The final night of Miss Universe 2020 will be hosted on 16th May 2021 (17th May 2021 in Manila) at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, the United States where almost seventy-four gorgeous divas from across the world will be competing for the crown. Miss Universe 2019 Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa will crown her successor at the end of the event finale.
Recently, a few of the divas had a chance to shoot with ace photographer Benjamin Askinas where the divas went in front of the camera without make-up and the results of the photoshoot were described as' ‘empowering, powerful, and a priority.’ The photographer mentioned that a group of contestants are randomly selected for the photo shoot and are asked not to wear any makeup.
Benjamin further added that a lot of divas are nervous about going in front of the camera without makeup, but after the results, they feel confident. "A lot of these girls have a lot of fans and they're accustomed to a lot of criticism on social media. So, we let them talk about it with each other, and quickly they understand that it's really about confidence. This shoot, I feel, really tests their confidence and kind of trains them. And I hope that can translate onstage and during their performances, "he concluded.
Miss Universe 2020 delegates including Maria Thattil of Australia, Hillary Ann Williams of Barbados, Bianca Trisin of Romania, Lenka Nemer of Bolivia, Kossinda Angele of Cameroon, Jiaxin Sun of China, Aisha Tochigi of Japan, Thuzar Wint Lwin of Myanmar, and Alina Sanko of Russia were a part of this year’s makeup-free photoshoot. Miss Universe has had a makeup-free photo shoot with the contestants for the last five years.
Miss Universe 2020 contestants have been actively participating in the activities, rehearsals, dinners, and workshops organized by the Miss Universe Organization as the finale is just a few days away and all of them want to prepare themselves in the best way possible. In between such a hectic schedule, having a photo shoot without any makeup seems like an opportunity to showcase the world and the young women who aspire to be a beauty queen just like them that there is so much more that goes into being a representative of a country and it starts from accepting oneself the way they are.
The beauty pageant world is certainly glamorous and colorful, but, in this chaos, one should never forget that their real beauty lies beneath and that should always be appreciated in the way it asks for. The photographer and the candidates who were a part of the no-makeup shoot believe that this photoshoot could be an eye-opening experience not only for the delegates but for their young fans too.
"Young girls look up to them. Maybe they can't relate to all these layers of makeup, but they can see them with their pimples, or their blemishes and their wrinkles, and just see themselves in the contestants and hopefully be inspired like, 'Oh, I can be that, I can be anything. I look just like her’", the photographer concluded.