Avon Products teamed up with Hachette Filipacchi this year to create Athena in an effort to strengthen Avon's image as a beauty authority. Athena, which debuted in April, targets women between the ages of 20 and 40 with a wide scope of features revolving around women's lives.

"In a world of information overload, we hope that Athena will be a quiet place to read, learn, and most important, dream," said Editor-in-Chief L. Bayley Ledes. "Athena offers a foundation upon which to grow personally and professionally, presented in a way that is fresh. From beauty to business, home to health, flowers to fashion, these pages reflect the diversity of women's lives."

Athena's regular departments include health, parenting, money/career and good buys. Features revolve around subjects like beauty, fitness and travel. Athena strives to keep its image of women "aspirational but attainable" by creating "an editorial and visual sanctuary where a woman can feel inspired to better herself both personally and professionally."

Two pages of perforated notecards called "Recipes for Life," are in each issue and offer tips on subjects from travel and makeup to fixing a flat and finding a doctor on the Internet. One of the most unique features of Athena, however, isn't the magazine itself, but its distribution system which may offer a glimpse into the future of magazine distribution.

Besides being sold on the newsstands, Athena is distributed by Avon salespeople. It is also sold at cosmetic counters in stores and at certain beauty supply shops.

Athena is not only able to pinpoint its audience, but reach them effectively through alternative distribution.