blockhead's Blog

Customer Reviews:
For Real, Not Simple, People
I've read the other reviews denouncing the magazine as vapid and consumeristic. The Economist it is not, nor does it purport to be! If you enjoy great layout, graphic design, decorating, wearable fashion, and preparable recipes, Real Simple is for you. As for the product suggestions not being affordable: the interior design sections feature items from Ikea; fashion from Target; and food obtainable from your neighborhood grocery store. The magazine successfully recreates lifestyles featured in higher-end publications, and is comparable to Martha Stewart's 'Living' and 'Blueprint,' and 'Lucky' and 'Domino.'

There's no 'there' there.
This magazine is great, once. After that, I'm kind of left wondering who subscribes to get the same thing, month after month. The photography and styling are beautiful, but the articles are superficial and many of the ideas, silly. For example, is it really a time or energy saver to take a photo of your shoes and attach it to the outside of the shoebox, rather than to take a Sharpie and write 'blue suede flats' on it? How many times can you reorganize your closets/bathrooms or buy new storage containers? I find, when I've read Real Simple, that I come away with a tip or two per issue, maybe. It's fun for a mindless half-hour in the waiting room at the doctor's office. Nothing worth a year's subscription.

How to live a 'Real Simple' life if you have the money
I was drawn to this magazine by the beautiful photography and promises of useful tips on everything from cleaning your kitchen to cheap gift ideas. And yes, there are a few interesting articles, tidbits, and suggestions, but I started to notice that a large portion of each issue is used for advertisements. And as many others have pointed out, there is a LOT of product placement within the articles/features themselves. And many of these recommended products are so expensive that I concluded that this magazine is targeted at wealthy housewives who can afford these things.
However, what I like most about this magazine are the recipes. I've cooked some really yummy meals that were featured in the cooking section and recently they've added a 'shopping list' section that puts all the ingredients needed for the recipes in one shopping list. I bought the magazine for several months but unfortunately, the recipes alone were not worth the hefty price (and mostly empty content), so I stopped buying the magazine.
Defenitely NOT for the budget-minded!

Customer Reviews:
not as promised
While we have not yet received our first issue of this subscription, we know the magazine will be great! We've had previous subcriptions to it. The problem is that it was advertised the company was supposed to send out a card indicating this subscription had been purchased. That 'card' was to have been a stocking stuffer indicating the gift to follow. It never arrived. Emailed the company x3 with no response.

Read it from cover to cover.

This is one of the few magazines that I can actually read from cover to cover.
The magazine has plenty of good articles on health, exercise, nutrition, sex, etc. I will suggest more articles about sex..

Good all-around magazine for men
Men's Health has become a well-around men's magazine with good advice on fitness and nutrition. The monthly workout regiments/tips always seem sound and reasonable for long-term fitness goals, not promising uber-results in 4 weeks. In recent years, it has ventured beyond the health arena, with provocative articles on issues such as child support and injured veterans from the second Gulf War. On the other hand, features on grooming/fashion/new products sometimes over-reach in its attempt to appeal to advertisers who spend money in more fashion-oriented magazines. I can also quibble with the occasional layout style and some 'relationship' articles (more for their tone not the subject matter). Still, I have high regards for the consistent improvement of this publication in recent years.

Customer Reviews:
Best Sports Magazine
I first subscribed to Sports Illustrated in 1968, and have enjoyed it immensely ever since. I have tried the old Sport magazine and the new ESPN magazine and many in between...nothing comes close.

Sports Illustrated
This is a renewal of my existing SI, which expires 2/08. Please confirm that I don't get double-billed.

New Reader
I purchased a year's subscription to Sports Illustrated for my 11 year old grandson and he loves it. He said that and his Cubs bed cover are the best presents ever.

Customer Reviews:
Where is it?
I ordered this November 27, and still have not seen any magazine show up. And according to Amazon's eta it should have started a month ago...Always fun to pay something for nothing.

HAVEN'T RECEIVED
I ordered this in Nov.22th. I haven't received any Marie Claire from Amazon until now.

Order through Publisher
I purchased this magazine through Amazon. The magazine got sent to the incorrect address because of how many different hands it goes through before the publisher gets the address. Publisher doesn't have any of my information on file because I purchased through Amazon. Amazon customer service is a call center in India with employees who have a sheet in front of them with the solution to all problems, the solution to magazine subscription problems is to give you the publishers phone number. You cannot get refunded, you cannot get the problem corrected. You can however call the publisher directly and ask for the same price Amazon sells the magazine discounted for and receive your magazine a lot faster.

Customer Reviews:
I Love This Mag....
I'm not a huge Oprah fan but I do love this magazine. In fact, I gave it away a few years ago as a gift subscription and the folks were upset that I didn't renew for them. I read A LOT of magazines but this one is the best. It talks about different things for everyday people and it seems to stick to it's demographic. If you want a magazine with a little substance - not just the same old recycled hair, make-up, clothes and sex tips - this is it. The only thing I don't like is Oprah's Favorite Things (I'm not sure if that's the title of the section). Oprah's 'picks' are always very nice but they are way over the average person's budget.

Great Magazine!
Got a great deal on a 2 yr subscription and received my 1st issue the other day :)

Excellent Magazine
This is an excellent magazine. More articles than ads and even the ads are better than the other magazines. I had stopped buying magazines a few years back as they were filled with ads, uninformative and took an hour under a hair dryer to finish. O magazine took me two days to finish reading. Excellent magazine, buy it for a friend who likes to read Cosmo.