Are Our Selfies Really Ourselves? Is Heavily Editing & Filtering Our Photographs Going Too Far?

L: Original to R: Heavily Edited

In recent years there has been widespread reporting, and criticism of the use of excessive airbrushing on models within the film/TV, fashion and beauty world, and rightly so as I think it’s important for us ‘real people’ to know that the perfection that we are all faced with in magazines, on billboards and on TV isn’t real.

The standard of beauty that we’re being made to feel that we have to live up to isn’t even being achieved by the models in these advertising campaigns, as they’re so heavily edited to present this admittedly very beautiful, but wholly unrealistic picture in order to make us desire the products they’re promoting.

It’s important to remember that we’re not all failing in life by not walking around with 24/7 flawless skin, balanced, equal facial features, perfect abs, and large, symmetrical tits.

Yet so many of us feel that we’re not desirable, not pretty, not thin, and not perfect enough even to post a selfie on our own Facebook, or Instagram profiles without being judged and compared against the unrealistic standards set by these people.

This in turn has led to a huge increase of girls uploading photos of themselves that have had heavy filters and editing beforehand. The problem comes when people (girls, usually) edit pictures, and use filters to the point that they not only no longer resemble themselves, but some of them actually look like 2-dimensional cartoon characters.

I’ve seen, and heard so many people saying things like ‘she takes a good photo’, and ‘she looks nothing like her pictures’, even stating that on occasions, people have even failed to recognise the person in real life from their online photographs due to flattering angles, and excessive editing and filter use... with some girls even being called catfish for their 'deceptive' photography practices.

I think it’s sad to see this, as for me a photograph is not only for now, but also to look back on when I get older, and remember what I actually looked like – despite me being constantly told that I actually look a lot better in real life, as I think my face somehow panics when in front of a camera, even if it’s just me, taking a selfie. I’d rather know I probably looked better in real life than in the picture, than have a shit load of hugely edited, filtered to fuckery false images that look nothing like me at all.

Hence why I personally don’t bother with these heavy editing techniques. Well, that and because I can’t be bothered as it would take too much time that I just don’t have… plus I am absolutely rubbish at editing, as I’ve just found out whilst trying to edit pictures of myself for this article; instead opting to use a fully blur tool for one image (idiot-proof, as I obviously wanted it to look fake), and an app to make another image appear more cartoon-like, as I obviously couldn’t use the photographic examples that prompted me to write this. ;-)

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for filters occasionally as a laugh – like the silly Snapchat filters, but I keep seeing girls who look more like a cartoon than a human in every single picture they seem to upload and it just makes me feel a little sad that these girls can’t just be happy to be photographed as they actually are, and know that imperfections are what make us unique.

For me, I’m happy to use a little make-up, and hope for the best where my pictures are concerned… oh, and probably about 44 gigabytes of data for the million selfies that I hated before I took one that I thought was acceptable, ha.

What are your thoughts? Do you see this happening a lot? Do you yourself heavily edit your pictures? x

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

Valentine's Day Gift Suggestions: Luxury Beauty, Fragrance & Jewellery Options For Your Loved One!

This guide was meant to be my part 3 in my Luxury Christmas Gift Guide, but alas my scheduling failed and Christmas came and went, so I have adapted it for Valentine’s Day as I thought it a shame to go to waste! Obviously with it being luxury products, I’m not suggesting that you go out and purchase the most expensive gifts for somebody you’ve only just met… unless you’re rolling in the readies and can afford it, in which case go for it! ;-)

Searching for the perfect Valentine’s gift for your loved one can invariably lead to stress, headache, and panic (especially for the unprepared, last minute Larrys)… not to mention extremely painful feet and potential for mild assault from other keen, or spatially unaware shoppers if you’re braving the shops, rather than shopping online. Personally, I try to stick to buying online as much as I can in life, so as to avoid the physically painful part, at least.

Now I know there’s probably loads of Valentine’s guides floating around, but I firmly believe that you can never have too much inspiration if you’re truly stumped for things to buy – especially if you have to buy for somebody who may seemingly have everything, or somebody who appears to want nothing; and so I’ve compiled a couple of guides for you covering a whole host of fabulous looking ‘stuff and things’ in the hope that I can maybe inspire you on the perfect gift to buy for your Valentine.

This guide focuses on luxurious beauty products, fragrancing and sparkly shit (jewellery)… my favourite! It was always going to be seriously difficult to keep the amount of ‘stuff and things’ that I want… errrr I mean that would be lovely for you to purchase for your loved one to so few items – especially because I’m such a magpie who likes lots of things, and so I must add a serious disclaimer that this is by no means a frank, full and complete list of things that I desire. ;-)

So without further ado, here’s a whole heap of fabulousness that I’d personally love to own/receive. I could probably just call all my guides ‘Claire’s Wish Lists’ if I’m honest.

1. Charlotte Tilbury The Glamour Muse and 2. The Rebel Look Gift Boxes £165 each – These complete ‘get the look’ sets are right up my street. I love that you can select a ‘look’ that appeals to your general style, specific outfit, occasion, mood or even knickers (if you so wish) and then be beautifully presented with all the products needed to recreate it. I would probably weep a little with utter joy if any of these were presented to me, at any point, let alone on Valentine’s Day. 

3. Tom Ford Bronzer Brush, £80 – I probably wouldn’t even be able to bring myself to tarnish those perfect white bristles enough to make full use of this with actual, coloured bronzer, and would probably be more likely to be found swiping it across my skin, cooing about how soft it feels instead. Still, it’s a fabulous looking brush and I’m guessing applies bronzer like a dream, for those who are bold enough to use it for the purpose it was made for.

4. Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet in L’Exhubérante, £26 and/or 5. Chanel Le Vernis Nail Lacquer in Pink Tonic 619, £18 – I always think it’s worth spending money where it makes a difference with makeup, and I think lipstick is one of the areas where you get better wear from higher end brands (mostly), and this gorgeous pink- hued Chanel lipstick is no exception. Plus, if you were to team it with with this perfect pink polish, not only would it look great, but it would totally have the wow factor for the recipient, in my opinion.

6. Dior 5 Couleurs Limited Edition Eyeshadow Palette in Golden Shock, £42 – I love pretty much all of the Dior eyeshadow palettes, they always have gorgeous sparkly colours that appeal to my inner (and outer) magpie, but aren’t too in your face shade wise, so are totally wearable at any time of year. This one suits Valentine's Day due to its plummy hues, and is pretty universally wearable due to the muted tones.

7. Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir Cologne 100ml, £82 – This is a heady, but fruity scent which I think suits Valentine’s Day perfectly. If I received this tomorrow, I would be over the moon! Then again, I’d be over the moon just receiving a card this year, probably. ;-)

8. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, £95.50 – I have had so many compliments when wearing this perfume, literally people stopping me in my tracks and asking what I’m wearing!! I adore it, and I find it to be a fragrance suitable for pretty much any age… plus it’ll look great on the dressing table to boot. ;-)

9. Links of London Effervescence Pearl Necklace £695, currently reduced to £347 – I couldn’t not include this necklace in the guide due to my incredible inability to ignore any innuendo (or inyourendo as my friends and I call it) that presents itself to me. I mean who wouldn’t want the gift of a pearl necklace this Valentine's? Especially a fizzy one; better get that looked at, mate. ;-)

10. Tresor Paris Metric Bangle £197 – This is such an unusual piece due to its shape, which is what caught my eye… after the sparkle of course!! I’m obviously partial to the bling, and this appears to satisfy that criteria. Love it.

Due to yet another scheduling fail (come on, Blogger) I've had to adjust this guide, meaning it's somewhat shorter as I've removed products that are seemingly only available online... and edited links to purchase where you can also visit the shop, as it's now too late to have items posted in time for tomorrow.

Whatever you're doing for Valentine's day, I hope you have a great day. If, like me you're a singleton then do what I'm doing, get yourself out with friends and give Valentine's Day two fingers... until such a day where you're not single, in which case I love you Valentine's Day. :-P x

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

No Makeup for Marc Jacobs Models at New York Fashion Week!

So what do we think of Marc Jacobs models having not one single scrap of makeup on whilst on the runway at his spring/summer 2015 show at New York Fashion Week?

I love it, actual natural beauty (ok, they're models... but still) and a focus on skincare rather than hiding 'flaws'. Brilliant.

Only moisturiser was used by makeup artist Francois Nars (the genius behind the NARS makeup brand). It must have been the easiest job he's ever been paid to do too. :-)

Does this give you more confidence to go out sans makeup?

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

November 2013 Decleor Today's Special Value/TSV on QVC - Midnight Tonight!

I don't have many details right now, but I have had a few of you ask about this. I am told it's due to be on the 9th of November (so midnight tonight, guys), and Fiona Brackenbury added this photograph to her Facebook/Twitter accounts so I thought I'd post it up for those who haven't yet seen it. No price details as yet, they're embargoed until midnight, when you'll find out yourselves anyway. x

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

'Normal' Sized Mannequins... What is 'Normal' Anyway?

I've just been on Facebook and this image of 'normal sized' mannequins popped up on my news feed as a friend of mine shared it on her timeline (therefore sorry about the image quality). This story seems to have originated around March this year, but seemingly escaped my attention back then (not surprising, with everything that was going on at that time), and I thought it apt to post about it; especially with my bikini body challenge that I set myself still going strong - I'll be updating you on this soon, but also continuing the challenge, since I'm still not at my goal size/shape.

The department store (in Sweden) was apparently criticised for introducing these 'normal sized' mannequins into their store; the mannequins were a size 12 and size 16. Apparently this 'condones obesity' or something equally as bizarre. For a start, I've never seen an obese size 12 girl, have you? This kind of thing really does my head in, as this is one of the reasons that girls, myself included, are never happy with their body.

Left: a standard mannequin. Right: a 'normal' size 12 mannequin.

What gets me though, is that women come in all shapes and sizes, so what constitutes 'normal' when it comes to sizing of clothes/mannequins and even models? I've seen both size 12 and size 16 women with more wobbly bits than these mannequins, so in a way, the mannequins are still misrepresenting their respective sizes to a degree.

I also think there's a place for every size to be represented when it comes to mannequins and that includes those for the naturally very thin/petite - I don't think we should forget that not all tiny girls are anorexic, or that every larger girl is unhealthy or greedy.

I get that the brands/stores want the clothes to sit well on the mannequins (and models) in order to capture peoples attention and translate to sales, but is that actually saying that unless you are a perfect size x with no wobbly bits or imperfections, that the clothes won't look just as good on you? If that's the case, why do we even bother with these clothes?

I don't really know where I am going with this rant, but I felt compelled to write about it all the same as I am a bit sick of seeing the media's perception of beauty all over the place, namely that we should all aim for absolute perfection, and if you're not perfect, then you don't matter.

Is this something that winds you up as much as it does me?

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

10% Off Beauty @Debenhams Until 11th March 2012!

No voucher codes needed, it has all been done automatically, the new prices are shown in red on the site. Great news for those of you that missed it. x

Debenhams

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk