What's Hot What's New

The good, the bad and the ugly. You'll find them all here. Each week you'll get my take on the intriguing, and sometimes peculiar, titles to recently hit the newsstand.

Aromatherapy Thymes Cover Price: $7.97 www.aromatherapythymes.com Ahhh, smell that, I do, it is the smell of a new magazine. Aromatherapy Thymes is a quarterly magazine that explores the art and science of aromatherapy. Talk about a niche, this publication has a niche and provides excellent, substantive content to support its niche. There are articles on essential oils, flowers and the value of using daily aroma therapy. Aromatherapy Thymes also provides a resource guide, and get this, recipes for beauty products like cucumber toner and thigh toning lotion that are all natural for people with sensitive skin. There are many health and beauty magazines jockeying for position on today’s newsstands, with its quality content and well-defined niche, Aromatherapy Thymes could be well on its way to smelling the sweet scent of success.

Memories of Diana Cover Price: $9.99 It has been ten years since the death of Princess Diana. While it is important to remember her many charitable efforts, it is more important to do so with a manner of respect. Memories of Diana is a special publication that does more to cheapen the memory of the late princess, than honor her. The images and design are pathetic (at least try to remove the red dots from her eyes), and the articles are poorly written and lack substance. And the editors actually want consumers to pay $9.99 for 36 pages of this so-called “Special Commemorative Tribute.” This magazine is well on its way to making the short list of the worst launches of the year.

What a Duck Cover Price: $3.98 www.whataduck.com What A Duck, yes that is the actual name of the magazine, is a new publication that attempts to cover music, art and surfing. With a suggestive title like that and an equally peculiar logo (a rubber ducky), this magazine definitely stands out. But for a magazine to be successful it has to have quality content that supports its niche. What A Duck attempts to cover too many aspects of surf culture, the result is a magazine that is inconsistent and unfocused. Also, the content could possibly limit the magazine’s appeal to potential consumers in areas of the country where surfing and surf culture is not prevalent.