Magazine Review: Allure August 2010 - Eva Mendes

I had forgotten about their big giveaway in August until I got this issue. Don't think I'm going to bother to sign up for anything this year since last year I set my alarm for over half of the items & didn't get a single one.
On the subject of Beauty, they have an article about the return of blush (& in it acknowledge that bright blush can look amazing on pale girls as long as applied with a light hand - something most mags tell you to avoid), a Sugar & Spice article about makeup looks inspired by princesses & villans, & Skin Deep, skincare for your skincolor/ethnicity.
This issue also has a Hair Special. Topics include: The Hottest Cuts (shoulder-length, bob, cropped, long & layered with celeb examples & exactly what to ask your stylist for to get their looks), Tools of the Trade for each cut, 13 Hairstyling Shortcuts, and a few words on Brigette Bardot and how she had the "most enduring hairstyle ever" & pics of all the different ways it has been interpreted. Also Wild Things, which features wild, roughed-up, matte hair & how to get that look.
They also had a blurb about the cult-y Chanel nailpolishes, from Vamp to Jade to this season's Paradoxal. I've never owned a Chanel nailpolish but I have knockoffs of every single on of those shades.
Overall, it's a pretty good issue. Worth picking up.

Magazine Review: Allure July 2010 - Diane Kruger

Two thoughts: 1, this issue is really thin (only 120 pgs). 2, YAY finally someone *different* on a magazine cover. So many magazines just recycled the same old people. Gets boring.
I've really been wanting to see some great summer beauty ideas. Unfortunately I didn't get much from here either. They did have an article titled Summer of Sexy but the only makeup idea was to do a smoky eye with copper instead of black. Other topics were How to Flirt &, Hot Hair (loose waves), etc. Dick Page's column was about how to lighten up your makeup (formulas) for summer, switching to lip pencil & cream products, etc. Also an article titled Shiny, Happy People, about how to get that celeb body glow.
For other Articles there was Forbidden Fruits ( about developing a sense of style in a restricted religious environment), Super Ego (39 tips for projecting confidence) & Deadline Diet (diet & exercise tips for losing weight & toning if you have 10 days, 4-6 weeks or 4-6 months). The Insider's Guide included some different things this time. Stuff like mixed drinks that start with vodka & lemons, How to Bodysurf, but also Bella's (Twilight) Beauty Secrets.

Overall, it was ok. I read through it pretty fast. Not a must-buy, IMO

Magazine Review: Allure June 2010 - Megan Fox

Most of the mentions about this issue have been about the Megan Fox interview. I'm not going to review that, instead talk about what really matters... makeup!! lol
This issue has the Reader's Choice Awards (which is in a pull-out section which I will probably lose in a week). It's all tried & true basics but I did make a few notes on product reviews to check.
The other Beauty related articles include Cutting Class (top hairstylists talk about beauty school), Summer Essentials (covers a wide range of beauty topics but I didn't find any new info), Fresh Hair (dry shampoo), Bronze Works (bronzer application tips, etc but IMO not enough product recs) & also The New Romantics, which is Dior's fall makeup look (deep berry lips, pink/burgundy/purple eyeshadow, etc) which has made me really look forward to fall. lol
In other topics, they also had a weight loss article, 50 Ways to Burn Calories. Tips included taking Vitamin D, drink more water, eat spicy food & more dairy.
Overall, it was so-so. Not horrible but not a must-get either

Magazine Review: Allure May 2010 - Catherine Zeta-Jones

I made more notes on this issue than I have for any other magazine since I started doing reviews. Which is a very good thing.
In the Beauty Reporter sections they had a (positive) review of the Tresemme Fresh Start Dry Foam shampoo, promoting the trends of white eyeliner, teal eyeshadow & liner, highlighter & taupe nails (taupe nails have been talked about for months now. Have a feeling they'll be around for awhile). The Beauty 101 was on Shiny Hair, nothing ground-breaking. They had 2 pages on Shear Genius Brig's win (I was NOT happy about that).
As for their longer articles, there was the spring/summer mandatory sunscreen article but at least this one was a little more interesting, talking about SPF 30 vs SPF 100, how to layer w/other products & application spots commonly overlooked. They had the top 5 trends for fall in Backstage Beauty, but none felt very new or exciting. Shock Value is a pictorial about bright lipcolors, created a few lemmings for me but the photography could've been better. They also had an article about hot rollers & different ways to use them, which I will note is something that I don't think I've read in any magazine before (that I remember at least).
This is the annual "naked" issue. TBH, the nakedness is over-hyped. Too much strategic posing, most of the time covering more than a bikini. Emmanuelle Chriqui is the only one who really seemed naked (& she looked great). Oh course this was accompanied by 22 Ways to Look Better Naked which didn't have any new or interesting tips.
As far as articles, the only standout was Beauty Behind Bars. There was also a mention of Molly Ringwald's new bio, Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family & Finding the Perfect Lipstick.
One thing I also noticed about this issue was that not all of the reviews were positive. As an example, about half of the hot rollers mentioned in Heat Wave were dissed.

I know I had some negative opinions about this issue but I still think it's worth getting.

Magazine Review: Allure April 2010 - Carrie Underwood

I normally love Allure but this issue didn't do much for me. Maybe because its the Anti-Aging Special (and I'm only in my mid-20s). Heidi Klum is part of the special & her (almost nude) body is *amazing*. Insane even if she hadn't had 4 kids. Life is not fair.
An article related to the anti-aging special is The Perfect Age, which is about the age in which people think you reach your physical peak of beauty. (Spoiler: it's 37)
More beauty-related, the article Shadow Play, which is about picking the right eye shadow for your eye color, has quite a few options & ideas for each eye color. I'm normally bored by the eye shadow/eye color thing (personally I think skintone matters a lot more than eye color when picking flattering shades) but the article was fairly interesting. Hair Force talks about working with your natural hair texture rather than trying to make it into something it's never going to be. Unfortunately the only hair types addressed are fine, thick & curly. I feel left out. lol

Total pages: 194
Pages dog-earred: 0