Here it is 12:37 a.m., and Makeup and Beauty Blog is playing dress-up.
I hope you like the new layout. I’ll be ironing out the kinks over the next few days (hopefully most of them tomorrow), but take a look around, and let me know what you think.
A few of the new changes…
- A much-improved search engine (thanks to Google!)
- A brand drop-down menu (I’ll be adding the links to the brand posts in it soon)
- A whole slew of galleries with ga-jillions of pictures
- And more stuff I’m sure I’m forgetting now because it’s way past my bedtime
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Line S says
I love it Karen!
Really nice. Good job 🙂
Karen says
Hi Line,
I’m glad you like it! Have you checked out the new galleries? They’re probably my favorite part. Them and the better search engine. 🙂
Have a good one today.
Suzanne says
O wow, very different! The header is too big for my taste but it looks neat!
Brittany says
Oh that is really cool! Great Job!
Karen says
Thank you, Brittany! Now with a working search engine and better navigation, hopefully specific posts are easier to find. 🙂
Rae // theNotice says
Ahhh!!! *helpless flailing*
Iris says
The header looks nice and crisp, but I think it takes up too much space. I’m using a large Macbook and have to scroll down just to see the blogpost title. I find the ads in the right hand column interspersed with the blog sections to be confusing – perhaps it would be neater to group the ads together? The ad bar before the comments section is also very long.
Karen says
Hi, Iris. Thank you for the feedback. That’s the kind of stuff I’m looking for. I’m taking everything you wrote here into account. I know that the header is large, as in huge, and I may end up shrinking it a bit, but I’m also torn because, um, I love large pictures. 🙂
For the sidebar, I do see what you mean. I may try to place that sidebar skyscraper ad, which is the tallish one in the middle, in a box with a pretty background to distinguish it better from the other stuff around it.
Lenita says
second this! although i am not using a mac, just a normal laptop with mozilla firefox, i seem to see the same things.
Debbie S. says
I too think that the header is too big and would love to see the ads be grouped together. You want your content to shine, not the ads (though I assume you do want people to click on them so you can earn money 🙂 )
Karen says
Hi, Debbie. Thank you. I’ll try some different arrangements in the sidebar and see how that goes.
Nadege says
Oh, wow! I love the new layout!
Kiss & Make-up says
Oh Karen, it looks great! I really like it. So sleek and chique 🙂
Karen says
Thanks, Kiss & Make-Up! I wanted something new but didn’t want to lose the open feel that the old design had. I loved the old design, but it had some technical issues that were becoming big problems for me. It was time for a change. Have a great day.
Advah says
Looking swaaaaank, Karen!! 🙂 Did you do all of the work yourself or did you have someone redesign the site?
It’s very exciting, something new for Fall!
Advah says
Forgot to add – I especially love the new ‘sharing icons’. The old ones used to drive me crazy as the box would pop up anytime my cursor was nearby, and it’d hide the ‘read more’ link I was after. Yay!
Nina says
It’s beautiful, especially the header! But it’s gonna be hard for me to get used to this one because I really liked the old look =/ We got a tabby in HD in here, though. Hmm..
Karen says
Hi, Nina. I think I know how you feel. I loved the old design. Really loved it, and I was also very used to it. It had some annoying issues, though. The search engine was basically useless, I wasn’t entirely happy with the width of the main column, which seemed a little narrow to me over time, and I wasn’t happy with the navigation. It didn’t have a good way to find posts that were older than a few weeks.
Hopefully the new design, especially through the new galleries, which are all customizable, so that I can create new ones any time, will make it easier and more fun to dig through some of the older posts. Plus, the search engine works about a billion times better! 🙂
You have a wonderful hump day, okay? Talk to you soon.
Paris B says
I love the sleek yet feminine feel to the new layout – I really like the scalloped edges. Like some, I feel the header is a wee bit wide and I’d have loved for your content to be wider. Otherwise, it looks very good and I’m sure we’ll get used to it in no time 🙂
Karen says
Hi, Paris. Thank you. The header is the thing I’m probably the most concerned about. I love it…but I know that it’s big. HUGE even. Might have to shrink it a tad.
