Archived Post
Welcome to the Latest Temptalia!
Welcome to the Latest Temptalia!
As you can probably tell (and if you can’t, do a hard refresh the page), things look just a little bit different here at Temptalia. We hope you like the new look and feel! Many of the decisions we made regarding the layout were designed to make the site more lightweight, load faster (both on regular computers but also for mobile users), and streamline our content and features as the site is unwieldy content-wise (12,000 posts!). Enjoy! 🙂
If you spot any issues or have feedback, please email shaun[at]temptalia.com with a description of the problem, link to the page you spotted it on, and if you’re able to, provide a screen shot along with what type of device (Apple, PC, mobile, iPad, etc.) and browser you were using.
Oh wow, that’s a BIG CHANGE! I like it a lot, it’s much cleaner and simpler, which is always my preference.
Love you, love the blog but too much white! Hurts my eyes.
ooh, I like! 😀
The new look is sooo much cleaner. Thumbs up!
No matter how it looks, I always follow temptalia. I am a loyal reader Christine. It looks neat, like a pro. Congratulations.
i like this! it looks so much more professional! kudos to you and shaun!
I like it a lot. Thumb up!
It looks very, very professional but I really miss the blue banner and flowers. It reminded me of Fragonard & some of his paintings. The grey squares of the new background are a teensy, weensy bit sterile for me but, all in all, it’s very clean cut and definitely very professional looking.
Oh my god I love it!! *flails*
Looks great. Professional and modern 🙂
Wow Christine, this is a huge change! I really like it, it’s clean and it’s nice. I have to admit though, I really liked the flowers of your previous lay-out, but this is just very different in a good way!
i personally don’t like it and for a makeup blog it’s very plain…but i’ll always follow temptalia no matter what. i love you guys no matter how much you change the look of the site!
Aw, well I must say I find it a bit too uniform. With spring coming, I thought the cheerfulness and the flowers were well suited. This is more of a winter theme I feel. I don’t see what would make it more professional, your layouts have always been beautiful and professional with color and everything already..
Change is always nice, but I do miss the color a bit. Maybe a white bg is better for looking at swatches but idk.
Wow, I looked up an old blog post and didn’t recognize Temptalia at first!! Almost thought I went to the wrong site, haha.
The new layout is very nice and clean-looking too. Sleek. :DDDD
Like the others, I think the new look is very professional. I do feel it loses a little personality and looks a little more generic, but nothing major as the iconic (to me and plenty of others!) Temptalia logo is still there. I keep coming back because of content and you ALWAYS deliver the best. Keep up the good work Christine (and Shaun of course)!
Very clean, but I’m not a huge fan. Nonetheless, I will still visit Temptalia.
As a bit of a nut for clean, minimal looks, I really like what you’ve done with the place. Obviously, things have moved around a bit, but it took me all of about 6 secs to figure out where to find everything. Congrats to Christine + Shaun, you’ve done a very nice job.
Big change.. Idk, love the professional look but needs more color. I’m missing the cherry blossoms.
I do like the new formatting but the colorings and such are too bland and professional 🙁 reminds me of a cold office building. PLEASE keep the blue+flowers background, it always made me smile when I clicked your link 🙂
@AmyHe It always made me smile or cheered me up too. And “cold office building” is exactly what I didn’t dare say.
I really miss the banners and the flowers.. I mean, temptalia for me has always been this seriously iconic review site – Christine, along with Brittany from Clumps of Mascara and Karen from Makeup and Beauty Blog are my three beauty review heroes.. and for me, the banner and the flowers were the site’s trademark 😛 but maybe change is good? eh, what do i know.
I dont like the change. That old look was unique. It was “YOU” Christine. It set you apart. I understand you want to make it easier for your readers to get access, etc., but that was “you”. Now your page looks like any other page. I know you are a sensitive person. In no way am I being harsh to you. But that I why I read your blog daily several times a day because of its uniqueness. Now the page looks like any other templates I get from other sites. The look is a combination of “advertising, blandness, and boring”. You cannot please everyone. It is your page. Do what you like to make you happy. These are just my opinions. If you bring back that logo of yours, it would be much much better.
