The lovely Annyka Bekkers has outdone herself this time around!
Not only has she produced a skin that is beautiful, and liiiiickable (*wink*), but she’s also answered virtually every single one of my skin-creator prayers. It’s like she just reached into my itty bitty heart, pulled out my every piss-and-moan and did exactly what I begged for.
I’d like to introduce you to Tuesday from Blowpop (SLURL, Blog)!
The specifics:
Creator: Annyka Bekkers
Shop Location: Fuzzy (SLURL)
Price: $950L per makeup (4 skins) / $2850L per makeup fatpack (16 skins)
Tones Available: Vanilla, Cream, Honey, Caramel, Cinnamon, and Cocoa
Other Notes: This is where we talk about my dreams… Does everyone remember how I complain so much (I know you do) about pubic hair and eyebrows? It’s a pet peeve of many people, and creates contempt in the hearts of skin lovers everywhere. Well… we all know that Annyka is spectacular about offering options with eyebrows/pubic hair colors. With Tuesday, she’s taken it the extra step… the skins are all pubic hairless (*ohm nohm nohm*) and she is offering two underwear layers for both brown and black pubic hair options. Need hair? Throw on the underwear! That’s a sentence you don’t get to say everyday! And the eyebrows… each skin you purchase will come with your choice of brown or black eyebrows. Like freckles? She covers that too! Each makeup comes with and without freckles. My god, I love you, Annyka.
While you can see the dozens of makeup options available on her blog, I’d like to say that the Aden series in Honey is definitely my favorite.
Top down! The face is beautiful. Absolutely stunningly beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that I made a shape to go with it (face pictured above). It’s simply stunning. The details are magnificent in their couture-level hand drawing (HAH, I love that phrase :P), and the lips are excellent, as they have been in Annyka’s previous releases. The nose shading seems to get exceedingly darker as the skin tone changes (it’s PERFECT on Vanilla thru Honey, but seems to get just a touch too dark on Cinnamon thorugh Cocoa), but that’s really my only nitpick. The eyebrows are much softer than those from the Mellie 3, which makes me very happy. *sighs happily*
The entire torso is spectacularly well done, I especially love the belly button and collar bone which are both EXCELLENT. The nipples are fantastic for being hand drawn, and the highlights on the chest I absolutely LOVE. They add just a little something different; that extra touch to make the art your own. Know what I mean?
Like I stated before, the genital region is hairless and beautifully done. The detail is spectacular close up, and with the added pubic hair (not pictured) for you hair lovers, it looks very tasteful. Again, there are two pubic hair color options offered with each skin purchase (brown and black)!
The legs and feet are very nicely done, with just the right amount of highlighting on the knee caps and shins. I especially love the toes, which are a big step up from the toes I normally see. I’m so glad to see so many skin designers taking extra care with this particular body part… the one that is SO HARD to get right. I applaud you all. Really, I do. The future of feet in Second Life (TM) is bright indeed!
The hand detail is excellent, especially the fingernails and knuckles. Speaking of fingernails, another thing I wish some skin designers would do (and this really is just pure conjecture) is create glove layer nail polish for their skins. Or a glove layer fingernail cover up for those who purchase prim nails. Just a thought. /endrandommusing
I LOVE the ass on this skin, especially the highlighting on the cheeks and above the crack. Those of you that know me, know that I have this strange sense of pride about my butt, and I love ANY skin that makes it look good. The lovely Tuesday is no exception. In fact, it may be the rule. Look at that ass! :P And that little mole on the left cheek? DETAILS DETAILS DETAILS! Love it.
The shoulder blades are SPEC-TAC-ULAR. I am deeply impressed by their detail and flawless lighting. The back in general is just very soft and touchable (lickable?) and even the elbows are wonderful in their detail, with those little creases on the patch of skin.
I would highly recommend these skins to anyone (especially the Honey line!). The fact that these skins come with pubic hair OPTIONAL just made my entire day. My little skin whore heart is all a-flutter. *bats eyes* Run, dash, hop, skip on over to Blowpop and grab some demos and a few skins while you’re at it! You won’t regret it.
The crane above (notice tiny Belmakor *squee!*) was from a free pack of items… 187 items to be exact.
