Marie Claire - glossy with substance (Marie Claire)

Member Name: clara29

Product:	Marie Claire
Date:	11/06/09 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Variety of articles, fashion with ethics - thinking womans mag

Disadvantages: would like to be able to afford some of the designer clobber!!

In my twenties I used to waste a criminal amount of money on magazines - I could easily kill about £20 a month on these!

I started off reading More but outgrew it, graduated to Heat and Now but with the internet, you can pretty much curb your celeb gossip craving without buying the mags.

I had a preconcieved idea that Marie Claire was in the same vein as Cosmopolitan (which I personally hate) so never bothered with it.
I started reading it when I came across one of these offers - it was get a copy of Marie Claire free and the next four issues for 25p each. Credit crunch times meant I leapt at that offer and it did what it was designed to do, meaning I'm hooked.

Marie Claire retails at £3.30 and is published monthly. Originating in France in 1937, it is now published worldwide so that gives you an idea of how longstanding and successful this magazine is.

It covers all the features you would expect to find in a magazine of this type - quite heavy on the fashion, beauty and real life stories.
What I like about Marie Claire, is that it has substance. Apparently the theme for Marie Claire is "More than a Pretty Face" meaning it gives readers information about different women around the world and their needs, struggles, and stories of life.

One example of how this is demonstrated is that there seems to be ecological and ethical features in each issue, whether its promoting fair trade products, or organic food / clothing. They call it "Fashion with heart" and it just makes a welcome change to see this as a regular promotion rather than a one off token article.

Thats not to say that the mag is all preaching and no fun - its really heavy on fashion, beauty, travel and interior design. Another appealing thing about it is it features the designer clothes you would expect in a glossy but also includes high street too which makes it accessible and easier to relate to if you don't have a designer bank balance!

I read this from cover to cover and rarely come across anything that doesn't interest me. I mentioned before that Im no Cosmo fan - maybe its just coincidence, but every time I glance at a cover, its always about sex and orgasms..which is fine every now and again, but I'm interested in reading about other things too!
Finally they have some cracking give-aways - in the four issues I subscribed to, I got a bodyshop body butter free, and a neals yard face cream - oh I do love a bargain :)

Marie Claire has great variety from issue to issue and it's the one mag I will splash out for.

Summary: Much more than your usual sex and fashion, this has thought provoking articles too