I like it, but I think it needs a little more pop of colour.
A light pink background or something.
I love simple and embrace the new clean streamlined look!
Thanks for all of your feedback – we definitely listen to everything you say (and what you don’t say), both before and after we implement a new layout. Every design, including this one, is the result of numerous feedback, suggestions, and the like. Both Shaun and I will continue to listen and consider your feedback and look for ways to improve the site. Thanks for your support!
Temptalia and the cherry blossoms were the “perfect duo” Sweet, femenine, colorful and original…..
Sorry to say but if it is not broken…dont fix it
Ay no Christine…. si no estaba roto, para que componerlo? Temptalia y las flores de cerezo eran la combinación perfecta. Ahora esta página se ve igual al millón de otras páginas aburridas que plagan el internet.
It’s difficult to read…the font hurts my eyes.
I love it Christine, can see all your great swatches with even more clarity now and everything is where I’d expect to find it navigationally. Those grey squares remind me of maths class though! *shudders*
It’s very bland. Really not a fan. Sorry!
I like the design but its difficult to read because its so white..not a fan 🙁
Love how clean this layout is! Really puts more attention to the pics, reviews, etc and less on the background. Love love LOVE it!
I really like the new format! It puts more focus on the photos (which are always terrific by the way!) It is easier to read too since there are not so many graphics going on!
I liked the old one much better. I dislike the lack of images and the monochromaticness. Design-wise and coding-wise it’s gorgeous and practical, but not for a makeup blog. It’s very impersonal and bland. At first glance, without reading anything, it doesn’t look like a makeup site. The new background is nice, but I really liked the pictures above the Foundation Matrix and Swatch Gallery.
I don´t like the new temptalia :´(
I can appreciate what you were going for but this feels so bland. The adds have taken over and I can barely find the buttons on the homepage.
I like the old format better
I don’t like change!
Don’t listen to those haters! I love the new layout! I’m sure it took a lot of time and decision making to figure out what you wanted to do next! Love it!
@MyNameIsAshley_ Honest, constructive criticism is not hate.
I miss the old page. This new one feels impersonal, cold, and generally unengaging. I think that maybe you were going for more of a sleek look, but I really don’t see this being compatible with your content. Cute stories about your dog and photos of bright makeup looks will not fit in with the new design imo. I appreciate the effort that you put into this, but I figured that you might appreciate this feedback.
I love the new look Christine!! My iPhone is super slow and this new format loaded so quick!! Awesomeness!!
The new fonts and updates to the way the page is organized are right on point but the plain background leaves something to be desired. The giant gray lump of space under the last ad on the right sidebar doesn’t help.
Too bright, it hurts my eyes
I’m a sucker for minimalism so I love it! And it loads so much faster for me compared to the old one!
I definitely prefer the old layout.
i like it!!! very clean and chic
There are some things I like about it – it does load much faster, and it’s very crisp. But I agree with others that it’s awfully bland. A little more color would be nice (I do miss the cherry blossoms). Right now it kind of looks like it might be a blog for Kinko’s 😛 On the readability front, the post headings are HUGE (especially the longer ones like “What luxury lipstick would you recommend to someone looking to splurge?” On a smaller screen like mine (13″ MacBook) the header takes up half the page, its very unwieldy and hard to read. Also, the content bar seems a bit too narrow compared to the sidebar, which also makes it hard to read. And the “related posts” section is enormous. Basically, everything is too big except for the actual content, which should be the focus. Can I also mention how much I *hate* livefyre for comments?
like this so much better, I don’t have a fancy computer so your site used to take forever to load
i don’t like it
It’s so……white. While on one hand, I like it; on the other, I wish there were something to distinguish Temptalia from ALL the other sites that have gone the minimalist way like the cherry blossoms with the branches (which has been in nearly all of your other spreads) spreading across the top of the page after the “a” in “Temptalia” and swirling around the “Google” search box. That’s just me though!
The new design is great, so clean and refreshing! I especially enjoy the drop down menu style for the “features, “looks”, “tutorials”, etc. buttons
It;s nice and minimalistic and I do like how it turned out, good job! It loads faster and looks so neat 🙂 The only thing that slightly bothers me is the background – I don’t know if it is the squares or it is too light but I think I can get used to it 🙂 Congratulations!
