Makeup-Free Selfies Quickly Raise Millions for Cancer Studies

A leading British cancer charity has collected more than $13-million in six days on the back of an online trend that has seen a soaring number of women, including numerous celebrities, post pictures of themselves without makeup, according to the Press Association and U.K. daily The Telegraph.

The #nomakeupselfie phenomenon has sent an unprecedented surge of contributions to Cancer Research UK, which says it will be able to fund 10 clinical trials as a result. The campaign was started not by Cancer Research but by an English teenage mother who posted a makeup-free photo of herself along with a plea for text-message donations to the charity. Pop stars Rihanna and Beyonce are among those who have followed suit.

Some $31,000 of #nomakeupselfie gifts mistakenly went to Unicef because donors entered the wrong keyword with their texts. Unicef says it is working with Cancer Research to transfer the funds.