Recently I became “homeless” in SL for various reasons — sometimes people just aren’t who you think they are. And because of this, I found myself in need of new land, and a new place for myself and my daughter, as well as anyone else who may come along, to lay our heads.
I spent most of yesterday evening decorating the new house — and it was some of the most fun decorating I’ve ever had!
Most of the above pictured items (with the exception of a few “touches” like lamps and such) were obtained from Cubik Circle, a furniture store by Flickr’s very own Raul Crimson! Visit his store here or his blog here. I was looking for something very colorful — cheery. We can all use a little cheer in our lives, right? All of Raul’s pieces are just wonderfully modern, and add a vibrant touch of life to any room. Truly talented, this man is. :) And Raul… I don’t think you know just how much I truly thank and love you. :) *big hugs*
All of the above pictured furniture can be obtained from that funky, styling, insanely fun lady Antonia Marat over at Artilleri Home. Visit her store here or her blog here and pick up some of these things… they’re RIDICULOUSLY cute, and my home wouldn’t be a home without them! I especially love all of the attention to shading Antonia provides, especially to her rugs. God is in the details!!! And Antonia, my dear, you rock HARD at that! Isn’t that little Tiki bar KYUTE??? Oh. My. God. *stares*And I imagine all of these fantastic retro pieces will be used in set building in future photography efforts to come!
All of the items pictured above can be obtained by CORN Furniture by Devon Fischer. I have recently discovered this store and given my pension for texture, light, and shadow — this place should not be missed. Their items and attention to detail are INCREDIBLE. If you find yourself needing an extra added touch of realism — head on over here. Visit the store and see what I mean!
The kitchen is a very important part in any home, and since discovering Depoz Celebrations by the fantastic Mash Mandala, I’ve become addicted to having the perfect foodie items in all of my SL kitchens. The placemats on my table are all scripted and will rez breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and various drinks for your enjoyment. The textures are FANTASTIC — the best I’ve ever, EVER seen for Second Life food. The refrigerator, toaster, breakfast griddle, pots of soup on the stove, tray of fruit and cookie plate (as well as a coffee pot and tray of hot chocolate you can’t see) are also ALL SCRIPTED — and will give you their respective food items. I’ve had so much fun with Mash’s stuff, that I seriously can’t contain myself when I go to his store anymore. It’s just crazy how kid-in-a-candy-store I get when I find fun, new things to play with that make me so, so happy. :D Thank you so much Mash for creating such awesome stuff. Visit his store, and see it all for yourself!
The kitchen set itself came from my absolute favorite kitchen furniture shopping spot — Ramos Designs. As well as the fantastic lines of kitchens, they also produce damn near everything else under the sun — including some wonderfully built houses! I’m also quite partial to the living room furniture in this store — lots of poseballs to play with! :D Visit it here! The table set is, again, from my dear Raul Crimson over at Cubik Circle Furniture. :)
All photos are raw, straight out of windlight with no post-processing save for a few crops here and there.
Again, 99% of the items mentioned above can be found in these places:
Cubik Circle by Raul Crimson (SLURL)
Artilleri Home by Antonia Marat (SLURL)
CORN Furniture by Devon Fischer (SLURL)
Depoz Celebrations by Mash Mandala (SLURL)
Ramos Designs by xTrojan Ramos & Susan Ramos (SLURL)
Have fun shopping! :D
I was informed yesterday after my review was posted that there has been some hoopla concerning Beauty Avatar and Minnu’s skins (DMCAs filed, suspicions arising, etc). While I read about said hoopla on Gogolita’s blog several weeks ago, I was under the impression that it had been resolved considering the comment made by Miabella Foxley, a Minnu representative I believe.
Now, I have actually never purchased a skin by Minnu Palen — however, out of my own curiosity, I did stop by this morning to pick up a demo and do a little comparison of my own. What can I say… I’m naturally inquisitive. Here are my results and an objective opinion on a sheet of controversy.
