A great read (Red Magazine)

Member Name: simbanewt

Product:	Red Magazine
Date:	14/10/09 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good mix of features

Disadvantages: Lots of adverts

I was given a subscription to Red magazine as a Christmas present, so have been reading it regularly now for several months, and whilst I had never come across it before, I am very impressed. Lots of womens magazines these days tend to be either full of gossipy celebrity stories, or completely devoted to fashion. As a thirty year old woman with a young family these now hold limited appeal, so I was pleased to find that Red holds a great mix of features.

The magazine has a celebrity interview every month, in the current issue it is with Louise and Jamie Redknap, but recently has included women such as Sophie Dahl and Uma Thurman. Each issue will also include several features relevant to the life of a young woman, including features aimed at working women (this month includes a feature on female MDs), features about finding love, and features about family life, from the female perspective (this month including a piece on the controvertial admission that you may have been happier before starting a family).

In addition to the features Red also includes a good section on fashion, including high street buys but also more aspirational designer wear. There is a beauty section including reviews of new products, and a living section which includes cookery features and articles showing the insides of peoples homes. There is also a health and well-being section, which this month includes a feature on self-help books. The magazine also usually includes a couple of readers offers (this month, 20% off at LK Bennett, and £10 to spend at Molton Brown for example).

I really enjoy reading Red as I think you get a great mix of features- it has a little bit of the celebrity magazine, a bit of fashion and beauty and a bit of the home style magazine. I always find the features relate to me, as a young (ish) woman, and it always feels like there is a fair bit to actually read in the magazine (sometimes you spend £2.50 on a magazine to find it takes 5 minutes to read from cover to cover). The only downsides to Red magazine are perhaps the amount of advertising contained within it, but then this is always the case with glossy magazines and is not restricted to Red, and the price. Red costs £3.50 per issue, so not the cheapest magazine, although I think its pretty good value. The subscription packages to Red do offer a better deal however, they are currently offering a subscription for £19.99, so it makes a great Christmas present.

In summary, if you are looking for a magazine with good variety in its features, I would thoroughly recommend Red for a good read.

Summary: Recommended