9 Of The Most Airbrushed Women of Color in Hollywood Right Now (Slimmer Faces, Lighter Skin & More!)

» By StyleBlazer April 6, 2012, 18:45pm

In fashion and entertainment beauty is preferred, but perfection is mandatory.  In the age of airbrushing that’s truer than ever.  Although celebrities and companies have both come under fire for smoothing this, and highlighting that, it hasn’t stopped anyone from putting that photo shop to work on 2-inches-too-thick thighs or crafting a slimmer nose.

It’s being done to almost every celebrity in Hollywood, but when it’s done to women of color it’s twice as obvious, and three times more eyebrow-raising.  And there’s no denying that some celebs are also more airbrushed more often than others, and we rounded them up for you!

Check out the top nine most airbrushed women of color in Hollywood right now.

 

 

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Comments

  • Guest

    All of the women featured look beautiful with and without photoshop.

  • Gues

    What’s sad is the majority of them are being airbrushed on black magazines!

  • guest

    In these pics some of these were when they were younger and the “airbrushed” shots are when they were doing a photo shoot versus when they were just being. To prove airbrushed use pics of the same era.

  • L. Belle

    So Kim K doesn’t make the list or is this only about black women?

  • Fact Check

    To compare different photos of a person is like comparing apples and tires.  There are two many variables, such as lighting and changes in the celebrity’s age, weight, amount of makeup, etc., over time.  A better comparison would have been side-by-side versions of the same photo – pre-airbrushing and post-airbrushing.

    • Fact Check

      I meant TOO many variables, but you get the point.

    • Jelicia_p

      Exactly…these are not good comparison pictures.

    • Fallmoments6

      I totally agree with you. I said the same thing. I just don’t get it sometimes. Another article was about different curl patterns and celebs. with straight hair but mostly everyone had weaves?!

    • ChibiViolet

      THIS, so much. I’ve gotten approximately the same amount of variation in personal photos just by turning lamps on and off in my living room.

  • itsmemeg

    OMG! Lil’ Kim doesn’t even have knees. Lol! Vanity thy name is Fame.

    • Nicki Minja

      She gapped her legs so wide screwing rappers her knees fell off…

  • Miqueen_c

    you missed Oprah! C’mon Son!!!!!!!

    • preTTypiCKy

      Oprah…good1

  • overit.com

    “How is it more obvious on women of color?”

    Uhhh…well probably because they make their SKIN LIGHTER and NOSES STRAIGHTER AND SKINNIER. THAT’S HOW. Beyonce looks like a white woman for Christ sakes! When’s the last time you saw a white women photoshop to the point of looking like a black women? …Dont worry, i’ll wait

    • Prettihot

      U must be dark skin or something? Because I’m light and in the summer my skin tone is way more bronzed than in the winter!!! I look like two different ppl!!! #lightskinproblems. And wtf you think when they get tanned, butt lifts, lip injections etc?

      • Whatever

        You sound kinda silly. All people tan, become darker, change colors, whatever you want to call it, depending on the season. I think some people do more than others. I literally go from brown to basically chocolate in the summer, and I love it. I have light skinned family members whose skin doesn’t change as much as mine. It depends on the person. That is why I feel for Beyonce, I don’t think she bleaches, she just becomes much darker in the sun, or summer, or whatever. She is always on an island. People accuse her of bleaching but I think her skin just changes colors significantly. 

        • Mstiffany88

          I have to agree. When are people going to stop with this “everytime a black woman is seen a shade lighter than she was before she’s bleaching” mess? We of all people should know how our skin tones may or may not change depending on the season and sun exposure. Sheesh. I’m Mariah’s complexion but in the summer I’ve gotten as dark as Rihanna or Beyonce. When I go back to my original color in the winter does than mean I’m bleaching, NO!

          • MeganC

            Chile please..

      • Guest24

        then go do it. why are you even here reading this article?!

