The September issue of Bazaar features photos of several top supermodels (super powers unspecified) without their makeup, looking substantially more human (and better, IMO) than they usually do.

Keep It Real (via Kottke)

Previously:

  • freeyourcrt

    They’re still attractive. Now tell me again why it even matters?

  • Zergonapal

    I rarely think of women with professional makeup as sexy.

  • Gloria

    So is this supposed to make women feel better?

    Knowing some of these women, without-make-up, STILL look light years more beautiful than your average mortal is actually more depressing overall.

    Anyway, a savvy reader will know that the faked part comes from hours and hours of posing, a pro photographer, and fabulous lighting.

    A professionally styled woman will turn heads on the street, but she won’t look perfect from every angle.

  • Takuan

    after making the mistake of hearing some models speak, the thrill is gone.

  • Modusoperandi

    El Mariachi “Candid shots beat this faux-seductive crap any day.”
    You can phrase your defense however you choose, but I still insist that you leave my bathroom.

  • Anonymous

    Ukraine not weak!

  • Brainspore

    I kind of get annoyed by people who attack glossy fashion magazines for featuring people who exhibit unattainable levels of physical perfection. I mean, c’mon- if you want to see what regular people look like why did you just buy that magazine in the first place? Look out the damn window!

  • Anonymous

    /fail they have makeup on. And yes, you REALLY fooled us by using monochrome. We so stupid.

  • Antinous / Moderator

    Two words: lash tint.

  • Anonymous

    Funny. Supermodels can’t leave themselves the way God made them. No matter what, every supermodel is going to look in some way, somehow robotic. Layers of makeup are fake.
    Do you want us to think you’re beautiful for what you cover your face with, or your actually face?

  • Dewi Morgan

    Normally, I try to avoid negative commenting without a positive side, but… I saw mascara, lipstick, eye shadow, whatever people use to distinguish eyebrows, and then when I saw the more obvious shopping, I gave up scrolling down.

    Fake, shopped, fail.

  • Felton

    Lovely. Now let’s see them all in zombie makeup.

  • Cicada

    Skipping the makeup is fine. Now, if we can just encourage them to eat a bit…

  • Anonymous

    Several of them appear to have lipstick on… some appear to have eyeshadow on, as well.

    Nice try, but fail.

  • Pantograph

    If only obesity were as photogenic a disease as anorexia, many lives could be improved, but it’s easy to feel empathy with a starving waif, and much harder to feel it for your average porker.

  • El Mariachi

    To me, looking “real” means “not striking a supermodel pose,” not necessarily “wearing no makeup whatsoever.” These photos may minimize the makeup and retouching, but it’s impossible to discern an iota of personality. Only one of them is even smiling! Candid shots beat this faux-seductive crap any day.

  • Anonymous

    All these models are ex-supermodels with nothing to lose from going without makeup. The current, 20-year younger models who trade in ‘perfection’ wouldn’t do these shots because in that case it would actually matter and impact their careers negatively. It’s not as brave as it might seem.

  • artgrrl

    @8: RAL8158, at least give credit to the blog you’ve taken your thoughts from: http://projectrungay.blogspot.com/2009/08/harpers-bazaar-au-naturel.html

  • Ugly Canuck

    What super-powers, you ask?

    To draw immense sums from the pockets of fashion designers….
    To cloud/dazzle the minds of men, with desire/beauty…

  • Brettspiel

    Cory – “Supermodels?” Don’t you mean “Underwear pervert models?” ha!

  • bat21

    Looks like supermodels were a 1990′s thing.

  • Cheqyr

    …without makeup, excessive retouching or complicated styling adds a new layer to their allure.

    Nice try, Bazaar, but now show me the unretouched, color photos of these women when they first roll out of bed, and I’ll concede that you’re “keeping it real”.

  • DanC

    This is amazing. They all look so beautiful, but natural.

  • Anonymous

    You can wipe off makeup, Botox and plastic surgery aren’t so easy.

    I’ve never understood the obsession with ‘natural’ beauty. Most beauty is anything but.

