Hypocrisy Begone - Unshopped

Beware the wall of text that is the story behind me posting this picture.

A gorgeous friend recently asked me to photoshop a number of photos of her. She wanted to be skinnier, her chest lifted, her skin tone completely even and that "glowy" effect added. I could do it, I told her, but I didn't want to. She looked amazing just the way she was.

She protested that I photoshop photos of myself before posting them, and that it was fine for supermodels like Jennifer Hawkins to go without touchups, but the average woman looks nothing like that without a little help.

It's all well and good for me to harp on about those who wear too much makeup, those who photoshop their skin till it looks like paper, those who "liquify" their bodies to within an inch of what they actually look like, but when I'm photoshopping and wearing makeup every day, I have no real strength in my argument. The cries of hypocrite are understandable.

So here it is. Unphotoshopped, no makeup. Please note the freckles, the little muffin top and the way the bikini straps create little bulges towards my arms. Oh, and the mismatched swim suit.

From now on, when I tell you you look just as good if not better without having all the life photoshopped out of you, you can't call me a hypocrite. There's nothing wrong with a little meat, a couple of freckles, even (gasp) stretch marks. It took me years to realise that myself, that even though I don't have the figure of Jennifer Hawkins, I can still be beautiful in my own way.

And so can you.