Before I start. I didn't even notice my last post was post #100!! This blog I started as a travel journal in college has kept more momentum than I expected!
This was going to be another wedding blog, but I'm sure you can tell from the title that it is not. This is going to be more like the food and weight blog I did a few months ago.
I was browsing the news the other day, going through articles in Yahoo and CNN when I cam across this little gem: 7 Free Beauty Apps That Make You Look Flawless in Every Photo . Really???
It goes on to say
"we want you to have the tools to look perfect, too. Sometimes we all just need a little help from the App Store! "
Um, excuse me, but no. No we do not "need help from the App Store."
Whenever a celebrity is on a magazine that we can tell is highly airbrushed, there is some sort of outrage. So why are we slamming them for being "artistically redone" when we are pimping out these programs to do the same things to ourselves? This article, and attached apps, are basically trying to tell you that, sure, you may think you look cute in your picture...but you could be a lot better, and I will fix you for free. What kind of culture are we creating for our daughters? (I know, men may use these too, but one cannot deny the target audience) I am so thankful that my parents raised me to believe that my beauty came from the inside and not the outside - I was able to ignore a lot of what society was putting in our face about what was beauty and how to be prettier. But I didn't have all of this when I was a teenager, and it scares me to think about the girls who are growing up in this age, who have cellphones from birth and easy access to these free apps. What are we telling them? How can we help them? and why do people want to portray false images on social media?
So I downloaded the apps.
And I want to show you just how messed up it is that this article is trying to promote this crap.
First up, is Perfect 365 - "The easiest way to make sure you look great" ....there is so much I could say about that catch line....i
Here I am! Fresh-faced post gym and shower! No makeup and No filter. I was feeling pretty good about myself
The app first scans your face for the points of your features and then allows you to adjust them for more accuracy
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| Ready for plastic surgery |
First it smoothed my skin.
Then it took me to the "pre-made" make-up faces
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| mmmmm.....sexy |
This one is called "Sweet"
Don't I look "Gleeful" with this lipstick it added?
Aptly named "Goblin" may be fun for Halloween pictures....
But then I got into the real meat of the app -- which is specific feature manipulation...and this is where it gets scary...or sad...
A nice smooth skin tone - I no longer have pores. Added some blush too (there are an absurd amount of colors that you can then weaken or strengthen in color)
Want to lift those pesky cheekbones? Let the app move them for you! need a slimmer nose? It can do that too! (And all along you thought your cheeks were just fine? HAH). Don't forget to bring in that chin too!
Why not add eyelashes? I mean, just because I have always been complimented on my natural lashes doesn't mean they are actual suitable for real (media) Life.
And some lipstick....
Oh but I didn't smile big enough...don't worry, that can be fixed too.
Don't forget eyeshadow!
Close up of the eyeliner
And the side by side comparison of before and after.
I am pretty horrified of what I was able to accomplish in a mere 10 minutes and you should be too. What kind of message does this send? One can certainly see how the temptation to tweak a little here and tweak a little there can become an addiction...and obsession...and soon, you are looking at pictures of YOURSELF thinking..."man, I wish I looked like that."
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| Mmmhmm girl, look at that hair. |
Now, I have to state, that as much as I am against these insane picture manipulations, I AM a fan of filters. Sure, the lighting affects how things look...but that is not the same as restructuring your face. Which is why a couple of the apps on the list were not as offensive. Aviary and Camera 360 have some really fun filters that I cannot wait to use on scenery and landscapes when I get back home.
Another App -- "Beauty Plus" is addressed in the article by saying "No need for Botox. Beauty Plus is like plastic surgery (or at least a visit to the dermatologist) in an app. You can slim your face, enlarge your eyes, and even get rid of acne."
Why is this a selling point?! I don't need Botox in the first place!! Or plastic Surgery!! Just. No.
No need for a play by play, it is very similar to the one above.
Similarly, in an app not featured on this article, FaceTune...you can well...tune up your face and body
Here I am again! No makeup, No filter, and horrible deployed room lighting.
And here I am again, smooth, poreless skin, and glistening white teeth.
FaceTune does not allow you to apply makeup in the same way as Perfect 365, but it does allow you to manipulate your skin...and your shape.
Here I am, thinking I look pretty damn good 5 weeks into my deployment...working out regularly but not aggressively, and eating well (but still enjoying my gummy bears and a glass of wine)
But wait! Why work out, when I can app-out instead! Here I am with bigger boobs, and a smaller waist!
Oh and why work hard on squats when I can just expand my butt with the swipe of a finger!
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| So thaaaaats how all those fitness pro's do it on their advertisements!! |
I tried to make my butt even bigger for the sake of this post but it started to distort the lines of the suitcase. I actually read an article the other day making fun of a girl who had used a similar app to adjust a picture and it completely distorted the wall behind her....It's sad, it really is.
I am so glad that I do not have children right now and that by the time I do I will hopefully be able to learn through the trials of others with how to handle the technology/self-esteem conundrum. Even when I go on Facebook now I see girls who clearly use skin-adjusting apps...the seemingly haziness of their skin an almost dead give away.
When anyone has professional photographs, they are always slightly edited, skin smoothed, etc., even as far back as high school graduation/Senior pictures. If we accept that as perfectly fine (which we do, and I do), then is it equally appropriate for us to edit them at home? For free? I think it must be. Yet it seems to be a slippery slope. Is removing a blemish from a picture of a fabulous night out a huge deal? I don't know. Where is the line on what is appropriate? What is healthy?
The marketing is what gets me the most. "The easiest way to make sure you look great" "No need for Botox" "you can create a whole new you!"
Disgusting. We should never be promoting the idea of "creating a whole new you" in order to meet a stereotype of beauty.
As Esther Honig says in this pretty interesting article about Photoshop and beauty, " 'Photoshop allows us to achieve our unobtainable standards of beauty, but when we compare those standards on a global scale, achieving the ideal remains all the more illusive."
