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L’Oréal colors more than Beyoncé’s hair

Take a look at Beyoncé. Does she look, um, different to you?

Yeah, something is not quite right. Something like, oh I don’t know, the fact that her skin is a good two to three shades lighter than it appears in real life. Last week Beyoncé Knowles’ new L’Oréal Paris ads for hair coloring have caused quite a controversy over the apparent lightening of her skin.

Of course L’Oréal spokespeople denied the claim, saying: “We highly value our relationship with Ms. Knowles. It is categorically untrue that L’Oréal Paris altered Ms. Knowles’ features or skin-tone in the campaign for Feria’s hair color.” Beyoncé’s endorsement deal with L’Oréal started in 2001.

Look, L’Oréal, we all have eyes in our heads. Even if your ad designers didn’t intend to make Beyoncé a whiter shade of pale, there is categorically no way Photoshop was not opened and employed here. And it’s not even the first time there has been a public dust-up about the possible lightening of her skin in print. In 2005, Vanity Fair was accused of the same digital trickery on its cover.

While I’m not 100 percent convinced in Vanity Fair‘s case, I’m floored by the L’Oréal ad. And it’s not just her skin tone that seems manipulated by the cosmetic giant. I mean, I can’t be the only one who looked at the picture and thought, “Dang, is that really B’s nose?” Somehow — either through lightening her skin or futzing with her features — they made her nose seem more prominent. Trust me, this is the first and more than likely only time I’ve looked at lovely and talented Ms. Knowles and been preoccupied by anything other than her bootyliciousness.

The moral of this story: Don’t Photoshop what ain’t broke.

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