No, its not a magazine about happy Scousers!
Made Up is IPC’s new venture into the teenage/young women’s market. With an initial print run of 150,000 the title is aimed at 16-24 year olds and provides pictorial evidence that with a little help from the ‘experts’ plus make-up and new clothes people really can look better, especially when compared to their ‘before’ pictures – scrubbed, make-up free faces, undressed hair and casually dressed bodies!
No models appear in the title, just ordinary folk attempting to find answers to some essential questions in life – ‘Help, I’m Meeting his ex – what should I wear’ and ‘Dumped! How to look good enough to make him sorry’. On the lighter side there are also makeovers dealing with how to make yourself look taller, how to look cool even though you live in the country and how to look drop dead gorgeous on a grant.
Despite the above, the idea of using ordinary girls dressed in affordable high street fashion isn’t that bad and the use of the makeover is a popular one, but the whole magazine seems to be made up of features which you might find of interest within a more mixed content title – it all falls a bit flat after the 20th page of new image making! Articles are however written in an informed, down to earth manner, without the usual fashion speak used in other titles, and readers would perhaps use it as a dip in and see if anything applies to them read, rather than a read all situation.
IPC themselves are obviously a little unsure about the magazines content as this issue has been made into a ‘write and tell us what you think’ exercise. Based on the feedback and sales of this first issue the publisher will then decide whether the title will go monthly or quarterly, or presumably whether it should go ahead at all.
The title’s main advertiser is ‘The Original Source’ haircare range taking 4 single colour pages and 1 double page spread, others include Top Shop , Dorothy Perkins and Evans.
Advertisements Manager: Joanne O’Hara
Publisher: Sarah Fisher
IPC: 0171 261 5472