We’ll begin with the most obvious starting point: the face. Both skins will be compared in their natural makeup option, both in the tan skin tone available (Beauty Avatar’s will be Nemesis in Bronzed and Minnu’s will be Gen4 in Tan). Click on the shots to view the larger pictures, if you like!
My avatar has always had a rather “distinct” face. It changes, dramatically, 90% of the time, whenever I wear a new skin - as I’m sure most do. But rather than do a split screen comparison, I’d rather post a full composite of both faces, side by side, to demonstrate the obvious difference of each:
Aside from the (in my opinion, obvious) difference in faces, there are also subtle details to consider when comparing these two skins. For example, the philtrum (again, thanks, Winter!) on Minnu’s skins is almost the reverse of the one on BA’s skins … Minnu’s is notably narrower at the ends where BA’s is notably wider. The detail shading and highlighting I believe speaks for itself here, as well as on the bridges of the nose where BA’s extends further towards the forehead. The eyelid crease is only slightly higher on the BA skins, and the lip shading and detail — clearly different. The only real similarity to the face that I can see clearly is the painted on eyelashes — which could easily be a free-for-all photoshop brush (considering I have several of my own which I use for photography). To be perfectly honest and objective here, I believe the lips is where these kinds of suspicions arise — if I am not mistaken, Minnu was one of, if not the, first to have such pronounced and defined lips, dating all the way back to her Gen1 line. I can think of several designers whom have adopted this characteristic since then, and each time I see it I can’t help but wonder how many people’s eyebrows perk up at the thought that a scandal may have been born. Let’s continue to the rest of the skin though, shall we?
Here is another view point of the face and head, with the ears clearly in view (and notably different from each other).
The only similarity I can note in the upper abdomen and breasts is the muscle group shading, which is hardly grounds for suspicion. I myself have photoshop brushes that I’ve created with similar abdomen shading, which I use to add details to clothing that I make. Same goes for the shading under the breasts. The nipples are clearly not the same though both are obviously photosourced; the collar bone is much more pronounced in Minnu’s skins than it is with BA’s, and overall the BA skin is much smoother.
The abdomen, again clearly different from each other. The navel on the Beauty Avatar skins is larger and softer with a tiny beauty mark to the upper right side whereas Minnu’s is the traditional supermodel small-as-a-button navel. I do not believe the genital area needs any comparison, as you can probably see for yourself that they are clearly different.
The knees and legs — the knees at first glance look similar in their shading. However, upon further investigation (and I am sorry that I didn’t take the time to make an animated gif) by placing each pair of legs on top of each other and comparing them that way, I’ve found that Minnu’s knees are actually positioned differently on the legs — they are much further inward than are Beauty Avatar’s. Another subtle difference is on the Beauty Avatar knees — there are small muscle shade lines on the outside sides of each knee cap, which are not seen on the Minnu skins. The feet and toes — obviously different.
Another striking difference I noted was the elbows seen above — Beauty Avatar has virtually no elbow detail, whereas Minnu has a clearly defined skin patch of elbow detail.
Last, but not least — the entire backside. As we can see, Minnu’s shading and details are much more pronounced where as Beauty Avatar’s skins are softer and smoother. The bum highlighting is further up on Minnu’s bottom whereas BA’s highlights are more centralized. Both bum details appear to be photosourced in my opinion, however BA’s deeper shading appears to be focused more towards the lower half of the crack, whereas Minnu’s is much more pronounced in the center.
After reviewing both skins, I really must say — I just don’t believe that they are similar enough to raise suspicions, or even to support the claim that they are Minnu “inspired” (inspiration has many names — photosourcing alone, in my opinion, counts as “inspiration”, and as everyone has seen — nearly all skin designers do that). If I had to make a claim that Beauty Avatar’s skins were inspired by anything, my first judgment would be based on the feet and genital areas alone and would point to Eloh Eliot’s PSD files, which is, if it is true, perfectly acceptable. God is in the details, and using Eloh’s skins as a jumping off point to begin creation is fine for any creator, as is clearly stated on her blog.
