Winter Blush

Windswept

Meenakshi

Chandra Masala's 'Jalwa' brand will be available at the Skin Fair! Meenakshi is the new line which features Chandra's trademark style: defined, dramatic cheeks and a strong brow. It's a beautiful skin with a very detailed face, including defined textures on the nose, cheek, and eye. My favorite feature? The super glossy lip.

Here are the details:

Eyebrows:  Black, brown, blonde, ginger [pictured], and none.
Cosmetics:  Six eye shadows and six lip shades.
Applier ready:  Jalwa skins are compatible with the popular breast implant lines, phat azz, baby bumps, and Slink avatar enhancements.
Cleavage Options:  Because some of us don't sport the mesh boobies.

Credits:
Skin:    Jalwa - Meenakshi (Saffron)[Pictured with Ginger brow and teal eyeshadow]
Hair:    Eater's Coma - Group Gift 03 (Reds HUD)
Dupetta:    Aspara - White
Eyes:    IKON - Eternal Eyes (brown)
Lashes:    *MC* Mon Cher - Falsies

Loving the Skin You're In - Erin, by League

Technicolor

My Eyes,  My Stars

I've always been Ikon Innova's biggest fan when it came to eyes. One blogger once told me it was like walking into a jewelry store - all the eyes look like perfect little gems. And you know? That's the a great example. I've always liked the IKON brand above other brands because of the sclera. I know that seems kind of silly, but many top eye makers in SL have an unnaturally shadowed sclera. I can not stand the overabundance of shadow because it negates what would otherwise be a brilliantly colored iris. IKON has always had a perfect balance of realistic sclera with an iris that has a slightly fantasy appeal.

Up until now, I was never fond of the mesh eye. I always thought the quality of the eye never changed from system to mesh prim. Too, I always through the eye was a wasted alpha and the mesh prim was just a useless thing to add scripts to our avatars when the goal is to lower scripts - which is important if you're a roleplayer and toting an arsenal of scripted gear. However, I'm sold on the Spectral eye not only for it's realism, but for the HUD. The HUD allows the wearer to change between brightness, iris size, sclera shading, and glow. It also allows you to pose the eyes for a quick photograph. There are other HUDs that do this, yes, but nothing beats the realism that comes with the Spectral eyes.

The Spectral eyes are currently at FaMeshed for a reasonable price of $150L. In case you're not wanting to sport the mesh prims, the eyes come with system versions. You can also grab a demo to try them out.

Please note: This photograph of my alt has been photoshopped, but nothing has been post edited with the eye. They are just that amazing and stand out all on their own.


Credits:
Hair:    D!va - Daisy Type A (Onyx) New!~ December Arcade
Eyes:    IKON - Spectral Mesh Eye (Chocolate) New!~December FaMeshed
Skin:    [PF]Pink Fuel - Kumi (Vanilla)
Lip Gloss:    [PF]Pink Fuel - Lip Glaze (Innocence w/ teeth) 

I Don't Need Wings to Fly

I was searching through the marketplace for Christmas decor. I really was. Except I didn't find Christmas decor. Instead, I found this gorgeous hair by Argrace. Materials ready hair specifically for photography. If that hadn't made my camera's night already, I also found this veil from LDG while browsing teleporthub.com, a website that advertises freebies and gifts. While the veil I used is not a freebie, I had to snatch it up. Especially if you love dance as much as I do.

This photo has nothing to do with dance and does not include the poses that come with Argrace's hair (by the way, the hair comes with poses!) The veil is no mod and comes with a pose built in, but using another pose overrides the one in the veil. Sadly, this would be a better product if the pose was mod, but I'm not complaining much. The veil has optional HUDs you can purchase for tinting and can be done with or without fringe.

UPDATE: After speaking with LDG's creator she updated her product to include a version without the pose built in so that it will be easier for photographers to utilize the product! How awesome is that?

Credits:
Hair:    Argrace - Saki (True red) New!
Veil:    LDG - Arabian Veil Prop 3 (Tinted with HUD 2)
Eyelids:    Slink
Hands/Feet:    Slink
Breasts:     Lola Tango
Skin:    League - Jen (Natural)
Pose:    Picture This! Poses ~ In Motion 
Location:  Home

The Winter Queen

Plenty of new fantasy oriented things are available to shoppers on the Second Life grid thanks to events such as We <3 RP such as this skin from Jalwa for the next round of We <3 RP. I was really inspired by this skin. Something about it prompted me to immediately 'snatch' up the mesh gown from Sn@tch, my go-to store for quality textured goth clothes.




