Magazine Review: Marie Claire September 2010 - Mary-Kate Olsen

This really is the Project Runway magazine isn't it? This issue they have an article about the PR casting call, Nina has a page titled Nina's Guide to Getting Dressed (I do love her books so my only complaint here is that it wasn't a longer article) & Gunn's Laws (comfort is overrated, be nice, etc). I'm surprised they didn't take Michael Kors from Glamour.
This wasn't my favorite issue for fashion. The Big Girl in a Skinny World column talks about her must-haves but other than that & Nina & Tims columns, I didn't make any other fashion related notes.
This issue did have more in the way of beauty. The Beauty Passport is on facialists secrets, Beauty Snoop is about Evan Rachel Wood, they have a bunch of makeup & hair product picks in their Lady & the Vamp section, the Foreign Beauty Report was on Bali (duh, seeing that Eat, Pray, Love is coming out soon) & there is a one page write up about a the makeup, etc in a French Cabaret.
Quite a few interesting articles, including how stay at home dads are the new status symbol for working women, a really infurating article about the backlog of untested rape kits & an article about What Women Eat in different parts of the world. It includes calorie counts, etc & lists the women's height & weight. Seems misleading though since often the calorie counts are quite high but the women are still quite slim. They should've included how much physical activity the women do since that would be a huge contributing factor. But I believe this was taken from a book on the subject so it was out of MC's hands. Funny thing, the American featured in the mag ate only fast food. lol.

If you are looking for fall fashion inspiration, I would keep looking. But if you want a few interesting articles to read, it might be worth it.

Magazine Review: Marie Claire August 2010 - Dakota Fanning

I don't usually like seeing young teenagers on magazines for women but I didn't mind seeing Dakota Fanning on this issue. I guess she's never really seemed all that young or immature, which could be the difference.
I will start by talking about the Articles in this issue, since they were a little more interesting. In Love/Sex they talked about mistresses for hire & how men like tans lines (which sucks because I find them horribly tacky & can't tan. I'm pretty sure I've come across actual tan-line porn. Um. Yeah. lol). In the Bulletin they tal about the rise of asexuals (more popular among women than men). 1 Girl, 2 Guys & a Baby is about a women having & raising a child w/her 2 gay BFFs. The Big Bang is about how to pump up your sex life using various aids. There is also an article about honor killings in America & how they usually don't get much press since they often fall under the category of domestic abuse-type situations.
For Fashion, I 1st want to say that I'm not super fond of the individual pieces layout in the 101 Ideas section. They way its set up makes it kinda difficult to see the (usually super expensive) items. This issue's Designer Dossier is on Fendi, & the Big Girl, Skinny World feature is on accessories. Towards the back of the issue they also have a photo shoot with head-to-toe designer looks, summing up that designers look of the season (Fendi, Valentino, Michael Kors, etc).
In Beauty, they have a blurb about what they are calling Grunge 2.0 (which I'm kinda excited about - for unknown reasons), Beauty Snoop is on Christina Hendricks. They also have a section on makeup to complement your haircolor & a page saying how having sex can make you more attractive. Duh. lol

Overall, this issue was kind of boring. Skip it.

Magazine Review: Marie Claire July 2010 - Taylor Swift

I first read through this when it was 100 degrees outside & about 85 inside. The last thing I wanted to think about was heavy clothes so I skipped the fashion sections in favor of the beauty & articles. I know why magazines talk about fall so early, since the fall designer runway collections came out awhile ago but in this heat I imagine the reader who wants to think about boots & camel coats might be few & far between.
Starting with the Beauty articles, they have an article on The Pure Cure (things like acupuncture, charcoal therapy, ayurveda, etc), Full Spectrum (summer trends for your skintone), Master Class: The Blowout & Slimming with Self-Tanner.
The most interesting article to me was the one by Lori Gottlieb (author of Marry Him) about female friends & how they can be fake & possibly harmful. Other noteable articles were The Savy Girl's Guide to Contraception & How to Throw a Party in the Great Outdoors (5 pgs of tips). In the Love/Sex section the topics included what cities have more single men, japanese women who pay escorts to hit on their husbands so they getting bigger divorce settlements & a girl who gave up sex for a year. Also a mention of YouTube vloggers.
When I finally cooled off enough to look at the fashion pages, there were some decent mentions. Instant Classic: Plaid, Fashion Resume: Erin Wasson, American Standards (the new classics, which include camel coats, leather skirts & riding pants), Dress Code (real women & their wardrobe secrets), Designer Dossier: Patrick Robinson, an article about Project Runway winner Seth Aaron & the Big Girl/Skinny World column was about dressing for the wedding season. Also in the fashion photo spreads I noticed a gorgeous black model, Fatima Siad, apparently a former ANTM contestant.

NOTE: I wrote a full page of notes on this issue, which I haven't done in awhile. Think it might be worth getting.

Magazine Review: Marie Claire May 2010 - Jessica Simpson

This issue has been talked about a bit because they are claiming Jessica is makeup-free. One reason I have trouble believing that is the lack of under-eye darkness. Are there actually people who don't need concealer?
As far as the fashion in the issue, there aren't tons of great articles but a few interesting pages here & there. The Fashion Resume is on Carey Mulligan. I had a feeling she was going to get attention from the fashion world since she tends to wear more unique clothes/outfits. The Designer Dossier is on Philip Lim. They had a page of street style and since that's so popular in other mags & blogs I'm wondering if it will be a new monthly feature. They did have quite a few cute swimsuits in the issue but since I have zero intention of getting into one anytime soon it doesn't help me much. lol. They have a *gorgeous* Vanessa Paradis/Chanel photo shoot. Great clothes, very artistic.
The seemed to be The Hair Issue. They had tool and product recs for each hair type (fine, medium/thick, curly, coarse, damaged), how to wear hair accessories and how to choose a haircolor to suit your complexion. In the Big Girl, Skinny World column she talks about slimming hair and makeup. One thing I noticed was not much emphases on contouring, which in my opinion, makes a *huge* difference.
The only article that stood out was an interview with Jillian Lauren who is promoting her new book Some Girls: My Life in a Harem.
Overall, its worth picking up but its not a must-buy this month.

Magazine Review: Marie Claire April 2010 - Heidi Klum

My first thought when I got this issue was, "They aren't showing much of the Project Runway winning dress". Seriously, WTH? Plus Heidi's face looks really... odd. Not exactly sure what it is about the pic but something is off.
As for the content, I was very underwhelmed. Nothing in the fashion pages stood out to me. For beauty, they had a page of eco-beauty items, mentioning the new Sonia Kashuk brushes, the Physican's Formula Bamboo Bronzer (which I've seen mentioned in a lot of magazines this month. I'm going to look for it at the store today, even though I don't really need another bronzer. lol) and two pretty shades of China Glaze nailpolish (Four Leaf Clover which is a mint creme & Re-fresh Mint, teal creme). This month's Beauty Report is on London and I always find those articles interesting.
MC is normally good for interesting articles. Again, a bit lacking this month. I did get my interest piqued regarding "k-celebs" which are overnight celebrity sensations in South Korea that have a high rate of suicide. The article Sperm & the Single Girl was interesting too. It's about single women going to sperm banks.

Total pages: 225
Pages dog-earred? 1