Visit Bel’s blog to read the full details and see more items included in the package.
Every Photographer should have these items! *They’re perfect for set building, well textured, and just plain awesome XD XD XD* Just a quick note for all you photographers out there who are always on the prowl for useful props!
Change of plans!!! My daughter’s friend has *so graciously* offered to host the brush zip file for me! Because of this, I’ll be able to leave the brushes up for download longer. :) Thank you so much, Phil!!! New download file is here!
Just thought I’d throw that disclaimer out there before I started explaining.
I’ve zipped up every last one of my Photoshop brushes and uploaded them to my web host. Don’t ask me why, I actually have no idea (it took 2 hours to upload them all). Considering every brush in this zip file can be found on Deviant Art, some people may just consider this “eliminating the need to browse”. However, I often get asked where certain brushes can be found, etc. So… to better answer that question, I will simply give you a direct link: you can find them all right here (you *MUST* right click and SAVE to download the zip from my blog).
I am sure by now, most of you know the drill. You should unzip this zip file into your Adobe/Presets/Brushes folder. The zip file contains sixty-two (62) categorized folders of “types of brushes” (what can I say? I’m a hyper organized freak — it’s a flaw). The categories include such gems as:
Abstract
Coffee (rings/stains)
Clouds
Eyelashes
Fractals
Grass
Glowies
Hair (pieces and drawing)
Lightning
Mist
Moons
Smoke
Space
Sparklies
Stars
Tears
Water
Wings…
…among many others. It is nearly 1 gig of brushes uncompressed, so be sure that you have ample space on your hard drive.
Instructions for Use (click for larger photo):
Change of plans!!! My daughter’s friend has *so graciously* offered to host the brush zip file for me! Because of this, I’ll be able to leave the brushes up for download longer. :) Thank you so much, Phil!!! New download file is here!
First thing you will need to do is unzip this folder into your Brushes presets folder in your Adobe Photoshop directory. This folder is generally located here: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop X\Presets\Brushes. When you unzip this archive, you will see 62 folders, each titled appropriately, unzipped into your Brushes presets folder.
Once you’ve done that, open Photoshop and follow along!
1. Click on your Brush tool in the menu bar on the left side of your screen.
2. Above this menu bar, you will see a small icon of the brush you currently have selected, with a small arrow to the right. Click on that arrow.
3. By clicking on this arrow you have brought up a list of your available brushes, and a slider bar called Master Diameter, among other things. To the right of this “Master Diameter” slider is another small, circled arrow. Click this arrow.
4. A list will expand. Now, you’ll notice that this list is quite huge, and undoubtedly consumes your entire screen. In the very first column of this list, there is an option called “Replace Brushes”. Click this.
5. A window will open allowing you to browse to your newly installed brushes. Browse to your Presets/Brushes folder, where you will see all 62 folders that you just unzipped. Open one of these folders and select any brush set you like. Once you have selected one, click the “Load” button. This will replace all of your current brushes in the list with the newly selected set of brushes.
“But wait! How do I get my default list of Photoshop brushes back, Ryker? You know, the one with the hard brushes, the soft brushes, and those annoying leaves that never go where you want them to?”
6. To reset your brushes to the Photoshop defaults, Repeat steps 1 through 4 above **HOWEVER** — instead of choose “Replace Brushes” from the list, choose “Reset Brushes”. This will reset your brush list to the Photoshop defaults.
I hope this isn’t too confusing! Happy downloading!
PS: I’m sure a filing system which is intuitive to ME, may not necessarily be intuitive for YOU. Hopefully, all of the folders in this file will be easily labeled enough that you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for. Enjoy!
While shopping with some friends at House of Heart yesterday, we ran across an avi who was wearing a -stunning- hair style. Being the hair fiend I am, I simply had to A. do my research on the creator, and B. get my ass over to the shop to buy it.
I would like to share not only the hair style I ran to this store to buy, but also a couple of extremely cute clothing items available for purchase there as well: namely, the tights and shorts in the picture below (details on teh outfit are under the picture… you know the drill!). The shop’s name? Shop Seu (SLURL).
