What is real beauty?
Being a plus-size fashion blogger, Marie Southard Ospina knows all too well that her image is constantly critiqued — whether if it’s on the way she styles her hair, a lipstick choice, or how a new dress fits her frame. With Photoshop being such a prevalent tool used in the media and in fashion and beauty advertisements, the Bustle editor set out to get to the bottom of how the world perceives true beauty.
According to her personal blog, Ospina is all about promoting self-love at any size. “I try to combine my love of reporting, fashion, feature writing and body positivity into one outlet for women interested in not just plus-size fashion, but self-love, health at every size, self-esteem and size acceptance as a whole,” she writes in her about me section.
Ospina hired 21 Photoshop experts from 18 countries around the world to take a basic, makeup-free image of her in a towel and “make it beautiful.” As you might imagine, the results from freelancers were very different.
For example, the Photoshop expert in India brightened her skin and added rosy cheeks and pink lips to her photo. Her hair was smoothed out to the point where the strands were hard to see. In Latvia, (top right) Ospina appeared to shed about 20 pounds and her face was shaved down to reveal chiseled cheekbones and a longer chin. In Italy, (bottom left) the expert gave her a bold red pout, blushed-out cheeks, and soft smoky brown eyes. While in Mexico, (bottom right) Ospina lost weight again and the expert smoothed out her skin tone and added a pink bustier.
In Bulgaria, Ospina’s dark brown locks were traded for a longer chocolate brown hairstyle, and her skin was smoothed out and bronzed; the photo expert also added a black tube top. She was unrecognizable in Macedonia (top right) with long brown hair, a slimmer body and face, and bright skin. In Ukraine (bottom left) she was given a slimmer frame and smoother and brighter skin. In Pakistan (bottom right) the artist beautified Ospina by changing her eyes from brown to blue, making her lips brighter and adding a black tank top.
Are you surprised by these Photoshop results? Tweet @UsWeekly using the hashtag #stylebyUs!
