Rachel Crawley went through her late adolescent years facing the humiliation from her peers due to her severe acne. Crawley had been bullied and called having a “disease face.” Now, she came back with a revenge after she was crowned a beauty queen, SWNS reports.
When she was only sixteen years old, Crawley’s face began breaking out around the holidays in December. Ashamed of what she looked, she hid herself and avoided all personal contact with her family and relatives.
The acne and the scars made her doubt her confidence. But after creating an Instagram account to address her issues and bravely face them, Crawley, who’s now 22, she even felt more horrible as people called her “Disease face.”
Crawley said, “My acne was getting me down and I was being horrible to myself. When I was first asked to enter the pageant, I wasn’t confident enough in myself to do it. I stopped going out with my friends and didn’t want anyone to see me without make-up.”
“I would look in the mirror and hate the person looking back at me – so I just thought no one else would like me either. I wouldn’t go on nights out with my friends because of it – I even didn’t go to my Aunt’s house on Christmas Day and instead spent the day by myself.
“Part of me didn’t want to cover it up with make-up – I thought it made it worse and so I had really long hair to cover it.”
Crawley, who’s from Preston, Lancastershire, works as an administrative assistant. She was previously scouted for the Miss Preston pageant when she was 18. But, she had to reject the offer. Now, she’s planning on coming back with a vengeance.
Crawley said, “Girls need to understand that they are beautiful no matter what. Trolls online are just not open minded and I think overall the views and experiences make you a stronger person.
“Online bullies are just part of the world we live in nowadays – but just don’t take any notice. Deep down the Instagram page gave me the confidence to finally apply for the Miss Preston competition after people said I was inspiring.”
Crawley’s face became better when she recalibrated her diet into something healthier. She just posted photos of herself without any make-up on and girls who were going through the same issues called her “inspiring.”
Crawley went to Ashton School spend some time working as an apprentice in law administration.
Crawley said, “Winning would of course be amazing but it’s more to show myself that I can do it and hopefully give other people confidence to feel good about themselves.
“I don’t want other girls to feel the way I did—and hopefully I can show them they don’t have to.”
