A Really, Crap, Unconvincing Title! (Real)

Member Name: Emma1973

Product:	Real
Date:	01/09/04 (153 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good read, Quite cheap, Weepy stories

Disadvantages: Stories can be sometimes upsetting, It may be seen as failing in the 'something for everyone' category

"Streetch" Why do they have these mags placed up so high, always risk pulling the whole lot down on me. A £1? For a magazine of this type? I don't supposed it does come with any freebies like the others.

"A bag, madam" Certainly not, do you think I'm ashamed to be seen with it in public? We should wave our mags free and proud!

Hmmm, now to sneak into the house past my partner. Honestly I'm not worried about it, but the other half usually thinks they're puerile and often degrading, not to mention exploitative. Personally I think they're fantastic, particularly the little red number on the front!

Where to read? In the bathroom with the copious amount of toilet roll, but there is a big box of tissues next to my bed. Damn, I'm going to sit in the living room and do it!

I always flick through before I get stuck in and several things catch my ete. Ooh, 'Dirty Celebs' (always a fav), High heeled boots, tempting boudoirs, Kylie in a bikini, private jets, good suits and fish! Good stuff!

And now I've got your attention, especially you chaps at the back, wondering whether to dash to the newsagents I've got a little secret to tell you.
Its a ladies mag!, and not a naughty nudie one I', sorry, but on of those lifestyle ones. My other half just keeps getting annoyed with all the crap I keep bringing in the house!

But why this one? Is there actually anything in this mag that makes it stand out from the others, I'll have a butchers and let you know.
The features in this fortnights issue concerns themselves with modern divorce, baby snatchers, celibate marriages, people who hire private jets and an interview with a woman whose sister was murdered. Doom, gloom and envy galore it seems. I do have to say that this isn't typical of the mag, they often do have more uplifting tales. Usually about beating some horrible disease, or surviving a horrific accid
ent and having babies. Actually that doesn't sound much better, does it?

They do have some really great ones, I found the ones on the changes in child law, and was boosted to up my involvement with Amnesty International after seeing some articles on the Sudan and Afghanistan.

They are excellently written though, the standard of journalism is fantastic, contrary to many of the womens mags around they are unbiased and non-judgement. Obviously there are tearjerkers but sentimental crap-trap is out the window.

And of course being a ladieezz mag you gotta have beauty and fashion. This is where the difference between Womans Own and Marie Claire comes in. Lets face it we all love a good bargain and don't mind picking up the odd thing at Primark and George, but occasionally (very occasionally in my case), we like to treat ourselves to the designer product (shoes for me!). This is where Real comes into its own, in one fashion article you could have George, Chanel, right up to some obscure designer you've never heard of and charges £500 for a pair of knickers! My only criticism is that they are featuring more and more pricey items. Celeb fashions aren't really my thing, but I know some people will be interested in where you can buy the clothes MArtine McCutcheon or Clare Sweeney wear in High Street versions.
I do find the make up tips really useful, and again you're going to find Collection 2000 next to Space NK.

From there it goes a bit Womans Ownish. Interior decorating and home wares? There's enough DIY programmes on the telly, I don't really want to see how some bored suburban housewife has re-done her bathroom. And for some reason Habitat features quite heavily!

Where would we be without cooking (McDonalds probably), and of course they have a few pages devoted to that, fish in case you're interested. And yes they have the odd easy recipe a la Delia Smith, but for the most part it does look a
bit dinner party. In its defence it doesn't go calling for wild wallaby meat and some exotic spices you have to pay loads for to get from foreign countries. I can honestly say I've never tried any of the recipes, even if they do look fantastically good!


The rest of the mag is filled with loads of little things, theres usually some articles testing child products and suggesting places to go, alcohol, travel, odd snippets of gossip and of course your horoscopes.
There is one thing that is now gone and that I sadly miss. On the very last page there was always an article written by their resident chap, who looked at life, love and everything from his perspective. It was very, very funny, and very up front and honest. Even my partner would read it, sit there, nodding his head, and muttering "that is so true" occasionally!


So lets knock it down to the bare basics.

Bad Stuff:
The fashion items are becoming a bit pricier ( I read Cosmopolitan if I want to drool over expensive clothes, thanks)
Can occasionally come off as a bit suburban housewife, babies, dinner parties, etc.


Good Stuff:
The price, cant knock a £1 for a 111 page mag, which in a second good point only includes 16 adverts and no classifieds for Breast Enlargement, liposuction, etc.
Its definitely for normal women, no stick thin models who'd fall over if you sneezed, they have normal size woman, and the majority of the clothes they show are very every size of woman and every budget.
No crappy short fiction stories
No diets! No crap about losing weight and how you should be a size 6 by the next 'season' (Ok, maybe that its a bit sensible could go up in the bad stuff)

Uumm, I think thats about all the stuff I can come up with at the moment.
Summing it up, this is actually a really good mag, who's the target audience?, well everybody apart from teenagers and pensioners. Perhaps that could
be seen as a bit of a failure, but Real do manage it really well. Things is, I think the novelty of all the different types of articles has worn off a little now, and they put the cover price up I probably wont buy it, only if there is an article I really want to read.

Anyway, got to go, got a few Take A Break competitions to do!

Summary: