City Girl’s Real Simple Corner

Spring is always when magazines do big beauty features – In Style and Allure have their yearly winners in product categories, and since I love beauty products, they are always fun issues to read.

This year, though, I am really liking Real Simple’s approach. Yes, I know this is no surprise since I heart Real Simple, but I love how their May issue’s focus on beauty is a trio of articles – beauty secrets (and lots of recommendations) from the pros, a feature on how to achieve a flawless face, and a road test column on the best budget makeup.

The beauty secrets from the pros article is packed with good tips for skincare, makeup, hair, body – tons of good information. The flawless face article is very smart in that it divides the foundation recommendations not only in oily, normal and dry skin categories, but also within each category the article provides recommendations for sheer, medium and full coverage.

The road test column on budget makeup is also very clever in that it includes two products for each category – the classic and the newcomer – I liked that because it’s a great way to get people who have tried-and-true products try new things. There’s this implication that the products are similar to the classics, but newer, and it’s just the right balance to get someone out of a rut. I also discovered there is now a Nicole by Opi Nail Polish line sold at drugstores – must try that soon.

Aside from the awesome beauty articles, I really liked the most of the articles this month. I always find the magazine really lives up to its motto of life made easier. There is a great feature on easy Mexican dishes so come back tomorrow for a super easy recipe for my submission for Bookmarked Recipes. Image courtesy of Real Simple magazine.