Glitz, Glamour and Gibberish | My Guide to Beauty Magazines

I feel like with the rise of the internet – geez I feel like an adult – magazines are becoming a thing of the past. However, I love nothing more than to flick through glossy magazines, looking at the beautiful photos, finding out about new products, and even, looking at the adverts. I feel like the online websites just don’t stand up to the feeling of holding a real magazine. Then again, I feel the same way about books – I’m definitely not an ebook person – so this is my preference.

I went to Sainsbury’s – I know, not WHSmith – and picked up a number of magazines to add to the two free ones I’ve picked up from Boots and Superdrug, and I thought I would share with you some of the information I have found out about these magazines, what I thought and which ones I would definitely get hold of again.

Just as a side note; these are my own opinions, obviously people love or hate different things to me, but this is what I found from the magazines I’ve tried, and I thought it would make a cool, quirky post.

Right, let’s look at the stats, I’m a bit of a stats person, and I found this really interesting to see how many pages you got, how many adverts there were, the prices and samples.

Dare
Free
60 Pages
16 Full Page Ads (27%)

Health and Beauty
Free
92 Pages
26 Full Page Ads (28%)

Glamour
£2
270 Pages
99 Full Page Ads (37%)
3 Mini Samples

Inside
£3.99 (This copy £1.99)
204 Pages
92 Full Page Ads (45%)

Marie Claire
£3.99
284 Pages
119 Full Page Ads (41%)
3 Mini Samples, 1 Free Nail Polish, 2 Discount Codes

Tatler
£4.50
227 Pages
86 Full Page Ads and 9 Advert Pages (42%)

So, lets start with the two free magazines. I mean theoretically they’re only free with the individual membership cards – but they’re free too. So Dare is the free magazine supplied by Superdrug and Health and Beauty is by Boots. I absolutely love these magazines. Because they are effectively a catalogue for Boots and Superdrug, they’re packed full of information about new and popular products. Boots also has a few great articles in – like the one in the photo above – which make a great read. Also, the adverts in these magazines are always affordable and relevant and I think they’re well placed. You can tell these magazines are free, the pages are not as thick or glossy as the other magazines and obviously their lengths are shorter. But I feel, for their price point – nothing – they are amazing, and I always ALWAYS pick them up! If you have a Boots or Superdrug where you live, I’d go pick them up, what have you got to lose?

And now you start with the priced magazines. Glamour is the cheapest of these, at only £2, it claims on the front is is ‘Britain’s No.1 Women’s Magazine’ and I can see why! I love this magazine and I think this would be the one I would subscribe to. I feel like it’s packed full of a good balance of beauty, lifestyle, fashion and a little bit of celebrity gossip. You get a few free samples as well – I got a free face mask when I bought it, and it comes with a free perfume sample and moisturiser sample in the middle – great! Also, Glamour Pair up with Latest in Beauty to produce beauty boxes, which are always amazing! Their Spring one is ready now, and I would highly recommend it.

The next price point of magazines is £3.99, and the two magazines at this price point are Inside and Marie Claire, however I feel like there couldn’t be more of a difference between these two magazines! Inside is full of beautiful glossy photos, but very little text. I use magazines for inspiration for blog posts and what to buy, and this magazine was either full of cat walk outfits that I wouldn’t wear or products/items that are just too expensive. I felt like there was nothing in this magazine that interested me…. However, Marie Claire is amazing, and this is the other magazine of the lot I would probably subscribe to. It is full of information about beauty and life and fashion. It lays out its pages in really cool ways (see photo below) and I personally loved this magazine. Plus, I got a free Nails Inc Nail Polish with it, as well as a few free samples within the magazine and two discount codes. So I feel like you got something for your money.

The last magazine is the most expensive, at £4.50, and it’s Tatler. If you want a luxury feeling magazine, with super glossy images and beautiful text and things to buy, then this is for you. However all the fashion it advertises start at £500+, and when there are articles, there is just too much text. This magazine was just too much for me. But it goes look and feel amazing. So, if the very luxury life – both in magazine and things you buy – is you area, this magazine will be for you.

I hope you enjoyed a little bit of a different post, but I thought if would be a really cool and unique idea!

Katie x