Entry #0 - Here We Go

For my "into to blogs" post, I am going to start by talking about two blogs geared towards women. Pretty predictable for this to be my selection choices. I'm 44, worried about wrinkles, more weight than I desire, and a family in tow. I'm going to go down this yellow brick road on these pages to find the great and powerful Oz to give me all the answers about both blogs and beauty.

Goop is a blog run by the actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Honestly, I chose to blog about this page as one I don't like when I saw it on the list of pages to select from for this assignment. I do not care for Gwyneth's acting and have heard numerous negative things about her page, Goop. At the top of the homepage is a picture of the actress herself inviting me to buy her clothing label. As I scroll down, I would not consider this to be a blog as compared to what I typically think of with a blog format. The majority of the home page is a store, there's even the shopping cart symbol in the upper right corner. Most of the items being advertised are outside my typical price point, like the $130k Rolex watch. However, the $18 tweezers are right next to it letting me know there are products that I can afford (big eye-roll). The page is clean and there a links to articles towards the bottom that I would check out. Many pieces of advice have been highly criticized, so I probably would just read them for entertainment value. 

Not all is negative in the Goop world. I do really like the search bar available at the top. I am a big fan of search bars to enable me to find something again on a webpage that I want to go back to. It's well-organized and is geared appropriately to the upper-class women she is trying to engage. The "calls-to-action" to subscribe and follow are easily found.

The next page was one I had not heard of, The Stripe. The page is easy on the eyes. The images used are appealing, many featuring the owner, Grace Atwood. Grace seems more relatable, but that could be because I do not know of her as a Hollywood star. Its a fun page and the products she's endorsing and selling appear to be contained within the cute articles she writes. If you want to read about style, books, beauty or chat, you can make this selection in an easily findable text link on page or in table of contents. I absolutely love the ad for her Amazon store. Everyone shops on Amazon and it makes her more relatable to the normal shopper. She does the writing for her page so I feel like I'm getting to know her. 

Just like with Goop. There isn't the perfect page for me. I HATE the ad banner that pops up every time I navigate from one page to another on her site. I know this is a revenue maker for her, but I hate click in the x to close that damn Target ad. Since she writes everything herself, its all based on just her likes and dislikes. Gwyneth has many people working on submissions for her page so there is a more diverse selection being offered. The newsletter sign up is prominent, but other ways to follow her on other social platforms is not available, or obvious if it is. 

Both pages had things I did and did not like about them and this assignment has definitely made me get my feet wet for the upcoming blog assignments. Maybe I won't drown when I actually get in the water. While it was interesting looking at both these pages, let me be honest. I grew exhausted looking at all the recommendations for upkeep with being a woman. I will prob stick to my three makeup items and my husband's big t-shirts and sweats when my uniform comes off. 

Till the next post!

Curtis