In my previous blog entry, I said that Tuli's new prototype Hope skin reminded me of Gala and D-Skin because of the beautiful face. Well, here's a picture of all 3 side-by-side for your viewing pleasure. I think, all of these skins are really well done but if I could pick and choose, brows from one skin, and lips from another, the combination would be my ultimate dream skin.
What do you think?
Hello from Midnight in Paris! I’ve always loved France-inspired regions in SL, especially the historical Versailles ones. I also love vibrant and lively cities, and Midnight in Paris nailed it with so much detail. It’s spectacular, check it out.
Read More “Midnight in Paris”
I’ve been blogging lots of events recently, so I thought I would take a break from those for a bit and show you guys some adorable new pieces from Mon Tissu.
Check out this Crossroads Maxi Dress from Mon Tissu. It comes with a flexi skirt, and a sculpted skirt option. I’m normally not a fan of one big sculpted skirt prim, so I’m really glad they’ve added the flexi option too.
The sculpted skirt is so interesting, and you wear it without shoes! The instructions that came with the dress said to wear the alpha layer to remove most of the legs, and also wear it without shoes (cos you won’t have legs) and um, floating shoes is just weird.
What do you think of this??
I find the no shoes thing kind of odd, but its a pretty clever ‘fix’. This sculpted skirt probably wouldn’t be the ideal choice to wear in public though, cos if you’re not rezzing properly, people will just see a floating torso (see the 3rd pic).
Visit Mon Tissu
What I’m Wearing:
Milana – Lynn (Roots)
Mon Tissu – Crossroads Maxi Dress (In Bloom)
Mon Tissu – French Pouf (Pink)
Mon Tissu – Seneca Threaded Leather Belt (Worn)
Mon Tissu – Porter Jean Jacket (Used)
G-Field – Flower Pumps “Eve” Pink
"Hi. I came across this post and thought.. WOW.. fabulous skin. So much
so that I ran to the store to check it out. I tried on the exact tone
and faces, too. They looked nothing like these pictures. I tried them
with and without facelights, different day settings. My av shape is
great, too, so it’s not that. Then I looked at your pictures again and
realized how touched up your images are, that not even your white hair
is pixelated — white hair in sl is notorious for obvious pixelated
edges. While I think it’s nice people supply shopping info for others
who may be interested, I think it is best not to worry about how your
avatar looks in your post but to give an honest rendering of the
material you are propagating to the masses — that way we, the readers,
can see what the skins and so forth actually look like to save us time.
Touched up images don’t sell others products, they waste the buyer’s
time." – SherriI
I saw this comment about my Cupcakes skin reviews on iheartsl.com and it really bothered me because I am not here to deceive people who read my blog. I don't EVER Photoshop photos on my skin reviews to fix flaws or blemishes. What you see is what you get, no post-processing whatsoever except for a simple crop (and I use picnik.com).
Here are reasons why I don't retouch images:
1. There are skin demos, what's the point of trying to fix/hide flaws?
2. I don't have time to spend fixing up images since I blog A LOT.
3. I don't care if a skin designer sells 1 skin or 1000 skins as a result of my blog entry (though I am happy for them if they get sales from being featured).
4. My aim is to show the item as-is, so people keep coming back to my blog because they have a reasonable expectation that what is seen in my photos is what the product REALLY looks like in-world.
5. I'm too lazy to PS every image to death.
There are more reasons why I don't PS, but those are the main ones.
( click the image to view full size )
The image above was taken in-world with absolutely NO post-processing. The light settings are – default noon | my own personal outdoor sunlight setting | my blog photos settting. As you can see, noon is pretty craptastic compared to the blog setting, which removes most shadows & brightens up the image a lot. I don't need to PS, I can't even imagine how I could make the image "better" and I don't know how.
"Then I looked at your pictures again and realized how touched up your
images are, that not even your white hair is pixelated — white hair in
sl is notorious for obvious pixelated edges."
It sounds to me like, your graphics settings for SL needs anti-alias turned on. I can't give the info how, but you should be able to Google the answer for your specific graphics card/computer. Optimizing your graphics settings and playing with Windlight will
produce some pretty fantastic images without needing to touch-up.
"Touched up images don’t sell others products, they waste the buyer’s time."
I totally agree, this is why I keep my photos simple. If I ever edit an image, its because it's more of an artsy photo than a product review.
I hope that clears that up….
I'm wearing the Cupcakes Lovespell (Honey) Golddust skin, since I wore this skin in the original post that this comment was directed at. I've made new Windlight settings for blogging, since I no longer liked the old ones that I've used before (they were too red) ~ so the skin doesn't photograph *exactly* the same as the original post that I've linked to, but it's the same skin and no PS then OR now.
I’ve been binge-watching Sword Art Online lately. An anime about players who are unable to log out of an MMO until they defeat the final boss, it explores all kinds of philosophical subjects that have to do with online gaming. That’s right up my alley! I love deep things like that.
Here’s a paraphrased quote someone says in the series: “The choices you make in a video game can affect who you are in real life.” This quote doesn’t mean simple tasks or clearing levels, but how you treat other players. I agree wholeheartedly with this.
Second Life is especially prone to this because it has no end goal unless you create one. If you attack the grid like it’s a game, manage your business like a ruthless CEO, or discard of people you meet in rp sims like they’re little more than an NPC to be used, you’re going to change irl if you aren’t that way already. You can become someone you didn’t think you would ever be. You will slowly but surely become a low-key sociopath. I’m not kidding.
The power anything in this game can grant you can end as soon as the grid itself goes away. Do yourself a favor, and always remember what’s really important in life. Your happiness. Your sanity. Your friends. People who love and care about you. Power and cash are not the end-all. Don’t let a lust for these things and the setting of a virtual world turn you into someone you don’t recognize anymore.
