Elle's No Makeup Issue

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beau...d-why-american-mags-need-to-step-it-up-446538

Yay! French Elle's amazing no-makeup issue (and why American mags need to step it up) by Jennifer Romolini

The April issue of French Elle features eight female European celebrities--including Eva Herzigova, Monica Bellucci, Sophie Marceau, and Charlotte Rampling--all without makeup and, perhaps even more revealing, all entirely without Photoshopping or retouching of any kind. The mag's headline "Stars Sans Fards" translates to without rouge/makeup, but it's a French saying that also suggests a sense of openness.

Judging from the images that have been leaked so far (the entire issue hits newsstands later this week), this title could not be more apt. Model Herzigova, 36, and actresses Marceau, 42, and Bellucci, 44, all look refreshingly natural, relaxed, and vulnerable in a way American stars are seldom seen.

In fact, what might be most striking about French Elle's pictorial is how it actually appears to embrace and celebrate the organic beauty of these famous faces (even if the lighting is super, super flattering and the women are all unbelievably gorgeous to begin with). In the U.S., when you come across a "stars without makeup" story, there's always a GOTCHA! element, a message that says "Our gift to you: Derive pleasure from how ugly this person looks without cover-up for her zits!"

If you think about it, even our celebration of "natural beauty" is often far from natural. Consider the air-brushing scandal that surrounded last year's Dove ads, or the countless "normal" celebs who are heralded for their curves but then, when they're featured in a magazine, are digitally whittled down so they appear several sizes slimmer. We're a curvy country that can't handle looking at curvy people. It's all kind of sad.

And, honestly, French Elle's April '09 issue is not the first time our women's mags have been out-classed by the Europeans. Last year--in protest of the serious lack of diversity on catwalks, ads and in women's magazines--Italian Vogue published an all-black issue featuring models of color from around the world. It sold out in days.

So American magazine editors, I plead to you: It's time to step up your game. American readers would like to see some real, healthy women who actually look like themselves. Please stop with the whole Frankenstein thing: We know you attach your cover models' heads to skinnier bodies. We know you slim down their thighs and their noses and you lighten their skin. We know you smooth out all of the facial "imperfections" that make them look human. We're tired of fembots. We can handle the truth.
Seriously, the next time you're shooting Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Lopez, Halle Berry, Aniston, SJP, Alba, or basically anyone we've seen you airbrush into a complete, unrecognizable freak; pause, take a deep breath, and ask yourself, "Would this person look more beautiful and relatable without all this fake garbage?"

We're guessing the answer will always be "Yes."
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I couldn't link to any of the photos. There are a few at the link at the top of this page.

Good to see those women are still completely beautiful and flawless beneath the makeup...or is it? I sure as hell don't look that amazing without makeup! Maybe I'll go hide under a rock.

Monica Belucci is beyond gorgeous!

Less photoshopping might help bring readers' ideas of realistic bodies and skin back to reality.

I'm not sure what the point of having the models wear no makeup was, though, other than to get publicity.

They're wearing makeup. It's just not obvious makeup.

OK, I'm not sure what the point of the no-obvious-makeup look was. Isn't it more encouraging to think that you can look better with makeup than to think you need great skin and features to be beautiful?

Yeah I'm not sure what's so relatable about starting out looking like Monica Bellucci.

i_am_the_scruff said:

They're wearing makeup. It's just not obvious makeup.

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I saw that earlier and thought the same thing. The eyebrows on the top woman (I only slightly recognize these people) are made up. They all look like they are wearing a basic layer of foundation. [huh]

Yeah, they are wearing some sort of foundation. I happen to agree with this poster:

Let's leave the "no makeup" photos to the tabs. If I'm buying a FASHION magazine, I want to see FASHION, which includes but is not limited to makeup...not people who just rolled out of bed.

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They seemed to put them in the most natural softest colors and fabrics they could find. How about a high end, brightly colored couture gown under some strange lighting with lazers and, oh, throw a swan in there, with no make up? THEN youd have an article.

