Make-up artist Tracey Curnock went fresh-faced and joined hundreds in raising more than £8m for Cancer Research UK.

Tracey, 42, from Royal Wootton Bassett, joined the no-make-up selfie craze which went viral on social media last week and has now racked up more than £38m for cancer charities.

The campaign asks women to post photos of themselves wearing no make-up , with the hashtag #nomakeupselfie.

She said: “As a hair and make-up artist, I encourage people to wear make-up. But I am also a volunteer for Look Good Feel Better, the cancer charity which offers advice and boosts the self-confidence of people dealing with cancer.”

The trend has received some criticism for having little to do with cancer, but breast cancer patient Vikki Griffin feels the phenomenon produced much-needed awareness of the condition.

The 39-year-old, who hopes to have her last chemotherapy session next month, said: “I think anything that raises awareness of cancer has to be a good thing.

“I think the no-make-up selfie just shows that everyone is the same. That anyone could be affected by cancer.

“I found a small dent in my left boob and I just put it down to the lighting, but I told my husband and he told me to go to the doctor.

“If it hadn’t been for that, it could be a lot worse now.”

It is not known for certain how the trend started, but since Tuesday last week, the charity Cancer Research UK has had more than 800,000 donations.

Alison Birkett, of the communications team at Cancer Research UK, said: “It’s not even a Cancer Research UK campaign.

"I think it started getting a lot of attention because of the keywords people were putting on their posts.”

For more information about Cancer Research UK, visit www.cruk.org