Kate Upton poses for unretouched photo shoot in Health magazine

"The goal should be to be the best you can be," she told the magazine.

August 12, 2019, 8:57 PM

Supermodel and new mom Kate Upton is sending an empowering message about what it means to "be the best you can be" by posing for a completely unretouched photo shoot in Health magazine.

"When you think about it, we have retouching everywhere now—and we don’t even know it," Upton told Health for their September issue.

"People are staging Instagram shots and retouching those pictures. That’s the new norm," she added. "And then we believe that’s how people actually look, and think we should look that way too."

Upton gave birth to her first child in November 2018, and has spoken openly about her struggles with dropping the baby weight after her pregnancy.

Doing an unretouched shoot is a "step towards embracing real life," the 27-year-old model said.

"The goal should be to be the best you can be—not try to look like someone else," she added.

Upton is the latest model to take a stand against the fashion and beauty industry's unrealistic expectations imposed on women.

Body positivity activist Ashley Graham debuted an unretouched swimsuit line campaign last May that celebrated so-called imperfections.

Brands are jumping on board the trend too, capitalizing on the fact that real women sell products. In April, CVS launched a beauty campaign with entirely unairbrushed photos.

PHOTO: Kate Upton attends the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit On Location Day 2 at Ice Palace, May 11, 2019, in Miami.
Kate Upton attends the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit On Location Day 2 at Ice Palace, May 11, 2019, in Miami.
John Parra/Getty Images, FILE