"Skin looks smoother," cooed the text alongside a magazine advert showing a picture of Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz. "Complexion looks more even," it added, as an encouragement to the reader to buy L'Oreal product Revitalift Repair 10.
But the beauty company had not been able to resist using digital trickery to enhance even the looks of a Hollywood leading lady.
As Britain's Advertising Standards Authority pointed out, Weisz's "image had been altered in a way that substantially changed her complexion to make it appear smoother and more even".
It ordered L'Oreal not to use the ad again and to ensure it did not use post-production techniques "in a way that misrepresented what was achievable using the advertised product".
L'Oreal has form in this area. Last year it was found to have used digital post-production techniques to enhance a photograph of Julia Roberts in an ad for Lancome, which the ASA said was "misleading". It also digitally re-touched an image of Christy Turlington used to sell Maybelline foundation.
