Body Image Activist, Eating Disorders mamaVISION

Time for a Wild-Ass-Guess on who is this sad creature on the left? Not to mention the obviously strained, uncomfortable reporter on the right.

Ok, a few hints:

1) Blondie claims to have the same talent as the King of Pop, with her debut album ready to hit the stores, ironically titled “Superficial” (you can’t make this shit up people!)

2) “Double D is not large enough,” is the message she wishes to send to all the young hopefuls out there. (Note taken bimbo queen).

3) Demented in her Christian faith, she chalks up her 10+ plastic surgeries (IN ONE DAY) as happening in “gods time” (what exactly are you smokin’ and can I have some?”

Still can’t guess huh?

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Photoshop madness is in style as of late, and I have to admit I can’t get enough of it.

Partially because I love to see the fashion mags get busted, but also because, as in this example, I think the REAL image looks one hell of a lot better than the avatar version.

Case in point;

Demi Moore as a pore-free-wrinkle-free avatar

verses

Demi Moore the natural beauty (kinda) who snagged a husband a few decades her junior. Sorry, but I gotta say she looks waayyy better as HERSELF.

Who is with me?

BTW, Ashton Kutcher happened to post his wife’s image on twitter, and somebody discovered it was the actual image used for this photoshoot, view here.

So, at the end of the day what do we learn here, why the hell do we even give a rip?

I’d say its because I am on a mission to show young women how unbelievably deceived they are. I mean, back in my modeling days it was bad, but now, it is just plain, what should I say, imaginary. A graphic depiction of a human that bears very little resemblance in features, skin tone, or expression — all the unique aspects of a person striped away in order to give us some creepy perfume ad that tells us this is what is “wanted.”

Load of crap my friends, total and complete load of crap.

Love,

mamaV

Fake Twiggy vs Real Twiggy - C'mon people!

Tipster Cirsty clued me into this story, so I kept an eye on it, and sure enough this ad actually got banned!!

Finally, yesterday, the ASA banned the complete set of Olay Twiggy ads, ruling that the post-production retouching could give consumers a “misleading impression of the effect the product could achieve.”

WHAT? They wouldn’t do that…would they?

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I am a huge Jezebel fan, so I was surprised to see this Stolichnaya vodka ad plastered all over their homepage;

Very young girl.

Blindfolded.

“Forbidden Fruit No Longer” is the tag line.

What is this ad exactly saying, that the child is no longer a forbidden fruit?

Please, tell me I am reading this wrong.

mV

The gorgeous woman at the right went under the knife to firm her butt — and never came back.

A former Miss Argentina and international model has died three days after booking herself in for a buttock lift at a Buenos Aires,  in a tragedy that has thrown the growing national obsession with the body beautiful into the spotlight.

Solange Magnano, a 38-year-old married mother of twins who still enjoyed a successful modeling career, died of a pulmonary embolism.

As a mother, I can’t help but  wonder if she knew the risks she was taking as she went under the knife? There is not a chance in hell I would do this or any other unecessary surgery for the call of beauty if it meant I may not see my children again (FYI — that is why I wear glasses…takin’ no chances with my eyes, can you imagine if I could not SEE my precious kids because of a vanity move????)

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Love this video. Enjoy your weekend.

The blogosphere is on fire over Bacardi's "Get An Ugly Girlfriend" Campaign. Barcardi pulled down the web site promoting the campaign and here is the company response:

"Thank you for taking the time to post your story on Bacardi Breezer.

The campaign you are referring to ran in 2008 for two months in
Israel. Even though Bacardi Breezer is not sold or distributed in the
United States, we immediately notified the appropriate Bacardi
affiliate and had this website shut down.

Bacardi proudly celebrates diversity and we do not endorse the views
of this site. We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by this
site and thank you for bringing it to our attention."

- Sean-Patrick Hillman of bacardi.com, June 21, 2009 via Sweet Machine.

Ok Mr. Sean nice blanket response, a few questions for you;

1) You are the Bacardi publicist. Where is the Corporate Big Dog that should be responding to this?

2) Your twitter response to this "crisis" was unnecessary….as a publicist we would think you would know to shut your yapper.

3) McCann Digital Israel obviously didn't get any slap on the hand about the Ugly Girlfriend campaign seeing that they submitted it to The Cannes Lions Festival (THE annual event for top advertising creative), even twittering about it on Saturday June 12 to gloat about the catalog. 

4) AXE is also a client of McCann Digital Israel, in fact they just won a Bronze in the Platinum category at Cannes for their work, didn't that give Bacardi a clue they were a real class act?

5) I see Bacardi's female CMO Stella David just got canned after 15 years with the company…I wonder what she thought of this campaign?

