Move over, shiny tiara. The winner of this beauty pageant gets a flower crown.

This pageant, that will focus on natural beauty, will take place at the Cleburne County Fair in Alabama.

It’s not about winning the flower crown or the carved flowers trophy, it really is about natural beauty. What a breath of fresh air!

I don’t know how many layers of makeup or pounds of hair products most women have on in beauty pageants, but I have a feeling that heavy makeup won’t be welcome in this natural beauty pageant.

Instead of focusing on swimsuits, evening wear or the glamour of it all, why not highlight the everyday, natural beauty we’ve all got inside of us?

One of the best parts of this competition is that participants in 10th-12th grades can will a $500 scholarship. That’s big news for a girl who wants to go to college. Also, 40 percent of the winner’s score is going to be based on an essay they write about what defines beauty said Sandy Sanders, the chairwoman of the pageant committee.

There’s a difference between natural beauty and a natural look. It’s great that young girls can express themselves about natural beauty at such a young age. It’s also important that they know beauty comes from within.

This pageant will not only bring little girls and young women in a community together, but show everyone elsewhere that natural beauty is just as beautiful as a face full of makeup and a hair full of hair spray.