I have long been an avid reader of women's magazines. I have been hopelessly seduced by the promise of a quick-fix, easy route to a glamorous lifestyle. I have been teased by the idea of dressing up like a Hollywood Siren on a ragamuffin's budget and tortured by endless advertisements for bags and shoes that, short of selling my soul to the Devil himself, I am unlikely to attain by legal methods.
But over the last few years, I have fallen distinctly albeit gradually out of love with them, save stalwarts such as Women & Home and Good Housekeeping which seem to have stayed true to their original ethos and maintained their quality and standard of writing.
I had been aware of "Psychologies" but had lumped it in my mind together with magazines by Oprah and other American journals featuring happy clappy advice about loving yourself and saving the universe through positive thinking.
I have to say that, having reviewed, the December 2013 issue (the 99th in fact) of Psychologies, I have been pleasantly surprised to find a glossy magazine with a writing style suited to readers who relish intelligent, informed material which makes them think and actually offers useful advice.
Psychologies is a mix of thought provoking articles such as "Speaking Up" (the danger of being too quietly spoken may hinder your career development as a woman) and "The (Un)fairytale ending" in which a Catholic divorcee talks about her feelings of guilt and isolation as a result of opting to leave her marriage after just a year.
The magazine contains sections such as "The Life Lab" (a mix of self-help, wise words, special reports and experiments).
The Boost contains information about beauty, wellbeing, home, living, food and travel.
The section entitled The Fix contains news, reviews, books, film art and ideas. Every topic which you would expect to find in the glossy heavyweights is here - which surprised me. There is a fabulous article called "Cold Comforts" which talks about how to protect your immune system in the coming winter months and recipes for coconut madeleines (coconut is surely becoming the new superfood), cherry and cinnamon bundt cakes and oatcakes with pink peppercorns, with the idea of making these as Christmas gifts.
I have never been particularly persuaded to buy a magazine on the strength of its cover star. I prefer to be tempted by the article straplines but the lead article with Julia Roberts, and a following one with Amanda De Cadenet (who I remember as some sort of wild child) do not disappoint.
I really enjoyed Psychologies and would certainly buy it. If you would like to try it for yourself, the magazine is currently offering a 3 issues for £3 trial when you subscribe with direct debit.
For further information just go to www.kelseyshop.co.uk/psy/c101.
*A PR sample was sent for the purposes of this post.
