From tomboy to beauty queen - Lara takes title
Five years ago Lara Stephen was a teenage tomboy with a black belt in taekwondo who knew nothing about hair and make-up.
But today she is celebrating having been crowned European Princess of Wales and tied on points for the overall first place in an international beauty pageant.
Lara, now 22, said the win at the Miss European 2014 competition still hadn't sunk in fully.
"I'm still in shock, but I'm so pleased to have done so well for Wales. It is such an honour to have come this far," she said.
The win followed a five-day competition in Dublin that saw 85 young women from 10 countries competing first to be crowned their own country's champion and then to win the coveted overall title.
While many young girls dream of entering beauty pageants, Lara, of Llanidloes, said it was the furthest thing from her mind when she was a teenager.
"I was about 17 and I was a bit of a tomboy and a black belt in taekwondo and didn't really know about how to do my make up or hair," she said.
"I had a few confidence issues and one night me and my mum thought let's do a photo shoot. It's something a lot of girls do to try to boost their confidence. I thought it wasn't really me, but I thought I'd try it.
"We got my pictures back and they were quite nice, and so we sent one off to the Miss Wales competition. Then they got back to me and I was picked for the top three in Powys. It all went from there."
