Betty is a magazine and blog whose philosophy is for people to embrace who they are and celebrate it.’ Based around a very pretty website, they feature ‘fashion, music, culture and lifestyle content, plus everything in between’ and have just produced the first printed copy of their magazine (available on their website for just £6).

Having received my copy in the post this morning, I can state that it is beautifully put together and a joy to browse. With pleasingly thick paper and lovely layouts, the current Winter issue contains features on designer Elizabeth Lau (sister of Susanna Lau, otherwise known as blogger Susie Bubble), illustrator Emma Block and how to style your hair into the perfect beehive.

The makers of Betty magazine clearly love clothes and nice pretty things, but their cultural interests are worth looking into as well. They have a keen interest in new and less-heard-of talent, as well as quirky tea party and 1960s inspired products and brands.

The magazine has quite a distinctive style – simple and bold, in soft (often pastel) colours with a strong 60s influence. Design is obviously very important to the makers of Betty, as each page is carefully and thoughtfully laid out, and though the content is quite sparse each page was obviously worked on with effort and care.

The Betty blog declares a love for Instagram, and their Facebook and Twitter pages (and their Instagram feed) are covered in pretty, girly images that promise days filled with tea, cupcakes, Peter Pan collars and cute dolly shoes.

The blog features even more brilliant content with updates on recent films and clothing collections and many other things to whet your cute girly appetite.

The ‘About Betty’ page states that they will never feature diet tips or play on people’s insecurities; they are more interested in letting readers enjoy the things they want to and be happy to be themselves.

Betty is a pleasant distraction from the shelves of shiny magazines on shop shelves whose covers promise to help you lose two stone and get the perfect guy.

Men are barely mentioned on they Betty blog or in the magazine – the magazine features no men at all and on the blog they are only mentioned as a negative comparison to the joys of shoes.

Though they may not feature novels or poetry, preferring recipe books, Betty is not just a pretty face. They encourage girls to be themselves, to do the things they enjoy and not feel pressured to be just like everyone else.

Having only just produced the first print copy, Betty is obviously becoming more and more popular. The blog has been going since 2009, though it could still use a few tweaks (particularly in the grammar department!). But overall it looks great and the content, most importantly, is definitely worth a visit.

Lizzi Thomasson