I love it… it looks so legit. Reminds me of the new Sephora layout.
Awww, sooo pretty!!!! 😀 😀
you and shaun are the best … this is so good 😀 and earlier one was also sooo pretty 😀 thank you for asking us … but what matters is – your honest reviews and your cheerful face which is same as always .. even if i see 4 yr old post i smile looking at your wide smile and beautiful eyes 😀 😀
I LOVE how much faster it loads for me and it’s very neat and organized, but like a lot of others, it’s a little bright for me. Maybe a simple color scheme change would fix that, though. (It might also help those who feel it’s a little impersonal.)
I like the fact it has become more simple, but as others, I feel there are big lumps of empty space that could be filled (the ads appear a bit “here and there”) and I think a pop of color in the background would be appropiate, even if it’s just a hint of it. On the other side, I like the use of color on the titles and the typography is really nice!
I’m sorry, but I don’t like this at all. 🙁
I miss the pictures and the flowers. I feel like I’m at the doctor’s office or the pharmacy, it’s all clinically white and sterile. Make up is supposed to be fun, but this site looks extremely conservative now. 🙁
I really like the new lay-out. It looks really simple and sleek.
I’m sorry but I don’t like it at all. I liked the pink and the cherry blossoms. This one feels too “official” and boring and I specifically hate the big square font in the post titles. Obviously it’s your blog and your decision, but to me it just seems very impersonal now and more of a commercial website than someone’s personal blog, but having said that Temptalia has long changed from a personal blog to a commercial site, so I guess it fits.
I really don’t like it, sorry. Too bland, boring and the adverts are in you face now. I don’t like the fonts used either and I miss the photos and colour.
Wow, really a nice change!!! It looks much more professional now, in my opinion ;).
Oh dear, oh dear….I just woke up and I read this too quickly – I thought it said “Welcome to the LAST Temptalia” and I started to panic! I do find the page looks a bit “stark” – lots of white space and a bit “glaring” but nothing I can’t get used to.
I like the sleek look but miss your cherry blossom, fun background. Will you maintain this motif in some way? It seems like your trademark and is a shame to give it up. Maybe the sleekness can be maintained but add some of that spunk and personalization back into it. People who love makeup like beautiful pages, too! 🙂
Christine I love you, but this site feels now like some generic beauty advice site – the old design had more personality, and I didnt mind the slower loading time. Of course this is your site – and by all means you and only you decide on how it looks, but I really loved the cheerful colors, maybe the layout is not the problem for me as much as all this gray.
Again love you and really appreciate your work!
I am not a fan. I think it’s too white, it is kinda tiring to read the text now, and it seems so unpersonal. I liked the background you had before, with the flowers. That was very cute. ♥
both are fine. if your new version runs faster and quicker, then fine!
Loving the new layout, Temptalia! Your site is DEFINITELY loading much faster for me.
I *love* the new look! Yes, it’s much more minimalist, but I think that’s a good thing; the new website appears easier to navigate.
I like the design! It’s cleaner and more mature imo!
The people who complain now will probably get used to it in a second, there’ll always be people complaining when a site changes its layout or something.
I think it’s great – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pulled up the foundation matrix or the dupe list on my phone so this will make it easier! Thanks!
Much better! I was waiting for that….
I think I like this version more, though admittedly I am a sucker for sans serif fonts so in a sense i miss that!
Thank Goodness! The old format took too long to load. Yay!
Miss the old format too! Too “white” and looks like millions of other impersonal blogs out there. Yours was different and made a statement. Maybe there is a way to keep it streamlined and more colorful and joyous than this?
I feel like any BEGINNER blog could have this layout. It feels like you just chose a pre-made layout rather than design it yourself (even though I already know you made it yourself, it just looks pre-made by someone else). Your old background was more of your trademark, it looked like a lot of effort was put into it and it was always fun and relaxing to come on Temptalia after a hard day and just focus on makeup. I do agree that this layout is very cold and….. not fun. The only plus is that the page loads faster. This layout just feels like something I’ve seen a thousand times, whereas the old layout was something fresh and different.
