THE lips are painted bright red, the fake eyelashes are glued in place and the hair is curled. But this is no ordinary pageant.

This is Miss Ink NSW 2012, where the glitz and glamour of Miss Universe meets the ink and artistry of tattoo enthusiasts.

Cat Higley accessorised her body paint - Care Bears on one arm, mismatched nature motifs the other - with a red chiffon bodice and knee-length black skirt.

''I go for bright, feminine tattoos,'' said Ms Higley, 25, from Gosford. ''With my outfits and make-up I'm going for a retro theme. I'm going for a rockabilly look.''

She will slip into a leopard-print bikini for the swimwear parade, allowing her to reveal a large tattoo that sits along her ribs featuring an angel, three roses and the dates when family members passed away. An anatomical heart with wings spans her stomach.

The NSW heats for Miss Ink were held last night in Newtown. The competition's rules are simple: contestants must be inked in at least one large tattoo and compete in three rounds - casual wear, formal wear and swimwear. They are judged on outfits, tattoo quantity and quality, personality, crowd reaction and oral presentation. The top three compete in the national final in November.

Jesse Cooper, 21, an apprentice electrician from Doonside, was keen to show off her leg ''tatts''.

She hoped a ''short, black formal-looking dress'' would help. ''You need to think about your outfit in terms of your tattoos and how they'll look.''

Ms Cooper, whose tattoos include a cherry blossom, skull and angels representing ''life and death, and the good and bad decisions in life'', has spent between $2500 and $3000 on her body art. ''I'm not finished yet,'' she said.

The pageant's organiser, Fallon Nicole, 27, founded the event in 2009 to show the wider community the diversity of people with tattoos.

''Tattooed people are portrayed differently to what we'd hope - as criminals or with bad reputations,'' Ms Nicole, a mechanic, said. ''The pageant is my way of showing that people with tattoos can be girly girls, nurses, mothers, wives, anyone.''

The four judges are industry experts and up to 15 women were expected to compete.