Credits:
Dress:    Sn@tched - Borghese (Silver)
Jewelry:    Earthstones - Vintage Romance (Princess)
Hair:     Truth - Candy (Black and Whites pack)
Eyes:    {d.a.} Dead Apples - Blind Blue
Skin:    Jalwa - Winter Queen ( w/ brows - no teeth)
Poses:    Picture This! Poses - Fall Fashion Pack

The Red Prince

Catwa has really been stepping up on their mesh releases and 'Bella' is a clear example of why. Many options. So mesh. Very natural texture. Super A+ HUD. Okay, seriously. If you haven't checked out Catwa's new textures, I invite you to do so. The textures still hold a hint of nostalgia to them without being cheap. The Bella hair is an editorial windblown hair perfect for profile photos. My favorite parts are the optional bangs, which come in two different styles.

In case you're wondering why the title is called 'The Red Prince', my roleplay character in SL is a vampire set in the classic World of Darkness SIM called Wendigo Lake. A 'prince' is a gender neutral role, given to any vampire (or a goul!) in a particular territory.


Credits:
Hair:    Catwa - Bella (Naturals 5 pack)[W/ mesh bang attachment]New!
Eyes:   .tsg. The Sugar Garden - Sleepy Aquamarine
Lashes:    Beetlebones
Eye makeup:    {D.A.} Dead Apples - Glam Eyeshadows (Rouge)
Lipstick:   [PF] PF Pink Fuel - Glossy Pout Lips (Red Light)
Teeth:    [PXL] Pixel Hart 
Skin:    League - Jen (Fair Natural)

Gold Goddess

Never mind that Truth Hawks has a 'Venus' hair at the current September round at FaMeshed, yesterday came 'Anessa', a laurel-crowned long hair fit only for a goddess.

Credits:
Necklace:    ~Soedara~ - Nubian Divinity
Hair:    Truth - Anessa (Red 02) New!
Eyes:    .tsg. The Sugar Garden - Sleepy (Ice Blue)
Eyeshadow:    MONS - Pop Star (Antique)~The Dressing Room Fusion
Lashes:    ::BB:: Beetlebones
Skin:     League - Jen (Fair)

Summer Breezes Blowing

Credits:
Dress:    LUAs - Tie Dye Dress (Pink)
Hair:    Truth - Qopi (Red 02) New!
Eyes:    PC Poetic Colors - Arctic Sea
Hands:    Slink
Eyeshadow/Lipstick/Beauty Marks:    Izzie's Harlow
Skin:    League - Jen (Natural Medium)
Pose:    Picture This! Poses - All Hail the Princess New! [not released yet]

Formal Flowers

This is actually a preview post for the Love Donna Flora! event that I'm honored to be participating in. In case you have not heard the news, Squinternet Larnia, second life designer of the fashionable 'Donna Flora' bran, is suffering from severe bone cancer. Casja Lilliehook, a long time fashionista of Second Life, has been gracious enough to rally up support from the grid to launch the charity event Love Donna Flora. It never fails to touch me on how much everyone in the design and blog community care about each other. As soon as Casja passed out the idea so many of us bit at the chance to offer services - everything from blogging and publicity to offering up land.

The Love Donna Flora! event is hosting a huge array of designers, everything from poses to couture evening wear. One of my favorite pieces comes from long-time designer Amacci. This slick vintage hair comes with a crown of color-changing orchids via a HUD. It's just beautiful and very unique. Proceeds from this hair are 100%. Love Donna Flora! opens tomorrow, so pocket away some lindens. Even if you do not wish to buy anything, donation boxes are set up around the (beautiful) SIM. Every little linden counts. Every. Single.

Credits:
Hair and Orchids:    Amacci - Daphne (Warm Red) New!~Love Donna Flora!
Makeup:    Izzie's - Harlow Natural (Smokey)
Lipstick:    [PF]Pink Fuel - Deep Red
Eyes:    Ikon - Eternal Eyes (Pool)
Lashes:    Redgrave - Corner painted
Skin:    League - Jen (Natural Medium)

I Can Hear the Cicadas

Do you know what a cicada is? For a very brief time in my life, my mother moved my sister and I to Oklahoma where I first experienced the lazy summertime hum of cicadas, only we called them jar flies. Mostly because as children we liked to capture the docile bugs and put them in jars and keep them as very part-time pets. Jar flies sort of fascinated me because they were both ugly and adorable at the same time. What's also unique about them is that they shed their exoskeletons and leave behind perfect replicas of themselves which we loved to find in tree limbs and hold/examine them.

They have a very distinct sound that they make. It's a loud chorus of humming and the sound seems to just go along with the summertime heat. You know you're in late summer when the long days finally give over into evening and the sun goes down with the drowning choir of cicadas. I was reminded of this as I walked along Hazardous.