      • angel3535

         I don’t think ppl that do these things want to be anyone but themselves.  I think they do it to be seen/stand out.  I used to think the same thing about ppl that wore crazy color wigs, get implants and so on until I found out these ppl love their race they just want to be different.  I eat everything but “soul food” but I love being black. We stereotype each other way too much these days

      • MeganC

        Umm, huh,say what now?

    • reese

      You don’t know how many of them spray on tan and look golden.  Beyounce is light skinned like her mother.  She looks light without the airbrushing.

      • Layla13

        And when you see pictures of Mariah Carey pre-superstardom she is very light, she now has a spray tan person on her staff probably FT, I am mixed but when you see celebrities from years ago, many are lighter (JLo is another) and now all the time tan.

      • Ange248

        Beyonce is light-skinned but not to the point where you would mistake her for being white. That L’Oreal picture makes her look white. It’s just silly- Beyonce is beautiful without that ridiculous airbrushing.

      • Lala1

         Well sorry to burst your bubble, but Beyonce has definitely lightened her skin. When she lived in Houston, I saw her all the time. It was her sister Solange who’s skin tone is naturally fair like her mothers, but Solange likes to tan on a regular basis. It’s true that Beyonce lightened her skin to conform more to industry standards. Don’t hate the player, hate the GAME.

    • goody’sgirl223

      ahem…white women photoshop….its not about black or white or any race…its a celebrity thing…if anyone up here did a photo shoot for a magazine, they would photoshop and airbrush until it looks the way they want it to look for their ad

  • ctbabydoll

    idiots the photos for product ads album covers and movie posters are always retouched especially in a case like Mariah’s she has severe rosacha [redness issues} in her cheeks and cleavage so when she has editorial control of photos  as she does for her perfume ads then they’re retouched and when the M one was taken she had gained weight from being a newly wed. unlike the lollipop splash the remix ones for which she used an archival photo from the rainbow era because she was pregnant and by then confined to bed rest

  • CriticXtreme

    I’ve seen a lot of these people in person and you’re right. Whoa! Lil Kim truly messed her face up. She looks like a black jew. 

    • Mstiffany88

      Lol, I agree. I think she was gorgeous when she first came out and was chocolate. Now look at her. She looks like the lion from the Wizard of Oz in the pic posted here, no joke.

  • Allergictoignorantshyt

    http://www.elistmania.com/still/20_female_celebrities_before_after_photoshop/

    If you check out the link above you will get a sample of both black and white woman whom photos have been “touched”.

  • Kwjw080807

    YOU MISSED THE WHITE CELEBRITIES, THEY AIRBRUSHED TOO

  • reese

    They have did all the articles showing how these women look without makeup and it isn’t just women of color who do this like the article is insinuating.

  • Gdgedd

    I would not put Gabby put Gabby on the list. Mary J need to be #1. She is aging so bad. Her body is on point but I see a lot of bitterness in her face. Mary is somebody my mom would call hard timey looking. Somebody who didn’t have a lot of peace in her life.

    • juliemango

      Re MaryJB @Gdgedd u mean to say, hardup. Ur right Gabby don’t belong on that list!!!

  • JustSaying_IMFO

    So by “most” you must mean that they appear in the majority of the media? With a couple of exceptions, most of these photos are airbrushed appropriately for what they are. Only 2 or 3 look plastic.

  • Whatever

    ALL of these women are beautiful WITH or WITHOUT airbrushing. Really, what is your point?

  • Latashacoleman1982

    This was super wack….all of the women looked just as good as the air brushed pic….what was the point…B looked lighter Kimora looked japaness

  • juliemango

    Some Fantastic Airbrush Artist. Gabby – way better lookin without AB – Got a GirlCrush on her for good reason. Bey looks better before AB, they gave her an ugly nose, othrwise good pic, JHud no better and Kimora – what a job – Totally diff person. Not to imply she isn’t beautiful otherwise!!!

