In the finals, she also plans to compete without any makeup. When Raouf was young and lacked confidence in her appearance, she started applying cosmetics.

As she explained, “I never felt I met beauty standards. I have recently accepted that I am beautiful in my own skin and that’s why I decided to compete with no makeup. I still feel confident in myself, with makeup I’m all concealed. This is who I am, I’m not afraid to share who I am. I wanted to show who Melisa truly is.”

Many young women and girls stood behind Raouf throughout the contest because he had given them the confidence to feel better about their own appearances.

“With mental health being such a big topic, I want to make all girls feel good. I just want to remove all the beauty standards. I feel like all girls are beautiful in their own way, I feel like I’ve done it for all girls.” .

Raof promotes Papyrus, a UK organization devoted to preventing teen suicide, and speaks out in favor of children’s mental health during the pageant.