Unashamed mum cakes girl of THREE in mascara and fake tan for beauty pageants claiming ‘she loves it’
Little Bella has been winning beauty queen titles since she was 19 months old
LIKE any beauty queen, Bella Ferguson wears lashings of make-up and fake tan to compete in pageants.
But Bella is only THREE years old.
The tot has a disciplined beauty regime that includes fake tan, foundation and eye make-up before each competition.
Mum Ria Ferguson – who put Bella in her first contest at 19 months – has not ruled out false eyelashes and nails to complete the glamorous look.
Even though her daughter cries when she’s having her mascara applied, Ria says the child pageants are "harmless."
The mum-of-two from Bridlington, Yorkshire, said: "I don't get why people are so against pageants because my eldest daughter dances around a hall with even less clothes on.
"At pageants you have to be monitored or stamped to attend - there are no perverts watching.
"Bella loves doing the pageants, she loves dressing up and putting on make-up and she gets to play with her friends."
Ria, who has an elder daughter Kacie, nine, was first hooked on pageants after watching the popular American show Toddlers and Tiaras.
After doing research on Facebook, she stumbled across a local charity pageant in Doncaster in May 2015, when Bella was just 19 months old.
She cobbled together two outfits – one to show off her beauty and the other to highlight her personality – and drove the short distance to the pageant.
She recalled: "We went to the first pageant just to see what it was like and whether Bella would enjoy it.
"She took to it like a fish to water. She loved all the glamour and being up on a stage.
"She won her age group and was awarded 'Most Confident.'
"From that day, we were hooked."
Now, Bella has competed in twenty pageants and has dozens of sashes, crowns and trophies to her name.
She was even awarded a seven foot trophy, after beating sixty other children from age 0-16, which towers over her miniscule frame.
RELATED STORIES
Ria said: "The night before a pageant I put a fake tan, a washable one, on her.
"I don't cake her in it. I do it so she's just got a nice shimmery tan.
"She's got two wigs, a full length one which cost £90 and a half wig for her updo, which cost £55.
"Then when we get to the pageant her make-up is done by a professional.
"I used to use tinted moisturiser, but now Bella gets L'Oreal foundation, bronzer, her eyebrows filled in, eye shadow, mascara and lipgloss.
"But I don't do the mascara and lipgloss until the moment before she goes on stage, because she's only three and there are often tears.
"She used to have barely any but now she loves a full glitz make-up. She looks about twenty not three.
"But the next day she washes it all off and she looks like a normal toddler."
Ria has vowed not to stop at foundation and bronzer – she even wants to use fake eyelashes and nails on her daughter.
Bella is sponsored by coveted children's designer Tiffany Rose, who provides her with tailor-made costumes including a belly-baring number inspired by My Little Pony with a crystal-encrusted tutu.
Other get-ups include a skimpy fireman's outfit, an adorable one-shouldered Flintstone two piece and a bright orange dress worth £600.
Luckily, Ria doesn't have to spend a penny on most of her designer dresses.
And Bella has the sassy attitude to match her over-the-top outfits.
While many girls her age are accompanied on stage by their parents, Bella banned her mum from helping her after her second pageant.
Now, she struts on stage pouting and waving to the judges, while Ria cheers from the sidelines.
She said: "Before she gets up there she's very chatty but once she's on stage she turns into her sassy persona.
"She swings her hips and pouts and is a total diva.
"I'm so proud of her – she's got so many trophies and sashes.
"She loves hanging out with the older girls at the pageants and copying the way they strut on stage.
"We'll keep doing pageants until she's fed up with them but she absolutely adores them."