Um, wow.
This feels a bit like a web design blog, or a news blog, now. My eyes go right to the ads, and the body of your blog post feels cramped and crammed. This random floating “Like” bar on the side, stalking me, is a little annoying.
I get what you’re trying to do… But I don’t like it =(
web design blog was the first thing I thought too!
Although the new format is nice, I much prefer the old layout.
Love the new lay-out!
I really like the plaid texture of the background, it’s what loads initially, but then it is instantly covered by an ad (Schick Hydrosilk) that takes up both sides and the header. It makes me notice the ad more than the site which I don’t like. I agree the white is a bit harsh to read from, maybe you could bring back a pale pink or blue to allude to the former site! I think the blue that ‘makeup launches’ and ‘drugstore reviews’ are in would look nice. I also miss the flowers, but I think you could bring them back subtlety? Like next to the category headings?
It’s simple, easy to navigate, clear. I like it. 🙂
The only thing I’d prefer though is a little more color. I liked the flowers in the top of the page in the previous layout. I guess this disappeared for the page to load faster, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a couple of flowers again. 😉
I love it, it’s very clean and loads so much faster. Great job!
Maybe you could at least make the plaid in the background a light pink instead of gray? It’s all so bland now, and I actually find it harder to differentiate between posts on the main page
Not sure how I feel about new site. But one thing I can say is the LIGHT BLUE FONT used as links is impossibly hard to read. Could it be made darker?
Yeah, that’s my biggest issue. Maybe if it was a darker blue but it’s just too light against the grey background.
I do appreciate that the site loads faster but it is kinda blah now. Too much grey and it’s just not pretty.
Not a huge fan of the colors, but that’s not a huge deal. But I LOVE that it’s loading so much faster now! Sometimes as I scrolled down on the old Temptalia, the page would lag a bit, but that’s no longer a problem! And posts in general are definitely loading faster, too. Yay!
Hi Christine,
I like that the site loads faster and that it’s cleaner looking but I agree with others in that it’s a bit too stark with a lot of empty space. Perhaps adding just a tiny bit of colour or a small graphic (on the left maybe) might make the page easier on the eyes. It’s a cleaner look overall, but I feel like it’s a little bit like reading a newspaper–all black and white.
Looks great! I like the simplicity of the page ~ and yes, it loads much faster 🙂
Love it! The other was nice, but took far too long to load. Much better now, much easier on the eyes, loads quickly, and not so pink (but I’m partial to anything blue). Thanks for thinking of those of us with dinosaur computers!
Love it, feels fresh, sleek and contemporary!
I don’t care for this design at all. Sorry! It looks like so many other blogs out there. The font is hard to read and it’s just really bland. I also don’t like how the content is just a small portion of the screen with so much wasted space on the sides. It just seems like so much scrolling. I miss the cherry blossoms too. I thought I had pulled up a wrong webpage. 🙁
Just FYI, the content area is the same size (give or take a few of pixels–I don’t know the exact width of either the old or the new, but my images are 550px and the content pane is designed to accommodate that) as it was before. Please keep in mind that not everyone has a really large monitor – so we design with the idea that the layout should be about 90% viewable on a 1024×768 resolution.
Love it! I’m a sucker for more monochromatic design schemes 🙂
I’m thrilled to see this change!!! I’m using 2 older computers & am not upgrading until Win 8 comes out so the load time was super sloooooow! — both cumbersome & annoying; so much so that if I was only vaguely interested in product swatches or comments, I won’t even bother to open the the “Keep Reading” or comments. I let Temptalia load in the background & quite often the resource intensity of Temptalia would cause Shockwave to crash & then I’d have to close & re-open all the pages using Shockwave. Ugh! I’m sure there’s many of us using older computers. Yes, the flowers & colors were very pretty, but I’m here strictly because of the quality of the information provided not for the aesthetics of the website. The simplicity of the website layout has always been comfortable to maneuver around. Thank you, Christine, for a much needed improvement!
Hi Christine! I’m loving the crisp and minimalist feel of the new page! Just missing some of the color a bit.. 🙂
way too much white!!! Still love you though xoxo
Hi all,
We are definitely reading and listening to your thoughts. We continue to discuss the feedback between the two of us and will continue to do so. With every design, we anticipate the need for additional tweaking and minor changes and use your feedback to guide us.