No, what I think we have here is a new skin designer who has entered an already tense world of content creation. The good comes with the bad, I guess. But as Miabella stated on Gogo’s blog, people will shop based on quality — and I will gladly be visiting Beauty Avatar again.
/endopinionatedpointofview
Did you read the post title? If you haven’t… read it. It’s completely true.
I’m sure most of you that are reading this now have also read my previous review on Beauty Avatar’s (SLURL) skins. Well, I’m about to eat virtually every word I said in terms of what improvements were needed… sure, the Nefertiti skin needed some adjustments. But… what I’m about to show you makes up for all of them.
The newest line, Nemesis, released only a week and a half ago on April 17th, has got to be one of the most beautiful, soft, delicate and simply ~glowing~ skins I’ve seen in all my skin-reviewing tenure. Before I get into the details of the skin, I’m going to give you one, indisputable reason to head over to Beauty Avatar, right now, and at the very least try on a demo: I have officially made this my new skin. Without even consulting my friends (something I NEVER do). Anyone that knows me will vouch that I am a DEVOUT Vogue Skins girl… and my faith has been shattered. I have found my new God. Yes. They are *THAT* good.
Now, for the good stuff…
Creator: Sita Loire
Shop Location: Miami Island (SLURL)
Price: $1400L per skin / $24,000L per fatpack (22 skins)
Other Notes: None are needed. This review will speak for itself.
I was informed by the lovely Omnia Oh, after she read my most recent review on the Nefertiti skin, that the Nemesis line was released a short while back. It took me a couple of days, but I headed to Beauty Avatar and picked up demos — and immediately fell in love. Can you blame me? Not only has everything I mentioned on my Nefertiti review been fixed, but this skin is an improvement, times ten. Not one… single seam. And I LOOKED. BELIEVE me. Exquisite lips, an enchanting array of makeup possibilities… including a subtle and glittery eyeshadow in my favorite, and oh so hard to find, color… YELLOW!!! I swear, it’s like these skins were created for me. *sighs happily*
The face is just beautiful, as you can see above. The lips and makeup — no more is the 8-hour-workday lipliner. No more catlike corners on the lips. No more overpronounced philtrum (thanks, Winter!). Just… gorgeousness begging to be photographed.
The entire backside of this skin is Fantastic with a captital F. I especially love the smoothness of it… that’s what I really can’t get over about this skin. It’s just so SOFT. The bum is beautifully done just as it was on Nefertiti. The back and shoulder blades are strong yet delicate with just the right amount of shadow and highlight.
The nipples are strikingly realistic - likely photosourced as most are, but again so soft and supple. The shading beneath the nipple itself ads the perfect amount of “3d effect”, a detail I always love especially when photographing nudes. The highlighting is not too harsh but soft and even. These boobs make me want to press my arms together, just so I can see them squiiiiish!
Like the back, the entire abdomen is beautiful, carved from the clay itself. I LOVE the belly button, a cute little outie. The detail on the belly button is really fantastic, I can’t even begin to explain my love for it really — I much prefer the outies to the innies, and this is one of the best outies I’ve ever seen! Woo, try saying that ten times fast, chief! The abdomen muscles aren’t over shaded, which is nice - six packs just… don’t appeal to me on female skins. I don’t know what it is. No, this skin is… what’s the word, ladies? Smoooooooth. It’s like butter, baby.
The nibblebits (jolly parts, geneticulars… I’m going to think of so many names for this before I’m done) are great, with a small landing strip of soft hair. Something I find a little strange about them though is that… it’s small. I know I said in my Nefertiti review that I LIKE that and I DO… but this is a little… TOO small. If that’s possible. It was in no way a big enough problem to make me not want to convert to a Beauty Avatar lover, oh no… but it was something that struck me as odd was all. Excellent work, none the less. But — I do so wish there were a Brazilian option! *le sigh* A future development, perhaps?! *sending hopeful thoughts*
Nothing remarkable about the hands and palms really — soft skin, little detail, but likely able to be polished or prim nailed with minimal effort, so that’s a plus. I wonder, maybe some skin designers could start offering their own sets of gloves to wear over their skins for prim nails… gloves of the hand skin, sans nail detail. Wouldn’t that make life a tad bit easier for us prim nail girlies? Hmmm… Just a thought.
