By Majella Shields
Staff Writer
Welcome to this week’s Fashion Focus. I will be discussing a new take on the very popular selfie craze that has taken social media by storm. At the beginning of the week, girls posted pictures of their bare faces, wearing no makeup and using the hashtag “#nomakeupselfie” in order to raise awareness and funds for the UK-based charity Breast Cancer Research UK. With this, women donate £3 ($4.15) to the charity via text. Within the past few days, the charity has seen a surge in donations as a result of this online campaign. This campaign wasn’t started by the Cancer Research UK Charity. It was launched by members of the public. Through the use of social media including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, the UK charity has raised more than £15,000 ($27,301.50) in donations within 24 hours.
It all began when a teenage girl suffering from breast cancer posted a picture of herself after receiving chemotherapy with the caption “not even cancer can take away my smile.” This image went viral, and women across the UK showed their support by posting similar pictures and nominating a number of their friends to do the same. The friends posted their own pictures and made nominations, so it circulated around to a larger number of people.
The month of October is usually dedicated to raising awareness and money for various breast cancer charities. However, it is brilliant to see awareness can be raised any day, anytime and anywhere in the world thanks to the public’s good will and the power of social media. I wanted to discuss this today as I have noticed that it is only my friends from home getting involved in the campaign. I would love for the students of St. Bonaventure to get involved and raise awareness as well. So be brave, bare your natural beauty and post those #nomakeupselfies.
Although breast cancer affects one in eight women, it is known that men too can be affected. With 400 men diagnosed with breast cancer last year, it is not only women that should be spreading awareness. It can take a lot of self-confidence and bravery to go bare-faced online to the world. Wouldn’t it be great if boys could also be brave and post pictures of themselves wearing makeup?
Another idea I have is to wear pink and post #winkforpink selfies, as pink is the color associated with breast cancer awareness. I have put together an outfit incorporating the pink theme. I would love if you would post a #nomakeupselfie and encourage a few friends to do the same.
1:BooHoo.com; Pink State ment Necklace $16
2: H&M; Black Off The Shoulder Top $14.95
3:Topshop;Pink Contrast Patterned Ciga- rette Trousers $55
4:Asos; Bourjois Paris Shine Pink Lipstick $15.04
5:BooHoo; Oversized Hot Pink Rectangle Clutch $32
shieldm13@bonaventure.edu
