I’ll admit that when I saw the news at E! Online that Julianne Hough has a new lifestyle website, I rolled my eyes. I’m used to celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Blake Lively trying to impress us with their overpriced tchotchkes and purple prose. When celebrities launch websites there are exceptions to the haughty rule, like Zooey Deschanel’s Hello Giggles (which is a pop culture and news site, not a lifestyle site) but overall they’re more like Olivia Palermo’s self-named site, a glossy tribute to high end fashion and luxury goods.
Julianne Hough’s new site, Jules, is kind of sweet, though. It’s more of a pinterest-type site with quick tips and advice. After I read a few entries I found myself warming to her. Her blog entries are short, upbeat and simple. There’s nothing groundbreaking there, we have the whole internet full of free advice and tutorials after all, but it’s a nice view of her outlook and lifestyle. She seems relatable, incredibly nice and earnest to a fault. Here’s what she wrote in her intro entry and it’s a little goofy.
Welcome to my cozy little corner on the World Wide Web! I wanted to design a space where I could connect with fans and friends about the things I’m most passionate about, and I wanted to be able to hear from all of you. This is a place where we can share recipes, workout tips, talk about style, beauty and home décor. I’m especially excited to talk to you guys about things that matter most, like ways we can all be rock stars in our communities and tips to become the best versions of ourselves.
This is a place for all of us, sort of like a fun digital neighborhood, and it’s important to me to hear from you. So, what do YOU want to see on my site? Let’s create something amazing together!
xoxo
Jules
The blog has a total of 11 posts so far, which isn’t bad for a launch. She has quick advice from her trainer on getting fit on the go, directions for a messy braid (I can’t believe she can do that so well with a bob) and her resolutions for the new year, which include eating out less and carving out more free time for herself. So far she’s not selling us anything (she does show a preference for a brand of candle but IDK), which is a welcome change from the Olivia Palermos and Goops we’re used to. She’s just kind of connecting to her fans and letting people know what works for her. I can’t help it, I like it.
Over the weekend I looked for interviews with Marian Keyes, a very popular Irish women’s lit author, as I’m currently reading my second of her many funny, relatable books. (Maybe we’ll get the CB book club started up again now that awards season has wrapped. I’m reading Rachel’s Holiday and just finished Watermelon.) I found a series of interviews between Keyes and beauty writer Sali Hughes. They start off in Keyes’s bathroom (this is a thing that Hughes does with celebrities) and discuss her beauty regimen and then go over her product drawer. It’s not everyone’s thing, but I was totally delighted to listen to them discuss makeup and skincare. The best part was when they went into Keyes’s shoe closet and picked over her shoes. I guess my rambling point is that it’s fun to see what celebrities think about superficial, frivolous things, as long as they’re genuine and real.
Look at Hough’s puppies! Those look like Cavalier King Charles Spaniels but not quite. I wonder what breed they are. So cute.
photo credit: JulianneHough.com
I will be launching my lifestyle website next month. It’s all about the thundersnow and absinthe.
lilac flowers.com. Smell the lifestyle.
And how to accessorize your beige booty shorts.
Life-size Aaron Schock posters for sale. Stylish turquoise canvas belts @ $29.99. New book: How to survive the thundersnow with a pitcher of Comet Sophies and a bowl of fishheads.
Along with orange fringe jackets and metallic silver hi-tops.
We offer a very special selection of deflated footballs.
Don’t miss our Downton Abby decorating tips or our ideas on what to feed your fake baby.
Second last photo looks like Meg Ryan.
Meg Ryan’s pre-plastic face, maybe…
I always think of her as Aniston 2.0. The resemblance is really strong, imo.
I guess this is her attempt at starting career #4. She’s been a dancer, a singer an actor and now she’s a lifestyle guru. What’s next?
Don’t forget Proactive spokesperson. She keeps trying different stuff but none of it seems to stick. This probably won’t be much different.
Yes, she is like a zombie that can’t be put down and simply keeps coming back to life in various forms. She is pretty, but there are tons of pretty people on this planet. What will her lifestyle website consist of? Will it mimic her bland aesthetic and tastes sprinkled with bits of offensiveness? I can see it now: “Blackface Bulletproof Coffee: When I feel energetic about my ignorance.”
On a side note, has anyone noticed that her candid photos are forever attempting to make her look surprised as if in an a-ha, light bulb moment? It is obvious that the photographer is attempting to wake up and enliven that dull haze and deadpan personality that she carries with her, both of which have short-circuited her acting career. Thank god she can move her body because that face, while pretty, shows nothing compelling.
Ha ha re the zombie comment. The header photo pissed me off. White fuzzy sweater with all-American white blonde hair … blech.
I caught up with opener of Dancing with the Has Beens. I predict a fight between her and Kym Johnson over the Shark Tank dude (can’t be bothered to look him up). Lots of dough and she likes ’em rich, a la Seacrest.
I liked watching her dance actually. She’s a better dancer than judge/ pro-Derek Mark shill.
Hey, there’s fightin’ words on that site:
“How To Go From Bedhead To Beautiful In 5 Minutes Flat”
Why is she dissin’ Bedhead’s beauty?