Im not saying that the whole make up thing is even good, but they seem to equate natural with lack of control. This is just as controlled a pose picture and arrangement as if the gals were made up in wild colors.


LD

Que horror, you will NOT see me with no makeup! I am unrecognizable!
You can have my red lipstick when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Monica looks stunning.

DameIniquitous said:

Monica looks stunning.

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I agree. I personally think it's nice to see someone's simple beauty and not necessarily ALWAYS have to equate feminine beauty with being a painted peacock.

Miss 1929 said:

Que horror, you will NOT see me with no makeup! I am unrecognizable!
You can have my red lipstick when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

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im with you on that one!
well on the before and after thread alot of people saw me without makeup...some said i wasn't gruesome!!

It's false advertizing. It almost seems like they take us (the public) for idiots.

I agree, I wouldn't be caught dead without makeup on, when heading out (well, with the exclusion of an emergency) the door. Apparently, those women can't go without either. heh

KittyT said:

I agree. I personally think it's nice to see someone's simple beauty and not necessarily ALWAYS have to equate feminine beauty with being a painted peacock.

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I agree with Kitty, this is beautiful.

Actually, I thought the women looked very normal without the makeup, not at all out-of-this world. Many regular women look that beautiful without makeup. Sophie Marceau, look at that... Wauv! She looks TOTALLY different than with makeup! Very vulnerable and warm.



Why are you so convinced that they are wearing makeup? I'm thinking they might have been powdered a little or something, for the photo shoot, but for me, looking at the above photo, it seems believable enough that they didn't wear makeup other than possibly a little powder on the forehead and nose?

KittyT, thanks for starting this thread!

I like the idea of a no make-up, no photoshopping Elle issue. I can understand your reactions though. If you're going to have a no make-up issue, you should go all the way and make it hardcore. Show the way people really look, in daylight, skin with pores *gasp*

Beware: cherry lips is going to get personal again!
I'm as vain as the next girl (in some respects, probably more vain haha!), but I'm also queer (in every sense of the word except gay), a feminist, a thinker, a rebel, and last but not least, lazy. If I know my photo will be taken (photoshoots/ FL get-togethers/ gigs), and people who's opinion I actually care about will be looking at me, I'll wear full make-up (contacts, foundation, mascara... the works). This also goes for going out dancing on weekends looking for a lover boy hehe.
However, every other day of the week I wear nothing except lipstick! And I'm not one of those people with flawless skin, I'm just one of those people with guts I have large pores, black heads, pimples, a little acne on my neck, a shiny nose and forehead, an uneven skintone, fine lines, glasses that shrink my eyes to half their size, etc. But I don't care! Sometimes I don't wear lipstick if I'm just taking the dog for a quick pee. (I do love my lippy though.) In the summer I like to wear transparent powder to look a bit more matte. Or put pore minimizer on my nose.

Remember: Men don't wear make-up.

Me without any make-up but lipstick (holding the retarded guinea pig cousins)


Me at Nina's a sweaty summer day without lipstick! And cleavage - oh my! haha


I don't care!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHX-YpSIQCo

P.S. If anybody's close enough to see my pores, that person better love me enough to think they're pretty (kissing distance etc).fftopic: And don't even get me started on the bikini wax some of the fellows here at the lounge are fond of! A guy should get down on his knees and thank his lucky star if he gets to meet my fujiyama mama

cherry, goes without saying that you look glorious without makeup!

I have many photos of myself without makeup on my Flickr. Right now, at 23, I don't understand what the big deal is, but I do expect it to change as I get older and my face's natural color fades. My mom was like me when she was younger, and now as her hair (and eyebrows!) are greying, she really does benefit a lot from some lipstick! And no doubt about it, I look better with makeup too, but it's something different without. I feel much more free, vulnerable, naked, exposed and on some days, I love that feeling and I go outside with it.