After doing my research, I found a few blog posts on the glorious world wide web that mention Shop Seu. A few of them, should you choose to read up yourself (and I would…and have!) can be found at Fashion Victim, Soigne, and Linden Lifestyles.
While hair color selection is pretty sparse in Shop Seu (SLURL), the ones that are available are positively stunning. The hair in question that I simply -had- to have??? The sexy long hair in black… available for only $170L. Happy shopping!
Top: S.Y.D. - Brown Plaid Outfit / Basic Tank Top
Shorts: Shop Seu - Short Pants in Brown
Tights: Shop Seu - Taitsu Taight in Red
Shoes: Urban Bomb Unit - PornStar Xtra Hi-Tops Multicolor v2
Necklace: House of Heart - SoHo Necklaces in Gold
Hair: Shop Seu - Sexy Long Hair in Black
Eyes: MADesigns SOUL Eyes in Pale Grey
Skin: Celestial Studios - Vogue Skin Vamp/Enchant in Bronzed
I am such an ass!
There. I just thought I’d get that out there, up front and personal. I suck. Hard. Why, do you ask? For waiting this long to bring you this skin review. Siddean Munro of SLink (SLURL) released two LOVELY sets of skins back on April 25th, and I am only now getting around to blogging about them. Forgive me, Siddean!!! Real life took over for a few. *sadface*
With all of that said, I’d like to introduce you to Cate and Madison… the beautifully designed skins made especially for all your skin collection needs (click the small shot for a larger photo).
A few details for those who don’t wish to read further (I know you exist!)…
Creator: Siddean Munro
Shop Location: CG Heart (SLURL)
Price: $800L per makeup / $2400L per fatpack (6 skins)
Tones Available: Milky, Fair, Sunkissed, Coco
Other Notes: These skins come with a hair-base brow shaper, but only one eyebrow color option. I do so wish that skin creators would go the way of Eloh Eliot (and other skin creators since) and offer a wider variety of eyebrow colors with their bald hair bases… I don’t know about everyone else, and I know this is purely a matter of opinion and all, but… I really don’t like bright red eyebrows when my hair is raven black. Ya dig?
Let’s work from the head down with this one.
I’d first like to point out that I don’t believe the ads that were made for these skins do the faces justice. It is actually quite pretty… at least on my shape (pictured: Cate in Sunkissed). I do so love the lips, but I know that the glossiness of them is pretty hit or miss with a lot of people. The philtrum is not overly pronounced (I’m never going to stop using that word, Winter!), and the eye lids are shaped nicely, with just the right amount of crease above the eye. I kind of feel like the eye shadow is just a touch too harsh on some of the makeups, but that again is just a matter of opinion. The ears are also rather nicely done, however the skin tone is only slightly more pink than the rest of the skin. I urge you to try a demo out yourselves, because as I said… the ads for these skins do not do the faces justice. Don’t judge a book by its cover! The remainder of this review will focus mainly on the Cate skin in Sunkissed.
The torso of this skin is lovely, with some very nicely shaded abs. There’s a spot just below the belly button where the highlight is just a tad too pronounced, but other then that… god, I wish I had definition like that in real life! If you look closely, there’s even an added little touch to the breasts of these skins… VEINS. That’s right! Someone has FINALLY taken the time to add veins to their creation… and I am MADLY in love. Say it with me people: details, details, details! This is what sets you apart. And they’re not just on the breasts, oh no. These little signs of life exist all over this skin… subtle in some places, more pronounced in others; but we’ll get more into that in a minute.
The nipples are quite lovely and actually sit rather unobtrusively on the breasts. For some reason, I am rather impressed by how nicely they blend with the skin tone, something I know is hard to do with photosourced nippular areas.
The hands… brace yourselves. The hands (and wrists) not only have spectacular fingernails (offering nail polish soon, perhaps?) but they also have some of the best vein detail I’ve ever seen on any skin in game. I. Am. In. Awe. To be perfectly honest, I looked at the wrists and top of the hands and my jaw hit the floor. It’s not too blue, not too subtle… to me, it’s just right. I *love* this detail. Thank you so much for this, Siddean. And seriously… how about that nail polish?
