This Friday I present to you all a project deep from the heart of my 12 year old self who loved reading Glamour Magazine’s The Girls In The Beauty Department column and had Seventeen magazine’s sections collected in a three ring binder.
The following is what I would present to you in a print magazine in March 2026 if I had the title and no budget. Links to actual articles that do exist are placed wherever possible. Where not, well, if you work for a magazine feel free to steal my idea.
COVER STAR: ZARA LARSSON
Captured by Damian Foxe for Flaunt Magazine.
Of course, she is the it pop girlie of the moment AND the most recent diva out on parole from the Khia Asylum. Her recent styling, the start of the US leg of her tour, outspoken politics, and maximalist makeup by Sophia Sinot (our pretend guest creative director for the beauty section) all speak to what young women want right now in the face of increasingly patriarchal and controlling political ethos: joyful, jubilant freedom.
“No one is powerful like a pop girl. To me, the main pop girl [title] has never been a joke. People care about you a lot. People talk about you a lot. You sell a lot of records. You sell a lot of tickets. You have the masses like this, right?” She brandishes her fist and shakes it, a grin creeping across her face. “In my world, no man has that power."
Zara Larsson to Flaunt Magazine
While I don’t have the power to interview Zara Larsson, check out this fabulous one from Flaunt Magazine, by Annie Bush. You can read it in full here. If you didn’t catch it already, here is Zara using her pop girl power for good with the Portland Bike Bus. And because I love both the sentiment and beautiful prose, the following will get you to read the full article if Zara didn’t:
“Shouldn’t we all be so lucky to live in a world in which we’re told the truth, for once? Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard if we stuck around for a bit here, in this gentle universe where the night never comes, all of us adorned in glitter and keychains, orbiting faithfully around our radiant and undying star.”
- Annie Bush for Flaunt Magazine
From the Seventeen Magazine collection from the Wayback Machine
Actual reprint of an article from the magazine from 2006 (or earlier, maybe 2002).
By the way, if you want to reread MANY issues of Seventeen Magazine from our childhood, check out the Wayback Machine collection. Don’t worry—it’s free. God bless the archivists.
Thrift the Look: Reader challenge/ Small Social Media Creator in which two people are given $100 and 1 day to recreate a look from a recent runway or celebrity red carpet look. Yes, this in itself is a throwback to both The Style Network and its show, The Look for Less. Throw back here on Vimeo (couldn’t find any episodes on Youtube, it’s that much of a deep reference at this point).
Style feature with Alysa Liu showcasing both her own style as well as a few photos of her being dressed like the trending 2000’s yoga mom
For an actual feature on her, read her Teen Vogue feature here. I agree with Teen Vogue that she is worth a cover story, too.
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Photo by Erika Long for Teen Vogue
Beauty Section
As above, I think an incredible way to elevate the names of those working around the industry would be having them be the creative director of the beauty section. For this one, Zara Larsson’s makeup artist Sophia Sinot would direct. One page would be her favorite products, and then a QR code to a tutorial for Zara’s look earlier in our pages.
You can check out one of her actual tutorials from her page on TikTok here.
I did not know this before writing, but Teen Vogue DID actually basically do my dream interview with her here, too, for you to check out.
per SOPHIA SINOT from Teen Vogue feature linked above
Additionally, in the beauty section there would be an article related to skin and hygiene care, fact-checked by a dermatologist who is an academic and may even research in that field. If we are talking about hairloss, I want an interview with the person writing the papers that products then say they are citing. Like that level of experience would be who would be speaking to us as readers—to save us money and give good advice.
Finally, we would be bringing back my favorite and very whimsical section from Seventeen: Seven Days of Beauty. I don’t think words suffice…so I’ll just let you zoom in on the screenshot of it below, from the one that most shaped my own beauty consciousness in 2008.
This one was my favorite of maybe all of these from when I was a teen.
Politics + Purpose
Once again, Teen Vogue has been the shining beacon when it comes to taking the formation and opinions of teen girls seriously. Before them, it was not done, at least not in a big way.
One recurring series I would have loved would have been a feature on a non-famous career woman, and how she balances her life. This is a recreation of what Allure used to do with their Work It series, which is a day in the life of everyone from a sanitation worker to one of the Wiggles. Each one is fascinating for those curious, even if you enjoy your job already as a grown up.
Lastly, book recommendations would exist every month, and include a book recommendation from each of the interviewees for the magazine, as well as some of the editors’ and readers’ favorites. In terms of politics, this section would also include a book recommendation to help people go deeper on a story featured in this section around current events.
This is where my MD would work REALLY hard. We would have articles with tutorial images from physical therapists, mental health tools by therapists, and then one miscellany article related to what has been in the news recently that may have trickled down to TikTok and therefore to our readers. I think a recurring series on screen time and phone culture would also be a part of this.
I think an intriguing article here would be a recurring series called “Two Weeks Noticed”, in which 3 people would try out a new habit or behavior for their health and report back how it went. I am biased towards my Brick and do have an affiliate code, but something like 3 people trying to reduce their screen time with different tools like apps vs. Brick vs. attempting to cold turkey via a “dumb phone.”
For my biased but honest view on using the Brick, check out my longer article here. For the $10 off of Brick, you can use this link: Discount code here.
I think bringing back what Popsugar used to do which was bringing in evidence-based celebrity trainers for a workout would still be fun. I would have them fact checked by the aforementioned physical therapist to make sure you’re getting correct, body-neutral wisdom. Sometimes, the fun part was just the variety.
I love love love Teen Vogue, and I'm 52! Excellent editorial work there. Also the only thing about Popsugar I remember is liking their playlists (on Spotify?) which makes me think -- do you have playlists that you share? I have to remind myself that making playlists in one of my creative expressions.
I love love love Teen Vogue, and I'm 52! Excellent editorial work there. Also the only thing about Popsugar I remember is liking their playlists (on Spotify?) which makes me think -- do you have playlists that you share? I have to remind myself that making playlists in one of my creative expressions.