The feet are exquisite, as they were on Nefertiti and the knees are equally well done with the perfect shading and highlighting going on, as well as the ideal size for the leg. No small kneecaps here! The ears, while still suffering from “pasted on” syndrome (something I’ve all but resigned myself to… it happens — I should just deal :P), at least match the skin tone very well this time ’round. Excellent.
Yes, I must say… this newest development by the lovely Sita Loire has blown me through the roof. You don’t have to agree with me that they’re just fantastic, no, no you don’t… I know that makeup is a matter of taste, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but please… you be the judge — head on over to Beauty Avatar (SLURL) and try on a demo of the fantastic Nemesis skins. Who knows… you may just convert, too!
Sita Loire, the creator behind the Beauty Avatar line (Flickr, SLURL, OnRez), has undoubtedly become a contender in the great race that is skin design. A relatively new designer, she has released lines of clothing for both men and women, as well as shoes, shapes, and skins. Ahhh… skins. My poison. What else would we be talking about today?!
Creator: Sita Loire
Shop Location: Miami Island (SLURL) or OnRez (URL)
Price: $1400L per skin / $18,000L per fatpack (16 skins)
Other Notes: This will be a review of the Nefertiti line of skins by Sita Loire of Beauty Avatar. There are other skin lines available entitled Callisto, Rozen, and Nemesis. I have to say that the Rozen skin is also INCREDIBLY fantastic, and if you haven’t already, get over to Beauty Avatar and try on some demos. There’s also FREEBIES available for both MEN and WOMEN!!! Lovely gift boxes just waiting for you to snatch them up. The women’s gift box is located inside the skin shop, while the men’s is located inside the clothing shop.
Being the eternally grateful skin whore that I am, I recently came into possession of a pack of the beautiful Nefertiti skins in Bronze and I must say… I absolutely fell in love. Anyone that knows me at all knows exactly how picky I am about the skins I’ll wear. For instance, I really hate it when skins drastically change the look of my face. This does not mean I won’t WEAR pretty much any skin I come into possession of (what can I say, I’ve become a shape-for-skin tweaker), just that it’s a personal preference… I like my face. Ya dig? :P
I am happy to say that these do NOT change the look of my face. Barely at all, really. It makes me very happy. :D Yay for keeping mah purdy face!
Now, let’s get down to business.
The first thing I’ll comment on is the makeup. While I absolutely adore the colors of the lips, cheeks, eyes, etc… I have to admit that the halo-ed lip liner is a little off putting to me. It kind of reminds me of those older business women who, so entangled in their daily work lives, forget to freshen up their lipstick and are left with a line of lip liner around their lips. I always thought that was strange. However, the Nefertiti line seems to be the only one of the four available at Beauty Avatar that has this small, matter-of-preference pet peeve of mine. Another thing that’s quite strange about the face itself is the VERY over pronounced “line” from the top of the lip to the tip of the nose… I am completely unsure of what it’s called, but it is very dark in comparison to the rest of the skin and just looks very unnatural. And while some people I have read dislike the funky style of some of the eyeshadow, I must say I rather enjoy most of them! Being the artist and photographer I am, things like that are usually very good to have in a photo shoot… it adds character, if nothing else. Know what I mean, jelly bean?
The boobs are excellent, wonderfully shaded and highlighted, not too harsh, not too dark, a subtle hint of a tanlined on the rather beautifully textured flesh. The nipples are a darker tone than I’m usually used to seeing which I think actually works out great for these skins — it gives them a much more “exotic” look.
