2 posts tagged “magazines”
Bust magazine
Feb/Mar '07
OK, so this magazine is soooooo awseome. How can you not love a magazine that includes:
- three soup recipes
- instructions to remove various stains (i.e. red wine, chocolate, blood)
- an article discussing how it is expected that young Hollywood starlets will become alarmingly thin at one point or another, while male actors are not assumed so
- an article disproving various myths about women and dating (i.e. the myth that men don't want women to make the first move, or the myth that men don't like women who earn more than they do)
- an interview with Gwen Stefani
- a doula’s guide to giving birth
- an expose on the surprising history of bridesmaids (including tones of pictures of the awful dresses they have had to wear)
I think this magazine is an excellent alternative to more superficial magazines such as Cosmopolitan or Vogue (not that there is anything wrong with those magazines, but this one would work in tandem with them, to provide a more complete spectrum of interesting information). The models in this magazine aren't necessarily any less thin than those in Cosmo or Vogue, but the articles seem a lot more practical and there are just less images of model-women modelling clothing or posing, and a lot more interesting graphics. And while there are a lot of ads (including some for cigarettes) they also have buying info for a lot of the totally cute items they show in their articles, a lot of which can be purchased easily on websites, which is dangerous for people like me with a credit card and shopaholic tendencies.
In any case, this would be a good magazine for ages 15 and up, for the sorts of teen girls who aren't necessarily fans of Gap clothing or top 40 music... and also for those who are, I guess. Gwen Stefani isn't exactly on the cutting edge of the music scene - but the interview with her is really thoughtful and interesting and makes you see her as a fun, interesting, ambitious woman and not just the glamorous media image she presents. Anyway, this is a cool magazine, and I think I might find myself purchasing more issues in the future.
Rating: Great for teen girls aged 14+
Note: I made the Jewish chicken soup recipe included in this magazine and it tastes sooooooo goooooood
No. 362 (Jan. 4-17, 2007)
So, I picked up the January edition of Shout magazine, which is a British teen girl's magazine, and the reason I got this one was it came with a free gift!
What I got was a double-sided eye crayon and sharpener, and apparently if I mix the two colours (purple and pink) together, I will get "stormy eyes." Next issue comes with mascara AND lip gloss, so I will look out for that. This magazine is published every TWO WEEKS in the U.K., which seems insane, especially if you think about how much makeup you could amass if you subscribe to every issue.
Anyway, I thought this magazine was fantastic. Firstly, when you open the front cover, there is a quiz on one side, and the table of contents on the other. I am so used to magazines where the inside pages are all filled with ads, but theis magazine actually doesn't have ANY ads (except for the next month's issue). Maybe they get advertising money from the companies that give them free cosmetics? And obviously they mention brand names in their fashion spreads, but it is curious that there aren't ANY ads in here.
This magazine comprises basically of:
a) quizzes (i.e." are you a Laguna Beach babe?")
b) pages of celebrity photos with funny captions on them (i.e. "time to put the Dick Whittington costume away for another year!")
c) embarrassing stories
d) advice columns
e) "journalism" stories ("my stepfather is only 18!")
There are A LOT of embarrassing stories and advice columns, which I think would really interest teen girls - seeing what problems other people are having, and maybe finding advice to help with a problem you are going through. What appeals to me especially about this magazine is that it is British - so it is all SIMILAR to stuff here, but different and foreign enough to make it cooler. When you look at a spread about how brightly coloured tights are what's in these days, you can imagine girls in England walking around wearing them - while anyone who wore them here would just look strange. (I imagine probably girls in England aren't actually walking around in the outfit suggestions given in this magazine)
Anyway, I would recommend this magazine to girl ages 12-15, who want something cooler than J-14 or Bop or Seventeen.
