After my terrible encounter with January's US Vogue (see Anna Wintour Must Be Stopped), I was looking forward to Allure, eagerly hoping it would wash the bad taste of Vogue out of my mouth. Alas, this was not to be.

Check out Blogdorf Goodman for an excellent review of this month's Allure. I agree with everything Annie says.

The interview with this month's cover girl, Gwyneth Paltrow, is arrogant and insipid. Her incessant name-dropping has really become quite annoying. And I was mystified by this statement: "Self-loathing is the sort of baseline of my character." Huh? [By the way, she wasn't talking about a role here; she was referring to herself, her own character.]

And of course Allure chooses La Dunst for the Fashion Stakeout section. First Vogue lists her as one of the "best dressed" of 2005, now Allure worships at her altar, too. I just don't get it. The Miu Miu dress in the "shopping in NYC" photo looks like it was made from old petticoats or pillowcases. Even worse, the photo of her in the long Chloe dress with the ridiculous Vanessa Bruno striped vest is just horrifying. And although I must admit that she looks uncharacteristically lovely in the Chanel couture gown at the Oscars, once again she omitted a key component of any red carpet ensemble: the bra.

There's also an article about a dangerous weight-loss drug popular among Hollywood "it girls." One part of this article clearly refers to Lindsay Lohan without naming her, but then, lo and behold, a few pages later Lindsay is featured as one of the best makeovers of the year. This is some baaaad editing, friends. Expose the dangers of a weight-loss drug, insinuate that L-Lo uses it, then fawn all over her.

Also listed in the "best makeovers" section are Halle Berry (she looked amazing to begin with; I did not notice any makeover), Mandy Moore, Hilary Duff, Martha Stewart, Paris Hilton, Renee Zellweger, and Kirsten Dunst...AGAIN.

The only redeeming features were Beauty and the Beat (featuring notable - and needed - celeb makeovers), and Jeffrey Slonim's "Private Eye" on the last page.

Thank you to Sheila for sounding the alert on this month's Allure! I am debating not renewing my subscription. Perhaps the Beauty Addict has outgrown the Beauty Expert.