The main content column is actually about 10% wider than it was on the old design, but the font size is also considerably larger (and hopefully easier to read), so it doesn’t always seem as wide. My width for images, though, increased from about 540px to 620, so that’s a pretty big jump for images.
Still got quite a few more fixes to work through… I know what I’m doin’ today, LOL! Have a nice day out there.
Paris B says
Ah you maybe right – the larger text does seem to take up more space and maybe the extra space around the content box gives the impression its smaller than it looks. A redesign is hard work – good job! 😀
Erica Falco says
Looks great on a 13-inch Macbook pro 🙂
http://abundanceoferica.blogspot.ca
Karen says
Good to hear, Erica! Thanks. 🙂
irini says
It looks really nice but… I think I liked the old one better… However, that might be because I was used to the old one! Anyways good job 🙂
Sunny @ Mostly Sunny says
Yaaay this is so cool! Love the pictures in the header and the new font! The kitty at the bottom is cuuuuuute!
Karen says
Hi, Sunny! I’m really glad you like it. The new font is cute, right? One of the things that bothered me about the old design was the font styling and size. It was very tiny and difficult for me to read. I think this new one is much easier on the eyes.
And yup, that little kitty down there in the sidebar is actually Tabs (except that he’s sucking in his tum, LOL!).
Nicola says
LOVE LOVE LOVE xx
Kim says
Oh, I love it! Your top banner is very nice and I like the new logo/font for Makeup & Beauty Blog – sweet kitty ears. The whole layout is great. Well done! I have a feeling Tabs lobbied hard for that shadow at the bottom. 🙂
Karen says
Hi, Kim. Oh, yes, he most certainly did. 🙂 He’s a tough negotiator. He was basically all, “And if you want to get even 10 minutes of sleep this week, you’re also putting an image of me down in that sidebar. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”
So what do you think about the masthead/header? It’s big, right? Do you think it’s too big?
Kim says
Ah, Tabs. He’s just that kind of cat. 🙂
I actually like it a lot. I know it’s personal taste but I feel like it’s very striking and the images you’re using are perfect. If this was my first visit, the visuals would make me want to read the posts. Once people start reading, the great writing and content keeps them coming back, but for first timers, I think the look is the most important. This is just gut feeling, but I think the vast majority of people interested in makeup are very influenced by visuals. So, short story made long, I like it and think it was a good choice. 🙂
Teri says
Oh wow Karen, this is definitely a very big change! I love it, it looks so nice and clean!
Mojito says
I love the kitty feature of “&” 😀
Karen says
Hi, Mojito!!! That was one of my absolute favorite things about the new design. I’m glad you like it too. 🙂
Valerie says
I love the new layout! It is easy to navigate and I especially like the silhouette of Tabs at the bottom. Tell him it makes him look very svelte! 🙂 Best wishes, Karen, and keep up the great work!
Anna says
Looks great! It’s sleek, glam, modern, and sophisticated. Way to go!
indoorkitty says
I love it! So crisp! Good job Karen!
Swatch And Learn says
I really like your blog’s new layout – it’s very clean without feeling empty. 🙂 Love how it’s not cluttered, but that you still were able to pack in a lot of content and photos, too. 🙂 Keep it up, Karen!
Kprice says
Very nice! I like it. But I have to say that I just love your hair in that photo.
Michou says
OMG LOVE! It looks great!
Amy D. says
LOVE it, Karen! Looks amazing – I just love everything about it! 😀
Alison says
I love the new layout. Its sleek, funky and suits you! Plus I love that EvRev is in your website header! That’s a nice personal touch.
Nina says
I love love love it! Its cleaner and more mod! But then again, the fact that MBB is fab wont change! 🙂
Karen says
Hi, Nina! Aww, you’re always so sweet. Thank you. I’m glad you like the new design.
Nina says
You did an awesome job!
Megan says
Karen I LOVE the new layout! So impressed!
Arianne says
Weee there’s a kitty on the ampersand! 😀 😀 Pretty cool that your header doubles as a feature slideshow. At first thought it felt too tall to me (like Iris above), but as a feature slideshow I like it that big.
Love the redesign! Meow~!