  • DC’s FINEST

    All the airbrushing in the world will NEVER help Wendy Williams.  She still looks like a gargoyle in drag

  • http://twitter.com/CozmikSlop THE Phaedra

    Garbrielle looks great sans airbrushing and makeup

  • JSU7367H

    KIM K GETS AIRBRUSHED MORE THAN ANYBODY, YOU MISSED HER ON THE LIST

  • sowuth0

    can we get a Top 9 Most Airbrushed White Women in Hollywood? kthnxbye

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Goldie-Treasure/100001545308532 Goldie Treasure

      The one in your picture(Katy Perry) would be number one lol. Blech.

  • Bella

    I still can’t get over that Beyonce pic. It’s scary.

  • Danxjr

    With the exception of little Kim(to much plastic surgery) and Queen Labeefa(The airbrush was unattractive) these women didn’t look any different Airbrushed or normal. 

  • Ange248

    JHud looks great and so does Gabrielle Union. I think both would have been fine without the airbrush.

  • http://twitter.com/LyonsDarlene Darlene Lyons

    Wow!  Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce looked about the same before and after.  Everyone else especially Wendy Williams and Lil Kim  OMG!!!!

  • http://twitter.com/LyonsDarlene Darlene Lyons

    Gabriel Union looks great sans airbrushing.  Beautiful girl inside and out

    • MeganC

      not..

  • Sheezamazin

    ^^^^^ What she said. Lifestyle factors also play a role. Smoking, drinking, sun bathing and tanning. ETC 

  • Sheezamazin

     I wear sunscreen everyday and im black!! I wear sunglasses for crows feet and get anti aging treatments to keep my skin supple

  • Golddee15

    Queen Latifah is a beautiful woman. I really do not see your point….

    • Lady

      she looks better in real life than in the photoshoped job…most of the ladies did (and I absolutely HATE how they kept working to make then “whiter” – these ladies are beautiful, there is no call for that…

  • Golddee15

    All of these women are beautiful, with or without airbrushing….. what’s up with the day and night?

  • Ladyspencer

    I do know if I wear make-up I too would look drop dead gorgeous.  Which is why women like myself spend a lot of money on cosmetics just to get the right look.  Those photo shown, did not make or break their beauty, looks like they are natually beautiful.  As for the statements regarding Oprah, well she is one in a few who cannot do the natual look as well. And that’s my 2cents

  • Voixmagnifique

    Oprah, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kim Kardashian

  • Guest24

    how many times are you going to post this comment?

  • Brenda

     So what’s your point, most pictures are airbrushed!!!

    • Naffy70

       My point was they look good not air brushed!  What is YOUR point?

  • Loc

    i dont find that big a difference, you sounded as these women looked like dogs in real life and to add women of color thats bs its everyone who is photshopped. i sure they could photoshop you and make an improvement but you cant photshop ugly, All of these women were still beautiful in their natural state. I just dont understand the women of color thing. Some white women are so pale that the photoshop adds color, but the plain picture of them is still beautiful. You miss the boat on this one.

  • Susan Shaw

    You can’t have it both ways… you want your BET (tv) and other exclusively black media, clothing lines, etc… So, here you have it; your exclusively black only airbrushed list of leading Hollywood ladies. Don’t hate! For years, “blacks have been left out”. You’ve wanted equality/recognition; it can be good or bad. So, quit complaining and roll with it. Whites & blacks are on an equal playing field. Some days it falls on us… today it fell on you. Sounds fair to me. Quit griping!!!

  • Spivec

    who cares if you tired of hearing it?  It’s the truth, blacks, especially darker skin ones ages much better than fairer skin individuals.

