a cup of tea and a bloomin good read! (Top Santé)

Member Name: pania22

Product:	Top Santé
Date:	28/05/09 (43 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: excellent value for money

Disadvantages: the cover does not do the inside of teh magazine any justice at all

Allow me to paint a picture. of where i am at the moment. I am sat at work, In the control room, taking the odd occasional phone call and in my bored moments i am flicking through this months edition of top sante. purchased in a moment of frivolity 2 days ago, and as yet i've not had chance to read it.
I'm greeted with the a-typical glossy magazine cover featuring further a-typical grinning female. the even more a-typical headlines gracing the cover scream at me "lose three dress sizes... by WALKING!" and "shift that cellulite!" before venturing inside I am already hoping that this isnt a magazine for females looking for the quick fix weight loss or beautifying that lasts minutes and not days or weeks.

So lets take a walk through the interior pages...

Already things are looking much more promising than the cover initially conveys, with the contents pages revealing health and wellbeing, medical issues and how blogging can be beneficial to your mental health. AND reading through further, an article on vegetarian diets!! woohoo!! it is a pet peeve of mine that any and all slimming diets in all magazines are based around chicken and fish, and then chicken, and once they've suggested that they may if your lucky suggest chicken again!! This is looking promising!!

Ignoring the filler pages i go straight to and read the main articles within the magazine. and i have to say i am very pleasantly surprised. Extremely well written and informative articles abound, packed with case studies to back up teh advice given and short and snappy self help tips integrated within each article. The case studies help to identify with the fact that real women, members of the public like us, not stick-thin-paid-a-mint-to-say-it models, that have managed to change their life/weight/health for the better.

My main fear with magazines such as this is that usually they are packed with adverts. At the moment this is not the case. yes there are some, sparsely placed throughout the magazine, leading me to feel that this magazine is definately value for money. The thought of purchasing the magazine again is certainly confirming itself as a possibility.

I've just come to the article previously mentioned of "loose 3 dress sizes by walking!" and i have to say that headline does this article no favours, Instead of the usual posing celebrity boasting at their miracle weight loss, the article details country walks, city walks, walks in your lunch hour and general ways to get active! it further goes on to mention the mental and physical benefits that a quiet contemplative stroll can accomplish for mind and body alike. (and my favourite bit, they advocate recruiting a neighbouring fido to accompany you! That wins this mag serious brownie points on my part! ) The veggie article has me sat here wishing that my shift was over so i can leg it home to savour some of the recepies, the miso broth with rice noodles looks particularly appetising for my tea!

The remainder of the magazine is chock full with health tips, recepies, miracle creams and the usual problem pages.. out of 148 pages (including covers) only 43 of these are full page adverts. Meaning 105 pages of article, readers offers, money off coupons etc. At a reasonable price of £2.80 this puts the likes of runners world (£3.55) and other ladies magazines to shame, pound for pound. The subscription page details their current offer of 12 issues for £12! a bargain price of £1 per issue!! most certainly worth the money!!
Closing the back cover i feel pleased with my purchase, after a quick browse i am now looking forward to settling down once home with a nice cup of tea and having a good read of a good magazine.

Summary: an extremely informative magazine and well worth the money