J says
I’m a fan! It looks very chic. I like it better than the old one.
Christina says
It’s really cute! I do agree with the others I wish I could see some of the content before the “fold,” as it were, but it’s a really cute revamp!
Karen says
Hi, Christina. It should look a little different now. We removed some padding below the big header at the top to bring the content up a little more. Let me know if that helps.
Agata says
It looks really good. The header is soo cute!
Suri says
Sexy blog! Love it 🙂
Christine says
Whoooooa nelly! It looks amazing! Great job, Karen!
Karen says
Thanks, Christine!
asiansbeauty says
it loads real fast! Much better than the old one I think! great job♡♡
jen. says
Looks great!
Alison says
Totally gorgeous! Way to go! Love it.
Sarah says
Woah! Your new layout is very elegant. Kudos!
Kathleen says
Mobile site is broken 🙁 at least on my phone. I’ve actually never seen the old because I’ve always used the mobile version, but it seems to look nice!
Karen says
Hi, Kathleen. The mobile site is almost there. I’m working on it. I hope to have it fixed today.
Hope your day got off to a good start.
Chris25 says
LOL, I thought I was at the wrong blog, haha. I got really confused. 😛
It looks good, btw.
Karen says
CHRIS!!! How’s it going? Yup, things sure look different, don’t they? I’m glad you like it.
Enjoy the rest of your day. 🙂
Ruchita says
I love the new layout! It’s very sleek and sophisticated.
Linnea says
Love it Karen.. I’m wondering.. was it a spur of the late night moment? It looks like it took a lot more planning and time than that.
Its gorg! love the pink + black + the tabby silhouette at the bottom.
Karen says
Hi, Linnea. Haha! No, it certainly wasn’t just a one-night project. I’ve been working with a developer on it for a couple months, but we’d planned to turn it on today. It was a last-minute decision to do it late last night.
Glad you like the colors, too. I wanted a new accent shade that seemed more sophisticated than bubble gum pink…but I couldn’t bring myself to stray too far away from pink.
And per usual, Tabs had to have his say over the final design. Did you also notice his influence in the new logo? 🙂
musical says
Ev Rev, Lady K and Tabs in high-def: that header ROCKS! Me likey! Not to mention the Tabs silhouette :).
Iris says
Really love the new layout. It’s elegant.
Trisha says
I’m going to agree that the header seems too big. But I LOVE the footer. Cute! Also, the font is…something. I know, helpful, right? I think the font’s a little big. 🙂
Cute though! Yay for new layouts!
Karen says
Hi, Trisha. Thank you. The header is certainly the most controversial new aspect, but I couldn’t resist the things I knew I could do with a space that size. The tendency has been to shrink headers lately, shrink logos, and move the content higher up the page along with the ads, but I wanted to buck the trend this time. We’ll see how things go. I may try something different a little down the road.
Leah @ Mile High Beauty Blog says
Love Love Love!
joanna says
Love it, beautiful
Andrea says
I love the new look!!! The first thing I thought when the page loaded was “wow, this is beautiful!”. I love the size of the header as it really shows off your amazing photography skillz!
The new look is more streamlined but still funky and whimsical!
Great job!
Karen says
Hi, Andrea. Funky and whimsical are two of my favorite words! 🙂 I’m glad you like it.
Kristina says
I love the new look, but the font needs to change. It’s too “childish” and reminds me of a lemonade stand. I like the larger header and the easiness on the eyes.
Monika says
Oh my god, Karen! The new layout looks AWESOME. I really loved the old one, but this one is even better. It’s got a lot of style and also reflects your cat love! Great job, and I’m excited to read your upcoming posts with the new look.
Anna says
Beautiful!! Great job, Karen! =D
Emily says
This looks fantastic Karen! Wow! I really love the new look!
OrangeLipstickBlog says
I love the cat ears and tail on the &! So cute!
Khalilah says
Hi. It looks ok on laptop. But not on mobile or itouch. The actual blog posts are overlapping with sidebars and its hard to read.
Karen says
It should be working on your iTouch now, Khalilah. 🙂 Have a great day.
