Don't tell us you're too scared to pose in a bikini without the aid of an airbrush, Liz?

Last updated at 14:47 23 April 2008

A heavily airbrushed Liz Hurley posed happily in a series of her own bikini designs earlier this week for latest Mango swimwear range.

So onlookers were surprised to see her arrive at the exclusive presentation for the campaign in Madrid in a knee-length pink dress, despite several models donning bikinis.

And today she also stayed fully covered up as the Mango bandwagon moved onto Munich.

Could it be that she wasn't prepared to pose in a two-piece without any digital help?

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For the second day running, this time in Munich, Liz Hurley refused to strip down to a bikini with the Mango models

Unlike other celebrities - Miss Hurley, 42, freely admits that her photographs had been airbrushed - confessing that she now relies on "nice photographers? and retouching for swimwear shoots.

In fact not so long ago she declared that she was through with bikinis.

Never again, would she sit eating lunch on a boat in a skimpy two-piece.

The same went for tripping around the beach in a bikini top and skirt with her midriff showing.

But it seems Miss Hurley will relax the rules under certain conditions.

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Covered up: Liz Hurley in Madrid yesterday seemed unusually shy

Firstly, it must be in her best business interests, such as helping to launch a series of her own swimwear designs in a diffusion range for the High Street store Mango.

And there must - read must - be an airbrush involved.

In an interview to accompany these photographs in the Sunday Times Style magazine, the model and businesswoman conceded that "shooting bikinis is now my life".

She said: "I can't think of anything worse in the world than another bikini shoot - and I've got two next month.

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Accessorising only with chunky jewellery Hurley does skimpy with style

"It's unbearable and I bring it all on myself. I've got nobody else to blame."

But, she revealed, she now relies on "nice photographers" and a little digital enhancement.

"I like a certain amount of retouching like anybody," she admitted.

Even if they have been airbrushed a little, the photos suggest that Miss Hurley has made good on her promise to "go to ground and annoy everyone by emerging thinner, sexier and mentally cleansed".

She made that vow in an interview in 2005, at the same time as she spoke of instituting her bikini ban.

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Hot pink: At 42 Hurley admits she doesn't mind 'a certain amount' of retouching by artists

Miss Hurley, a mother of one, revealed that when she looked in the mirror she saw "a person who eats too much junk food and doesn't exercise. That has sadly become my reality over the past year".

Commenting on one of her own designs for Elizabeth Hurley Beach, she said her days of wearing a towelling miniskirt, bikini top and flip-flops were over.

"I don't feel comfortable doing that any more," she said. "As the years go by you do feel less confident about your body."

Miss Hurley is not afraid to follow strict diets when she needs to drop weight fast.

Her regime after the birth of son Damian, now six, was punishing, she said at the time.

"I did it by eating very little breakfast and not too much lunch.

"And only boring snacks such as a banana or six raisins. The only meal I have is dinner."

She lost four stone, and was back in her trademark white jeans within three months of Damian's birth.

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Comments (32)

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below?

She looks like a plastic inflatable doll in these photos. This "airbrushing" nonsense should be made illegal, certainly in promotional/advertising material, as it presents a false image and is clearly in contravention of the Trades & Description Act.

- Tommy Temple-Richards, London, 22/4/2008 23:32

Suzy, Dartford, that deranged look you mention is supposed to be a 'come hither' look that all models have to put on these days! Remember we are all sex-objects now!

- Anon, Haywards Heath, W.Sussex., 22/4/2008 23:07

She looks fine. Why is everyone knocking her? I'd like to see them look as young as she does for her age.

- Smileyrose, UK, 22/4/2008 21:53

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