Start digging man, this could get uglier.

mV

UPDATE 6/22 4pmCST: Sean Hillmann pulled down the tweet shown above. I wonder why? Maybe because Rachel at FWordblog and I stalked him

I've asked McCann Israel for more info on their award submission for The Ugly Girlfriend Campaign, let's see what they come back with.

After reading the Anti-Cancer diet, I took a walk down the deodorant aisle at Walmart to find one that does not contain aluminum. How many did I find?

None.

Actually, the store brands don't just contain aluminum, it is the one and only ingredient listed on the package. To be exact, they read either aluminum chlorohydrate or aluminum zirconium.

Aluminum is a toxic metal.

A toxic metal we roll, rub and spray on our freshly shaved armpits every single day.

Our female shaving routine literally primes our armpits for absorption of this toxin, the area of our bodies that just so happen to house the lymph nodes for our breasts.

Breast cancer is only one of the risks, add on to that proven risks for Alzheimer and brain disorders.

• In 1993, the World Health Organization said, "There is a
  suspected link between Alzheimer's disease and the toxicity of
  aluminum."
• The Agency for Toxic Substances and &
  Disease Registry reports that "Exposure to high levels of aluminum may
  result in respiratory and neurological problems."

Why is this product on the shelf? Because it's America, and no one gives a damn. Collect the dollars, and keep your mouth shut.

If you are like me, you are going to RUN out to buy an alternative, but you will have to hunt for it. Here is what appears to be our options;

• Deodorant stones: never heard of these until I sat down to write this post. Has anyone used  these?
• Natural deodorants: I found Burt's Bee's has an herbal based option and this crystal version appears popular. Again, does anyone have advice to lend on here?

For those who want more info on this topic, check out this post. I've read enough. Enough to know I'm not trusting anyone with my health anymore.

Knowledge is power.
-mV

Next up: Let's Count The Carcinogens In Our Makeup!

Could it be that the patient didn't have time to change out of freaky tights and pumps before her medical procedure?

How about the cell-at-the-side? Is it on speaker for a conference call? Is she worried she will miss some action on twitter? WTF big time.

Moving on. Let's check out an actual face lift.

It's called a "face lift" what did we think it would look like?

Pretty, pretty.
-mV

See more of Lauren Greenfield's images here.
Click on "search image database" for more grizly pics.

Take a wild guess how much money we, that's women, spend per year on beauty products?

160 BILLION dollars annually

That would be billion with a capital 'B.' 

Think about that for a sec…$160,000,000,000 to cover, correct, paste, stretch, and mold our horribly defective frames into acceptable shape.

Lauren Greenfield, the producer of THIN documented the habits of 6 New York women to find some spending $1700 per month to maintain their imaginary beautified selves. Some admitted to sending more than rent (crap, that is more than my mortgage).

You know what struck me when I saw these images?

They all look tense. 

Tense and self conscience. 

Self conscience and unhappy.

Let's check out some of the beauty junkies the documentary followed (see full slide show here);

26 year-old, Ginger spends $650 a month on her physical appearance. At Manhattan’s store Sephora, Ginger shops alone for cosmetics because her friends know she will spend hours.

mV: I've always thought Sephora is a bit psycho. Not sure how you would spend hours there, but that is besides the point. Next time you are there pop in and look at the all the teeny, tiny potions in the back that will set you back about $100 each.

New York City actress Cameron (25) spends $620 a month on her personal grooming. Cameron reveals that her hair is the key to her personality, ‘I spend so much time with my hair-stylists, they’re like my family’.

mV: Really? They are like family? Will they be at your funeral?Do you call them when you are down in dumps or do they just listen when they are taking the money out of your wallet?

New York City hedge-fund exec Suzanne (36) spends $1720 a month on personal grooming.  At ‘Skin & Spa’ cosmetic surgery center, Suzanne receives Botox from Dr. Howard Sobel, a treatment that she receives 3 times a year.

mV: Beyond my comprehension. And sad as hell.

Confession time…I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours! Here goes;

Hair

Every 8 weeks, highlight and cut. Kills me every time I write out the check for $115. That is insane, but I do it because i like the texture and life it gives my hair.

Facial Stuff

Wash, toner, lotion….all generic Neutrogena from Wally's (that's what the kids call Walmart). $25 bucks max, lasts a about 3 months.

Nails

Hands and feet I do myself. At least until my mom sees my feet in sandals and gets me a gift certificate for the salon.

Makeup

Maybe $100 or less per year. I love Rimmel brand, affordable and great quality.

That's a whopping $1,000 a YEAR. That's what, about $90 or so a month (even that sounds like alot actually).

Am I total tight wad or are these women above completely out of their minds?

-mV