When the first Beauty Bible launched in 1996, we donated the profits from public appearances up and down the country to Changing Faces, the charity which supports people with facial marks, scars and conditions to live the lives they want.

We wanted then, as we want now, that all women – however they look – should feel confident they can go up to every beauty counter and be treated with respect and empathy.

Now, Changing Faces campaign Pledge To Be Seen is calling on beauty brands, along with fashion, to pledge to represent more people with a visible difference in their campaigns over the next year. 

Avon was the first beauty brand to sign up to #PledgeToBeSeen and Catrin Pugh, 25, a burns survivor (above), stars as Avon’s ‘ambassador with a visible difference’ in the media campaign for Perfect Nudes lipsticks .

If you have a visible difference, you can share your story using #MyVisibleDifference, or on Changing Faces Tell Your Story page.

We can all play a part in different ways. It can be very simple. When Sarah first met Changing Faces founder James Partridge, who was comprehensively burned in a car accident aged 19, she learnt that the most important thing was to look him in the eye and not look away in embarrassment. You can also donate to Changing Faces, all details on the website here.

James (who we are still in touch with) went on to found Face Equality International, an alliance of NGOs, charities and support groups.. He explains that ‘people with disfigurements – whether from cleft lip and/or palate, birthmarks, burns, acid violence, facial paralysis like Bell’s palsy, skin conditions such as psoriasis and vitiligo, or after facial cancer – are disadvantaged by the way they are received. They experience isolation, bullying, ridicule and staring in public, problems in school and workplace, and harassment and abuse on social and other media.’

This week is International Face Equality Week, which ‘aims to tackle ignorance, fear and unwitting prejudice by celebrating the achievements and ambitions of people with disfigurements, and highlighting the disadvantages they face’. Please support this campaign.

Visit faceequalityinternational.org for more information

Prize Draws