FASHION Magazine

L’Oréal ads featuring Julia Roberts and Christy Turlington have been pulled in the U.K. following pressure from politician Jo Swinson and the intervention of Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The cosmetics company was accused of digitally altering images of the women advertising Lancôme and Maybelline anti-aging products. Although Swinson is an advocate for realistic, healthy beauty in advertising, her complaint against L’Oréal was based on the ads’ failure to reflect what the products could actually achieve.

In regard to the Maybelline ad (featuring Turlington), L’Oréal admitted that it had “digitally retouched to lighten the skin, clean up makeup, reduce dark shadows and shading around the eyes, smooth the lips and darken the eyebrows,” but felt that the photograph was still representative of the product’s achievable results. The company even supplied the ASA with red-carpet photos of Roberts and Turlington in order to show that the women are naturally beautiful. However, the authority’s request for pre-production photos wasn’t granted due to legal restrictions.

Controversy over retouching is nothing new. Last year, retailer Jacob announced that it would no longer alter the bodies of its models in an effort to promote a healthy body image. The issue with the L’Oréal ads, however, seems to be more about false advertising than unattainable ideals of beauty.