Marie Claire > Reviews > MARIE CLAIRE.

Author's product rating:   

Value for money	Excellent
Quality of journalism	Excellent
Quality of features	Excellent
Quantity of advertising	Average

Advantages:	A great magazine with good content .
Disadvantages:	At the dearer end of the market .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

-MARIE CLAIRE-

"Marie claire presents new, innovative and inspirational ideas, combining style with commonsense. A magazine of contrasts, it beckons its readers with pages of the finest fashion, beauty and food. It's a winning formula of serious journalism and a healthy dose of glamour".

Marie Claire is a thick glossy monthly magazine from IPC Media and it is Jam packed full of interesting articles that are topical and highly interesting. It celebrates its 15th year of production and it is aimed at the prime 25-39 age market. Marie Claire is a high quality, better than average, woman's fashion and beauty magazine and Its readership is over 15 million each month worldwide. -

I have been buying Marie Claire on and off for quite a few years now. They always have such great gifts offered with this magazine and the month of June is no exception. It is an eco friendly edition and the magazine comes wrapped in a thick brown paper cover. With the statement slashed across the front page of "Eco Chic goes Glam". "The hottest fashion and beauty buys that are 'Green and Gorgeous', and with the amusing comment to the top of: "This is not a plastic bag". - Really? -

Included inside the magazine, as a freebie for June is a 50ml tub of Body Shop, Coconut body butter, which contains fair trade ingredients, worth £5.00 retail price. I love this stuff as I do most of the Body Shop terrific body butters, so the magazine cost me £3.20 but the body butter is worth £5.00 and I think I got an absolute bargain. I have been using it as a hand cream and it has the most gorgeous coconut smell and moisturizing feel. So a great magazine with a free gift attached.

What I really like about Marie Claire is the quality. This is not a trash mag and has very little celebrity gossip in it which I am pleased about. Don't get me wrong I don't mind a bit of celeb gossip, but not the whole magazine, as tends to be the case today with the myriad of Bi weekly trash mags. I quite like Heat and think it is one of the better ones, and it also comes with the TV guide. But there are so many out there with all gossip and no real content. So when it comes to a half decent mag, Marie Claire is my first choice. Its also not sex dominated as magazines such as Cosmopolitan tend to be, and not one single mention of the female orgasm, which makes a refreshing change, just good articles loads of content, being a really thick publication and lots of nice samples. By samples I mean all the little sachets and perfume wipes, shampoos etc that are stuck to the individual pages. Marie Claire is packed full of them...So what makes Marie Claire the magazine of choice for me?

---THE MAGAZINE---
The magazine itself comes in A4size, so this is not one for the handbag. It is thick and heavy and worth every penny of it £3.20's worth. Having 380 pages this month, this is no skimpy magazine. The quality of the paper is thick and glossy and this months issue has the logo: 'Fashion with Heart' printed across the top with a picture of a heart to accompany it. This issue is all green from the fashion to the beauty to the newest top-to-toe organic products. The magazine is also available in a handbag size should you prefer it.

---INDEX---
-BEAUTY- FEATURES -
'Keep a Clear Head'. (Haircare that's ethical and effective).
'Trick or Treatment'. (The ten day cleansing diet that promises to restore your summer glow).
'Celebs Go Back To Nature'. (The planet Friendly Products Taking Pride Of Place on Celebrities Bathroom Shelves).

---LIFESTYLE---
Life and Style. (Smart Buys For Your Home).
Green House Effect. ( The Award Winning Energy Efficient New Build That Saves a Fortune in Bills).
Green For Go. ( Conservation-Conscious Holidays That Don't Cost The Earth).
On Location: Tanzania. ( The Masai Locals Join Our Fashion Shoot).
On Location: Cornwall. ( Clifftop Walks and Scenic Harbours).

