The Search for Hairstyles Magazines Online

Most of us expect to find websites of hairstyles magazines. You know, the internet equivalent of the kind that appear in print. After all, the internet is over ten years old, and every business has a website by now, right?

Unfortunately, however, there is very little online. If you are lucky enough to finally find the website of a real hair magazine, typically it's very small, and offers almost no pictures. You may get to see the front cover of the magazine's latest issue, and maybe a few hairstyles photos in a small gallery, but that's about it.

Sure, there is information on how to subscribe to the print issue, but that's not what most women are looking for when they search online. A large number of girls go to the net just before they get their haircut--a few days before--or even the day of their hair salon appointment. They're not going to wait six to eight weeks for the first issue of their hair magazine subscription to arrive!

The reason for the extreme lack of hair magazines online by established print publishers is they are worried an online presence will cut into sales of their print magazines. It's actually not an unreasonable concern. Research has shown that, relatively speaking, very few women are willing to pay for the internet equivalent of a regular hairstyle magazine you can buy at your local convenience store. Hair magazines sell well enough offline--the best ones have been around for decades--but an internet subscription would get very little interest.

A poll on this site, at least, showed almost nobody would pay to view hair styles images on the internet. The same women said the magazines should make hair cut pictures available online. There is an expectation of getting everything free online. And if you look around the web, you'll see all the major hair sites--even the minor hairstyles "ezines"--are free. It's been like this from the beginning. So even if an established print mag suddenly started its own online equivalent with paid-for subscriptions, it would have to compete with all the free sites. If they offered the same number of pictures online at the same price as their print mag, it wouldn't work. The internet is different.

Beautiful Hairstyles.com started as a response to the lack of effort and initiative by the big hair magazines to do anything online, leaving many ladies frustrated and disappointed, but this section of the site acknowledges women's continued interest in them. They do provide a good quick overview of the latest hairstyles trends, what's hot and what's not.

Here you can see many large scans of the front covers of leading haircut magazines in recent years. Most all these scans are full-screen size (about 600 pixels high), but some are available in extra large--as much as 1100 pixels high. (Where these are available, you'll see a "Supersize" link in the right-hand column of the page in the Related Pictures section.) This allows you to get a closer look at all the inset hair photos instead of just the one large featured hair model.

There are many images here to view free, but if you're one of the few women visiting this site who actually wants to get a hair magazine subscription, your best bet is probably to buy it online at bamm.com. That site offers both subscriptions and single issues for most of the top hairstyle magazines. It seems to have greater range and flexibility than amazon.com.

If this is your first visit to Beautiful Hairstyles, you may want to visit the home page to see the main site directory with organized category links to hundreds of hairstyle pictures. These pics include many you would see in printed hair magazines--except here they are bigger and free. You get the picture?

Special Feature on the Best Celebrity Bob Styles

The cycle of hair fashion brings back bob hairstyles every few years. Below are a few of the top bobs in the last several years which some ladies today may prefer instead of the extreme and supposedly fashionable bobs they see other women wearing which don't suit their taste or aren't particularly suitable for a professional environment.

Jessica Alba (24) with a short layered bob haircut. This new highlighted style she got in 2005 is a good choice today in 2008 when bobs are hot. Parted off center with layers that start an inch below her eye, it is a fresh, fun, and cute haircut that is very low maintenance. Short Hair says it's a piecy bob. It's not that piecy, although the highlighting style helps make it look more piecy. It is a first-rate cut and color and without a doubt it's one of the best modern haircuts for girls. In the top inset photo you can also see Ashlee Simpson's short red bob. [+]

Ashley Scott (29) with very short bob. Many if not most bobs are chin length or longer; but Ashley goes shorter with this cut that is a few inches less than average. It has a sweet round shape and a cute piecey fringe. This easy hairstyle to maintain is a fresh new cut that makes her look much younger. Recommended for teenage girls. [+]

Jaime Pressly (29) in cool, medium-length, blunt bob haircut with long piecey bangs. Great choice for the woman who wants to look fashionable but prefers not to have her hair as short as most bobs. [+] That was in 2007; Jaime has since softened her look in 2008 with her most recent haircut (below) which isn't so edgy but is a classic feminine style.

Jaime Pressly in latest soft and pretty bob. She has a full, bright, and shiny fringe.

Calista Flockhart (36) with her cutest flippy bob hairstyle in the summer of 2002. Just six years ago we saw some cute celebrity bobs, and this was one of the best. It looks so good because her short hair at the ends isn't broken up or piecey; it's thick and flippy. Calista's simple cut is slightly different from Lisa Rinna's style in that the flips start right near the end instead of half-way down. Back then Katherine Heigl had a short bob and brown hair and Sarah Jessica Parker was also bobbed. Reese Witherspoon looked very sweet too with her original wavy-on-one-side hairdo.

Tiffani Amber Thiessen (28) in a straight bob haircut with layers at the front. One of the most low-maintenance styles because it is very straight, but it is also quite versatile. With the layering to the cheeks you could add some light waves and, of course, you could flip the ends, too. But you don't need to flip anything to look stylish thanks to the layers. Quite a cool, easy, chunky or choppy short haircut. Tiffani plays up that aspect with the thick piecey "almost-bang" on the one side. Straight bobs are good for girls like her who have a very round face. Angled bangs also help "tone down" the roundness. Celebrity Hairstyles (November 2002).

Further viewing

To view many more short haircuts including the latest in '08, see the navigation link at the top of the page.