September 2023 update: Our Pledge To Be Seen campaign is now integrated within our ongoing partnership work.
Avon’s global research found that 60% of women believe they need to meet certain beauty standards.
In the UK, Avon has launched a campaign called Stand4Her – focussing on the misrepresentation of beauty in media. As part of this campaign, they will be working with us as the first beauty brand to sign up to our pledge to represent more people with a visible difference in their campaigns over the next year.
We hope that by seeing more diversity in beauty campaigns, like Avon’s Stand4Her, we will break down the stigma around visible difference and show that true beauty is about being proud to be yourself.
For people with a visible difference, the beauty counter can be an intimidating place to go, because most brands champion traditional beauty ideals.
Catrin Pugh, an ambassador for Changing Faces and a burns survivor, will join the Perfect Nudes influencer collective and be one of the faces of the campaign when it launches on 15 March 2019.
Catrin says: “To be a part of a beauty campaign that challenges traditional beauty stereotypes, and the stigma around ‘looking different’, is so important. I hope that it will open the eyes of people in the beauty and fashion industries, and society in general, that we should be championing a diverse range of role models, especially for young people. I hope to inspire others to embrace their appearance, no matter what you look like.
“For people with a visible difference, the beauty counter can be an intimidating place to go, because most brands champion traditional beauty ideals. I love makeup and fashion, but the experiences I had following my accident made me want to hide away. Through featuring in Avon’s campaign, I want to send out the message that it’s ok to be different, and that true beauty is about being proud to be yourself.”
Catrin Pugh, an ambassador for Changing Faces
Becky Hewitt, CEO Changing Faces, says: “We are so excited to be working with Avon as the first beauty brand to sign up to our Pledge To Be Seen campaign. It’s time that people who have a visible difference finally see themselves represented across the beauty and fashion industry. It’s so important to have role models to look up to in the public eye, yet all too often we hear from people with a visible difference that they never see anyone who looks like them. This can often have a negative impact on self-esteem and wellbeing.
“We are thrilled that our ambassador, Catrin, is one of the faces of Avon’s new campaign, proving that people who look different have a right to be seen and heard, especially in an industry which has historically excluded them.
“The people we support, and our wider community continue to tell us how important it is that we keep pushing for diversity and for difference to be represented in mainstream culture and that is why this campaign is so important to Changing Faces. We want the 1.3 million people in the UK who have a visible difference to see themselves reflected in the brands they love.”
If your brand would like to sign up to Pledge To Be Seen you can get in touch with us by filling out this form.