Early Noughties teen mag ridiculousness

‘I love that these same questions would come up really frequently. In back to back issues. Almost like the people writing in didn't read the magazine. Or they were just made up by the mag - how many teenagers use "whom" correctly?!’

I know someone who wrote for a classic girl
Mag back in the 80s and yes, she did write a lot of the ‘readers’ letters but said they tried to think of stuff that teens would find helpful or on a subject that they did get letters in about...

I started with Shout magazine aged 10 in 1995 and moved on to Mizz, Bliss and Sugar when I was around 13 (Sugar was my favourite). Also went through a big Smash Hits stage aged 12ish.

I dabbled in J-17 and More, but by the time I was 15 I was a goth and preferred to spend my money on Kerrang than teen magazines (although I was very happy to read my friends' copies)!

I swear those magazines turned me gay! My older cousins used to get them in the 80s and pass them to me, or read out articles but as I had zero interest in boys I just found it all a bit strange and bought Rolling Stone instead... my favourite agony aunt story tho was a girl who had had a bit of a kiss and cuddle with here boyfriend ( and a bit more but hadn’t done the deed) and had found a lump in her leg. She was worried that she’d maybe got pregnant and the baby had slipped down her leg. Not making this up!! The nice agony aunt gently explained that that’s not how it all worked... hid we laughed at that one...

I actually once got a cute little cat massager with a teen magazine. I still have it and dd plays with it now 😆 very well made.
Besides some of the ' how to get away with wearing makeup to school' and 'how to kiss a boy articles' there are three others I've never forgotten

1. If you have a yeast infection dip a tampon into natural yoghurt and put it up your vagina ( can't imagine that would be encouraged now)
2. A graphic description of a grandfather molesting his granddaughter in the problem pages.very disturbing for a 12 year old to read
3. A story about a young teen who's mother told her she had been diagnosed with hiv at birth and that was the reason she had to have regular blood tests and must now start medication. The girl spent time in hospital for depression, did not talk about it to her friends and did not think about her future or plan for the future with her mates.

The magazines were very strict on encouraging girls to not have sex if unsure or under legal age so that was always good.

I remember one of the mags in the early 2000s, it might've been Mizz, featuring two seperate stories about 14/15 year old girls getting together with much older men. One of the men was a neighbour in his 50s or 60s, the other was the 40-something dad of the girl's best friend. With the latter there was a quote along the lines of "At first I just thought of [girl's name] as my daughter's friend but after a while I really started to fancy her." Gross!

I used to read Bloss, Shout, Sugar, Just 17 (didn't they go to J17 for a while before fizzling out completely?!) And Mizz. I loved them!! My older sister used to buy More which I used to sneak and read and be all wide eyed at 😂
I think that although a lot of it was outdated crap now, it did have really good tips an advice on puberty and saying no to boys who tried to push you. No meeting up with strangers, be wary of older boys etc etc. So not all bad. In fact, I distinctly remember starting my period and being really nervous to tell my mum but I remembered resdingin Shout! That the best thing to do is tell her so she can help you out and support you. So I took a deep breath and told her haha.

I do also remember reading one of the ones aimed more towards older girls when I was about 12, not long before starting my period, with one of those myth buster pages about periods. And one of tge myths was "I shouldn't bathe or wash my hair on my period" and the advice was something like "no, it's more important to bathe regularly when on your period to make sure you stay clean and healthy. After all, it's not like the water is going to turn red, is it...." and I honestly didn't know if it was being sarcastic, like of course it will turn red, you're on your period, duh! Or of course it won't turn red, that doesn't happen.

For some reason, those 2 things stick out really clearly to me, even though they must be at least 23 years ago now!

Such a great thread, nominated for classics! Please everyone else do the same! Thanks @SmidgenofaPigeon for starting it

I went through (in order) - Bunty, Shout, Mizz, J17 and then More/Cosmo, and I still enjoy Red magazine to this day!

Those Shaders and Toners dyes!
I'd forgotten all about them but we were obsessed. I always got the red ones and it never looked much different on my brown hair. Then I gave one to my friend Suzy who had beautiful white blonde hair and of course her hair went bright pink and stayed like that for weeks.
She cried, her mum was really angry and school made her wear a hairscarf until it finally washed out.
Happy Days.

Not heard of Minx?
What year was that out?
I was a pre teen and a teenager from 1988 onwards, so I'm guessing that one must have passed me by and I'd moved onto More! or something lol

I remember Minx now and poly vernon in it. It was good. Glamour was good back in the day but I wouldn't touch it now even if I was 25

I have absolutely loved this thread! Thank you for the nostalgia.

I had that J17 comb! In fact I’m sure it is still at my mum’s house. I also had the bright pink wide toothed comb without a handle from one of the first issues of Shout.

Sun In! I mentioned it to my hairdresser and steam started coming out of her ears...

So much nostalgia, I love this thread! I was never much of a girly girl but did read all these mags before getting into heavy metal at about 14 and moving on to Kerrang. Remember feeling very naughty reading Just 17 at around 13. I had many sun in/shaders and toners related hair disasters!

Ah nostalgia! I loved all magazines in my teens smash hits,sugar,shout,mizz,just17,more! With position of the fortnight. I took into school and handed it around and the boys looking at it got it confiscated! Does anyone remember real that was a late 90s magazine but I loved it. Later on Cosmo, Marie Claire Elle vogue I think I was their target market and i spent a fortune! Now I resist the lure of magazines but I loved them. Didn't really get the sublimal messages I am a prolific reader though!

I remember Sugar and Mizz used to do a one off special from time to time - a bigger glossier version of the regular magazine. Would usually feature make up tips for different skin tones and then an article on some girls in a specific type of school - they had some girls from Italia Conti featured and then all I wanted to do was go there and dance all day

Did anyone ever go to the Mizz Roadshow in the late 1990’s? I remember seeing Will Mellor, Steps and 911

I loved for those magazines. I remember doing the quizzes on what to wear. You had to choose a different outfit for each occasion. Parties, dates and pizza with friends. I don’t know why I was so into it. I had the grand total of three outfits outside of my school uniform, all awful. And I didn’t really have any friends let alone dates or money to go and do anything.
Yet I lapped it up!

[quote Chwaraeteg]@Bbq1 I think the comic mag u mentioned was called 'M&J stories'. I haven't thought about that since I was 13![/quote]
Oh yes, M&J stories Chwaraeteg, that was it! I don't think it was published for r that long, it was a great read though.

@Bbq1 I think the comic mag u mentioned was called 'M&J stories'. I haven't thought about that since I was 13!

Letters would have been edited and grammar corrected. Might not have been real, but it would have been informative for girls who really didn't know, and also set the tone that this was a place where you really could ask anything, however daft or embarrassing it seemed.

Classic problem.

Look what I’ve got!