Burns Survivor Catrin Pugh Is The Face Of A New Beauty Campaign

The launch of Avon’s Perfect Nudes collection of lip shades features a diverse model line-up

Posted on

10 March 2019

All Credits: PA

When she was just 19, Catrin Pugh sustained 96% burns across her face and body in a coach crash – now she’s one of the faces of a major beauty campaign.

The 25-year-old Changing Faces ambassador is Avon’s first ever model with a visible difference and it’s all part of the beauty brand’s promise to be more diverse.

Pugh is heading up the new Perfect Nudes collection of lip shades, which launches on March 15.

Catrin, from Wrexham, was left with only the soles of her feet unburned after a coach she was on in the French Alps crashed in 2013.

She spent three months in a coma and underwent 200 operations, lost her central vision and had to learn to walk again, but Pugh is now studying physiotherapy, with a special interest in burns and rehabilitation, and is helping to challenge any negative assumptions made about burns survivors.

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Research reveals that 80% of women feel too much pressure from the media to be perfect. We're joining forces with @changingfacesuk and their amazing ambassador @CatrinPugh to help make a difference. Check out the link in our bio for more info #stand4her

A post shared by Avon UK (@avon_uk) on Mar 4, 2019 at 12:36pm PST

She says: “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’.

“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.”

Beauty influencer Gary Thompson (Avon/PA)

She joins a group of diverse faces as part of the brand’s Stand4Her initiative, attempting to tackle some of the barriers that hold women back. They include male beauty influencer Gary Thompson who is famous for his amazing lip tutorials, 60-year-old influencer Lucia Whitehouse who runs Mother Pukka, and founder of Make Motherhood Diverse, Candice Brathwaite.