Iram says
Oh wow! This is amazing 🙂
xo
Joanna says
OMG! I love the new blog layout. So cool! It’s purrrfect 🙂
Tiffany (Minnegirl) says
I love the new look, but, I agree the header may be a tad too big. I also love Tabs at the bottom, and Tabs in the header. Very creative and cute!
Karen says
Hi, Tiffany. I’m glad you like it. I’m taking every bit of feedback into account, in particular about the header, so thank you. I knew that it would be the most controversial part of the new design, but I couldn’t resist the potential of what I could do with it.
Honestly, the trend in design has been to minimize the header area because of some changes Google recently made, penalizing sites that have a great deal of ads and whatnot above their posts. In this case, I decided to take a chance and just go with what I like, which is HUGE pictures, LOL!
I’ll keep an eye on it and consider the feedback. Maybe I’ll shrink the header a little down the line.
Hope you’re having a good hump day so far. Tabs says hi. 🙂
Tiffany (Minnegirl) says
Thanks for replying! I love your site, so, whatever works best for you is fine with me! 🙂 i am glad Tabs is still playing a prominent role on the site. Lol Oscar and Maxwell (our two kitties) say hi to you and Tabs! Have a great day!
Danielle says
OMG KAREN!!! I love that Tabs (just a little less tubby ;D) is at the bottom of the blog and that you added cat ears and a tail in the blog’s logo. SO CUTE! Awesome new look!
Stephanie says
Ohmygah! LOVES this. Klassy and purrrfect. ♥
Ankita@corallista says
The header pics are gorgeous!! I can’t stop staring at the one with the red/pink lipsticks and Evolution Revolution!
Christie says
I love the new layout! The only thing I don’t love (and I don’t see that anyone else mentioned it, so I may be in the minority here) is the choice of font for the content of the blog posts and the comments. I find it to be a little blocky and harder to read than the old font.
Karen says
Hi, Christie. A couple people have mentioned the font. On my end, I see it as a font called Sophia Pro, and it is a little blocky, but if the person viewing the page doesn’t have that font installed, they’ll see the closest option they have on their system. I wish I could tell from the viewer’s point of view which font they’re being shown, like if it’s Sophia Pro, like I see, or if it’s one of the alternates, because they all look quite different.
After Sophia Pro, if that’s not available on the user’s machine, they see Helvetica, and if not Helvetica, then Arial, but they all look quite different.
I may switch it up from time to time and see how I feel about things using the old font, which was called Verdana. I definitely did want it to be larger on the new design than it was. I was having a hard time reading it because it was so small on the old design.
gio says
I love the new layout! It’s sleek and beautiful!
Yumi says
Loving the new look!
Stèphanie says
O my! I love it! It looks so much more classy than before. Really like the new logo aswell!
Patty says
Wow! Love the beautiful new look!
Maudy Mac says
Well done Karen!! The bog looks fantastic after what must have been a lot of hard work!! Must go check out the galleries now!!
Becca @ The Beauty Sample says
LOVE it Karen!
Sophie says
I love the new look! Especially the kitty silhouettes all around.
Good job, girl!
Amanda says
It’s SOOOO BEAUTIFUL, and user friendly!!! :]
Vanessa says
I said WOW aloud when I saw this. WOW!
It looks great, Karen. I must say, I think it looked good before too (I have yet to see how much more user-friendly it is), but a change of pace is always nice, right?
Gotham Polish says
Love the new design – it’s super sleek! I love the kitty in your logo, and at the bottom of the page! I agree with the other commenters that the header is quite large (on my computer, it takes up almost 3/4 of the page), and the tall ad before the comments interrupts the page flow. Also I wanted to mention that your site takes a long time to load so I usually just read your posts in Google Reader, but I’d love to come to your site more and see all the pretty things here!
Faustina says
GIRRRRLLLLL I’m in lurrrvve! This is perfect–clean and sophisticated, just like yourself! Thumbs up, paws up! <3
Kim says
I really like the header and the clean, simplified design. My only qualm would be with the bright blueish white background, which, displayed on a computer monitor, tends to be a little overwhelming on my eyes.
Katie says
Ahh! I saw the new layout this morning, but didn’t get a chance to comment!
