Hello and welcome to my monthly romp through the wonderful world of glossy magazines. Is your bandwidth feeling strong? Good, ’cause this is gonna get picture heavy!
First things first – The Freebies! Yes, obviously I did buy two copies of Glamour to get two Nails Inc nail polishes. I was disappointed with the first one I got (the gold ‘Uptown Glamour’ ) so I picked up ‘Soho Silver’ which fared slightly better. The better freebie was the mini Benefit Dandelion lipgloss which I liked more than I expected to – nice colour and not too sticky – pretty good.
Blogosphere Magazine Issue 1 
A new magazine which is ‘for bloggers, by bloggers’. That old chestnut. Blogosphere features some rather nifty artwork, an agony aunt, an opinion piece, spotlights on bloggers and a cover star interview. This month it was the lovely Estee from Essie Button. Topics include beauty, fashion, lifestyle, food, travel and photography. The spotlight pieces are great (see Really Ree’s above) as you get a sample of what the person’s blog will be like. Sure, it’s nothing you wouldn’t get on say, Bloglovin’, but this magazine is a lovely, creative, tactile break from the online world.
Company December 2013 
Company explored the science of shopping – the sneaky tricks that the shops use to make you buy more. Interesting factoid – Lynx have spent a fortune making the sound of their aerosol louder than women’s deodorants. It’s the little things.
On describing flying first class, Matt Edmondson writes: “A plush, velvety, rich, decadent but classy bubble. This, I imagine, is how Blue Ivy must have felt in Beyonce’s womb.” MEGA LOLZ.
Company also highlighted the importance of being nice in ‘Cool to be Kind’. They recommended checking out the Acts of Kindness app. I did, and recommend you do too.
Glamour December 2013
Glamour looked at some thoroughly modern love stories including Nora McInerny and Aaron Purmont whose wedding was live-tweeted complete with the hashtag #purminerny (love this) and Lucy Sutcliffe and Kaelyn Petras whose relationship is documented on YouTube and has had the unexpected result of helping people come to terms with their sexuality.
However, despite these social media stars on the next page they lambasted ‘FaceBraggers’ or ‘smoasters’ (social media boasters). It’s a fine balance it seems.
I also learnt that Dawn O’Porter has seriously good (if expensive) taste in makeup – Laura Mercier, Chanel, Nars, YSL, MAC and more Laura Mercier – blimey!
Cosmopolitan December 2013 
One year on and Cosmo caught up with what has been happening in India since the brutal gang-rape and murder on a public bus of a young woman forced the issue of women’s safety in Delhi to the fore. It seems that men and women are now finding their voice and fighting back. It’s important that this issue remains in the public eye and I am glad that even glossies like Cosmo are keeping it there.
Cosmo’s cover interview was with Miley Cyrus who revealed (perhaps unwittingly), some worrying effects of extreme fame at a young age – “Because I don’t get upset by much I don’t always take it seriously when someone else is upset.” I read this as an inability to empathise with others due to being desensitized by fame.
Marie Claire December 2013 
Self-help I can get on board with. F**k It retreats teach an anti-stress, anti-pressure, pro-perspective, pro-change, pro-just chilling the fuck out manifesto.
We were given a look into the working lives of employees at Mo-House, the only workplace in Japan that allows women to bring their babies to work. Marie Claire described this as “ground-breaking”. I don’t have such a positive viewpoint on this. I think “ground-breaking” would be for Japan to increase maternity leave above 14 weeks and not allow pregnant women to be forced into resigning. But maybe that’s just me. Oh and Sweden where parents are entitled to 68 weeks paid leave. Also, that office looks like chaos and I can’t imagine that is good for anybody.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my round-up. Please let me know what you thought of these stories. What other articles caught your eye this month?
Hi Alleyhope, I need an urgent fashion magazines education as I cannot stop looking at those glossy bibles at the newstand and smelling their sweet scented glossy pages.