A bikini contest is a beauty contest

Beauty contest

A beauty pageant or beauty contest, is a competition that mainly focuses on the physical beauty of its contestants, although such contests often incorporate personality, talent, and answers to judges' questions as judged criteria...

 where women compete against each other in bikini

Bikini

The bikini is typically a women's two-piece swimsuit. One part of the attire covers the breasts and the other part covers the crotch and part of or the entire buttocks, leaving an uncovered area between the two. Merriam–Webster describes the bikini as "a woman's scanty two-piece bathing suit" or "a...

s.

Bikini contests can take place in bars

Bar (establishment)

A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...

, nightclub

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

s, at beaches, and beauty pageants. Related companies regularly sponsor such contests to discover and attract new talents to promote their products. Bikini contests can also take place over the Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 by women submitting pictures of themselves in bikinis.

Contestants often wear sashes indicating where they are from in bikini contests, in similarity to the tradition in other beauty pageants. It is becoming more and more common for women to wear bikinis as part of the swimsuit

Swimsuit

A swimsuit, bathing suit, or swimming costume is an item of clothing designed to be worn by men, women or children while they are engaging in a water-based activity or water sports, such as swimming, water polo, diving, surfing, water skiing, or during activities in the sun, such as sun bathing.A...

 competitions at major pageants. Participants in the Miss Teen USA

Miss Teen USA

Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant run by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. The reigning titleholder is Danielle Doty of Texas....

 pageant are now required to wear bikinis.

There are more explicitly erotic variations of such contests known as "Whipped cream bikini contest" or "Shaving cream bikini contest". These contests involve using either whipped cream

Whipped cream

Whipped cream is cream that has been beaten by a mixer, whisk, or fork until it is light and fluffy. Whipped cream is often sweetened and sometimes flavored with vanilla, in which case it may be called Chantilly cream or crème Chantilly ....

 or shaving cream

Shaving cream

Shaving cream is a substance that is applied to the face or wherever else hair grows, to provide lubrication and avoid razor burn during shaving. Shaving cream is often bought in a spray can, but can also be purchased in tubs or tubes. Shaving cream in a can is commonly dispensed as a foam or a gel...

 instead of bikinis where the cream is sprayed on contestant's nude or semi-nude body in the form of a bikini. As the contest continues, the cream would gradually melt due to body heat

Body heat

Body Heat is a 1981 film by Lawrence Kasdan.Body Heat may also refer to:*Body heat or thermoregulation, the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries*Body Heat...

and heat from stage lights and slowly reveal the areas covered in cream on the contestant's body.