The ass is excellent… yes, yes, I know I have this strange fascination with all things buttocks-y. Hate me for it. But regardless, this is an awesome butt. Flawlessly shaded and squeezable, just the way I like it. A small, barely noticeable seam sits right above the waistline, which is something I notice with a lot of skins really… a rather tough spot to contend with, I know! However, with an ass like that… who’s gonna be looking?
I ADORE the naughty bits on this particular skin as well. It’s much… “smaller”?… than what I usually see. It sports a neatly trimmed puff of hair as well. Being the Brazilian girl that I am, I could live without the puff of pubic hair, but really, that could be just me… I’m strangely preferrable to the full-bare vaginal state. A little off topic… this is another reason why I am so in love with Starley Thereian’s skins. While her skins do have a small puff of pubic hair, she also offers a Brazilian option… in the form of an underwear layer, skin painted on, with no pubic hair!!! I love you, Starley. More skin designers should take that cue from you (*hint hint, nudge nudge*).
Another thing I am strangely attracted to about the lovely Nefertiti skin is the abdomen and navel. It’s just… beautiful. Soft yet defined and elegant. Gorgeous. I absolutely adore that… the little details. They always get me. *tears up a little*
The feet and toes are PERFECT. No, really! Just perfect. Save for the seams around the ankles, the toes are just heaven-sent and flawless in their composition. Absolutely adored in my book. With SL feet being so hard and ridiculous to work with anyway, I just love it when designers take the time to do their best and make their feet look as perfect as they can. Bonus. And while I did not get a picture of them, the knees on this particular skin are fantastic as well. Just take my word for it. ;)
The hands are great, beautiful detail. The nails are ready to be painted, which is exquisite because I love to shop for nail polish and prim nails. If you’re a nail polish girl, these skins are definitely the ones you’ll adore.
The ears… I must admit, not fantastic, but better than some I’ve seen. They definitely suffer from “pasted on” syndrome, and as with many skins it comes as no shock to me that ears are just… hard to work with when it comes to making them “blend in naturally”. And really… how many people look at your ears, anyway? :P I’m sure there are those who do… but I’m not one of them. At least, not unless I’m doing a skin review! Besides, my rats nest of a hairdo covers them 90% of the time anyway!
All in all, a fantastic skin and a really exciting jump start for a relatively new skin designer. I can’t wait to see what other skins Sita Loire comes out with… her more recent lines are just exquisitely beautiful, and are CLEARLY only getting better. If you haven’t had the chance yet, I really would suggest a trip to Beauty Avatar on Miami Island (SLURL, OnRez) where you’ll find the lovely line of skins, shapes, clothes and … well, beauty. Treat yourself a little bit on this lovely Sunday afternoon!
I know I suck and haven’t been blogging as much recently, but OMG I’ve been so busy working on my spring line, and meeting photo requests that I just haven’t had time! I promise, I have a few reviews in the works… one for the absolutely GORGEOUS Beauty Avatar skins, and a second for a FANTASTIC line of silks.
I am about to run off to work, but before I do, I wanted to make a quick mention for all you shoe whores out there:
Ignite Nightfire of Arcane (SLURL, blog) has really taken his new passion as a content creator by storm! If you get the chance today, DEFINITELY head on over to Truth Island and pick up one of these two babies:
I must say that the Newtown cork wedges are to DIE for, and the pumps are bloody fantastic. Each pair is available in eight different colors, or as a TEXTURE CHANGE (which is also bloody awesome). The shoes are available for $225L per pair, or $800L for the full texture change! *ALSO* Bonus…. if you join Truth’s subscribe-o-matic, you’ll receive a pair of the Newtown cork wedges in Lead for FREE!
Another thing I’d like to mention is that Truth (blog, SLURL) has also released MOAR NEW HAIR!!! *drools* Jennifer is most definitely my favorite this time around…
I am simply in love with all of these newest releases, and I especially can’t wait to see what other goodies are in store for the future. Mmm Mmm MMM!!!
