''Allure'' (stylized in all lowercase) is an American women's magazine focused on beauty, published monthly by

Condé Nast Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Nast (businessman), Condé Montrose Nast (1873–1942) and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the FiDi, Financial Dis ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It was founded in 1991 by Linda Wells. Michelle Lee replaced Wells in 2015. A signature of the magazine is its annual Best of Beauty awards—accolades given in the October issue to beauty products deemed the best by ''Allure''s staff.

History

In 1990, S.I. Newhouse Jr., chairman of Condé Nast, and then editorial director Alexander Liberman approached Linda Wells to develop a concept they had for a beauty magazine. At the time, Wells was the beauty editor and the food editor at ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

''. The magazine's prototype was shredded shortly before the scheduled launch date and, after overhauling everything (including the logo), ''Allure'' made its debut in March 1991 designed by Lucy Sisman. The magazine's original format was oversize, but this prevented it from fitting into slots at grocery-store checkouts and required advertisers to resize their ads or create new ones. After four issues, ''Allure'' changed to a standard-size glossy format. On August 29, 2022, Conde Nast announced the December 2022 issue will be the last print issue of the magazine before transitioning to digital-only. ''Allure'' employees

unionized A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

in 2022. Conde states, "It's our mission to meet the audience where they are and with this in mind, after our December print issue, we are making Allure an exclusively digital brand."

Editions

Note that American Allure still operates digitally.

Impact

''Allure'' focuses on beauty, fashion, and women's health. ''Allure'' was the first women's magazine to write about the health risks associated with

silicone In Organosilicon chemistry, organosilicon and polymer chemistry, a silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer composed of repeating units of siloxane (, where R = Organyl group, organic group). They are typically colorless oils or elastomer, rubber ...

breast implants, and has reported on other controversial health issues. The influence that Allure magazine had on society was impactful. Using publication to show the new beauty brand and other health needs. After Lee took the helm in late 2015, the brand was celebrated for promoting diversity and inclusivity. In 2017, ''Adweek'' named ''Allure'' Magazine of the Year and awarded Lee as Editor of the Year. The magazine's circulation, initially 250,000 in 1991, is over 1 million as of 2011. Many writers have contributed to ''Allure''. Among them are

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...

, Jhumpa Lahiri, Michael Chabon, Kathryn Harrison, Frank McCourt, Isabel Allende, and Francine du Plessix Gray. Elizabeth Gilbert's essay "The Road to Rapture," published in ''Allure'' in 2003, was the precursor to her 2006 memoir, '' Eat, Pray, Love'' (Viking Adult). Photographers who have shot for ''Allure'' include Michael Thompson, Mario Testino, Patrick Demarchelier, Norman Jean Roy, Tina Barney, Marilyn Minter, Carter Smith, Steven Klein,

Steven Meisel Steven Meisel (born June 5, 1954) is an American fashion photographer, who obtained popularity and critical acclaim with his work in '' Vogue'' and '' Vogue Italia'' as well as his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book, '' Sex''. He is ...

, and Helmut Newton.

Best of Beauty Awards

''Allure'' began its Best of Beauty awards program in the mid-1990s, at the initiative of Wells, to help readers choose among the vast array of makeup, skincare, and hair-care products on the market. In 2019, the magazine introduced the ''Allure'' Best of Beauty Clean Seal award to products that met the publication's "clean" standards. ''Allure'' has two sets of awards, one judged by the magazine's editors and the other by readers. A "winners' seal" logo, developed by ''Allure'', appears on many of the winning products. To ensure that its judgments are neutral, ''Allure''s ad department isn't involved in the selections. In 2010, the magazine developed an iPhone app that highlights the winning products and tells users where they can buy them based on their location.

Controversy

The magazine faced online criticism when it showed Marissa Neitling with an Afro haircut. Singer Halsey has announced she will no longer do press after ''Allure'' failed to use her preferred pronouns in its August 2021 cover story and promoted the interview by allegedly taking quotes out of context.

Awards (for ''Allure'')

*Magazine of the Year from '' Adweek'' (2017) *Bronze

Clio Award The Clio Awards, also simply known as The Clios, is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals. The awar ...

for Allure Unbound augmented reality app (2017) *The National Magazine Award for Design (1994) *The Editorial Excellence Award from ''

Folio The term "folio" () has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging Paper size, sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for ...

'' (2001) *The Circulation Excellence Award from Circulation Management (2001) *"Ring Leader", an essay by Natalie Kusz from the February 1996 issue of ''Allure'', was selected for ''The Best American Essays 1997'' (

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

). *The magazine has been on ''Adweek''’s Hot List in 1993, 1994, 1995, 2003, and 2007. *''Allure'' has received 29 awards from the

American Academy of Dermatology The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) is a non-profit professional organization of dermatologists in the United States and Canada, based in Rosemont, Illinois, near Chicago. It was founded in 1938 and has more than ''21,000'' members. The Acad ...

, nine journalism awards from The Fragrance Foundation, and the Excellence in Media Award from the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Awards (for Linda Wells)

*The Achiever Award from Cosmetic Executive Women (2001) *The Matrix Award for magazine leadership from New York Women in Communications, Inc. (2009)

Awards (for Michelle Lee)

*Editor of the Year from '' Adweek'' (2017) *'' Digiday''s Glossy 50 (2017) *A100 Most Influential Asians from Gold House (2018) *Creative 100 from Create & Cultivate (2017)

In the media

Wells, along with ''Allure'' editors Michael Carl and Kelly Atterton, have appeared as judges on the Bravo TV series '' Shear Genius''. ''Allure'' editors have appeared as experts on television programs such as the '' Today'' show and ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'', and ''Allure'' stories frequently receive national attention.

Hilary Duff Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress, singer, author and businesswoman. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Hilary Duff, various accolades, including a World Music Awards, World Mus ...

played an ''Allure'' intern in '' Cheaper by the Dozen 2''.tvguide.com, ''Cheaper By the Dozen 2''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allure (Magazine) 1991 establishments in New York City Monthly magazines published in the United States 2022 disestablishments in New York City Defunct Condé Nast magazines Magazines established in 1991 Defunct magazines published in New York City Defunct women's fashion magazines published in the United States Magazines disestablished in 2022 Online magazines with defunct print editions Nudity in print media Nude photography showing women