So, receiving texts like this from my best friend in the world does not make me happy.

My bestie is gorgeous, thin, and fabulous. Doesn’t this text prove what all of the bloggers and writers are constantly up in arms over? That incessantly photoshopped pictures are bad for self-esteem? I think so. So this is for my girls who feel like shit after looking at the perfection that is a Victoria’s Secret catalogue. Here’s what they do to the already stunning models:

Candice is already extremely thin, but as you can see from the paparazzi shot compared to the shot from the catalogue, they’ve changed a lot. They’ve given her a nice glow, they’ve taken out the rolls of skin (not fat), they’ve removed muscle definition. I don’t know if it’s the difference in her swim suit but her boobs definitely look bigger in the second one. Her hips also look smaller.

Again, this is a different shot but it’s the same model. You can CLEARLY see that her waist is much, much smaller in the second picture. Considering the fact that one can’t really change body shape without any visible weight loss, it’s photoshopped. I think they both are, they both look like they’re from the catalogue because of the lighting and lack of discernable flaws, but the second one alters her shape a lot more.

In this one, all the changes have been helpfully pointed out for us by Jezebel. The color is completely enhanced, they’ve removed all body hair, they’ve lowered her skirt, they’ve removed wrinkles from the top, they’ve removed expression lines from her face, they’ve narrowed her waist, and they’ve made her legs appear smaller.

Here’s another good one where you can clearly see the difference in the colors between the two. They’re removed any skin folds, much of her muscle tone, and the slight bulge under her armpit on the right. They’ve also added lots of light to the left side to make her appear thinner, which is a classic trick, and they’ve brightened her hair. They reduced the jut of her clavicle, and they made her jaw appear smaller. They also took away any and all expression on her face, and they removed the nude panties she’s wearing underneath the suit bottom.

These women are already perfect. They’re gorgeous, they’re thin, and they’re paid to be that way. I think it’s important to know that even they don’t look like the catalogue at all. No one walks around glowing, people squint in the sun and they get rolls on their back when they’re bent into weird positions, no matter how little fat they have. So, like I said to my friend, DON’T let it get you down. You’d look like that if you had a professional team of photoshoppers for all of your pictures, too.