  • noneedtoknow

    i dont see the big difference with gabrielle union (with or without touch ups shes still georgous

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/YX2K7UXHUNLW5L6ADF6HMYYNUU Jules

    Gabrielle Union hasn’t aged a day since Bring it On and 10things I Hate About You, not one day.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=661389676 Temple Jones-Easley

    This just simply looks like La on a regular day…  No the day of a photo COVERSHOOT!!  Anyway, there is nothing wrong w/ how she looks…. She’s still has a beautiful natural face.. flaws and all!!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=661389676 Temple Jones-Easley

    Another Coverphoto….   how is that a good comparison???  I think that EVERY COVERPHOTO is airbrushed!!  Not just women of color….

  • http://www.facebook.com/sonjapm Sonja Ray Miller

    she is just beautiful

  • Hoolie7

    They used a whole different neck for Mary J. Blige. Or just pulled hers until she had one.

  • MeganC

    lol!

  • MeganC

    aaawww stfu already!

  • JCFS

    It almost seems ridiculous to call Gabby Union airbrushed. The woman is naturally beautiful and makes airbrushing easy!

  • Mimianne1

    Beyonce, Gabrielle and Jennifer are all absolutely gorgeous as they are… I think they are prettier in the non airbrushed photots… and I’m white, so maybe I have no idea what I’m talking about here, but I think the point of the article is to show how rediculous hollywood can be with all the airbrushing so that when we look at magazines we all feel bad about any little wrinkle, discoloration or blemish.  No matter the color of the skin on a model/actress etc… none of us looks that way in real life, and you shouldn’t have to be  flawless to be beautiful.  Nor should you feel like you can’t do what you want to your own face/body if it makes you like the way you look.  I agree with the first post here, Fact check, that would have been interesting…

  • http://www.facebook.com/80zHD Stephanie Williams

    This is BS, so they’re only airbrushing Black girls now?

  • http://www.facebook.com/80zHD Stephanie Williams

    You have to take their lifestyle into account if you’re not treating your body well of course you won’t age well.

  • Mr_Scorpio

    Why did the fame monster slay Lil’ Kim?

  • Msrightnow1

    They look great to me.  Only Kimora looks heavily airbrushed.  Men, they did a work up on slimming those arms and her face

  • Bookie_has_it_good

    lmao! but so true!!

  • Krisschlepp

    i don’t get it — every woman on this woman looked fine in both photos.  Weird.

  • Tfg1harley

    How could you have forgotten Oprah or are you just scared to put her in this article. Airbrushed everything, from Color Me Purple to the Oprah Show.  Haunt a house.

  • Richard

    I guess you forgot to mention that you’d be showing pics of celebrities that were taken 10 years apart.  Nobody looks the same 10 years later.  And you can’t really compare a pic of someone smiling with to a pic of them being stoic.  Shame on you for trying to deceive us.

  • Tkn

    True, black do not age as fast as white women, its a fact.

    • http://www.facebook.com/bre.monteith Bre Monteith

      It’s true! It’s the natural sunblock thing!

  • just sayin

    Most of the women look better before being photoshopped….

  • Tara Lambert

    I look at this article and I want to say “AND!”, so what, there were slight differences in most of the photos . . . a covershot for a magazine is always gonna look different that a person in a natural, real-life photo, regardless of race. I think most of them looked good either way. Lil Kim looked kinda weird, but that is because the poor dear got too much plastic surgery. Kimora’s photo was drastically different because she is a model, ALL models (black or white) look drastically different in certain photo shoots, that is part of the reason why they are a model, they have faces that can easily be changed with makeup and lighting.

  • Gini

    They all looked beautiful to me in both pictures. Arn’t there any real, interesting things to put on this page? I won’t be back.

  • Mike

    Hi there. I’m not sure that you actually realise (this spelling is for UK) both photos are to some extent airbrushed…

    For this article to be actually valid one would need a video and photograph not 2 airbrushed photographs…

    And beyonce is quite light caramel colour because she is creole…

    Next time speak with your art department (you may be a one man band) to clarify your mistake).

  • Bo

    Gabrielle looks so gorgeous in both photos! I can’t believe this article used all African-American women. That’s really disturbing. Also, I think these women are all beautiful with or without airbrushing.