I did want to further emphasize why we moved away from having a graphic-heavy design:
One of the common complaints about previous layouts has always centered around load time, and we’ve done a lot of things in the past like moving to CDN, upgrading servers, trying various services/tools on the backend to improve performance, but it wasn’t getting much faster. The move to CDN did improve the stability and reliability of the page during peak periods (e.g. MAJOR collection launch/news/reviews), but the overall loading impact wasn’t as great as we hoped.
We looked at how many items were loading on the every page – from graphics, photos, banners, backgrounds, and the like to every script and call to third-party server, and trimmed down the things that have to load on each page.
Thanks again for your feedback!
Do not like. Too minimalistic.
It’s grey, and no more flowers 🙁
I really dislike the comments here and there that refer to the criticism as “hating.” That little annoyance aside, I’m really glad that you’re keeping loading time in mind– I personally don’t have any loading issues whatsoever, but for those who do, I’m sure that it’s a little off-putting to have to wait. However, it feels like the white document grid that you see in Adobe Creative Suite programs. Some people have claimed that it loses personality, but I have always viewed you as someone who takes things seriously (or at least on this site) so I feel that this suits you. I think you could bring SOME color back to the site- it does feel a little bland as well, something which both you and makeup or not. The white is what bugs me the most. It’s hard for me to differentiate between the background and the blog post space, and the ads end up popping out more because they are more colorful in comparison to the website.To wrap it up, I think just changing the color of the background so that there is more contrast would be sufficient enough. The rest just depends on us getting used to it. :)Again, we thank you and Shaun for all that you do!
I really don’t like it, sorry. It seems the only pops of colour on the whole page are from the ads which makes it even harder to ignore them now. The focus of the blog should be on the actual content yet the ads/links/content on the side seem to take up a large chunk of the screen with the content squeezed in the middle and in what looks like a sea of white. So all the posts seem to run together. It’s not reader friendly at all 🙁
I appreciate you were trying to make the site load faster but perhaps you could leave out superfluous photographs within posts to help with this? For me, it was when I clicked into posts that I experienced the absolute slowest loading. By superfluous photos, I’m referring to having pictures of packaging or products grouped together and shot at 3-4 different angles. If it’s a new type of packaging or a lesser known brand, then I understand the need for more pictures but I don’t see the need with brands/packaging like MAC. The MAC posts are particularly guilty of this (eg. the fashion sets!).
It goes without saying that you should do what you want. It’s your blog. But since you often seem interested in reader feedback, I thought I’d give my opinion and suggestions so I hope you’ll find it helpful.
Aw, I miss the cherry blossoms, they always cheered me up! The gray makes me sad. However, I understand about wanting to improve loading time, though it never affected me personally. The nice thing about having a website is that you can always change it when you like/need to.
The new layout looks nice.
A couple of other blogs have recently redesigned their sites (thechloeconpsiracy.com, frmheadtotoe.com), and while I like their new sites, I can’t deal with all this change! It really does take your eyes a couple of weeks to get used to a new design. I feel like I just got used to your old design and now you’ve changed it on me again! I like change, and change is necessary, but please give us a layout for at least a year or so before you switch it up.
Visually, I don’t love the grid pattern that’s going on in the background. I think it’s too small and detailed. I would prefer a larger pattern. I also find the teal color you’re using to be a little bit bright, a little bit too cyan in relationship to the more muted fuchsia color you’re using. If you could, I think it’d be nicer if that blue color was toned down a bit.
I really do like the new platform and the options to share and to comment as a guest or under a pre-existing pseudonym.
I really don’t like it :/ It’s just so plain and ordinary. It’s not what I think of when I think of this page and it makes me sad, ’cause you can totally make a fast loading website without it being plain and boring :/
And what bothers me the most is the titles of the posts, why not make the letters change colour when you put your mouse over it? It’s really hard to know that you can actually click the titles without some sort of indication, besides the “hand” mouse
I miss the cherry blossoms
I think it’s okay. I could do with less white, it strains and tires my eyes almost immediately, especially black text on white. I don’t mind a minimalistic approach. I get how this new look could help with loading and I’m sure you took a lot into account. A splash more of color would be nice though, but that’s just my opinion. I will miss the Cherry Blossoms, it gave your site such a happy feel.
