| Hair Magazines - Inside Scoops Under The Covers |
| Karen Marie Shelton |
| Date: 06/18/2006 |
Introduction
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|
Jennifer
Garner |
|
Alias - All Rights
Reserved |
A
little over five years ago I had the great fortune to
sign on as consumer hair editor and regular
contributing writer for MultiMedia (MMI) Magazines.
MMI
produces and publishes several notable news stand
"titles" (Short Cuts, 101 Celebrity Hairstyles, Hair
Gallery, Special Seasonal Hair Titles) that deal with
hair. More specifically they produce a magazine
every month that is devoted completely to short hair
issues.
In the
past I have also worked as a writer and contributing
editor on African American focused hair magazines,
contributed to contemporary hair topics for Life & Style
Magazine and helped write a special Meredith hair
publication as well as writing an ongoing column for
Total Beauty Image Magazine
which is a professional focused hair and beauty
magazine.
I have
learned so much about what goes on under the covers of
hair, beauty and fashion magazines that I want to share
some of the secrets that I have learned.
Hair Magazines Come In Two Flavors
Basically hair magazines are organized around:
1.
Professional hair issues
2. Consumer hair issues
Professional hair magazines discuss issues that are of
primary importance to professional hairdressers and
would hold minimal information that would be of interest
to hair consumers.
Consumer hair focused magazines have a mission to
provide the latest information on a specific consumer
hair topic area.
Whereas
a professional magazine would discuss the latest blow
drying technologies and advances a consumer magazine
would provide consumer focused at-home blow drying tips.
Consumer hair magazine topic
areas might include:
1.
Hair color
2. Special event hair topics - proms, weddings
3. Hairstyles only which would be published in a
gallery format with minimal content or articles.
4. Celebrity hairstyle focus
5. Soap opera focus
6. Race focus
7. Hair lengths & styles - short
hair, long
hair, updos
8. General consumer hair issues with photos and
lots of great content.
Over
the past five years I have literally spent a tremendous
amount of time reading all of the hair magazines that I
could get my hands on. This includes Professional
and Consumer titles. I have also subscribed to
European magazines since they often have a completely
different focus.
In
fact, I subscribe to just about every hair, beauty and
fashion related magazine that I can get my hands on.
The joke at the
HairBoutique.com office is figuring out how to get
past the ever present multiple stacks of magazines
around my office door into my office.
Why Hair Magazines Play An Important
Role
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|
Paul McCartney |
|
DailyCeleb.com -
All Rights Reserved. |
Both
professional and consumer hair magazines play very
important roles for hairdressers and their customers.
Hair
magazines, whether professionally focused or consumer
focused:
1.
Offer the latest hair care, treatment and styling
information.
2. Provide the latest hair trends and how they
relate to the current fashions.
3. Outline the latest hair care products offerings
and innovations.
4. Debunk false information.
5. Offer new insights into the hair industry on
both fronts.
6. Helps bring professionals and consumers
together by addressing common hair related concerns &
issues.
7. Promotes the ongoing growth and success of the
hair care trade.
8. Helps advertise the services of hairdressers
that offer unique services or specialties.
How To Best Utilize Hair Magazines
There
is no better place in the world to find the latest
hairstyles images than hair magazines. Although
some Internet sites like
Hairboutique.com
have the latest celebrity hairstyles, for "real people"
styles, the consumer hair magazines are a great
resource.
If you
have never purchased a consumer hair magazine before, go
to the nearest Barnes & Noble or similar store and just
look at the various options. There is usually a
large section in a major bookstore dedicated to
magazines. I find that Barnes & Nobles carries all
the major consumer hair titles.
Select
a few of the available magazines and quickly page
through them to get a feel for what types of styles that
the magazine features. Short hair magazines will
have only short hairstyles. Celebrity hair
magazines will feature the hottest celebs.
Once
you find a few titles that have the type of styles that
you are interested in, buy them and take them home and
study them. Use them as your ongoing "hair bible"
and as a great way to select a new hair cut or style.
Supplement the information you glean from the hair
magazines with information you find on the Web at sites
like
Hairboutique.com. I still have Harris
Publication magazines from ten years ago because I found
styles that I wanted to keep.
Some Of My Favorite Hair Magazines
Consumer focused hair magazines offer fabulous resources
and guides for consumers to utilize and from which to
make very informed hair cut, style and product
selections.
While
of course I am prejudiced to Multi Media and think that
my editor, Cheryl Crosby is the very best, I know all
the other major hair magazine editors and have
tremendous respect for all of them. Yes, every one
of them works very hard and does a great job for their
titles.
I have
witnessed first hand what it takes to put together a
good hair magazine - either professional or consumer -
and it involves tremendous work, commitment, love and
many hours burning the midnight oil.
What
are my favorite hair magazines? I personally read
all of the MMI magazines - Short Cuts, 101 Celebrity
Hairstyles, Hair Gallery and the various Seasonal
Specials every single month. MMI's Cheryl Crosby is an
incredible editor (and writer) and works very hard to
always have the latest hairstyle images, fashions, news,
celebrity styles and timely consumer hair articles.
Cheryl
works around the clock and every issue is her "baby"
that she worries about, nurtures and gives 1000% of her
energy to creating. I have watched her non-stop
for the past five years give her all to making her
magazines "the best that they can be for her readers".
I also
love many of the Harris magazines but really enjoy their
special Bridal edition that they do every year.
Victoria Wurdinger's Short Hair issues are
fantastic. Not only is Victoria is an amazingly
talented writer and editor she is a phenomenal
consumer hair expert. I also feel that Harris
Publications Editor-In-Chief Mary Greenburg does an
amazing job with all the Harris books and I especially
enjoy her Soap Opera issues.
On the
professional side of the house I am addicted to Modern
Salon Magazine which Mary Atherton fine tunes to
perfection. Victoria Wurdinger is a regular
contributor and her Modern articles, especially her
annual State Of The Industry offers an amazing wealth of
information.
Besides
the US hair magazine titles I have mentioned there are
many excellent European, Australian, Russian and
International Hair magazines. I also admire the
work of Bonnie at Sophisticates and give kudos to Tom
Carson for his work with Total Beauty Image Magazine
which has a professional focus.
Summary
Hair
magazines, whether professionally focused or consumer
focused offer timely information on the current hair
industry. |