Glamour Magazine July 2012 Issue

This month, Glamour Magazine has some fabulous free gifts with the July Issue from top make-up brand Benefit. 

'The Pore-fessional' Pro Balm came with the Kylie Minogue cover, the 'Bad Gal Lash' Mascara comes with the Fearne Cotton cover and the 'That Gal Face Primer' comes with the Eva Longoria cover. I picked up the Pro Balm and Mascara issues as they are the two Benefit products which I've been wanting to try for so long - I have two copies of the magazine now but at only £2 for each copy, it seems like a bargain to try out Benefit for the first time. The samples are approximately half the size of the full size & full price product and they come in slightly different packaging but the product and in particular, the mascara brush are the same as the full size product so you can get a fair trial at the product before deciding if you want to go all out and purchase full size.

Check back soon as I'll be doing full reviews of each of the products once I've had some time to test them! However, if you're at a newsagents or supermarket, its definately worth picking up a copy of Glamour this month - there are also interviews with Jessie J, Holly Willoughby, Lea Michele and all the cover girls, a £16,000 worth of products giveaway, High Street Steals and all of their usual fabulous features.

The September Issue

I was looking over some older university work this week and came across my notes from The September Issue, a documentary about the production of Vogue magazine.

This is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen because it gives such an insight into the fashion magazine world - from idea formation to issue release, everything is included. Not only do you see behind-the-scenes of the production of the 2007 September issue itself, you get to know the people including infamous editor Anna Wintour, creative director Grace Coddington and more. You also see how their photoshoots take place, production meetings, fashion shows, collection previews - everything that goes into the production of a high end fashion magazine. For an industry that seems so endlessly and effortlessly glamourous, this is definately an insight into what its really like - you don't really realise how influential Vogue is to seasonal fashion until you watch Anna Wintour tell high end designers like Oscar de la Renta not to include certain looks in this collections.

Check out the trailer below from the film and be sure to take a look at the documentary itself - its absolutely fascinating - I couldn't recommend it more to anyone interested in the beauty and fashion industries.

Vogue - My Guilty Pleasure

Being a media student, the study of magazines is a pretty essential part of your course and in my second year, I did a case study on British Vogue. This was one of the big reasons why I got into fashion as I had studied issue after issue of this magazine so intensely that I couldn't help but fall in love with it.

Vogue is the pinnacle of high fashion all over the world are we're really lucky to have our own version of the magazine in the UK. My favourite cover from 2011 was Victoria Beckham by Alasdair McLellan for February (pictured above). I love the natural pose that she exhibits and how it seems like you are viewing the real Victoria on the cover. The rest of the shoot and interview inside were equally as eye opening and that is one of the many reasons why I love Vogue - I get to see a side of fashion that I'll probably not get to experience personally myself.

My guilty pleasure in the magazine has to be the adverts - I could stare at them for hours on end. Those high class brands which I aspire to purchase pieces from one day, create the most stunningly provocative adverts that really appeal to me. The incredible mix of brands also inspires me - with H&M, Topshop and other high street brands advertising alongside the likes of Louis Vuitton and Prada, it makes me feel like the high street trends that I buy into aren't all that far from the catwalks of London, New York and Paris.

Whenever I have some spare cash, I'll almost always spend it on a fashion magazine and Vogue is my absolute favourite splurge! Do any fashion magazines inspire you? Let me know in the comments!