I agree with the concerns about the header, which is sleek, but a bit big. I guess more use of the new layout will tell what other glitches us MBB visitors are experiencing, otherwise it’s so beautiful, Karen! Just promise that this new, classy vibe doesn’t detract too much from the endearing silliness I love about MBB.
Kate & Zena says
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! It’s changed!!!!!! THE BLOG HAS CHANGED!!! *cue autistic breakdown*
Oh God, now what am I going to do? I need a map! *ventures out with trepidation holding Zena close to chest like Toto in The Wizard of Oz. % seconds later puts Zena on the floor because she weighs too much.*
Kate & Zena says
*Five
Lars says
Love it!! Great job. 🙂
Brandy says
Karen you hair looks GREAT!!!!!! I just had to tell you that lol you are looking good lolî—î—î—
Marilyn @ Lipgloss and Spandex says
I love the new design! Very cute 🙂
Amanda Val says
I’m feeling nostalgic (lol) about the old design! It was so cute and it had a very personal touch it but the new design is very sleek and clean! Good job with the formatting – i’m sure it’ll be just as awesome!
Karen says
Hi, Amanda. I think I know how you feel about the old design. Turning on the new one was like when you move and say goodbye to your old house. I bet I spent thousands of hours having fun on those old pages and chatting with nice people like you, but you know, the old design isn’t gone. It’s actually still here (on the server), waiting perhaps for a special holiday to come out for a bit. 🙂
Have a great night.
Elle says
Love the new outfit!! Way to go Karen!
Amalee says
Ooooh wheee! The blog is looking fantastic! Awesome job! ^__^
Blanca says
I think the new look is stunning! I especially love your new header.
Ashley says
It’ll definitely take awhile getting used to the new layout now that it’s centered but the font is awesome!!! I also love how Tabs snuck into the new MBB logo too!
peach_ says
I love your new design, Karen! It’s so sleek and I love the little hints of CAT LADY-NESS! 😀 I can’t get over the little ears on Makeup “&” Beauty Blog.
julia says
hi karen,
i’m a longtime reader, but first-time commenter.:) love the new design, it looks so modern and chic. thanks for your GREAT blog – it’s my favourite source of makeup-related stuff!
Emi at Project Swatch says
I like it – very clean & graphic!
Ria says
Hi Karen, I’m been reading your blog for a while and I’m a really big fan. However, I am finding the new font in all the posts and comments really hard to read – it’s so wide (I use a Mac, and Firefox and Safari browsers). Is it just me?
Peggy Wan says
FYI – your hair looks amazing!
Brenda says
Simply gorgeous!
marisol says
Looks great Karen! I just got a chance to look at it on my macbook. But I thought that you for sure would use Comic Sans somewhere around here… hee hee
Crystal says
I miss the simplicity of the older design, but this looks great too. The only thing I would change is the size of the header, it’s really big. Other than that, great work!
Annabella Freeman says
I think your update has been way overdue only because there are several other bloggers that have copied your previous layout. I love the new logo too!
Karen says
Hi, Annabella. I’m glad you like it. Aren’t those kitty ears cute? 🙂
What are you up to this weekend?
Julia says
The new layout is pretty, but loads so slowly on my iPhone that I prefer the old version because it’s much faster.
Karen says
Hi, Julia. I’m still tweaking some things that should make it faster and hope to have a full-fledged mobile theme ready soon that will be much faster on your iPhone. Hope you’re having a nice weekend so far.
Gala says
Karen! I just want to comment that the new design is fab!!! So sleek and professional, I really really love it! and the photos look extra crisp this way. Great job!
Mary says
Wow! It really looks great. I love how it’s a 180 from your previous design.
Personally, I think the header throws me off because the content + sidebar isn’t as wide as the main image at the top. If possible, I’d recommend making the content wider so it plus the sidebar matches the width of your header. I like big headers, especially for blogs that have a leg up on the game because your content is so consistently strong. I don’t think the concern of going “beyond the fold” is much for you to worry about. 🙂
For reference, this is what I mean: http://sandrajuto.blogspot.com/, or http://www.helloitsvalentine.fr/.