Yesterday I wrote about Kelly Clarkson and airbrushing; this morning, while sipping my tea and doing my news round-up, I came across a blog post written by Self’s Editor-in-Chief Lucy Danzinger.  It left such a bad taste in my mouth that I couldn’t let it pass without comment!

Lucy lays bare the reality of women’s magazine cover shoots, which I’ve tried to pound home for readers over the years: the women are often like you and me.  (“When the cover girl arrives at the shoot, she is usually unmade up and casually dressed, and could be mistaken for a member of the crew or the editorial team in many cases,” says Lucy.)  There’s hair, there’s makeup, there’s lighting….yada yada.  You know how it goes by now.  I appreciate Lucy’s honesty–it would have been easy to release a simple statement saying, “Yes, we airbrush,” rather than taking the time to construct a thoughtful blog post.

What made me go all “Oh No You Didn’t!”, however, was the hypocrisy that comes later in her post, when she makes a case for airbrushing as inspiring women to want to be their “best.”  (Of Kelly’s retouching, she says: “Did we alter her appearance? Only to make her look her personal best.”)

No.  She is missing the point.  When our “personal best” is something digitally altered, something that doesn’t even exist–it’s a lie, a non-reality, an imaginary ideal.  There is, in fact, nothing “personal” about it…and absolutely zero that has to do with the over-cited, under-recognized concept of a truly individual best.  As Editor-in-Chief of a magazine women look to for fitness, Lucy has a rare chance to inspire, rather than towing the company–and industry line–and pushing these fake images as some sort of dubious empowerment.

Lucy admits that, after she finished a marathon and was photographed, she had the art department digitally slim her hips for the Editor’s Letter photo, saying, “I am confident in my body, proud of what it can accomplish, but it just didn’t look the way I wanted in every picture.”  Later in the article, however, she proclaims enlightenment:

“Oh, and by the way, today I would let my marathon picture run unaltered…I’ve gotten more confident in myself. I know what my body can do (thanks to training for triathlons) and that means more to me than how I look on any given day…But I also know that there are times when you just want to be yourself, and that means no artifice….

Your job: Think about your photographs and what you want them to convey. And go ahead and be confident in every shot, in every moment. Because the truest beauty is the kind that comes from within.”

Except for when it’s from without…and could use a little airbrushing, apparently.

Pictures That Please Us (Self.com)

Our girl Kelly Clarkson often comes under fire for being “overweight,” which I find très frustrating, since she’s one of the few real gals in the entire industry.  (Believe me, if faced with the choice between a happy Kelly or a miserable, starving Twig Actress, I’d choose Kelly everytime!)  There’s something refreshing about seeing her kick butt on stage, knowing that she didn’t spend the day nibbling on two carrot sticks and downing seven cups of coffee in a quest to keep the metabolism up.

Even the best of us have off days–it’s easy to get down about your weight when the fit of your jeans is out of sync with your goals or dreams.  But remember that we girls are not one-size-fits-all.  We’re short!  We’re tall!  We have big hips!  We have no hips!  Variety is the spice of life, after all, and your body is the only one you’ve got–so celebrate it!

Those chicks we see on magazine covers and on TV don’t exist in real life–even the most genuinely stunning of them are still airbrushed, glossed, primped, Spanxed, trained, starved, molded and styled like you wouldn’t believe.  (If you’ve never seen it, check out the famous Dove commercial Evolution for a quick primer on what really happens.)

“Even I don’t wake up looking like Cindy Crawford.” — Cindy Crawford

My Flip camera saw major action this weekend!  While backstage at Wango Tango, I took several videos in the gifting suite, in the celebrity lounge, by the red carpet, and by the celebrity trailers.  Check them out, including a video of Kelly Clarkson’s arrival, Lauren Conrad clutching my book, Lady Gaga and Perez Hilton on the red carpet, Fergie getting her makeup touched up, and more.   (For the full spate of videos, check out my YouTube page: youtube.com/jolienyc!)

Let’s call a spade a spade: Jolie loves meeting celebrities.

Sure–they’re just like you and me.  They have fears.  They wake up with morning breath.  They wish they had thinner thighs.  Sometimes they find Jolie fascinating in return and we pop open a bottle of champagne together and get to know each other.  (When I first moved to Hollywood, I was in awe of friends who had celebrities in their cell phone address books.  Now I realize that everybody in town has at least one celeb on speed dial.)

And yet, no matter how many of these impossibly glossy creatures I meet, I am aware that a small part of me will always silently, quietly scream “OMG, OMG!” in glee when our paths cross.

So, yesterday, when my friend Bill–who owns Fenix Cosmetics, a wonderful skincare line for sensitive skin that’s sold at dermatologist offices–invited me along to the famed KIIS-FM concert Wango Tango, where he was taking part in the celebrity gifting suite, I died a little inside.  Thanks to my special backstage access pass, I spent 7 hours roaming around, chronicling the event on my Flip, giving copies of my book Confessions of a Beauty Addict to celebs in the gifting tent, and just generally having the time of my life.  (Oh.  Did I mention that Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, the Black Eyed Peas, Flo-Rida, the All-American Rejects and Jamie Foxx performed, too?)

Yeah.  It was a good day.  Photos and videos to follow shortly!

So I tried to explain the notion of a “girl crush” to my docs a few days ago, but they were baffled by the concept of adoring a woman–even objectively saying, “Yeah, if I were a guy, she’d be my type!”–yet having zero desire to be with her.  Personally, I have two types: the cute, bubbly, smiley ones–like Mandy Moore and Kelly Clarkson–and the posh, classic ice queens–like Kate Middleton and Grace Kelly.  For years, however, Drew Barrymore reigned supreme.  Things happened and I had to put her in a time out last year; but now, I’m pleased to report, Drew’s back on the list–better and girl crushier than ever.

I confess.  I’ve gotten sucked into the American Idol machine.  Nobody will ever live up to my beloved Kelly Clarkson (incidentally, the only season I’ve watched all the way through, until now), but Carrie Underwood is pretty phenomenal, too…and I’ve been really digging this season.  (Judge not, fair readers.  Jolie needs her crappy TV fix like everybody else.)

Now, as a fashion statement, I seriously dislike tattoos.  I find them silly and tacky.  Most of my friends have them, and have gotten them for deeply personal reasons, and I respect that.  But, hey, you like what you like–and me no likey.  However!  I absolutely adore Megan Joy Corkrey, and I have a love/hate relationship with her tattoos; while I dislike tats in general, I must admit that Megan Joy’s truly add to her quirky uniqueness, particularly since she’d look like a Homecoming Queen without them.  (Girl is crazy beautiful!)  Her hair and makeup on Tuesday night’s Grand Ol’ Opry episode was perfection. 

Recreate that gorgeous eye makeup look with loads of heavily pigmented, shimmery golden-bronze eye shadow: try MAC eyeshadow in Amber Lights. 

Carrie Underwood, meanwhile, showed up on last night’s results show to duet on “I Told You So” with Randy Travis, sporting what appeared to be a layered soccer mom bob adorned with a big black bow.  It was totally confusing.  Carrie equals “adorable.”  Carrie also equals “needs long hair.”  No?  Just me?