• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, February 14, 2007

Consumer magazines targeting women with fashion, beauty and lifestyle advice turned in an uneven performance in the second half of 2006, compared to the same period in 2005, according to the most recent FAS-FAX circulation report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Despite strong results at specific magazines, overall, the categories were weak. Big-name mags slipped in subs and newsstand sales.

Leading the strong performers in the fashion and beauty category was Life & Style Weekly, whose single-copy sales skyrocketed 25.3% to 744,453. Also strong was Allure, which enjoyed 7.6% growth in subscriptions, reaching 780,011, although single-copy sales remained basically flat at 292,000, for a total circulation increase of 5.6%.

Shopping mag Lucky saw subs jump 7.5% to 894,430, as its newsstand sales crept up 1.4% to 266,848, for total circulation growth of 6.1%. Bringing up the rear, Harper's Bazaar was basically flat in both measures, with a 0.5% uptick growth to achieve a total circulation of 726,012.

That's where the good news ends.

Elle's subscriptions fell 4.3% to 703,301--canceling its 4.2% increase at the newsstand, where it reached 357,333--for a total drop of 1.6%. Likewise, Vogue was up 1.1% in subs--reaching 845,077--but at the newsstand, it fell 6.0% to 437,512 for a total loss of 1.5%. In Style's newsstand sales fell 7.9% to 765,937, canceling 5.7% growth in subs for an overall 0.7% decline. Finally, Glamour's subscriptions sank 2.4%, to 1,440,681, while newsstand sales tumbled 7.1% to 861,006, for a 4.2% overall decline.

The big titles in women's lifestyles didn't fare much better.

Although Cosmopolitan saw a 6.7% jump in subscriptions to 1,001,924, offset by a 5.9% decline in newsstand sales--which dipped to 1,945,296, driving an overall drop of 2.0%. Similarly, Jane's subs rose 7.5% to 600,282, but newsstand sales plummeted 20.4% to 113,229, yielding total circ growth of 1.9%. Marie Claire followed the same model: Subscriptions rose 32.2% to 564,268, but newsstand sales tanked 26.9% to 397,757, yielding a total 0.9% circ decline.

O, the Oprah Magazine also dipped 0.9%--as a 9.9% decline in newsstand sales canceled out 5.2% growth in subs, ending at 866,884, and 1,516,033, respectively. Redbook also dipped 0.9% overall, as subs rose 4.7% to 2,117,171 and newsstand sales fell 28.6% to 291,035. Finally, Woman's Day saw newsstand sales fall 20% to 685,250, for a 1.5% drop in total circulation.