I had the pleasure of working with Truth Hawks of Truth (SLURL, Blog) recently and happily met his good friend, Ignite Nightfire of Arcane (SLURL, Blog). As circumstances would have it, I ended up with not one, not two, but THREE of the four makeup fat packs currently available for Ignite’s FANTASTIC skins. And being the skin whore I am, albeit a late one now (sorry, Ignite!) I just HAD to write a review on them. Because… well… mmm mmm MMM!
I have to start this post out by saying that these skins have the best boobage I’ve ever seen. Bar none. And I’m not just saying that because I think Truth and Ignite are awesometasticscrumbdiddleyumpcious people either. I’m saying it because, as a booby-booty girl, it’s true.
Let’s get down to the nitty gritty!
Creator: Ignite Nightfire
Shop Location: Truth Island (SLURL)
Price: $1100L per skin / $4000L per makeup fatpack (5 skins)
Other Notes: Let me state first and foremost that these skins are a STEAL for everything you’ll be purchasing with them which includes: the skin itself, a shape, prim hair (by Truth), eyelashes and a facelight. For $1100L you can go from newbie to “I just whipped the koala’s ass,” in 30 seconds.
While the skins are not transferable, there ARE gift cards available in denominations of $500L, $1000L, $2500L and $5000L! I wonder if it would be possible to change these denominations to something more like, $1100L, $2200L, $3300L, and $4000L… maybe? Just to better accommodate the purchase of a single skin, two skins, a fat pack, etc. */endpondering*
Skin tones available range from very light to tan and are very yummily named… Ghost, Creme, Fudge, Latte, and Caramel. All skins are available in four different makeup styles - Smoked, Vivids, Colors and Galaxy. My personal favorite - Smoked Sheer in Caramel - is what you will be seeing this morning!
One of the things I am most emphatically pleased with about this skin is the skin texture itself. It is very good in that it gives the illusion of pores on the skin without obstructing the skin “flow” itself. Know what I mean? It all blends together very nicely, especially on the legs and chest. Brilliant work! As I’ve stated so many times before, I am always so very happy when content creators throw in these extra little details that just add so much to the product.
Now, as I stated earlier, the boobs on this skin are FANTASTIC… I mean, I have honestly never seen more perfectly blended nipples on any other skin in game, and believe me when I say I’ve looked at a LOT of skins (zomg, you should see my skin demos folder… it’s redonk). The highlighting and shading is not too harsh, not too subtle, it’s actually just right… very photo realistic. The caramel skin tone almost looks fresh out of a tanning bed!
The booty is also superbly shaded and definitely passes “Ryker’s Ass Test”, as I’ve begun calling it. Unfortunately, I forgot to get a closeup, but I feel rather comfortable going on record as saying that it is, “bootylicious”. That’s right, I said it! Bootylicious.
Another thing I don’t think I’ve ever diliberately pointed out on a skin before that I am CRAZY HAPPY about on this one… the navel. Belly button. The spring break shot glass. It’s beautiful and lickable all at the same time, something that I’m sure many of you girls out there will enjoy come time for those intimate moments with your favorite honey. And while we’re on the topic of intimate moments… the “nether regions” are rather yumtastic too. Sporting a tiny landing strip, which I find incredibly cute, and the pussy itself isn’t ULTRA LONG… so it doesn’t blend into your butt crack when you bend over like it does on some skins I’ve seen, which I think is nice… LOL! I’m sure all of you know by now that I’m a Brazilian girl (not the country, the pubic hair preference), but this landing strip is actually a happy compromise to that crazy preference o’mine.
The knees are also superbly shaded and highlighted, not too small or too big. That’s one thing that ALWAYS drives me crazy about some skins… the knees are so tiny and knobby that it’s just ridiculous. Thankfully there are a few skin creators out there that have found the perfect balance of knee-to-leg ratio and have run with it, making for a happy Ryker.