@Cat G I agree with Cat G. Also, the site took like 2 seconds to load on my computer. Is two seconds really going to deter people from visiting this site? It obviously didn’t keep any of us away before, but I am probably less likely to come to this site now that it looks like Sephora or a similarly stark *company’s* site rather than an individual’s personal review site. It depends on whether you’d like to have a personalized, “happy feel” of a clean, sophisticated, industrial feel.
@Haethre I was JUST thinking that this update ironically now makes this blog look exactly like the new Sephora website after their update.
I love it! Looks very sophisticated.
i’m sure i will get use to it but it does not have any color…..seriously i can’t really see were one post ends and the other begins while scrolling down fast… 🙁
I definitely prefer this new layout 🙂
I feel like I may be the only person who HATES the new commenting system. 🙁
Nope, you’re definitely not. I absolutely despise it! 😛
Nope, you’re definitely not. I absolutely despise it! 😛
I actually like the layout. It’s clean, it’s simple, it’s functional. I’m going to have a look-see on my iPod later to see how the mobile version looks. 🙂
I love how clean and easy to navigate the new layout is, and it definitely loads much faster now! I agree with some of the other commenters though that it could use a touch more colour – perhaps instead of the background being grey, it could be blue/pink/yellow/colour of your choice? At the moment the background looks a bit like a cement wall.
Awesome improvement! Yay!
i love it, christine. very neat, clean and easy on the eyes. so far, it’s perfect.
I think the new streamlined changes are good for the site, even though I do miss the old designs, but my main complaint is the colour. It seems so clinical and sterile, not something I associate with makeup and beauty. I think the background should be changed, it doesn’t need to be graphic-based (although it is nice, I understand why you’re not using it), a colour change would be enough; a deeper, colour would be more warming and welcoming.
Also, one other thing, the grey-white is quite bright and harsh on the eyes (nothing to do with monitor settings, just a general observation). When it comes to computer monitors, I usually find darker backgrounds are easier on the eyes, causing less strain.
Overall, this cleaner look is nice, it’s just the colouring that is a problem. It’s nice to know you think so cafefully about what we want before making changes to the site! Thank you.
I like the streamlined new look and it loads much faster for me on both my laptop and iPhone. Nice work!
My biggest pet-peeve beyond the starkness are the multiple headings for everything. For example, “Free for Haul Friday” in Black & White, then below it “Free for Haul Friday” in the old format, and then “Welcome to Free for Haul Friday!”
If you are trying to load the site faster and trying to be sleeker, multiple headings do not accomplish this.
I really like this layout. It’s clean, looks professional, and loads quickly on my computer & on my phone. Nice work 🙂
I think a blog with your quality content and professional tone should have a grown-up site design to match, and this is an improvement. If people want like pink flowers and sparkles they can customize their tumblrs or something.
I completely agree! I love the new layout.
Wow, only just noticed something else. When I use your search function, the first result I get is a large google sponsered advert offering me what I just searchd for from different websites. I really, really, REALLY don’t like this! :,(
With the new design it definitely seams like the ads are completely taking over, especially since they are now the only pictures, and the site looks commercially run, not like a private blog at all.
That is how I see it also….the ads more pronouce and dont “feel” like a personal blog anymore.
I like the new layout and I liked the old layout too!
Undoubtedly this does load faster which is great for my mobile.
As several people have said before, I prefer coloured backgrounds as its easier to read. It would also seem to me to be more in keeping with the Temptalia theme to have a pinkish background but it’s your website you can do what ever you like with it 🙂
On a side note I find the new commenting system confusing – often when I look at threads on the main page it says there are ‘0 comments’ but when I view the actual post there are comments afterwards.