  • ral8158

    Oh please. They may not be wearing caked on glamor make-up, but their hair is obviously styled, and its pretty clear that they’re all wearing lip color and mascara.

    This is just as genius as the Vogue Black issue: a minstrel show where the beauty industry tries to say “Look at us! We’re really fair to women!” This spread is hilarious: all of the supermodels offer ‘beauty tips’ from yoga to yogurt, but never mention, you know, their genes, their on-team dermatologists and personal trainers and assistants.

    It’s also quite funny that they’re using all older supermodels: No 20 year old up and coming model would do this, because their career would be over.
    This stunt will not change anything.

    @6: Mojave, thank you for providing an example of why this stunt will not change anything: the world is still an unbearably sexist place.

  • mgfarrelly

    I think that fashion make-up/digital touch-up is not just anti-female, it’s anti-human. It creates this false reality that not only warps the viewers mindset of what “beauty” is, but damages even their concept of what the normal aging process looks like.

    It’s frightening to think of generations not knowing that a 35 year old might have a dry skin or wrinkles and that it’s nothing to fear or dump a wad of cash into preventing.

    Age is experience, age is accomplishment, age is beautiful.

  • GlenBlank

    Gosh, without any makeup, they’re all gray!

    Who knew?

    Thanks, Bazaar, for ‘keeping it real’!

  • WalterBillington

    Haaawt.

  • tamahomejenkins

    They look like crackheads…

  • nanuq

    I think their chief superpower is their ability to accessorize…

  • Patrick Austin

    Black and white, good light and nice focus can make anyone look good. Take these with a point and shoot and lets talk. I guarantee my 60 year old mom is less wrinkly than some of them. Something about a lifetime of amphetamines and cigarettes necessary to stay waif thin…

    That said, Cindy Crawford is some sort of advanced life form that ages half as quickly as a normal human. She looks that good in just about every non-studio photo I see of her.

  • Anonymous

    ughhh, i would take makeup over photoshop any day! At least makeup is a tangible substance that exists in reality. A photoshopped image is no different than a painted portrait. Sure it resembles the person, but there is a fair amount of artistic license taken to make it beautiful.

  • fontastique
  • Anonymous

    Um yes – #5 hits it. They still retouched these, and most of the women are still wearing a bit of makeup – just not as much as normal. Also, everyone knows that B&W is a forgiving look – I too want to see color! Take this deeper, let’s see what we get.

  • elsmiley

    I prefer them all made-up. I can look toward everyday people in my life for reality, if that’s what I’m in the mood for. I like them made-up in the same way I like Bowie made-up like Ziggy. They’re entertainment. The more make-up, the better.

  • Caroline

    Mojave, like you wouldn’t sleep with any one of them in a hot second if she came to your house and said “Let’s have sex.”

  • Darren Garrison
  • Digilante

    Label me deviant, but I’ve never found any model, make up or not, attractive. It’s all to androgynously robotic for me.

    30 minutes in a shopping mall in Kiev, Cape Town, or Kunming – now that’s beauty in motion :-)

  • Anonymous

    The only reason Cindy Crawford looks good is because she’s had 14 years of good cosmetic surgery (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-402085/Cindy-Crawford-My-11-years-cosmetic-surgery.html), and she has a team of dermatologists making lotions and potions for her.

  • Piers W

    #7 ral8158

    Ageist surely, unless you’re implying he’d be happier looking at pictures of 40 year old men.

  • Brainspore

    Next maybe some special effects wizard can show us the makeup without the models, a-la any recent movie involving an invisible man.

  • Sekino

    At least, we know what a fashion magazine’s definition of natural beauty is- B&W pics of the most gorgeous supermodels ever, wearing ‘no-makeup’ makeup in great light. I’m sure Bazaar readers with brittle self-esteem will feel much better about themselves…

    That said, they are indeed stunning-looking. Especially the one named Shalom.

  • Bemopolis

    This reminds me a bit of a book of photographs from a while back called “Women Before 10 AM”. Except that that book had Emma Thompson in it, and I lurves me some Emma Thompson.

  • Anonymous