Monday 11 November 2013

Inspiration, motivation and a break from the norm - the re-shaped Psychologies magazine

In my professional life, which I will be returning to in just eight weeks time, I work with magazines. I read every type of magazine you could imagine, from architect journals and Chinese titles on the wood industry to women's interest and home magazines. It's one of the great things about what I do (home and lifestyle PR) but when it comes to my personal preferences, I'm a little pickier about what I read. I have to be. My personal time is sparse and precious so I want to read something that I'm going to enjoy and get something out of.

Aside from my love of Ideal Home, Your Home and my guilty pleasure of reading the Daily Fail celebrity news (it really is shocking and angers me quite frequently but I still can't  help reading it), I have a new title to add to my reading list.


Psychologies is a magazine I've heard of but never read before. I didn't know much about it and thought it was based on horroscopes and alternative or holistic advice. I'm not against any of those things, in fact they quite intrigue me, but I just didn't know enough to pick up a copy and have a flick through.

The December issue, which is on the shelves now, is a re-shaped version of the magazine and the team behind it were keen to find out what readers, old and new, thought about it. They say Psychologies is a different kind of lifestyle magazine which prides itself on publishing 'genuinely interesting information that's delivered in a non-patronising way, offering inspiration, motivation and definitely avoiding endless features about dieting'. Tick, tick and tick! Just the kind of intelligent read I'm looking for.

The reason I perhaps didn't know before if this was the title for me is because it doesn't base itself on appealing to a set demographic in terms of age - they see their readers as 'the most interested and interesting women in the room' - and hell, who doesn't want to be thought of in this way?

The editor's letter sets the tone for an interesting and inspiring read and it talks to me as a relatively new mum who writes about finding balance between being me and being mum, something which is going to become more challenging when I return to work in the New Year.

'The Fix' section looks at latest news, reviews, books, film, art and ideas and covers a facinating range of stories and products from shoes at Topshop intriguing lifestyle surveys. The cover star and main feature in this issue is Julia Roberts which seems to be more 'real' and in-depth than usual celebrity interviews. The theme of this issue is 'we need to talk' which covers how and why we communicate the way we do and how you can gain more confidence and get what you want by trying new techniques.

I really liked the Life Lab feature on how to make small changes that last and found these kinds of features refreshing and practical too. 'The Boost' deals with beauty but not in a 'be perfect' kind of way and there's some great advice on natural home remedies. There's even some home inspiration in time for Christmas and recipe ideas.

I really enjoyed reading the re-shaped Psychologies magazine. It was true to it's mantra of inspiration and motivation and I could see that the magazine would have a broad appeal to women of all ages and backgrounds, the one thing bringing them together is their desire to read something interesting, useful and a break from the norm of diets, 'how to please your man' features and endless emphasis on consuming to find happiness that most other women's titles are founded on.


* Note: I was kindly sent the December issue free of charge for the purposes of this review but as always, the thoughts expressed are my own.

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