Sahara Gold

It's the first of the month, which means turnover on a few noteworthy events (like faMESHed!) and new releases by some of our favorite designers. For many fans of IKON eyes, it's gift week! In case you live in a box, are starting on your Second Life journey, or have an alt that needs some updating, IKON always delivers an exciting group gift to loyal members by offering a free product for the first week of each month. The group is free to join and you can pick up these lovely 'Sahara' gold eyes until July 7th.

I'm sort of loving the bold lines outlining my picture. I stumbled into the easiest technique of doing it while adding grain to an earlier picture. It's so stupidly easy, but I think it looks kind of cool. Stay tuned on SL Blogger Support for a tutorial.


Credits:
Earrings:    MG Maxi Gossamer - Shell Earrings
Hair:    Truth - Cece (Cranberry)
Hair Flower:     Truth - Kalia Flower (From the Kalia hair product)
Eyes:    IKON - Ascension Eyes (Sahara) July Group Gift!
Hands:    SLink
Nail colour:    blackLiquid Nails (Black Pearl)
Skin:    Izzie's - Harlow (Natural)
Pose:   Olive Juice - Keep Smilin'

Yellow is the Color of Joy

Cowgirl Up

I really just wanted to blog a story that was inspired by Truth Hawk's brand new style of hair because I thought it was that amazing, and I just didn't want to make a 'look'. My SL Family and I really love dressing up in themes (actually, my sister has a pretty rockin' cowgirl outfit already) just for the sake of dressing up in themes. It's fun! And it's also a big part of SL! Be what you want, right?

The problem was that I didn't have a horse. How can I be a proper cowgirl without a faithful steed? I mean sure, there are prop horses out there for posing (yeah, I have them) and plenty of beautiful static horses out there (pretty much from the same mesh model), but that's not what I wanted. So, I bought a few cheaper ones (one was 9L) and picked up a free one somewhere, but the problem is the tail on this particular mesh model and my graphics card. They don't seem to be friends and pictures with said mesh model just look terrible.


Eventually I found myself with three choices: Amaretto breedables, AKK horses, and Realistek. I really love the Realistek model. I tried it on, played with the poses, drove the demo all over the SIM, and thought it was pretty awesome for being so old school SL. Then? The price tag. The price tag! $12,000L was pushing the envelope. Okay, it was more like destroying the envelope. No way was I paying that much money for something in SL. The Amaretto horses are cute, but they look strange. Like a cartoon rather than an actual horse. So it went down to AKK. Again, it's a very outdated product in terms of it being all sculpty parts, but it's still a decent looking horse and comes with poses and walking animations. It's also cheaper in the store than from the hefty $2,500L that's on the marketplace, which is still seriously pushing the envelope on things that I would purchase for SL. However, as Dannika Dryke told me, "The things we do for pictures..."


Despite my overly drawn out horse-shopping-spree, I had a lot of fun doing this blog post. Why? Because I made a new friend today. Rather, Ich habe einen neuen Freund heute. That's what Second Life is all about. That and Truth hair. I can't think of a better way to end my 200th post by saying how much my friends in Second Life mean to me. I love you all. Almost as much as I love my Truth hair.




Credits:
Top:    e! Eclectic Apparel - Jillaroo Shirt (Tan)
Jeans:    L&B Lapointe and Bastchilde Mesh Jeans (Faded Blue)
Boots:    [HANDverk] - Western Ankle Boots (Rust)
Hair:   Truth - Jill (Red 02) New!
Hands:    SLink
Eyes:    IKON Ascension Eyes - Evening New!
Skin:    League - Jen (Fair Natural)

Let's Make a Splash!

Oceanside Blues

I've got the blues. No, I don't mean the sad sort of blues. Today, I'm inspired by bright, vibrant blues. Especially aquas, teals, and of course, red. I was looking for a lovely seashore to take my picture at and I came across Studio Skye's SIM, which is the store brand's location to purchase wonderful landscapes for your own SIM for pretty good prices. Even if you do not find something you wish to purchase, the SIM itself is a lovely garden of landscapes detailing their products.

In case you're wondering, my long hair comes from the batch of the latest Truth releases. It's called 'Tawny' and I love the length of it.


Credits:
Dress:    Drift - Zoe Maxi Dress (Romanc) New!~The Dressing Room Fusion
Hair:    Truth - Tawny (Red 02) New!
Skin:    League - Jen (Medium Natural)
Hands:    SLink
Pose:    BENT - Behind

Meet Sadie, a Mesh Hybrid