Whats wrong with imprefections? The dangers of the media on our body image.

Recently whilst trawling through facebook I noticed that one of my friends had very un-natural looking pictures of herself -and by unnatural I mean perfectly flawless pictures where she has no evident freckles on her face. Upon closer inspection they looked airbrushed.  I commented on the pictures stating that the pictures looked flawless to which she replied that she had used a new software on them to give them that airbrushed look. She exclaimed that this is something that a lot of her friends are doing as they don’t like how they look in their pictures and this way they can air out any signs of imperfections-in my friends case her freckles [which I actually think are lovely and are unique to her]. I was astonished to find that these pictures had actually received loads more complements from others compared to her regular picture postings.

This really got me thinking; are we a nation so obsessed with how we look that we will attempt to attain the impossible by trying to look or at least fool others into thinking we look as perfect as those on magazine covers. When we all know deep down that those in magazines look nothing like their pictures in real life. This made me reflect on my feelings from watching a documentary back in 2008 on the subject of airbrushing. From watching Alesha Dixon’s ‘Look But Don't Touch’ documentary when it first aired back in 2008 [can be watched here] I never thought I was really influenced by the images surrounding me every day.  I just thought that I saw these images an admired them but knew they weren’t real and that was that. Watching Alesha’s documentary got me thinking and sadly I was wrong, these images had made more of an impression on me and how I viewed my body than I initially thought.

Airbrushed photos of Jessica Alba and Sarah Jessica Parker

When thinking about it and being truly honest with myself I subconsciously compared myself to these images and have done so since I first started buying magazines at the tender age of 13.  I am a small size 12 at 5foot 6.5inches, and I've always felt that I should be smaller in both clothes size and height. I have small boobs yet I have hips which to me seemed out of proportion. I have poker straight hair that I always felt should be voluminous, after all that all I ever see in advertisements. I have cellulite on my bum and thighs and visible veins on my legs which I always felt were grotesque and unnatural.  I don't have high cheekbones; I've always felt that I should. I don’t have a perfect petite straight nose, hell I even have one eye bigger than the other, in my eyes I was far from beautiful as I looked so different from the images that were being presented to me. The documentary made me question whether it is out personal preference that I want bigger boobs, smaller thighs, voluminous hair etc or is it because I’ve grown up surrounded by pictures of perfection that has influenced me into wanting to look a certain way.

As a tall[ish], small chested girl I admired the likes of Sienna Miller and Kiera Knightly as they are known for their small chests but are still considered beautiful. This is why pictures like those below really bother me, why is there a need to digitally enhance their busts. Are they trying to give us the message that there is something unattractive about smaller boobs? No wonder I had major body issues growing up.



Kiera Knightly Bust Enhanced

 Women and young girls are forever comparing themselves to women in the media. Today, we can’t go anywhere without seeing images of perfection plastered everywhere, telling us what we should be, how we should look etc. TBH I’m sick of it. Women and young girls just like me strive to gain these unattainable bodies and unfortunately too often when these images are not achieved through healthy forms of exercise etc some people start to take alternative measures often resulting in people taking drastic measures thus putting their health at risk. Just take Hedi Montag for example she underwent 10 procedures in one day putting her life in jeopardy-yet she is still open to having more surgery until she feels she has reached ‘perfection.’ 

Hedi Montag before and after.

 It's honestly  no surprise that many young girls/women [and boys/men may I add] these days are already considering plastic surgery, I was horrified to hear that Sarah Burge gave her young daughter Poppy £8,000 worth of vouchers to spend on plastic surgery for her EIGTH birthday!!! You can see her interview on this morning below;

Research has shown that exposure to false, airbrushed pictures of celebrities is linked to depression, low self-esteem, and the development of eating disorders. It is believed that one in every one hundred teenage girls may develop an eating disorder. This is an alarmingly high number. I was quite frankly relieved when I saw that the likes of Britney Spears, Anne Lynn McCord and Kim Kardashian had released untouched pictures of themselves. I felt nothing but pure admiration for these girls and I just wish that more of those in the media lime light would do so.




[L-R] Britney Spears before and after, Anne Lynn McCord touched photo and no makeup photo, Kim Kardashian before and after, Kin Kardashian psoriasis picture.Note to self they all look beautiful with their imperfections!!!