I’d like to say that the va-jay-jay of this skin get the Ryker Beck seal of approval in that, while small, it’s beautifully done and quite seamless. The pubic hair is pretty unobstructive, and not overly bushy — something I tend to see all too often. And considering my blatent love for the bald Brazilian, for me to say that I love the pubic hair on this skin… says quite a bit. The inner thighs are also virtually free and clear of any harsh shading seams, which I LOVE… there’s nothing like looking at a perfectly beautiful skin and then you spread your legs and BOOM… a giant shadow seam right in the center thigh. It greatly pleases me to announce that this skin suffers not from the dreaded Triple S (shadow seam syndrome).
The legs, feet, and knees of this skin are in a word… wonderful. The toes themselves should be plastered all over the Second Life forums with a title like “the way they aught to look”. I am always so very happy when skins have lovely feet… a feat that is so rare to accomplish with the current avatar model. There’s only one real thing I see with the legs that strikes me funny… and that’s the shading on the knees. It could just be me, but they look a little… dented… with the shadow in the middle of the knee cap. Know what I mean?
My favorite part, the back and booty of the skin, is really the only part of this entire skin that I have an ounce of beef with. The butt, in my opinion, needs further detailing in the “crack” area. Clearly photosourced, but not nearly dark enough, which in turn negates some of the realism of the skin. I could be wrong, but I really like my crack shading to be a much darker tone than the skin. Other than that… I really love the back details, right down to the shoulder blades and the highlights at the base of the spine. Beautiful work! That’s some serious muscle definition… like it was chiseled out of stone. Lovely.
To sum up… these skins are definitely worth the trip to, at the very least, try out a demo. At $800L a piece, I just find it hard to believe that you could go wrong with such fine craftsmanship. I must admit, I am rather excited to see future releases! Do keep me in the loop, Siddean!
Now, before I close out this post, there is one more thing I’d like to mention about SLink (SLURL)… and that is that there are some FANTASTIC boots lurking in that store. Sculptie, leather, and several colors available at $300L a piece. They’re so good, that I just couldn’t go without giving a proper mention to them. Click the photo below for a larger view. :) Ryker, out!
Correction: Apparently, these skins are all hand-drawn, therefore making my above comments about photosourcing moot. Wow! I am impressed. :)
I just love furniture designers in SL. Really, I do. If it weren’t for all of these spectacular builders, dreamers, creators, texturizers… we just wouldn’t have all of the nifty-cool-awesomtastic stuff we have in SL today. I mean, could you imagine if people like Barnesworth, Devon, Antonia, Raul and countless other content creators didn’t exist? You know… the guys that have become such a staple to Second Life culture that it’d be like something was missing without them.
Well, in addition to the previously mentioned furniture builders, I’d like to add two more to the list. Prad Prathivi and Rrishanna Regina of PRrim Design (SLURL).
Aside from the fact that these two are simply rotten with talent, and their furniture is to DIE for… they are also selling… wait for it… scripted sex beds for $600L. That’s right, I said it. While I am pretty newbtastic when it comes to SL sex, I do know people that would jump on these beds in a heart beat, no pun intended. They’re GORGEOUSLY textured, the above picture being just one of many examples. It looks so cozy looking that I just want to jump right in. Prad also informs me that he is working on a modifcation that will allow changing the duvet texture. How is THAT for modification! *drools* That little tidbit of joy should be finished by tomorrow morning, provided Prad is not inebriated by sunrise (happy birthday, Prad!).
In addition to his omg-slex beds, there is also a ton of living room furniture as you’ll see both above and below this paragraph. There is even some nicely done oriental furniture, with very strong red, black and white colors in them… which I find to be perfectly stunning. Prad, if I ever build a dojo or a Japanese set, you’re my man!!!
So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury… PRrim Designs. Head on over there!
PS: OH! And since I’ve been getting SO SO many requests for information about the skybox in my previous post… it is the Lodo Loft by Ravish Tyne and can be purchased for $1500L at this location! It is sold copy/mod and can easily be modified to be bigger than what it is (as you can see in my post… I actually modded the box to be four times its original size). The window scenery can be changed to various cityscapes (I am rather fond of Paris, but also available are Prague, London and Glasgow, among others) and the box itself is just fantastically done. Enjoy!
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!