The hands are lovely on this skin, and the toes and feet are, as usual, as good as toes and feet in SL are going to get… I’ve pretty much resigned myself to the fact that feet in SL are horrendous, and they’re just not going to get better (this is why God invented socks). But if I could throw out a recommendation here, if you’re a skin creator in Second Life and looking for a good foot template to work off of, I would highly recommend downloading Eloh Eliot’s PSD files and using her toe and toe nail shading. Hers are, by far, the best feet I’ve EVER seen in SL (Ever. EVER! Fucking EVER)… I would even go as far as to say that they’re as perfect as feet are ever going to get… but I would LOVE to see someone prove me wrong! Go feet creators, go!
The only, only, only, ONLY problem I see with this skin, and it’s a minor one at that, are the ears. They kinda look just… pasted on? I don’t know. But a little blending work there, and voila.. perfection. Considering this skin is virtually flawless (I didn’t even see a single seam… I looked… hard!), I didn’t notice the ears until someone pointed them out to me. A minor set back to a 99% perfect skin!
As first timers go, I have to say that Ignite is on his way to the gold. I don’t even think he COULD “get better”, because it’s obvious that this guy has his digital skin painting skills nailed down to a science. I am truly excited to see next generations, and this is only the FIRST. With the minor improvements he could make on these skins, they’ll undoubtedly be pinky-and-the-braining it all over the grid in no time.
What are you waiting for?! Head over to Truth (SLURL) and pick up some of these Arcane skins by Ignite Nightfire (Blog)! If nothing else, try on a demo. Your avi will thank you for it! And congratulations, Ignite, on your AWESOME skin launch! You’re a rockstar!
PS: While you’re at it, make sure to hit the hair section in Truth’s shop and pick up one of his latest hair releases! My absolute favorite is definitely his new, sculpted “Emma” ‘do (top left in the picture below), which I must admit looks smashing on my pretty little avi. I’m sure it would on yours too!
First and foremost I’d like to apologize for my lack of any blogging beyond “hey, come to LIX to get this for free!”. While I’m sure you guys don’t mind the freebies, I’m also fairly certain that my readers don’t subscribe to my blog for product announcements. Of course, I could always be wrong! I have been INCREDIBLY preoccupied for the last month or so with various enormous projects. But fear not… there is a skin review in the works… oh, yes. There will be reviewing. And I have a feeling that you guys will LOVE this skin… brand new designer, new skin line, and all! And believe me when I say it is FANTASTIC. I am so excited about it.
However, with all my busy-bee-ness, I did manage to stop long enough to make yet another holiday freebie… this time in the form of an Easter egg hunt!
There are six eggs hidden around my main (but currently under construction) store on the Bucuresti sim. Find them, buy them for $1L each and you will receive:
The eggs are rather small, so you will have to look hard! But rest assured there are six of them, each containing a gift! This hunt will only be taking place at the LIX Designs main store on Bucuresti, so stop by, and have fun!
PS: No, I will not tell you where the eggs are. Sorry. :P Happy hunting!
It’s your last chance to grab the Shamrock Patty jewelry set and the Patricia Casual Dress from LIX Designs (SLURL)!!! The gifts will be taken down this evening. Don’t miss out!
I have to say that this is my most favorite jewelry set to date. And my first dress (I made a maternity version for myself, so that I could actually wear it :P)! Grab both the dress and the jewelry set for $1L until March 18th, 2008.
Available only at the Redux SW location!
LIX Designs (SLURL) has officially launched!
While the collection is currently fairly small, the anticipation for future releases is abundant. So many ideas, so much I want to do. Woo hoo, creation!
I’ll make this short and sweet. Below are a few pictures… both of the launch cheapies (2 at $10L each) and some pictures of a few available products. Currently my main location is in the Redux SW sim, but hopefully I will be able to retain the main store location in the future at the Bucuresti sim where it’s always been. Thankfully, my landlord has offered to work with me in being able to keep the main shop there, which makes me INCREDIBLE excited. So don’t update those landmarks just yet! Just know that for right now, the main location has changed — though quite possibly not permanently! And no worries… all items will be added to OnRez and SLEX just as soon as possible!