Overall though, I like 🙂
What I find is that you have to wait until the main page has completely loaded until it tells you how many comments there are. Once the main page is loaded, all of the “0’s” change to the appropriate amount of comments for each post. Maybe’s that just my browser though. o.o
I tried to give this new look a chance but unfortunately it’s hard on my eyes. I don’t know if it’s the background color, font style and sizes, font colors, or a combination, but it hurts my eyes to look at it too long. There are many mostly white blogs out there (I have one) that do not have this kind of effect on me, so I really don’t know what it is.
And while I like a minimalist style, there’s something about the font colors that detracts from it. The bright colors don’t seem to work anymore. I see some people saying it looks more professional but to me it’s the opposite. It looks and feels a lot like a beginner’s blog. I appreciate that you wanted to update the blog (I really do), but I don’t think this is working.
Mobile version isn’t working at all – some page shows up with the title “Great Sucess! Apache is working on your cPanel and WHM Server” and under “Attention” I should direct my problem to the administrator of the website.
I’ve definitely noticed a fabulous speed difference for sure. Look is definitely cleaner. Keep up the good work!!!
I think it’s infinitely better than the previous ones. While loading time wasn’t a huge concern for me and the look of the website did not deter me from browsing, I remember reading some discussions on another site about how the layout was always too busy, and I totally agree. That was more distracting than anything else. But out of the changes there are a few things that could be altered or addressed.1) The white background of the main column, it doesn’t pose any issue for me but it does feel like there’s a bit too much contrast. Perhaps an off-white would be better and would add more softness overall.2) I feel like, as with the white, the black is a bit too hard. I find that the dark grey bars look much softer but still clearly defined, so perhaps keeping that shade and then using a grey that is either a few shades darker or lighter (depending on what seems to pop/look best) would look nicer.3) The blue text/links seems a bit too bright now with the colours used. I think that deepening it slightly, or perhaps using a slightly warmer colour, would look a bit nicer. Actually I don’t mind it too much on the sidebar, but the use of it in the links just looks off to me.4) The headers don’t look as clear. I think it’s because there are borders around both the top and bottom, so they kind of just look like they are between the posts as opposed to defining each post. It also seems, like someone else pointed out, that there’s header overkill. It does look like there’s 2-3 headers per post. I’d say either get rid of the first (black) header or get rid of the pink header. Maybe replace the black header font colour with that of the pink, as it would be easier to spot the new post that way as well. I don’t think the pictures of products need to be labelled underneath either, at least not for the intro picture. Otherwise I like everything else. I actually really like the textured background, it’s a nice medium between having a solid coloured background and a large background image.
ok, after trying this out for a few days I decided to give my 2 cents. I came to the conclusion that I definitely don’t like the new layout. I tried to adapt, I did! But it’s just… Like other people said, the lack of color makes it somewhat uninviting. Plus, like another reader pointed out, I can’t see where one post ends and another begins. I think it’s more confusing than it was before. And there are other smaller things, for example, before when I wanted to see reviews by rating, I could choose the rating (A, B, whatever) without leaving the main page, now it takes me to another page, then I select the rating, then it goes to even another page… it ends up taking more time to load. I just think that the navegation was more fuss-free before…
I got to say it feels a lot like vampynarnish.com and I know u guys can come up with better than this a hybrid of sorts. the white really hurts my eyes. need some color to break it up. Musingsofamuse.com is simple easy to load and colorful. Maybe something along thos lines.
Hi Christine! After surfing this new Temptalia for a few days, I decided to give my 2 cents too. But first of all, I really do hope that you don’t equate people who doesn’t like the new layout who is just giving their input and “haters” like some comments I have read. In my POV, there is a strict line of constructive criticism and “hater comment”. Now for my 2 cents:
1. I actually really like the streamlined and simple layout! But like others have pointed out, the lack of color (background color in my opinion) make the site seems cold and it kinda hurts my eyes. Usually I feel so welcomed in Temptalia. Maybe change the color scheme and/or background color?
2. It does look more professional, but professional doesn’t have to be cold and hurting the eyes.
Overall, I concluded that the main problem is the color scheme. That’s all for my 2 cents! Thanks for all your work and listening to us, Christine 🙂
I feel like the only one, but I ADORE this design: clean, minimalist, easy on the eyes. I love the new fonts too, very classy. You did a great job! xx Renee