Redeem now

• On Monday, James Charles released a new advertisement for his namesake line of beauty products sold at Morphe.
• In the photo, he's dressed like an elf and positioned on a vanity next to an eye-shadow palette and setting-spray bottle.
• Though Charles' face was seemingly altered to resemble an elf, some social-media users believe his body was also heavily edited, while others have praised the image.
• The YouTuber openly speaks about his use of photo-editing technology and has made YouTube videos about it in the past, while many other influencers are known to alter their images.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

James Charles is being accused of editing his body in his latest makeup advertisement.

On Monday, the social-media star took to Instagram and Twitter with a new campaign image for his namesake eye-shadow palettes and brush set sold at Morphe. In the photo, he's dressed like an elf, shrunken down in size, and positioned on a vanity next to an eye-shadow palette and setting-spray bottle.

"SISTER ON A SHELF," Charles wrote on Twitter. "One of my favorite photos EVEERRRRR hahahaha happy holidays babes!!"

—James Charles (@jamescharles) December 2, 2019

While Charles has not yet responded to the photo-editing accusations, sources close to the YouTuber told Insider the images came from a standard promotional shoot.

People are now comparing the campaign image to behind-the-scenes shots shared on Charles' Instagram

Shortly after Charles shared the campaign image on Monday, he also shared some behind-the-scenes videos on Instagram. The clips were removed from his story after 24 hours, though some people have reposted them on Twitter.

—𝖲𝗈𝗉𝗁𝗂𝖾👼🏼 (@fuckimlonelyy) December 2, 2019

Many people shared the clips enthusiastically, while others pointed out that Charles doesn't look exactly the same in both sets of images.

—lexx (@lipstick__lexx) December 2, 2019

People were quick to question Charles' appearance in the two photos

While some people on Twitter suggested that Charles used an editing app like Photoshop or Facetune to alter the image, others felt the YouTuber could be promoting unrealistic body standards.

—Jamie 🌸 (@Jamie_Blur15) December 3, 2019—Aly Torres 🖤 (@kittymeikup_) December 2, 2019

On the r/BeautyGuruChatter subreddit, some people said Morphe should be held responsible if the photo was retouched, while others argue that influencers typically have a say in how they appear online. Redditor SophieKins wrote: "Working as a retoucher, influencers definitely give their preferences/directions and approval on their photos."

Though on Instagram there was some criticism of the photo, Charles mainly received an influx of supportive comments from his followers on the platform. 

"This is iconic," one person wrote.

"Omg this is the cutest thing ever, I love the fit," another person commented.

SISTER ON THE SHELF 🎅🏻❤️ happy holidays! this is my favorite time of the year ahhh! what do you want most for christmas? 🎁 the james charles x @morphebrushes makes a great stocking stuffer 😉 ____ photo by @jonsams styling by @joeythao outfit by @imngo

A post shared by James Charles (@jamescharles) on Dec 1, 2019 at 5:20pm PSTDec 1, 2019 at 5:20pm PST