No Filter Project

How many of us have looked at a celebrity magazine and thought "I would love to have flawless skin like her" or "I wish I was that thin"? I would say the majority. As a teenager I always wanted to have perfect skin and be the perfect size, but as I got older I realised something, those things don't really exist!

If you ask my husband he will tell you I am usually quick to say "I wish my chest was smaller" "I wish my skin wasn't so sensitive" or my most moaned about body part "I wish my tummy was flatter and didn't have this loose skin".

Many publications Photoshop or airbrush the pictures to give the illusion of perfect. I often wonder is this the main reason we have body hang ups?

Too many young girls, and some boys, look at these images and think this is how they need to be. They try all sorts of diets, most dangerous, to get that perfect thin frame, anorexia and bulimia are a major threat when these diets take hold. It worries me greatly and having a daughter myself she will be educated on the dangers of fad diets and she will also be told the pictures in these magazines etc are not what they seem.

Recently I was on Facebook and I came across the amazing No Filter Project. The project was founded by Emma and Donna and they have one simple goal, to show us how beautiful we really are.  They want to help promote a healthy and positive body image, helping us to be happy with how we look, who we are and to really feel comfortable in our own skin.

One photo album we should all look at on  https://www.facebook.com/nofilterrevolution is #NoFilter Photoshoot.  We are all different shapes and sizes. Wouldn't it be boring if we were all the same? Look at how happy the women are in that album. That was the first thing I noticed.

To give you an idea of the difference between a real and untrue picture I have made changes to a picture of me just to show you how much a few adjustments can really make you think I'm "flawless"

As you can see I made myself look thinner, my skin looks flawless, my teeth perfectly white and my lips a glowing red. Now look at the before picture.  I think I look better in the before picture than I do in the after shot. Why? It's simple. I prefer the real me.  Yes I may have wrinkles, a double chin, my teeth might not be perfect white and my skin looks blotchy. That's me. I am 34 and have 2 children so why do people expect me to look perfect? I also have mummy tummy, yes I don't like it much BUT my tummy was home to my babies as they grew it protected them so as far as I'm concerned I earned my stripes (stretch marks). Yes I have a scar from my C sections but that scar just proves I would do anything to make sure my children arrived safely.

I AM ME.

I want to tell all my readers that you are perfect the way you are. NEVER let anyone tell you otherwise. Never change for anyone.

Please head over to No Filters Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/nofilterrevolution/timeline

Twitter = https://twitter.com/nofilterproject