Category: Magazines

Wokeness and Byrdie

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

In addition to maintaining the Cold Cream ‘n’ Roses blog about fashion and beauty, I maintain The Bahu of Bengal blog about India and Hinduism. The page The Bahu of Bengal | Cold Cream ‘n’ Roses provides more information about The Bahu of Bengal blog and a link to the blog.

A Facebook friend alerted his friends to Prinita Thevarajah’s article How Casteism Manifests in Yoga and Why It’s a Problem, https://www.byrdie.com/casteism-in-yoga-5119378, published on Byrdie, a website ostensibly about health and beauty.

Byrdie logo

It is disheartening to see a beauty site like Byrdie promote anti-Hindu bias (Harpers Bazaar also promoted anti-Hindu bias). At the same time, Byrdie published a flattering article on halal vitamins, which I thought was a devious way to promote Muslim practices to non-Muslims. Byrdie did not mention that the author Jessica Daqamsseh frequently writes for Muslim Girl (Seventeen for Muslim girls?)

Byrdie appears to be falling prey to “woke” politics that other beauty media have fallen prey to. As another person on my friend’s thread said, “Wokeness is invading health, wellness and beauty. Does not spare any domain I reckon.”

As I noted on The Bahu of Bengal | Cold Cream ‘n’ Roses page, I’ve lately been publishing letters that I’ve written to writers and publishers of articles that have an anti-India, anti-Hinduism slant. Read my letter to Prinita Thevarajah about her article on casteism and yoga on The Bahu of Bengal blog. Byrdie was copied.

#Leftist #politics are the latest #fashion

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@InStyleMagazine EIC @LauraBrown99 blocked me on @Twitter

Women’s magazines are one of my biggest pet peeves. I want to read about fashion and makeup: I don’t want leftist politics shoved down my throat. I canceled my subscription to Allure when it became politicized: sad, as I was a charter subscriber.  Likewise, I didn’t re-subscribe to InStyle, as it became politicized under EIC Laura Brown.  Here’s a letter that I sent to InStyle:

When my subscription to InStyle expired, I chose not to re-subscribe. I did not re-subscribe, as the magazine had become politicized under the leadership of Laura Brown; moreover, I do not share her leftist politics.

While I was at the airport, I came across the Bada** Women Issue. First, why do you need to use coarse terms such as Bada**? Secondly, the issue did not feature any conservative women.

Why not Rep. Martha McSally (R, AZ-2)? She is a 2018 Republican candidate seeking election to the U.S. Senate. She became a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. She was the first American woman to fly in combat and the first female commander of a USAF fighter squadron. She successfully challenged military policy that required servicewomen stationed in Saudi Arabia to wear the abaya when they are off base. If that isn’t bada**, I don’t know what is.

Why not Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the UN? Why not any of the numerous outspoken conservative female commentators (Dana Loesch, Michelle Malkin, Laura Ingraham, among others)?

I subscribed to InStyle for fashion, beauty, and style. I do not want to have Laura Brown’s leftist politics shoved down my throat.

If women’s magazines won’t feature conservative women, then I will.  I’ve added a widget #Leftist #politics are the latest #fashion to the sidebar that will feature tweets criticizing women’s magazines.

Another letter to InStyle:

Read More »

Best and worst magazine covers of 2009

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These images certainly caught our eyes at the grocery store, how about you?
This year gave us some really amazing magazine covers — and a few that left us scratching our heads in confusion. Check out our picks for the best and worst magazine covers of 2009 — did your faves make the list?

Guess which was among the worst magazine covers?

While not necessarily bad-bad, the February 2009 issue of Allure came in for criticism on account of Stephane Marais’s applying a fake bake tan to fair-complected redhead Isla Fisher.

Worst recent magazine covers

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Fashion magazine covers. You can’t avoid them. You see them at the supermarket and drugstore checkouts: the placement is called “point of purchase.”

Here are my selections as the worst magazine covers of recent months:


Victoria Beckham on the cover of the October 2009 issue of Elle.
From Red Carpet Fashion Awards.

Victoria Beckham in Hussein Chalayan for the October 2009 issue of Elle. It looks like she has Mickey Mouse ears on her boobs!

Elle didn’t post this picture on its cover shoot story: wonder why?


Scarlett Johannson on the cover of the November 2009 issue of Glamour

Scarlett Johannson is beautiful, and her new red hair suits her. I like her red hair better than the platinum blonde that she wears in the ads for Dolce & Gabbana Cosmetics.

So what’s wrong with this cover? It’s more suitable for the cover of Playboy, as Scarlett looks like she’s pulling down her tee to cover her nether regions (for all I know, she might be wearing a thong underneath). Playboy covers are often hidden from view, but anyone can see the Glamour cover as they go through checkout!

Domino to cease publication

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February 2009 issue of Domino

While it was known that Domino was in trouble (other “shelter” titles have already ceased publication), staff were told this morning that Domino will cease publication. The last issue will be March 2009.

