Biotherm Celluli Laser S. Code - Say What?

Here's the ad.

 

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Here's the Claim: The stomach area has the highest concentration of fat cells and stores it more quickly than any other area of the body. These fat cells then accumulate on a very soft, loose area of skin that is not supported by bone. This accumulation can cause skin to lose firmness and begin to sag. The solution? Stimulate the process of fat elimination while toning skin.

This product stimulates the process of fat elimination? (Cue eye-roll.)

Why are we still selling cellulite creams in 2012?  Buying products like this is the equivalent of trading the cow for magic beans.

I love Coco - Not that Coco

I am beauty obsessed and I am also Coco obsessed.  My favourite Canadian model is Coco Rocha.  Why?

1. When she speaks she has something worth saying.
2. She doesn't apologize for her size.  Why should she?
3. She can work any runway or photo shoot and work it into the ground.  Go girl!
4. She's beautiful and she gets paid for it, but doesn't trade on it.
5. She's Canadian, eh? Canadian girls have got it going on.

 

(For more images of the Coco go here) 

For more on why I love Coco and why you should too.

Karlie Kloss' Ribs are Showing

This is a new one for me.  Photo editors decide model Karlie Kloss is too thin and sick looking.  She has been photoshop to make her ribs and collarbone look slightly less visible.

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This editing may have been done in response to negative feedback from another photo shoot with the same model.  Photos from this shoot ended up on pro-anorexia websites.  

 

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I would never say pull a model because she's too thin.  For the same reasons I wouldn't say to pull an actress because she's too big.  Remember this ugliness. Don't even get me started.

However, I would like to ask, if a magazine has to take the time to photoshop a model to make her appear less emaciated ...  well then, what the hell are we doing here?  Is this more or less offensive than airbrushing models to make them appear thinner?

Where did Demi Moore's hip go?

Just for fun.  Where did Demi Moore's hip go?

 

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Maybe it went the same place Cindy Crawford's belly button went in 1998?

If anyone has a copy of the Elle Magazine photo shoot with Cindy's missing belly button, I would love to see it again, and post for posterity.  

In other news, this gem comes from a Helena Rubinstein advertising campaign?

 

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Demi?  Is that you?  What have they done to you?  And why have they done it?  

Apparently, Helena Rubinstein beauty products will photoshop your face with simple 

daily use.  You don't even have to know your way around a computer.  I'm sold, aren't you?

 

Taylor Swift's Covergirl Lashes are Not for Real - Sad Face

 Covergirl's Nature Luxe Mousse mascara gives 2x the volume?  

As some who has tried the mascara, I wonder why Covergirl made THAT claim on this product? I can tell you it does not give 2x the volume.  In fact, it's the opposite, it's a great mascara for those who like a no-makeup makeup-look. But you can't really sell THAT truth in a mascara advertisement can you?

 

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The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus says, the post-production enhancement on Taylor's lashes, gives consumers an inaccurate impression of the product's abilities.

Even though Proctor and Gamble puts a disclaimer on these ads, a lie is still a lie.  Remember those Covergirl Lash Blast ads where Drew Barrymore's lashes were **enhanced with falsies?  A few years too late, but at least these types of ads are starting to get pulled.

So Taylor's advertisements and commercials went bye-bye.  Can't say I'm disappointed, those ads were of the super cheese variety.  Taylor Swift twirling around in swathes of flowing fabric?  No thanks.

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Makeup Forever Untouched Ads - Are U Fo Real?

So disclaimer time, Makeup Forever is one of my favourite cosmetic brands.  When they released their unedited ad campaign, I was in love.  But why haven't there been more since?  Sad face.   Oh well, check the photos.

 

 (Source: 1 & 2)

Would these unedited photos turn you off the product?

Now I know, it's still an ad with professional models, with professional photographers and makeup artists.  And that's what I love.  Let the professionals do their thing, yo.  

Why do cosmetics ads rely so heavily on airbrushing, when there are amazing professionals who can put pretty ads like this together?

Untouched photos in Seventeen magazine....hmm?

Here's the sitch,  I know you'll love this one as much as I do.  Especially because I had a subscription to Seventeen as a teenager, did you?  Remember all those realistic portrayals of the American teen?  Me neither.  

Editor-in-chief Ann Shoket says Seventeen never has, and never will, alter the face or body shapes of teens in their magazine.  This comment comes last April, after American teenager Julia Bluhm petitions Seventeen magazine to include one unedited photo each month.  A miniscule request in my opinion.  

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Once Julia had over 84,000 signatures on change.org, she and some friends went to personally deliver the petition.  Some online accounts will say she was invited by Seventeen magazine for a talk.  B please!  Fashion magazines are not lining up to discuss their photoshopping policies. 

Once there, Julia Bluhm is handed back some BS from the magazine.  Goes something like - we are totes excited to have such a passionate reader.  Activism is something we totes encourage our readers to do.  The end.

Julia Bluhm, btw, is gracious when asked about her meeting at Seventeen.  The kindness she shows to the magazine in her response, ultimately made it easier for the magazine to take advantage of her later.  Keep reading to find out how.

L'Oreal gets Hand Slapped by FDA: This time it's not about Julia Roberts

You may remember earlier this year, Britain's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) pulled this Lancome ad for misleading consumers.

The ASA basically argued that a bottle of foundation can't turn back the hands of time.  The ASA came to this conclusion even without access to Julia Roberts' original untouched photos.  Apparently she has a super strict contract and those babies will never see the light of day.  For more info on all that mess, visit here.

Lancome's parent company L'Oreal got in trouble again last month, but this time with the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA).   The trouble comes with wording on certain Lancome products.  Wording such as:

1. "been shown to improve the condition around the stem cells and stimulate cell regeneration to reconstruct skin to a denser quality."
2. "helps to re-bundle collagen."
3. "boosts the activity of genes" 

The FDA sent a letter to L'Oreal asking them to "tone down" their marketing language.  The letter went something like - Hey, stop pretending your product is a miracle drug.  You have 15 days to get it together.  Tsk Tsk


For more info on this latest mess: ABC News
                                                      Wall Street Journal

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair

According to Estee Lauder's website, their Advanced Night Repair product "dramatically reduces the major signs of aging."  (Source)

The natural choice to be the face of this product?  22 year old Constance Jablonski.

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 I would support a law requiring a disclaimer on ads such as this, would you?

Ralph Lauren Photoshop Scandal

Let's start with my favourite photoshop disaster, Ralph Lauren print ad Fall 2009.  Whenever the issue of photoshop overuse in fashion magazines is mentioned, I can't help but to think of this:

 

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 Notice her head is bigger than her hips? The consumer can easily see the problem here, and that's why there was such outrage.  However sometimes it is less obvious.

Take a look at this Faith Hill cover photo on Redbook magazine:

 

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Her arm, collar bone, neck, face and back has been made thinner.  Her smile lines around her mouth have been diminished. The lines around her eyes have been erased.

Her skin tone, hair colour, and makeup have been adjusted as well.

Do you think most consumers know how much photo retouching has been done?

Or do you think most consumers think this is how Faith Hill really looks?