Uhm...this doesn't make me feel good. But I don't buy those magazines and don't pay attention to them so I have no strong feelings about the natural look or a more manipulated look in magazines, ads or on TV.

However, I don't do natural. I've always had a strong, negative, knee jerk reaction to having the natural look imposed on me. I don't mind it on others and I certainly don't look down my nose at them because I am truly happy for anyone to do whatever they want to do. I don't have flawless skin and my complexion is a messy mix. I don't know if I'd find it easier to embrace a more natural look if I was more confident in my own skin. For me, it's more about being creative rather than to convey a look of natural perfection.

I see so much of the natural look around me and my lipstick and nailpolish draws attention to me all the time with mothers sending their little girls up to ask me why I'm wearing red/pink/whatever color on my nails of lips. Okay, that's very personal and has nothing to do with the feature. Blue and green lipstick and nailpolish are high on my shopping list!

Yesterday I got unusually nasty at the kindergarten when one little girl was sent over to ask me why I had red lips: "this whole place is so dull and dreary, we need to add more colors!". I made sure everyone could hear me! So yes, I know I look "fake" and I know no one was given red lips and nail from birth (please correct me if you know better) but I'm not trying to trick anyone into thinking I naturally look beautiful. I do what I feel I have to do to feel beautiful.

I don't pay attention to contemporary celebrities so I don't know what look they're trying to push these days. It doesn't matter to me.

This is not about passing judgement on anyone. This is about fighting any kind of standard being imposed on us! I'm not a feminist but I am a thinker and a rebel in my own way. I rebel against fitting into contemporarily accepted standards of lifestyle.

I even "attacked" my husband when he made a fuss out of me applying nailpolish in our bathroom. I will not be made to feel guilty for dolling myself up! I don't need an excuse and I don't owe anyone an excuse. I don't care if he doesn't care, I'm doing this for myself. I've been a really good girl lately because I've not exercised my right to occupy the bathroom for X amount of hours to roll my hair up *halo*.

glasses that shrink my eyes to half their size

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Cherry lips.

Mine too! I'm not alone! Woohoo! Btw. If I had glasses like that, I could get away with anything too. You look beautiful without make-up and me saying so has nothing to do with your glasses. You have every reason to feel confident in your skin.

Everyone should feel confident in their skin and not feel as if they have to make an excuse for whatever styling or none-styling that makes them feel good.

I started to respond to this, but it turned into a really long post. So I cut it down to this:

* All our thoughts and emotions are about neural pathways being set up and reinforced without us realising it, and decisions are made before we realise we've made them. Most of what we're up to in our heads and bodies is going on without our conscious attention or we'd go bonkers.

* Our brains are plastic, so what we're exposed to makes a far bigger impact on us than we consciously register. But it also means we can literally change our minds (see Dr Norman Doidge's brilliant The Brain That Changes Itself website - it's really accessible stuff, and the audio interviews are fascinating even to those of us without a science background).

* No ad agency or magazine will use the old trickery of an army of make-up artists, lighting techs, and camera angles without then radically changing the image for publication. It's no longer enough to be considered conventionally beautiful and immaculately presented - now you must be digitally overhauled. This page by retoucher Greg Apodaca graphically illustrates the point. Roll the mouse over the images to see what I mean.

We're not robots, and we're not stupid. We are amazing animals with gloriously complicated brain-bodies that interpret things around us in ways we're not always conscious of.

We always knew we were being tricked by lighting and a crew of make-up artists. But now the overhauling is so drastic and yet invisible to us until we compare Then with Now, that I believe there's a real problem of us not registering the level of trickery going on. I think the French Elle is raising really excellent points about the way we consume imagery. We'll never have fully natural images in magazines, but I'd love to see a wider range of ages, colours, shapes, etc. - and no digital overhauling.

And that was the SHORT version!!

Thank you. I forgot to add that I admire all the ladies here who wear make-up and look pretty every day (you know I'm in love with you!), I'm just not that femme myself. I could be, if I was famous and getting paid to look that good...