Collection Cosmetics has unveiled the new faces of the beauty brand – opting for real life faces over professional models or celebrities - and one chosen candidate is South London-based Commercial Accountant, Richie Mcfarlane.

Accountant turned face of Collection Cosmetics, 25-year-old Richie revealed what Real Life Beauty means to her,“Being able to express yourself fully regardless of your gender identity, size or race. Accepting your flaws as these are the exact things that make us unique and having the power and confidence to embrace this each and every day.

“Makeup is a tool in which is so expressive and is an escapism for me, it’s an art and form of therapy. Being able to shine your light as bright as you can and never dim it for anyone. Always be proud and your authentic self always.”

Collection’s Real Life Beauty campaign is about celebrating, championing, and elevating beauty through real life moments. It’s about being unapologetically yourself, bracing individuality and accepting that beauty has no limits. The Real Life Beauty campaign follows the success of Collection’s Real You campaign which saw the beauty brand make the pioneering move in 2021 to ban all filters and editing of any models and influencers across their branded content.

Richie Mcfarlane chosen as face of Collection Cosmetics

placeholder image — Richie Mcfarlane chosen as face of Collection Cosmetics

After the success of the 2024 Real Life Beauty campaign, in May this year, Collection hosted its second ‘Real Life Beauty’ casting where over 250 candidates attended an open casting call in London in the hope of becoming the new face of Collection Cosmetics. Each candidate presented what Real Life Beauty means to them, as well giving a demonstration applying a Collection product of their choice. The footage from the casting day was later assessed by an expert panel.

This year’s Real Life Beauty panel was made up of freelance journalist Scott Wells, influencers Cambell Kenneford, Naomi Native and Collection Cosmetics’ Marketing Director Annie Anstey. These Real Life Beauty experts met in London to make the tough decision on the new cast of the Real Life Beauty campaign.

With over 250 people attending the casting, Collection Cosmetics will feature, not one, not two, but 11 real life beauties across a range of their campaigns. The chosen candidates, in no favourable order are:

Nilza Passangy - Operational Trainer, 43, Tottenham

Dominique Portsmouth - Student, 23, Reading

Daniel Braziel – Social Media Executive, 27, Harpenden

Sonia Ilyas - Full time Mummy and part time content creator, Walthamstow, London

Richie Mcfarlane – Commercial Accountant, 25, South London

Chloe Tang - Software Engineer, 27, Nottingham

Sarah Agbiji - HMUA / content creator, 28, Manchester

Jessica Sebastiao - Freelance mua/content creator, 25, North London

Paige Trowers - Hairdresser, 26, Essex

Emily Hall - Stay at home mummy, 20, Rochester

Samara Tong - Professional Dancer, 32, London

The winners have all been selected to attend a photoshoot, and they will go on to represent the Collection Cosmetics brand and new products, in their own, real way. Not only will the cast feature in Collection Cosmetics next campaign and star on socials, they also won a goodie bag of Collection Cosmetics makeup, £300 voucher of their choice and a year supply of Collection Cosmetics makeup. The cast now also have exclusive access to all Collection launches and have invites to selected Collection events.

Annie Anstey, Collection Cosmetics’ Marketing Director commented:

“To me, real life beauty is about confidence, individuality, and authenticity. It's not about perfection it's about expression. At Collection, we celebrate the beauty found in real moments: a bold lip before a job interview, a touch of mascara after a sleepless night, or a swipe of highlighter that catches the light just right on a busy morning. Real life beauty is messy, joyful, powerful, and unique to every person. Our mission is to create accessible, high-performing products that empower people to show up as their true selves - no filter needed.

Last year’s open casting was such an uplifting experience, we met so many incredible individuals with powerful personal stories. It reminded us why championing uniqueness is so important, and we knew straight away we had to do it again.”

All 11 winners will be part of Collection Cosmetics social channels and asked to create content to become the faces of the brand for 2025.