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29 November 2019, 12:58
While James disclosed that the image was photoshopped, fans aren't impressed.
UPDATE 18/12/19: Following the backlash, James Charles has now recreated the Louis Vuitton eyeshadow makeup without photoshop and has shared an unedited video on Instagram. See the full unedited makeup look in the video above. Read the full story here.
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE FROM 29/11/19:
James Charles has always been vocal about how much he edits his photos and he's never denied using Facetune either. But fans have recently been criticising the YouTube makeup artist following his latest eyeshadow look.
James recently uploaded a stunning new pic of him wearing a Louis Vuitton eyeshadow design, inspired by the popular Instagram filter. But some fans weren't impressed that, instead of attempting to actually carry out the design himself, he had photoshopped it onto the eye.
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Obviously, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that – if you're transparent about it. On his Instagram story, James showed what his makeup looked like without the logos alongside the caption, "Before I added the LV logos hehehe." Fans also pointed out that he said the logos were edited on Snapchat too.
But once he posted the final look on Instagram, he was swiftly called out for not clearly stating that it was edited.
On his Instagram caption, James wrote: "with a baby louis vuitton under her underarm. I turned the instagram filter into a makeup look! what do you think"
His caption, which did not clearly disclose that it was edited, prompted comments from fans reading: "you killed it omg it’s so clean", "I need a tutorial of that asap" and "how does this look so perfect omg." Gabriel Zamora even wrote: "My shaky hands could never!!!!!!" to which one fan replied "neither could his."
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People on Twitter then started pulling him up about it. Clearly, not everyone had seen his IG and Snapchat story posts.
The importance of disclosure when photoshopping.
— EmberXtelle (@EmberXtelle) November 26, 2019
You can not expect all your fans to know reality from editing. It’s like posting an ad and not disclosing, expecting fans to know it’s an ad.
“It is okay to Facetune as long as you aren’t changing the makeup” - James Charles pic.twitter.com/bHUXhwxovI
He literally liked Gabriel Zamora’s comment about “my shaky hands could never” and didn’t say it was photoshop 🙄 like really? He intentionally tried to pass this off as his MAKEUP with that caption and he hasn’t said anything at all on IG pic.twitter.com/Kerza3zi5E
— spillthetea 🎄 (@ggspillthetea) November 26, 2019
I agree with you, even tho I am a stan of James, he should’ve made it clear from the start that it was edited, I knew it was edited because it was just too good to be true, but obviously not everyone will know that. He shouldn’t have blocked you either, you just spoke up about it
— Sister Kayden🧷 (@safetypinjames) November 27, 2019
A day later, James posted the picture on Twitter, clearly disclosing the fact that the LV logos were edited on. His Instagram caption, however, did not change.
Replying to a comment under his Twitter post that said "Lmao what about that video of you saying before I added the logos," James responded: "?? yes... as in here is what the makeup look that I created looks like on my face before I added the logos."
Fans of James have defended him, countering the beef from the initial viral tweet calling him out.
Im not a stan but he did say it was edited....🐸☕ pic.twitter.com/OWP5LY2ZaR
— erin the brat✌ (@ErinMartin33) November 26, 2019
Is he not allowed to have a bit of fun and add to his looks for photos? He explained that they were edited on, and mentioned it in a video prior to posting this. Can we not just let him have fun creatively, he’s been truthful, what’s the problem
— 🍜chicken soup🍜 (@imbeatrixnova) November 27, 2019
It's not the first time James has been called out by fans and MUAs on social media for photoshopping, or enhancing, his selfies on Instagram.
Earlier this year when James was called out by a fan who said "u just gonna ignore the fact u still photoshopped the image??," he replied: "No? Lmao I photoshop all of my photos. It didn’t photograph the way I wanted it to so I flipped one eye to the other. still looked amazing in person."
Back in 2018, James also spoke out about people who constantly call him out for editing his photos.
I can’t stand when people complain about my photos being edited like yes thank you captain obvious! 😒 you guys see me on snapchat all day long & youtube once a week... I have nothing to hide! 🤷🏻♀️ To me, photography & editing is just as much as an art as the makeup itself!
— James Charles (@jamescharles) February 2, 2018
So, what do we think? Almost all of the big YouTube beauty community players edit their photos, but do you think James should have clarified on his IG grid post too? Or do you think everyone is overreacting? Either way, this really is a fierce eye look.