CosmoGirl, also stylized as CosmoGIRL!, was an American magazine based in New York City, published from 1999 until 2008. The teenage spin-off of Cosmopolitan magazine, it targeted teenage girls and featured fashion and celebrities. It was published ten times a year and reached approximately eight million readers before folding. The last issue was released in December 2008; thereafter, subscribers received issues of fellow Hearst publication Seventeen. The magazine was founded by Atoosa Rubenstein, who was asked to create a mock issue. She repeatedly scrawled the word "Girl!" in bed using fuchsia lipstick for use on the magazine cover. When she and her husband woke up, they were covered in lipstick. Ann Shoket was the executive editor before leaving the magazine to replace Atoosa Rubenstein as the editor-in-chief of fellow Hearst magazine, Seventeen. The last editor-in-chief was Susan Schulz, who was reassigned to special projects at Hearst Magazines. After the final issue, CosmoGirl initially continued online, similar to Elle Girl, of which the last printed issue appeared in June 2006. In late June/early July 2010, the website was merged with that of Seventeen.
Content
Inside each issue of CosmoGirl, there was an interview and photo shoot with a current celebrity, a beauty section featuring hair, skin, and makeup tips and trends, a fashion section highlighting various spreads of trends and clothes, and the Stars section which included articles on celebrities other than those featured on the cover. A monthly free calendar allowed readers to win various prizes by typing in a code to enter for a chance to win a prize on the magazine's website. There was also a section introduced in March 2008 named JSYK, which had advice and stories of how readers fell in love, and a shocking real-life story. There were also embarrassing stories, and a manga comic featuring a character named CG. The magazine's content was rounded out with the Body & Soul section, which covered sexual health, mental health, fitness, and nutrition.
There have also been editions of the magazine in other countries, including the UK, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Turkey, China, Hong Kong and Indonesia, all written in the country's native language. As of 2019, only the Dutch version still has both a magazine and a frequently updated website. The Indonesian website is still online, but no longer updated, with the last published magazine being the September 2017 issue. The UK CosmoGirl closed in June 2007. The reason given was that the magazine had become 'unsustainable', since many adolescent girls had migrated to the web or to other magazines targeted at an older age group.