It’s sad to say that 100% of fashion magazines today use digitally retouched pictures. Yes I am aware that there's a difference between fashion magazines such as Vogue and beauty companies such as Dove. Setting aside the fact that they are different products, they are both aimed at very different audiences.  Realistically would there even be high end fashion magazines like Vogue anymore if they used natural pictures? Now I’m not totally against all airbrushing but I feel that magazines have gone overboard. I personally would find it refreshing to buy a magazine that showcased people’s imperfections, after all models are just like us-they do have bad hair and skin days. So why not show us that we are more like them than we think? Take Dove’s advertisement campaign where real woman are used-has it hindered me from buying their product? Hell no, in fact it has probably encouraged me to try more of their products. I just wish more companies would follow in their direction.

Dove Real Women Campaign

However I Honestly don’t see airbrushing going anywhere in the near future so instead I think it would be nice to look at adverts’ and see "this picture has been retouched" at the bottom just like they now do with mascara adverts where they have to say if the eyelashes have been digitally enhanced or lash inserts used- It would be a nice little reminder for all of us out there looking at these images and would hopefully hone home that these pictures are not ‘real’.

Always remember that “To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are.”- Unknown.

Thanks for reading,

xKx

What I love this month: June 2012

COSMOPOLITAN BEAUTY BLENDER

Beauty Blender

I have seen this makeup tool many a times when in Superdrug but always passed it by and never gave it a second thought until I started noticing that a lot of YouTube gurus were using it in their makeup tutorials.

I had debated over whether to buy a stippling brush or the beauty blender and after some research I discovered that they both do a similar job only the beauty blender is way cheaper so I decided to save myself some money and invested in Cosmopolitan’s Beauty Blender which I purchased last month for £4.99 in my local Superdrug store [buy here] and have been using it daily every since. I use this product both damp and dry depending on what makeup look I want to achieve. I do plan to purchase a stippling brush in the near future and hope to compare the results of the two.

According to packaging this product allows for amazing flawless application of foundation, using a bouncing or stippling method to blend makeup which leaves an airbrushed looking finish. I found that this small product gave an airbrushed and seamless look to my everyday makeup.  My makeup looks more natural and skin-like as a result. It is also easy to clean and I love that it comes with a little holder for the sponge so it doesn’t touch any surfaces helping to prevent bacteria getting onto your sponge, it’s also useful for helping the sponge dry once washed. I found that the sponge does not take too long to dry which is another added bonus. This is one makeup tool that will be a key staple in my makeup bag.

Click here to see a YouTube video by LoveLaughAnd Makeup on how to use and clean your beauty blender.

Would I recommend this product? Definitely!!!

xKx

Fake tan update, Vita Liberata’s pHenomenal 2-3 week tan.

I like most other people have a love hate relationship with fake tan, I love having a tan [I feel more confident and feel that I personally look better with one, sadly I do not have a nice Kirsten Stewart/ Anne Hathaway skin tone] but I hate the upkeep of it [let’s face it, it’s a lot of work and I’m kind of on the lazy side when it comes to these things].

For a while I had been keeping a good tanning routine of exfoliating, moisturising and fake tanning. However I found that after 4/5 days my tan needed topping up and I have found this to be the case with whatever tan I used [He-shi, St.Moriz, Vita Liberata]. So in realistic terms I was fake tanning twice a week whilst ensuring I maintained my routine for trying to keep my tan. However due to wearing bras with underwire I found that after a day or two my tan would wear off where my bra had rubbed and my armpits would show the wear of tear of my tan which left me having to choose my outfits wisely which proved especially annoying when we would get random warm days[I wonder if the fact that I was using mousse fake tans would have anything to do with how the tan rubbed off in certain areas? ]. I found that the upkeep was just too much on top of a 9-5 job as well as my university work in the evenings. I found that in my little spare time that I did have I had a choice of weather I wanted to fake tan or do something else with my time.

When I discovered that one of my favourite tans were launching a 2-3 week fake tan I was thrilled to say the least. This tan claims to last up to three weeks. You can see my previous post where this tan was discussed [Here].

Application:

Using a tanning mitt apply as you would a tinted mousse, blending colour as you apply. Avoid the heel of the hand, and wipe knuckles, knees and ankles immediately. Any unwanted application should be removed immediately as the colour will take to the skin in only a few minutes. Do not moisturise prior to application, except for areas of exceptionally dry skin. Do not apply with bare hands as colour will take to the palms of the hands.

