Within the fashion industry, Photoshop and retouching are a constant source of discussion and controversy. Members of the community have been calling for a cooldown for a while now, but it seems that retouching isn't going anywhere. Photoshop fails might give us some good laughs now and then when a leg goes missing or an arm bends the wrong way, but it's ultimately detrimental to body image and self-esteem of the greater population.
To that end, BuzzFeed's editors decided to do a little experiment. They chose four "regular" women, gave them hair and makeup, and had them sit for a professional photo shoot. Then, they let a retoucher go to town on the images, giving them the same treatment they would a magazine cover. The resulting pictures were shown to the women on film, and the results were at once poignant and uplifting.
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While some of us might assume that we would look better with heavy Photoshopping, the women lamented their unrecognizably fake new looks and even came upon a newfound appreciation for themselves. As one woman exclaimed after seeing her retouched shot, "This is how I always wanted to see myself. But now that I'm seeing it, I'm questioning why I ever wanted to look like that."
Watch below to see the drastic changes and gain a little self-love. It is Valentine's Day, after all. (BuzzFeed)