Untouched

Nigella on the cover of UK Vogue bare faced and beautiful.

Hayden Panettiere, tattoos and all.

In an age of Photoshop frenzy, we can’t pick up a magazine without seeing a star airbrushed to the point of being unrecognizable. Why do editors feel the need to create these false images? Why do they want to promote this idea of perfection that only perpetuates depression among the millions of women who DON’T look anything like the images they see in magazines? They do it for exactly the same reason we do. Take a look at your Facebook or Instagram pages. Are these pictures true examples of you on a day-to-day basis or are they the glorified version of perfection that you hope to achieve? I am just as guilty. I post dozens of pictures of my son looking like this, a sweet and content baby boy.

When life with a 3-month-old looks more like this…

Now, as his mother, I find that BOTH pictures are equally adorable. How could I not!? Look at that little hand in the meltdown photo? And the line across the bridge of his nose? He’s perfect! But I don’t share those pictures as readily. I show the glossy ones. The ones that you send out in Christmas cards and birth announcements. But why do we live such Photoshopped lives? Why don’t we share the real pictures? Are we afraid of the truth? Are we afraid that people will judge, that they won’t be impressed? I applaud VOGUE UK and BRIDES Magazine for letting these women shine in all their untouched glory. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll start sharing some of the “real” photos from now on.