To extend the life of your colour apply multiple layers of pHenomenal, i.e.:

1 application = approx 7 days
2 applications = approx 10+ days
3 applications = approx 2 - 3 weeks

Allow at least one hour between showering and reapplying, for optimum results leave 3 hours between each shower for a longer lasting tan.

My thoughts:

I purchased the tan in the shade medium as I had previously tried their mousse In this shade and liked the colour it gave. I applied this tan twice; I applied the first application before bed and rinsed it off after 16 hours and reapplied my second application which I washed off as normal the second morning.

I had an even tan with pretty much the same colour results as their normal medium coloured mousse, I think a third application would have looked too dark and fake on me given my fair skin tone.

This tan has a colour guide which washes off the next day in the shower with minimal staining of PJ’s. I usually wear my onsie for tanning to contain the smell and save my sheets from staining. This tan doesn’t smell of anything when applying it but an hour later there is a normal but slightly subtler fake tan smell. This smell washes away in the shower the next day and doesn’t linger and I would say that the smell isn’t as offensive as the st.moriz smell.

I was disappointed to learn that this tan didn’t last long on me at all, it lasted around four days. Their normal tanning mousse that I had been using had stayed on longer and that was with only one application. I don’t understand why this product didn’t work on me and I was very disappointed that it didn’t but thankful that I had bought this tan whilst on offer for £25 and that I didn’t pay full price for it. One positive about this fake tan is that it came off very easy when I soaked in the bath and used my exfoliating mitts to take it off; I wasn’t left with any dry tanned patches.

Reviews of this product are very scarce. I have only been able to find a few and I now question the sincerity of some of these reviews, perhaps they had been sponsored.

I had however spoken with one blogger/YouTube guru via twitter [Melanie Twiner] about the tan. Melanie had better results than myself and gave an honest review of the tan on her YouTube channel which you may find useful [see below for her review].

I would suggest trying  this tan for yourself if you don’t mind splurging on a fake tan product however I would recommend looking about to see if this tan is on offer beforehand. Let me know if you have tried this tan?

xKx

Products I'm Raving About!!!

This month I've discovered (and rediscovered) some really great beauty products so I thought I'd share my findings with you all. The first product I will be sharing with you all is:

Bourjois Paris Magic Nail Polish Remover.

What it says:  

‘Nail polish is instantly removed with the touch of a magic wand! For each nail, simply Dip-Twist-Remove in 1 second without any cotton wool.  Your nails will be polish-free in just 1 second*! Plus, its red berry and vanilla fragrance leaves nails delicately scented.  And…it’s good for your nails!’

Inside the bottle:

This little gem is full of good stuff; it is an acetone-free formula which is gentle on nails and cuticles. It is also enriched with nourishing sweet almond oil and is paraben-free. Nails are left feeling soft and nourished afterwards, like a little treatment in a bottle.

An added bonus:

With other nail polish removers I have made the mistake of putting my hand near my mouth before washing them after using nail polish remover thus leaving a nasty taste in my mouth. With this however there is no nasty nail polish remover taste [or smell] left behind after using…and yes I did test it out [well I made my sister,lol]

My views on this product:

I picked this product up on a whim as Superdrug had a 3-2 deal on all their cosmetics, this was my ‘free’ product. For the majority of my nail polishes it takes just one twist to remove the polish from my nails and for the more stubborn nail polishes [e.g. glitter polishes] a couple of twists and it comes right off. This makes removing nail polish less of a chore and eliminates any of the mess and hassle that used to occur with removing my nail polish before [cotton pads, tipping my nail polish remover too far resulting in spillages etc]. After trying this product out my mum and sister have since bought bottles of their own.

This is a product that I will definitely be repurchasing; I love how nourished my nails feel afterwards, it feels like I have given them a treatment. This product does retail a few more pounds than most nail varnish removers. But for me this product is worth the money and the next time I see it on offer I will stock up. This product currently retails at £4.99 in boots [Buy Here], but can also be found in most chemists and in some supermarkets. For those that feel that this product is too pricey instead of repurchasing you could simply top up the bottle with your preferred nail polish and wha la hassle free nail varnish removal!!

To see this product being used, check out gemsiesblog youtube video [linked below].

xKx