Rachel Weisz, Enemy to Botox, Sees L'Oreal Ad Banned Over Airbrushed

2:51 PM PST 2/1/2012 by Elizabeth Snead

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The British actress is the latest famous face whose campaign was banned in the UK by the Advertising Standards Authority for excessive retouching.

Oscar winner Rachel Weisz, 41, is no fan of Botox, the popular wrinkle-smoothing cosmeceutical.

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She even suggested a ban on its use by her fellow actors "It (Botox) should be banned for actors, as steroids are for sportsmen," she told British Harper's Bazaar. "Acting is all about expression; why would you want to iron out a frown?"

So it's a mystery why Weisz helped perpetuate the smooth-faced craze in her new L’Oreal ads. The photos of the actress promoting L’Oreal’s Revitalift Repair 10 are so heavily airbrushed that they have been banned in Britain for deceptive advertising by the Advertising Standards Authority. The ASA ruled that Weisz's image "misleadingly exaggerated" the performance of the product.

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The decision was happy news to British Lib-Dem MP Jo Swinson, the co-founder of the Campaign for Body Confidence, who said: ‘The beauty and advertising industries need to stop ripping off consumers with dishonest images."

She often cites medical research about the impact of these airbrushed and retouched images: "The Royal College of Psychiatrists has spoken out about the harmful influence of the media on body image and has highlighted the airbrushing and digital enhancement used to portray physical perfection as an area of concern."

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Weisz is not the first actress to have be on a banned-in-Britain cosmetics ad. An Olay anti-aging ad featuring Twiggy was banned in 2009, and last year L’Oreal ads with Julia Roberts and Christy Turlington were also banned for being misleading.

This truth in advertising movement is spreading. An Los Angeles-based online women's magazine, Off Our Chests, has launched the Media and Public Health Act, which is being cosponsored by the National Eating Disorder Association. They even sell a T-shirt for girls that proudly proclaims, "Not Photoshopped."