Airbrushing away fat and cellulite for a woman’s magazine? Bad.
As we all know, it sets unrealistic beauty expectations, promotes disordered eating and leaves some models/celebs looking unrecognizable.

But airbrushing away a flacid penis on a football player in spandex pants? Well, maybe that’s not such a bad idea. Readers of Sporting News Today got a little more peen than they bargained for in this spread with Joe Cox (tee hee), quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs.

Not sure how anyone missed this, but maybe next time Mr. (Soft) Cox should consider a cup on and off the field….

The most recent issue of French Elle magazine hit shelves earlier this week with an interesting (and might I say, refreshing) twist: all the cover models were photographed without any makeup or photo re-touching.

Most of the time when I see “Stars Without Makeup!” on a magazine cover, it’s on the front of some tabloid surrounded by unattractive candid shots of gorgeous stars like Jennifer Lopez in an effort to “humanize” them and make it seem like they’re more like us “regular” folk.  And I don’t know about all of you, but these sort of pictures always scare me a little–if  celebrities look this bad without their makeup, what hope do the rest of us have?  I know that I can’t ever leave the house with at least eyeliner or mascara on without feeling like I look sick.

So when I first heard about French Elle‘s “Stars Sans Fards” (literally meaning “without makeup”, but also suggests a sort of “openness”), I was a little scared and also surprised–it definitely doesn’t sound like something I’d expect to see in a magazine like Elle.

Once I saw the pictures, though, I was completely awed.

The women on the cover don’t look like what I’ve come to expect from those paparazzi no-makeup shots: they look absolutely beautiful. Why don’t I look that good without makeup on?  I love the idea of the “au natural” look, but I’ve never been brave enough to try it myself. I know what I look like before a swipe of cover up and a touch of blush – no one else needs to see that. Read More »

When you see a perfectly sculpted star on the cover of a magazine, don’t let yourself be fooled. They may look like they pray to the treadmill gods each day, but they are also just as human as we are. These ladies have curves, dimples, scars, warts and all the other things we pick at ourselves for. But thanks to the magic of Photoshop, their flaws can be hidden with the click and drag of a mouse.

Every so often, a brave celeb comes forward and acknowledges her body for the beautiful reality that it is. Recently, photos from a Complex magazine shoot with the bootylicious Kim Kardashian were accidently leaked onto the magazine’s website. In this assortment of pics were a couple shots of KK, pre-Photoshop, in all her luscious glory. A side-by-side comparison reveals the extent of her photo’s retouching: Read More »