Can we have a heart to heart about photo editing?

Hello and welcome to your Friday!  I hope that this weekend is going to be a great one for everybody.
Here in New England, its been a crazy weather week. I'm looking forward to the sunshine and some calm days.

I've been doing "The Friday Five" via a link up from Live Journal the past few weeks. However, the new one is not up this week? Maybe, I'm just too early? I'm not sure.

Anyhow, I figured I'm going to take this as a sign to write a post that I've hemmed and hawed about posting; the over editing of photos.

I started this "blogette" because it was a requirement from a company that sends me make up and hair products to test. I didn't start this to post about things that are polarizing. However, my best friend I were taking about this recently and I do feel that its worth addressing.

Open up any of your social media feeds and you'll see what I mean. Photo editing is getting out of control. Mind you, I'm NOT mocking photo editing in general. Not at all. Literally, everyone I know, myself included touches their pics up a bit here and there. What I'm talking about  today, what we need to stop, is photo editing which goes to extremes. When you see a photo of someone and they don't even look human.  Off the top of my head, these are a few examples that come to mind:

• The "oil painting" Face Edit

The rest of the photo looks like an actual photo. Yet, the subject's face is blurred and smoothed so much that their skin looks as if its an oil painting.  Joan Rivers , God rest her soul would look wrinkly next to this edit job. Nobody has skin that looks like this. Nobody.  If  I see this type of editing, my assumption is that this person must be beyond wrinkled in real life. While, that's probably not true, its the automatic assumption . Why else would someone go to such extremes?

• The Fake Eye Color Edit

How often have you seen this one...A person who you know IRL has brown eyes. Yet, they chose to use the eye color tool to try to give themselves blue eyes? The only problem is, the shade of blue is NOTHING like the color of  actual blue eyes or even like blue contacts for that matter. Their new "eye color" never fits on their irises either. At best, it looks as if they have odd looking marbles over their eyes, at worst it looks like alien eyes

• The Nose "Oh So Thin" Edit

When did this become a thing? WHY did this become a thing. Every time I see this, I get so confused. Why would anyone want to edit their face so that it looks as if their nose is 1/10th of a centimeter wide? I'm not a nurse, but I cant help but think that if someone's nose was that thin it would be a medical condition?

• The Makeup Edit

I LOOOOOOOOOVE makeup, obviously. That not withstanding, what is the purpose of these apps that put makeup on  after the photo was taken? I mean, in theory, I understand it, but I'm assuming the technology just isn't there yet. Why do I say that? Because the app puts on this red lip stick that is so bright and so opaque it would make Marilyn Monroe blush or enough highlighter for the person to sub in for the disco ball at Studio 54.


There are so many more, I could go on, but I don't think there is any need too.

I guess when all is said and done, it makes me feel sad that some people feel that they need to attempt to alter their appearance THIS much.
The media puts such insane standards out there with their gorgeous ads, etc all of which are edited too. Its to the point where many actors  feel the same pressure. Just google "Celebrity Photoshop fails" and you'll see what I mean.
You have actual Victoria's Secret Angels trying to make themselves thinner. If some of the most beautiful people out there don't think they look good enough, where does the leave the rest of us?
It's just become crazy what they (the media) tries to inundate us with.
We need to remind ourselves and each other that we are enough. We need to understand that in real life, we look BETTER, much better naturally than we do when we put all these crazy edits on.

Plus, you know there is some stupid mean girl out there that just cannot wait to screen-shot that overly "enhanced" photo.  Don't give that stupid mean girl the pleasure. 80% of your followers likely know you in real life. Therefore, they know what you actually look like. Even if they don't, lets be realistic, we can all spot these "brute force" editing mishaps from a country mile.

You ARE beautiful. I promise

XO
Sheila



PS: A few links to more eloquently written articles on this topic:

PSA Stop Over editing

Beware of the over edit

10 Most common editing mistakes