LOL!
Hahahaha!
I love Marian Keyes so much! You have to read Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married next! That and Rachel’s Holiday are her two best, in my opinion. Marian has a very interesting back story, with her starting to write while in rehab and publishing Watermellon the same year she got out.
I heard an interview with Keyes on BBC and she was so interesting I wanted to read all her books. I will definitely check out Lucy Sullivan is Getting married! My library didn’t have it for some reason.
Fun fact: LSIGM has been made into a TV production with Kaiser’s former bf Gerard Butler. 🙂
I’ve got all her books, she’s great!
Jane Green is also really good!
I have all of her books – she’s fantastic. I haven’t heard of Jane Green – will look her up.
Her dogs are cavaliers! I know because I have two, and I’m totally biased but I think mine are slightly cuter. It’s basically the best breed ever, but you are right, depending on where you dogs were bred or what their lineage is lots of cavaliers look slightly different. I could go on but I won’t bore people with my dog knowledge. She does seem like a pretty awesome dog parent and I like her for that.
Other than that – she is totally harmless and seems nice enough but I doubt I will add her blog to my rotation of websites.
Total Cavs! Sweetest dogs ever. I have been on the list to adopt a rescue Cavalier for about six months. I’m not sure if it will ever happen for me (so many rescues are seniors and, since I have young kids, they don’t think that would be a good fit) but my fingers are crossed.
My fingers are crossed for you!! They are so wonderful – here’s hoping you get one:)
I guess everyone forgot about that blackface incident?
I hope this fails and she goes back to obscurity. She has no talent for acting or singing and is now coasting on her Dancing with the Star fame and her middling looks for relevancy.
Plus, it looks like any minute that little dog could slip off her shoulders and fall down the ravine or cliff. Doesn’t this bother anyone else?
Pretty much. She just pretended it didn’t happen and people let her get away with it.
She didn’t really get a pass – I vaguely remember an uproar and an apology. She’s just so bland its hard to get worked up about her even under that circumstance. Plus I think people chalked it up to mind-numbing idiocy, because she apparently got to that party and was marched into the bathroom to wash her face.
Ugh. It’s not even that nice of a website. Yeah sure, it’s neat and pretty light neutral colors. But at least Blake’s didn’t look like EVERY WORDPRESS TEMPLATE EVER.
Everyone ripped on Blake’s design – but at least it was a design. It wasn’t a template that you could buy for under 50 bucks. She didn’t even customize it at all – it’s literally that $43 template.
http://themeforest.net/item/florence-a-responsive-wordpress-blog-theme/9574909
Hell, all of our customers that choose a wordpress website get a fully customized wordpress site – designed then coded. These aren’t big corporations. Could Julianne who is a ‘celebrity’ not even spring for an actual design to market herself? For a regular person it’s fine. But when you’re using this website as a lifestyle blog- you’re trying to brand yourself. And she’s just kept with her normal, boring, inventive usual self.
Good Points
Maybe she came up with the idea on her own and thought she could do it all by herself? She might also think it looks just fine. Maybe that’s the point of the website? She could have splashed out on a designer, but chose not to because she wants to be portrayed as being just like most of her readers, who would likely just use a template themselves.
I really wish they hadn’t added Julianne as a judge on DWTS….They don’t need four judges, and they certainly don’t need a judge, that is the brother of one of the dancers. If she wanted to go back to DWTS, she should have returned as a dancer….
So quick question … what is this lady famous for? I had never heard of her until I started coming to this site so I’m not exactly sure why she’s even known or reported about…
Yeah, never heard of her before here, either.
In a world where the Kardashians are celebs, clearly anyone can hustle their way to 15 minutes of fame. Talent really isn’t a factor anymore.
Me either, I never watched that dancing show, but then she was Ryan Seacrest’s girlfriend (hmm) and has been trying to stay famous since then. This just sounds like her latest attempt, but at least it isn’t heavy on snobbery like Goop.
Who is she again?
She was one of the regular female dancers on DWTS some time ago. I believe she was on the show for several seasons, but I can’t remember now. After that, I remember that she and Ryan were dating. I really thought it would work out, but it fell by the wayside like all of his romances. I then saw her in at least one movie, and she did okay doing simple acting, and now she’s back as a judge on DWTS. Her puppies are adorable. She does seem like a nice person and is just trying to develop herself as a brand, I suppose.
I love Sali Hughes! I’ve met her twice now and she’s so down to earth and lovely.
Sali has been the reason for some €€ spent when I absolutely didn’t need yet another lipstick or…, but I like her reviews at the Guardian immensely, and I’ve never yet regretted buying anything she praised.
I love Marian Keyes too!
Oh well, as long as it doesn’t sell an artisanal blackface kit :-\
Yup. Cavalier King Charles. I have a Blenheim, just like hers. They truly are the most wonderful dogs. I just love them!
Read a few posts – it seemed bland. She isn’t saying anything that hasn’t been posted and reposted on every other blog. Just another “behealthyandkind” type of thing. At least Goop has a character in that it is pretentious.
It’s better than Blake’s. I know that’s not saying much.
ADORE Marion Keyes.