---LAYOUT---
The layout to the pages are all well placed and beautifully photographed. The magazine is clear and easy to read and the print is not overly small. I wear glasses for reading and found no problem at all with the size of print. The pages are neatly sectioned, clearly headed and bright and colourful. They always make their pages come to life and I love the way they layout the fashion section, giving plenty of space between featured clothing. Which by the way is excellent; the articles are all very interesting and extremely well written. I am always particularly interested in the fashions they choose. They are a little more in cost than most high street shops, but they are really original choices of good quality clothing and there are always lots that I am interested in. Marie Claire has a charm about it and its subtlety and understated style appeal to my eye.

I do have to mention the adverts as I know these are off putting to lots of people. Basically you can't get away from them whatever fashion magazine that you buy. They don't actually bother me, I quite like them and you quite often see something that you would like to try out. The good articles and features are abundant so a few adds stuck in between is not the end of the world for me. Without adverts we wouldn't be aware of the many products on the shelves and sometimes I need to be persuaded to buy something by the power of advertising. I can never make up my mind when presented with rows of products in the shops.-

---ARTICLES---
The articles this month are Eco-Friendly, featuring climate change and predictions for the future. Mary Portas speaks to us on ethical fashion. Trendy and Eco-Friendly- "How to spend money with a clear conscience". They have an amazing article on the indigenous communities of the Amazon. About the devastation and deforestation and how a tribe deep in the jungle within the rainforests is fighting for survival. Can experts go 'Eco-Glam'? Challenging the experts to see if they can manage it and asking celebs how green they are? A list activists: The Hollywood stars turned eco campaigners. Self sufficiency and how four couples cope living under this regime. After watching the programme 'The Good Life' I always wanted to try my hand at this. To throw in the proverbial towel, travel to France and live off the land. This is a very interesting article for anyone thinking of trying self sufficiency. All very interesting stuff and lots more beside...

---REGULARS---
Their expert section 'The Guru' which covers 'Advice on diet and nutrition' - Lifestyle and Careers' - 'Fitness' - Sex and Relationships. - Editors Letter - Contributors letters - Web News - Eco News - Classified - Horoscopes -.

Competitions: Win a 5 star luxury spa break in Cyprus.

FREE: Stella McCartney goodies for every reader.

Marie Claire: At the moment they are offering 6 issues for just £6.00, a saving of 69%. Plus you will receive an Aveda replenishing body moisturiser and Shampure soy wax candle worth £42.00.
There is a pull-out in this month's Marie Claire, or go to: http://marieclaire.co.uk/av. Or alternatively, ring the 'Hotline' on 0845 676 7778 and quote code '552Z'. They are available 7/7 from 9 till 9. This is an offer that I will definitely be taking up. You are set up on DD and after the 6 months is up you can continue on at a discounted price of £15.99 for the next 6 months, receiving 18% discount off the full price of the magazine. This will be available to you in the 'Bag' size or full size magazine and will be delivered straight to your door. -

---SUMMARY---
What I like about Marie Claire is its content. Its good value; the featured articles are always very interesting and relevant. I find it an exciting magazine, not flat. I actually read this one. So many magazines I have bought and tried just don't interest me enough to read the articles. Marie Claire does. Its good journalism plain and simple; It is very well written and the articles are always highly original. I find it fresh and lively, and beautifully presented and the high coloured glossy pictures jump off the page. The balance of articles to feature is spot on too with a good variety and scope.

There is some absolutely amazing photography this month in their fashion feature: 'THE TRIBE'. "Make like a warrior princess in this seasons bold prints, batik and ethnic inspired jewellery". Photography by Wayne Maser; they appear to have used an authentic Amazon tribe for the shoot. It really is fantastic photography and worth buying the magazine for this alone! -

So in summing up I would have to say Marie Claire is a brilliant value, better than average, monthly fashion and beauty magazine that is well worth its shop price. An upmarket monthly with intelligent attitude.-

MARIE CLAIRE: £3.20 From all good Newsagents.

www.marieclaire.co.uk