14 DAY TRIAL // While former rival Jessica Simpson is out there, trying to show that real beauty does come from the inside, no matter how much of a cliché that might be, Britney Spears is also doing her part for “the cause.” The singer has agreed to have her latest ads for Candie’s released in two versions, before and after they were retouched, in a bid to highlight the pressure in the industry, says the Daily Mail.
In all fairness, Britney has done more than just put out two photos of her un-retouched self, as TMZ also informs. In fact, there’s an entire gallery of photos for Candie’s and none of them has been photoshoped or altered in any way, says the celebrity gossip e-zine. Aside from these, the singer has also allowed the release of two side-by-side shots of her, one taken from the front and one from the back.
“Britney Spears has allowed the pre-airbrushed images from a shoot she took part in for fashion firm Candie’s to be used alongside the digitally-altered ones, so people can see the difference. The 29-year-old singer made the extraordinary move in order to highlight the pressure exerted on women to look perfect. In the first shot, she is seen facing the camera with her arms behind her back. Imperfections that can be clearly seen in the un-airbrushed shot include blemishes on her calf, her larger thighs and, if you look really closely, you can see her feet have dry skin on them. The airbrushed pictures, however, tell a different story with a slimmed-down waist and flawless, skinny legs,” the Mail writes.
“In the second picture, she is seen from the back – in the un-airbrushed shot she has areas of cellulite on the back of her thighs, a tattoo on her lower back (sometimes called a ‘tramp stamp’) is clearly visible and her backside is a little out of shape. However, in the altered photo all of these imperfections have been wiped out – and she appears to have a pert rear, unrealistically smooth skin, slimmer legs and the tattoo has vanished,” the same publication goes on to say.
Of course, this is not the first time that Spears allows her unaltered Candie’s shots to be released, having done the same with those from her first campaign for the company. Back then, she did it to stop people from saying that the photos revealed an unrealistic image of her, which could have only been achieved with Photoshop. Now, she’s doing it to show she’s confident and proud of her body (imperfections included), and to send out a clear message to all women: promo pics and beauty magazines rarely, if ever, are true to life. See here for the side-by-side comparison.