  • Dyionne

    Mary looks great airbrushed or not.

  • Dyionne

    haha… Beyonce as a white woman. SMH…

  • Dyionne

    haha… Beyonce as a white woman. SMH…

  • Dyionne

    removing a smile line isn’t as bad as some of the others…

  • Dyionne

    removing a smile line isn’t as bad as some of the others…

  • Dyionne

    And I miss the old cute Kim… I almost didn’t recognize the Versace clone. At least Nicki’s face is still real.

  • Dyionne

    And I miss the old cute Kim… I almost didn’t recognize the Versace clone. At least Nicki’s face is still real.

  • http://www.facebook.com/80zHD Stephanie Williams

    In MY opinion, it’s very noticeable when waists are airbrushed away, and pimples, and skin smoothed. Maybe I notice everything more, and not mostly skin color. Google steph80sbaby

  • http://twitter.com/nitabitasmith Anita H. Smith

    I agree with some of the comments about comparing different photos. You need the same photo to determine whether or not there was airbrushing. This was done on an episode of ANTM.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Shannon-M-Chasing-Hawk/100000917904517 Shannon M. Chasing Hawk

    Most of these women (with the exception of Wendy Williams) looks better without makeup! ESPECIALLY Beyonce! Wow!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FPH4VXVLB7E6TKTZW7BHO66BTQ King Solomon

    so who in the limelight is NOT dolled up in one way or another? next, do a boring ad on ‘celebs with messed up hair’ or ‘celebs not holding in their guts’ Sheesh!

  • gonski

    Would have liked to see all the pics, but gave up after three pages because of all the frustrating garbage you have overloaded your page with.
    Self-starting videos.
    Pop-ups.
    Ads everywhere.
    Won’t be back

  • katYtw

    Anyone notice that WITHOUT EXCEPTION the airbrushed photos invariably make the women’s skin look lighter? I wonder why that is… is the cultural definition of beauty having lighter skin? I don’t know, just something I observed. But look at them… it’s every single one…

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1404584713 Bridget Lausch

    be nice if they were labeled. I don’t know who half of these “celebrities” are >.<

  • Andie M.

    These are very beautiful women with great skin. And lighting does make a difference. Also, I don’t see why all these people in the comments section want to hate on white women. Does it make you feel better about yourself?

  • jessica

    Wow. I think everyone missed the whole point. What I got out of it was that the industry photoshops women of color way too much and often to give them more white characteristics, like lighter skin or a thinner nose. No one is accusing the ladies themselves of anything. The reason its all black women is to illustrate what the industry tries to turn them into via photoshop.

  • Dionne

    Most of the airbrushed pictures don’t look very different from the others. The pictures are still inaccurate comparisons though.

  • docturnal

    this might be the most pointless & merit less waste of bandwith ever.

  • AimeeLynne

    They are not saying anything is wrong with any of these women, they are just stating how photo shopping changes someones appearance dramatically. They all look beautiful and real in their every days lives. :]

  • zamed

    I think it’s stupid to lighten darker skin through photoshopping, but with most of these (the Beyonce Loreal campaign excluded) I’m not sure that’s what they did anyway- Jennifer Hudson looks darker complexioned on the magazine cover than in the comparison photo, and Mariah Carey looks the same in both shots.

  • Judy

    The one thing I noticed on almost all of the before/afters was the change in skin color and tone. Otherwise, they looked the same. I mean Beyonce’s hair was different. Big deal. She was beautiful in both pictures.

  • leelee01

    Lil Kim looks grotesque. What a pathetic shame

  • mscolum

    ??? they all look the same…

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kyle-Keller/100003124975337 Kyle Keller

    To be fair, Lil Kim needs all the airbrushing she can get at this point.

  • marrvviinn

    Oh Dear Kim, the airbrush software is not advanced enough to save your blushes.

  • sally

    Lil Kim is just so scary.

  • delorb

    Mary J’s neck is just wrong.