Avon launches new campaign featuring first model with a visible difference

'True beauty is about being proud to be yourself'

Cosmetics company Avon has launched a campaign featuring a woman with a visible difference: 25-year-old burns survivor Catrin Pugh.

The move follows the news that the beauty giant has become the first brand to sign Changing Faces - a charity that provides support and advice to people with visible differences, including marks, scars or conditions that make them look different - pledge to feature more diverse models.

Pugh, from Wrexham, who is an ambassador for Changing Faces, suffered 96 per cent burns in a coach accident six years ago.

She was left with only the soles of her feet unburned after a coach she was travelling on in the French Alps in 2013 crashed and burst into flames.

Pugh stars in the campaign alongside a host of diverse faces, including male beauty influencer Gary Thompson, also known as The Plastic Boy, 60-year-old influencer Lucia Whitehouse, also known as Grandmother Pukka, and Love Island star Megan Barton Hanson.

“I’m so excited to be working with Avon on this project. To be a part of a beauty campaign that challenges traditional beauty stereotypes, and the stigma around ‘looking different’ is so refreshing,” Pugh said.

“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.”

The model also explained how the beauty counter can be an intimidating place for people with visible differences, because the majority of brands champion traditional beauty ideals.

“Through featuring in the 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,” Pugh added.

The campaign forms part of Avon’s new global initiative, Stand4her, which aims to improve the lives of 100m women each year.

The beauty giant made the pledge after its research revealed that 80 per cent of women claim to feel too much pressure from the media to be perfect, and 60 per cent feel pressured to meet a certain beauty standard.

Surveying over 14,000 women globally, Avon commissioned the research to establish the barriers holding women back from reaching their full potential in all areas of their lives.

Jan Zijderveld, Avon chief executive officer, said: “Stand4her is what we do, every day – it’s what we’ve been doing for over 130 years.

“We’re reigniting Avon’s strong sense of purpose and doubling down on our efforts to support women and provide more meaningful and rewarding opportunities for our beauty entrepreneurs.”