Domino, the sister magazine to Lucky, had a breeziness missing in other shelter magazines. I will miss it. I also feel for the staff, who will have to look for new jobs.

Missing IsaDora? Found.

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Cover of February 2009 Allure

I was surprised to see a reference to IsaDora eyeshadow in the “Black and Blue” photo spread that appears in the February 2009 issue of Allure. Over a year ago, beauty advisors at Walgreen’s (which had been the exclusive distributor for IsaDora in the U.S.) told me that IsaDora decided against shipping to the U.S.

I checked the credits in the back of the magazine, which indicated that IsaDora was available through walgreens.com. A search of walgreens.com did not yield any results for IsaDora.

The good news is that IsaDora is now being sold through Cosmeticmall.com and Amazon.com!

Condé Nasty

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This is a lovely picture of Michelle Obama, as taken by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue.

Michelle Obama

The same cannot be said about the accompanying article, which trashes other political spouses:

“She’s normal,” Glanton answered, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “She stands by her man.”

Normal. Interesting word. Certainly not one that applies to spouses Bill Clinton or even Elizabeth Edwards, who is battling metastatic breast cancer and lives in a $6 million, 28,200-square-foot house (the Obamas, by contrast, paid $1.65 million for their Georgian Revival home). Nor, frankly, is it a word that would have applied to Teresa Heinz, John Kerry’s oddly flinty wife, or Howard Dean’s MIA doctor wife. Or Cindy McCain, who once stole painkillers from the charity for which she worked. Or even the arctic Laura Bush, who can barely contain her contempt for the media in her rare public appearances …

I particularly take exception to how Cindy McCain and Laura Bush are portrayed. Yes, it’s true that Cindy McCain stole painkillers from the charity, but she is also a woman who found a Bangladeshi orphan with a cleft palate, obtained surgery for the child, and most of all, made that child her own.

I have never sensed contempt for the media on the part of Laura Bush. Perhaps that’s because of my filters. I have contempt for much of the mainstream media, as do many Americans. If Mrs. Bush has contempt for the media, I suspect that’s because she stands by her man. Fisking President Bush’s decision to go into Iraq is one thing; however, the media has fed into a frenzy, as demonstrated by 1-29-09 bumper stickers, countdown clocks, and the continual jokes about the President’s intellectual prowess, which pass for smart party conversation.

Mrs. Bush is a lady. She smoothed over Michelle Obama’s comments “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country …” which antagonized many Americans, including myself.

Anne Hathaway in People

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Anne Hathaway in SELF

While the July 2008 issues of InStyle and Self with Anne Hathaway are still at newsstands, out comes this week’s edition of People, with a cover story about Raffaelo Follieri and her.


Anne Hathaway in People

I don’t know whether or not she was “stunned and heartbroken” by Follieri’s alleged wrongdoing, but I do know that stories of betrayal play well. Just witness the media attention given to the marital woes of Alex Rodriguez and Christie Brinkley.

She hath a way …

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Anne Hathaway

I subscribe to InStyle, but I’m thinking about dropping my subscription when it expires next year. I seldom go to the movie theater, and I don’t even have a subscription to Netflix. Consequently, I don’t know the “work” of the stars featured in the pages of InStyle. The only time I catch up on movies is when I’m taking cross-country or overseas flights. On my flight between DC and Copenhagen last month, I watched The Devil Wears Prada. That shows you how out of date I am.

Which brings me to the July 2008 issue of InStyle, with Anne Hathaway on the cover. There’s a series of Q&A with Anne inside the magazine; here’s a very small excerpt:

[Interviewer] Let’s talk about your boyfriend, Raffaelo Follieri. What does he do?
[Anne] Real estate and finance.

Now that’s a terse reply. Follieri made news himself, right on the front page of the Wednesday, June 25, 2008 edition of the Wall Street Journal. He has been charged with fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. Follieri claimed that he had close ties with the Vatican, which would enable him to purchase surplus Church properties at favorable prices for investment. However, money from investors was diverted into funding Follieri’s lavish lifestyle, including the $37,000 a month NYC apartment that he and Hathaway shared.

Fortunately for Hathaway, Follieri’s troubles didn’t spoil the successful opening of her latest movie Get Smart. Moreover, press reports claim that Follieri and Hathaway have split.

Women With Hats: 2008

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Madonna on the cover of Elle (UK), May 2008

What makes women in men’s hats with lots of leg look so sexy? I ask this after seeing Beauty Addict’s article Madonna Madness: May 2008, on three magazines that feature Madonna on the cover of the May 2008 issues.

Madonna is the latest incarnation of this archetype:

Marlene Dietrich as Lola Lola in  Der blaue Engel (1930; The Blue Angel)
Judy Garland in Summer Stock (1950)
Lisa Minelli in Cabaret (1972)
Keira Knightley for Coco Mademoiselle fragrance by Chanel (2007)