Without a dainty black cat, deep blue rose, four-masted ship or python inked on their skin the ACT grand finalists in the Miss Ink and Miss Tattoo Australia competition wouldn't feel themselves.
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What began in 2009 as Canberra-only with eight contestants has exploded in popularity and is now an annual nationwide event which includes contestants from New Zealand.
Canberra founder Fallon Nicole said she felt like an unlikely pioneer but one that's proud to have turned the porcelain-skinned stereotype of a beauty pageant contestant on its head.
"It was an idea I didn't think would pan out at all but Canberra fell in love with it and it's been amazing, just crazy, to see Australia has as well," she said.
She was alone in a Canberra woman's shelter with her infant son when the idea struck and turned her life around.
With no money and no home she felt she had hit rock bottom.
"It occurred to me I needed to do something drastic and build a career that would support me and my son," she said.
Well and truly back on her feet, she said she hasn't forgotten how it all began – dragging herself to the public library and using the free internet to get the event off the ground.
"I never thought it would be as big as what it is now or that tattoos would be as popular as they are," she said.
"These days it's rare to find someone without a tattoo. I think it just celebrates individuality and reminds us that people shouldn't be judged or painted as one thing or another."
Emma "Essin" Straney is a grand finalist vying for the Miss Tattoo – a new event for women aged 29 plus added due to popular demand.
She will compete alongside other women from around Australia who hope to be crowned Miss Ink at an event on Saturday, November 14 at The Basement.
Not a "girly girl", she said she was delighted there was no toxic pageant atmosphere but rather one where individuality, expression and girl power were felt by all.
Adorned with more than 10 vibrant tattoos, she said appreciating the breath of tattoo art through the competition had given her "the buzz to get more".
"You start talking about it and it brings up all these ideas you'd put to one side," she said. "Every time I get one my heart races, but after a few seconds of pain you know ... yep I have made the right decision."
Twenty-four-year-old Lauren Berinic has never competed in a beauty event but felt the title gave women with tattoos a platform.
"We all think it's so amazing what Fallon has done," she said.
"I know a lot of photographers and high fashion don't like tattoos but this competition gives girls with tattoos the opportunity to show they are just as beautiful as the girls who don't."