And so, without further ado… (click photos to visit their Flickr page):
I was incredibly surprised on my little shopping excursion today. So surprised and delighted in fact, that I had to hop onto my blog and tell everyone all about it. Are you ready? Here we go.So, my husband text messages me this morning asking me to find a grim reaper costume for a photo idea that he has. So naturally, my first stop is OnRez… a simple place to search for damn near anything you could ever hope for (along with SLExchange, but that’s a different story). I type in “grim reaper” and what comes up but one of the most perfect reaper scythes I’ve seen in game thus far. Of COURSE… I rush right out in-world to buy it (I don’t know why I do this… I much prefer to buy items in world than from OnRez… but OnRez is the perfect “searching” spot!). I was pleasantly surprised to behold the other treasures that tickled my fancy (or should that be “fantasy”?) when I popped into this charming little shop — Tekeli-li Dark Artistry (SLURL, OnRez).
Now, being an artist first and foremost, I was initially inspired to look around more by the fact that the store calls itself “dark artistry”. But what really caught my eye… was the fantasy hair-dos and SPECTACULARLY detailed jewelry collection available in this quaint little tucked-away store.
The first thing I thought was, “Okay, how have I never heard of or seen this place before?” I’m really starting to think I don’t shop enough (but my inventory begs to differ). Le sigh. The second thing I thought was, “ZOMG, I must have those.” And so I quickly purchased the Oracle, Predator 2, Youkai 2, Medusa, Lovecraft, and Juno scripted styles.
I bought every hair style in the place (I think). Now, before I go into too much detail, I want to reiterate that this is a FANTASY shop… all of the hairstyles are fantasy related. While that remains true, I also want to stress that these styles (while the hair textures are lacking in some colors) are BEAUTIFULLY done, not to mention fantastically detailed and ornamented.
Because of my ridiculous art and photography addiction (haven’t you noticed yet?), I just had to have the hair — my favorite of which is, hands down, the beautiful Predator 2 style. And can I stress… EXCELLENT name for the style. Simply love it. And how very fitting *chuckles*.
Among other things, I also purchased 3 wonderfully detailed jewelry sets: Morgana, Hecate and Nereid. All of these sets run around $350L for eight pieces per set (with the exception of Nereid which is 6 pieces). I do have to say that the Nereid set is very well done… a compilation of sculptie seashells and starfish. Quite gorgeous. And get this…
As if the hair and jewelry detail and ornament wasn’t enough…
All of these pieces (hair included) are SCRIPTED. You have the options of buying the hair in individual colors (unscripted), or for a measly $300L you can buy a version that is scripted to change both the hair textures (32+ available colors), hair gems (30+ available colors) AND hair metals (7+ available colors), giving these hair styles an incredible diversity I have yet to see done in other hair shops.
And to top it all off, the owner of my new favorite fantasy shop is the sweet Tekelili Tantalus — and let me TELL you, customer service is definitely her forte’. I was an idiot earlier today while at her shop, and accidentally purchased 3 of the Medusa styles without realizing the diversity of the scripted version. After purchasing the scripted version, Tekelili took it upon herself to IM me, point out that I had purchased both the scripted and nonscripted versions of the Oracle hairstyle and promptly refunded $345L once she explained that I no longer needed the 3 colored versions I had purchased because the scripted version allows for all of those colors, and more! For that, Tekelili, I love love love you. You are my new favorite person. I shall sacrafice live Godiva chocolates in honor of your name.
So this is my shopping story!!! What started out as a hunt for the perfect Grim Reaper scythe, ended with a visit to a spectacular fantasy hair and jewelry store that I feel absolutely no shame in promoting to the fullest: check it out. You’ll love it. Tekeli-li Dark Artistry (SLURL, OnRez).
PS: A special thank you to you Tekelili, for giving me the perfect hair for my latest inspiration:
