Friday 22 August 2008

OverRated: The Airbrush Dilemma

It was just a hair!

But the camera's flash or the light from the window had fallen upon it in such a way that it looked a definite shade of whitish grey. One strand loose at the front away from the carefully crafted stripes that had cost a fortune at the hairdressers.

I know that I am very lucky in that I do not seem to have any grey hairs as yet - plenty of white eyebrows - but none on my head. And yet, when I looked at the close-up pictures, there it was. Bold as brass. Without even a by your leave.

When Osbasso asked me to be his Mystery Guest, I was absolutely thrilled and selected this photograph for the guess-who shot. I decided that the prominence of the hair was just me being picky. But Os commented on it too.

Aaaargh! I instantly attacked it in Photobucket with the wrinkle/blemish smoother. And took out a few forehead wrinkles in another. Done. Gone. But...

I had only the previous week taken Fairy Flutters to task for considering using an airbrushed version of her beautiful body and exhorting her to love herself as she was.

And what had I just done?

Nope. Fake photograph deleted.

I have been given a wonderful gift. A body that has retained its bloom and a pleasing shape well into my late forties. And I am griping about one possibly grey hair and a few frown and laughter lines.

The following morning I took some more photos. This time there was no evidence of the rogue hair... to my relief.

But if it had been there, I suspect I would have chosen one where it was not showing quite so badly.

I think carefully selecting the pictures that you use is just natural vanity, whereas airbrushing steps over the line into the realms of deception... of both the reader and yourself.

It is a very over-rated method of eradicating the marks of the natural passage of time. The visible signs that we have lived and loved and laughed and cried. Its ubiquitous use in any photographs in magazines and newspapers means that we have lost our instincitive perception of normal appearance and become fixated with the vain pursuit of not only our lost youthful bloom but also a simulated bodyshape which is virtually impossible to achieve naturally, leading us slowly but surely to the plastic surgeon and the botox purveyor.

So, the only time I will be using such a feature is on Ruf's tattoos to preserve his anonymity.

Having my Cake and Eating it Too - AN AIRBRUSH-FREE ZONE

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

well sugar you look excellent to me, gray hair or not!

I agree that airbrushing is to much.

(if they ever come out with a fat reducing filter tho I'm using it!!)

Angela-la-la said...

Fuck me bird, if you need airbrushing then I need oxygen emulsioning! You stay just the way you are xx

Constance said...

Very good point, and I like how you arrived at it, Cake.

No harm at all in picking THE BEST non-airbrushed picture :)

Growing older gracefully is growing older beautifully...

Dangerous Lilly said...

I think we should all be so lucky to have aged as you have. Late forties and to look that good? You clearly are doing many many things right!

I don't actually know if I've started to go gray, even though I may still be a bit young for it....as my natural hair color hasn't seen the real light of day in many years!

Anonymous said...

I noticed the one in the centre, slightly left before I noticed the one at the front.
TB

Osbasso said...

If I'm not mistaken, you pointed out the gray hair to me. I'll admit I might be mistaken, but that's the story I'm sticking to...

But air-brush free is certainly what HNT is all about (though an occasional manipulation isn't so bad....)!

Anonymous said...

Pfft,white hair? No way! It's just some are a lot fairer than the rest. That's my story and I'm sticking to it ;)

justme said...

In my innocence, I didn't realise that you COULD edit images like that! But I agree with everyone else....YOU certainly don't need to!

Gorilla Bananas said...

You have a very girly head of hair, Mrs Cake.

Freyja Hansen said...

You've caught me out! I must confess to tampering with the goods on my HNT # 15... see those wrinkle-free eyes... well, they're not so wrinkle-free, and I feel ashamed. I feel ashamed about a lot of things right now...

Mortuis said...

Hear, hear!

Thank the gods, I've never gone the Grecian Formula route, nor indeed made any attempt to hide my age (though there was that embarrassing ponytail incident that lasted three years).... I feel that I need my gray hairs to explain the various wrinkles (laugh lines, frown lines, lust lines, etc.) and the fact that my hairline has receded clear to the back of my head....

Unknown said...

Our mutual friend Mr G Bananas directed me to your blog. I gather my latest posting may be of interest to you. Please do stop by and say what you think.

PS ENNNNVVVVYYYYYY!

Daren said...

I blame the media... ha ha.

Dxxx

Anonymous said...

I have to agree... choose photos carefully, crop them as needed... but don't digitally alter. And, by the way, you look more than just great for your age... you look great for any age.

Vixen said...

HNT is not about airbrushing to become something you wish you were or that you wish others would see. I am glad you went with the 'natural you' which is BEAUTIFUL! :)

Effortlessly Average said...

Yeah, it's probably a good idea to save the fake photos for places like dating sites and government documents. If I were actually dating, I think I'd be a 25 year old hunk from, oh, Latvia, just so I could say I'm from Latvia.

Can Bass 1 said...

My dear lady, as you can see, some of us won't even allow a photo of ourselves to be displayed. I say we see more of you, not less. (Is that risque?)

Carnalis said...

Hurrah .. am delighted to see another Airbrush Free Zone! (apart from the tats of course)

Stay just the way you are x

ez cheese said...

Personally I think (depending on the owner) that gray hair can be sexy...besides, look at it from my perspective...I'm 23 and my forehead seems to be getting larger every year. THANKS mom's genes!

George Tarasuk said...

I say. I concur with Mr Can Bass up there. I love skin. A whole lotta skin.