Realistically, a photograph of a beautiful young superstar without makeup shouldn't be that that big of a deal, but given society's obsession with perfection, Jessica Simpson's totally unretouched Marie Claire cover for the May issue, is somewhat of a first in the U.S.
The au naturel cover follows the unretouched April issue of French Marie Claire, which comes a year after the one French Elle did last year, but such is the industry to make a big deal out of, well, something that shouldn't be such a big deal.
Granted, Jessica Simpson's got nary a wrinkle and the only blemishes come in the form of charming and faint freckles, but foregoing the airbrush of perfection still manages to represent a significant sacrifice in a world of impossible flawlessness. Simpson's move, of course, isn't purely in the interest of changing standareds -- the cover comes timed with the debut of her new reality show, Price of Beauty, in which she travels the globe examining international standards of beauty.
