering so make-up has gone out of the window.

“It’s been a year of appreciating the deep and meaningful rather than the shallow and superficial. The no make-up round, first established by Miss England in 2019, was a novel round and a concept much ahead of its time.

“It’s all too easy to get dolled up. In this round the Miss England competition empowers young women to face the judges in their own, naked, unadulterated skin and own up to their exterior flaws. The real question still remains, if we took all the pretty glamorous layers away or, at a time like now, would you still be beautiful?”