THE WHAT? Cult Beauty is hoping to spread body positivity among shoppers this summer with the launch of its Summer of (Self) Love and Can’t (Re) Touch This campaigns.  

THE DETAILS The online beauty retailer has committed to never retouching or altering its in-house model imagery and is rolling out a watermark, Beauty Untouched, to help consumers identify authentic photography.

Cult Beauty is also reviewing the language it uses in a bid to reframe the ‘flaws’ it has sought to correct as well as broaden the definition of beauty to make the space more representative. The e-commerce platform is also inviting its industry friends to subscribe to its voluntary Body Image Pledge and asking consumers to show their support for the image transparency movement by signing a petition.

THE WHY? Cult reports that a recent Mental Health Foundation report found that 35 percent of adults and 31 percent of teenagers in the UK surveyed felt ashamed or depressed because of their body image. In an open letter to the industry, lawmakers and content creators, Cult explains, “Not only is the search for perfection skewing our perception of ourselves, but it’s also collectively damaging our self-esteem. Comparison culture, stoked by social media’s endless stream of aspirational but mostly unrelatable imagery, is only fueling the problem. It is frighteningly easy to manipulate an image, but it’s also near impossible to know when it’s been done, and this lack of transparency can contribute to growing instances of disordered eating, anxiety, and depression.”