What stars look like without the Photoshop

Celebrities are Photoshopped beyond recognition for ads and magazine covers and we hate it. Besides establishing completely unreasonable standards of beauty, these retouched photos make women look like Barbie dolls. We searched high and low for freckles, smile lines, and knee caps (seriously, editors airbrush out everything!) and compiled refreshing images of stars without Photoshop. These ladies are gorgeous without computer-generated features. Here's to going natural! By Joanna Douglas, Shine Staff

Cate Blanchett

The actress appears Photoshop-free on the March/April 2011 cover of the Economist's Intelligent Life. The magazine's editor, Tim de Lisle, said, "When other magazines photograph actresses, they routinely end up running heavily Photoshopped images, with every wrinkle expunged." He wanted to try something different with Blanchett. "She looks like what she is--a woman of 42, spending her days in the office, her evenings on stage, and the rest of her time looking after three young children," said de Lisle of her cover photo. 

Kate Middleton

While we recall the Duchess of Cambridge looking slim on her wedding day, we knew her photo on the May 9th 2011 cover of Grazia looked off. When you compare it with the original, unretouched photo it's obvious they whittled down Middleton's waist and created a fake arm to hold her bouquet. In the end, Grazia confirmed the allegations. 

Taylor Swift

Besides this photo being 100% unretouched, Swift is also sans-makeup. It appeared in People Magazine's 2008 "100 Most Beautiful People" issue.

Britney Spears

As the longtime face of Candies, Spears was royally bummed when her 2010 campaign was digitally enhanced to an absurd degree. In order to proudly show off her real body and reveal to the world how unrealistic ads can be, Spears asked for the original unretouched images to be released . When viewed side-by-side, her butt may not be as perky and her limbs may not be as slim, but we prefer when celebs have flesh and muscles instead of those monochomatic Gumby legs. 

Jessica Simpson

Tired of media scrutiny, Simpson appeared on the May 2010 cover of Marie Claire without makeup or retouching.

Jessica Simpson in Marie Claire

"I don't have anything to prove anymore," Simpson told Marie Claire of her all-natural photo shoot. "What other people think of me is not my business."

Heidi Klum

Following Taylor Swift's lead, supermodel Heidi Klum also appeared unretouched and without any makeup in People's 2010 "100 Most Beautiful People" issue.

Kim Kardashian, March 2009

When Complex accidentally posted an unretouched photo of the reality star on their website, readers trashed Kim's cellulite. Complex replaced the image with a Photoshopped version, but Kardashian posted the original on her website. "So what: I have a little cellulite," she wrote on her blog. "What curvy girl doesn't?! I'm proud of my body and my curves and this picture coming out is probably helpful for everyone to see that just because I am on the cover of a magazine doesn't mean I'm perfect."

Kim Kardashian, May 2009

After the Complex debacle, Kardashian's photos for the May '09 cover of Life & Style were deliberately unretouched. "I wanted to say, 'This is me, take it or leave it,'" she told the magazine.

Jessica Alba

In a 2008 Campari campaign one wave of the magic airbrushing wand dramatically slimmed down Alba's waist, hips, and thighs, and plumped up her boobs. We think the actress looks much sexier in the original, unretouched image.

Holly Madison

The former Playboy playmate and "Girls Next Door" star showed off her body on the cover of Life & Style in 2011. "I've always had a butt, and I want to keep it--cellulite and all," she told the magazine. "I'm not perfect, but I love my curves."

Kourtney Kardashian

Kim's sister was photographed for OK! one week after giving birth to her son Mason in December 2010. In order to sensationalize her amazing post-baby body, the magazine airbrushed out her entire belly. "They doctored and Photoshopped my body to make it look like I have already lost all the weight, which I have not," Kourtney told Women's Wear Daily at the time. She then published the original photo on her blog where she looks like a happy and healthy new mom. 

Monica Bellucci 

Belluci and seven other European celebs were photographed for the April 2009 issue of French ELLE "Sans Fards" or "without makeup." Even better: the gorgeous ladies (including Eva Herzigova, Sophie Marceau, and Charlotte Rampling) appeared without any airbrushing or retouching whatsoever. Why can't every magazine follow suit?

Faith Hill 

When the original unretouched cover photo from Redbook's July 2007 issue surfaced, the singer said she was disappointed by the altered photo. Redbook stood by the image saying, "the retouching we did on Faith Hill's photo for the July cover is completely in line with industry standards." We think she looked pretty darn good in the original image.

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