Simply the BEST! Better than all the rest...?! (Best Magazine)

Member Name: Wee_Jackie_163

Product:	Best Magazine
Date:	12/09/09 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good value & entertaining...

Disadvantages: See review...

I have been brought up in a family of very keen 'recyclers' who have the motto "If you are finished with it then pass it on". This applies to everything from old television sets to paperback books, but one thing that regularly circulates amongst my sister and mother and I, is magazines. We buy our own, read them, and then pass them on to each other, ensuring that we well and truly get our monies worth from each one!

One magazine that is a favourite of my sister is 'Best' magazine. I therefore have had the pleasure of receiving copies of this magazine for the past three years or so - second hand of course.

Best magazine is a weekly publication, with a new copy coming out each Tuesday or Wednesday. It costs 87 pence and has approximately 64 pages. Please take no notice of the picture of the magazine at the top of the Dooyoo page; this is clearly out-dated and today's offering looks nothing like it whatsoever!

I would say that I think that Best magazine is different from some of the more 'glossy' magazines that regularly hit our newsagent's shelves, in that a little less attention is given to following the big stars of today. Some magazines that are available nowadays seem to focus on what eyeliner Cheryl Cole is wearing and how so and so was caught in bed with whatshisname, but I do find that this is not really the case with Best.

I think the main reason for this is that Best is aimed at a slightly more 'mature' market, and therefore the celebrity stories contained within the magazine are generally aimed at more 'fluffy' stars such as Fern Britton or Anne Robinson (ok, she's not that fluffy, but hopefully you get my point...!)

Not to be outdone though, Best does its best (lol, pardon the pun) to cover other bases in terms of celebrity gossip, so there is the occasional snippet about Jordan AKA Katie Price, Cheryl Cole and Peter Andre. I feel that this is done to be a little more appealing to slightly younger audiences too, whereas a lot of similar style magazines contain hardly any reference to these more 'trendy' celebrities, in my opinion.

There are plenty of 'real-life' type stories contained in Best magazine too. I do find that these indulge the nosy side to my personality quite nicely, as I for one quite enjoy reading stories like how one woman managed to spend £55,000 to help her son become a 'Male Jordan' (this story featured in a recent issue) and casting judgement over said people. I do find that this is quite entertaining, and am more than happy to curl up on the sofa on a wet afternoon with a mug of coffee, packet of biscuits and a back-issue of 'Best' (please don't judge me too much!)

The competitive side of the readers can be indulged too. Best contains at LEAST two or three 'prize puzzles' in each issue. These vary from crosswords to word searches, with most of the prizes being cash sums. The crossword often has a prize of £1,000, which is quite good when compared to other magazines out there.

Contained in Best magazine too are some helpful bits of advice such as the 'Super Savers' page. This is a page made up of money-saving ideas and tips. One such tip on a page in the magazine recently was a 'Dine for Less' deal, where one well-known restaurant chain was offering a two-course meal for two people with a bottle of wine for £29. These deals and tips aren't always relevant to me personally, but I do enjoy scanning the page to see if there is anything worthwhile. There aren't many magazines out there today that dedicate a whole page to money-saving advice and tips in my opinion, so this is quite a welcome addition that Best have included, for me anyway.

Lots of beauty and fashion advice adorns the Best pages too; tips about which make-up is best for this and that, and a recent feature about 'Bargain Skin Must-haves' proved to be quite an interesting read as I do find it quite unusual for magazines to focus on which beauty products are most budget-friendly!

Best also contains a lot of features that other magazines contain too... Everything from a 'Best Telly' page which highlights the best TV programmes that will be hitting our screens in the coming week, to the usual Horoscopes and 'readers letters' page. I find that these 'fill in' the rest of the magazine quite nicely and I am not left feeling cheated because Best have substituted some of these well-known features for other material.

A welcome omission from the magazine for me though is the lack of big glossy advertisements. I do find that some of the more 'trendy' or 'glossy' magazines seem to have said advertisements take up half of their volume of pages. This is not an evident problem with Best. They do have perhaps eight or so one-page adverts, but as at least two of these make up the inside covers of the magazine, I personally don't find that is too excessive. Neither am I aware of the advertisements as I am reading the magazine, whilst I most certainly AM when reading a more 'glossy' affair, and I do find it a bit off-putting.

The final aspect of the Best magazine is one that I would say makes it stand out a little more than other similar offerings. There is some diet advice contained within the magazine, which is normal practice for most similar mags nowadays, but I do find too that an issue of Best will generally contain a bit of health advice as well. This may be anything from how best to cope with the Menopause - not applicable to me, thanks very much!! - But on occasion too I have found that there are some helpful tips from medical experts and Doctors.

A lot of conditions have been covered in recent issues - conditions that I personally suffer from or have concerns about - such as migraine and insomnia. I have too found that the advice given about Swine Flu and how to keep your heart healthy recently, proved to be interesting and helpful. I do find it off-putting if said advice is put across in a patronising manner in magazines - which it often is - but to be fair I have never really found this is the case with Best. At no point have I felt I have received a 'ticking off' by the writers/experts/whoever, but instead feel that the facts have been presented fairly and advice has been given accordingly.

Hopefully I have given you an idea of the broad spectrum of topics that this little magazine covers. Recipes and fashion advice, celebrity gossip and true-life stories, and all for under a quid! What more could we want, really?

I would award Best magazine top marks. Even though I get it for free as part of our family's 'pass it on' cycle, I have actually gone out and bought this myself on occasion, if I have missed an issue or the like.

I do find that it passes the time quite nicely, and is less 'mundane' than several other similar magazines that are available... It's called BEST for a reason after all!

The magazine is widely available from all good newsagents stores and supermarkets alike.

Summary: It's called BEST for a reason...