It might be a strange word of warning all of a sudden, but let’s get real: Sansar is something LL is creating because it needs to retain its users, or else the company may flop and both grids can be lost. We’re looking at a possible endgame here with our surroundings. But don’t let that take away what’s important. Love conquers all, and will be there when all your virtual swag has disappeared.
That’s all for now!
What I’m Wearing
Verve – Coco Skin
Logo Alex Mesh Head
glYph – Acolyte Hood and Skirt*
Bliensen + MaiTai – Viper’s Nest Necklace*
Empyrean Forge – Borealis Sword*
JIAN – Wolf Companion*
Moon Elixir – Mira Tunic*
PEQE – Trumpet Sleeves
Wicca’s Wardrobe – Joyce Necklace*
*available at We <3 RP until the end of the month!
“Some people choose to see the ugliness in this world. The disarray. I choose to see the beauty.”
As I played with the new LeLutka Simone 2.0 Bento Head, the quote above from Westworld kept replaying in my mind. I just celebrated my 10th year rez day in SL, and I love how advanced and beautiful everything is now. I’m grateful for the creators of SL who are serious about their craft and release outstanding quality products. With every advancement in SL (windlight, mesh, fit mesh, bento), I keep thinking that this is the best it can ever be, and then something else comes out that makes it even better!
I’m sure you’ve seen pre-release info about the LeLutka Simone 2.0 Bento Head and preview pics, so I won’t list all the features. Read the official blog post to see all the technical details. As someone who has worn a mesh head for years now, bento blows my mind because of its editing capabilities. I found a face that I loved from the previous lines of LeLutka heads, but of course I wished there were things I could tweak to make it feel more like me.
The LeLutka Bento HUD is easy to navigate, fast, and includes some bonus features like eye positioning. I’ve worn a separate eye HUD to control my mesh eyes (mostly centering and keeping it still for photos), but now that’s one less HUD to wear!
Look at these expressions! The HUD includes 24 expressions, 6 eyelid settings, parted mouth, blink, etc. If you play around with these, it’s possible to create random new expressions. I predict that there will Expression packs released in the future, so the possibilities are endless.
Eye positioning, the eyelid move with it! I used a separate eye position HUD before, but my eyelid did not move, since it was not bento.
I’m still editing my head, so you will probably see it change over time with tweaks and new skins. Is anyone else as picky as I am? In addition to having a nice front view, I also want my profile to be proportionate and pretty.
Some of my friends have asked me if they should get a bento head, and my answer is obviously yes, but do try a couple of heads from different brands before deciding. I may like LeLutka mesh heads best, but someone else may prefer the HUD/sliders and overall face shape of something else. A bento head still has restrictions, so there’s a chance you will want to tweak something but the slider won’t allow that much editing. For example, I wanted less eye crease, but at 0 setting, there’s still a lot of crease left. On other heads, I could almost squish the eye crease further, but I think sometimes allowing too much editing can deform a face. For now, I am fully committing to this Simone head, but I’m still excited for new faces that I can tweak 😀
There is a lot to say about this mesh head cos it is the best thing released in a long time! I’m super excited, and I can’t wait for all the fabulous skins and makeups that brands will release to go with this head! Do you wear a bento head now? What are some features you would like to see in a future release?
What I’m Wearing:
LeLutka Simone 2.0 Bento Head (coming soon)
Exile – Eyes On Me @ Collabor88
Glam Affair – Emily Skin (coming soon)
Blueberry – Show Time Mask, Dress, Coat, Ree Heels @ The Arcade
Mandala – Choker (Princess-dogtag), Ring
The Luxuria intimates line is part of 5th & Oxford brand and recently launched this past Sunday. I saw a teaser of the Luxuria brand about a month ago, during 50L Friday, when the adorable petal pink Olaenka set was on sale. As someone who adores panties because one, they’re so cute and two, they fit everyone perfectly minimal adjustments (if any at all).
Luxuria launched with six lingerie sets:
Luxuria – Olaenka | Dot | Cajsa
Luxuria – Alicia | Belinda | Elle Playsuit
Visit Luxuria
Also, if you are the creative type, you might want to enter the Luxuria Logo Contest and win free lingerie and money! 🙂
Luxuria needs a new logo and after spending hours and hours designing this new collection, my mind is not in the right space for creating a new logo. I don’t want to settle for something that I will not be happy with long term and decided to take up a suggestion from a blogger – have a logo contest!The winner will get 2000 lindens and the entire collection of Luxuria lingerie – every color of every design in the opening collection.I think the name of the brand says a lot about what I want in a logo. It needs to be modern, luxurious, elegant and upscale. I want it to say the brand is cosmopolitan and fresh and that’s what the logo has to portray. Although specific colors are not required, it would be helpful to remember that store colors are black, white and light pink.So some rules:
1. The Aspect Ratio must be 3:22. Your entriy must be submitted to Roslin Petion by 11 PM PDT, October 4, 2010.3. You must drop a full perm texture as your contest entry, but you must be willing to provide a non-merged PSD file of the logo.4. The logo must be a graphic desgin that incorporates the store name. No photos or screen shots. No avatar photos.5. All original content. There can be no images, etc. that you don’t have appropriate licensing for.The winner will be announced on the store’s blog at http://roslinpetion.blogspot.com/
gala lips, tuli eyes, and d skin brows..
You look *absolutely gorgeous* in every one of them. Actually, you look gorgeous in *everything* you’ve ever posted. (*wonders how she does that!*) Imho, the Gala skin gives you a younger, fresher look, while the Tuli skin gives you a more polished, mature look. The look of the D-Skin lies somewhere in between (good choice in photo placement). I just wish I could wear the Gala skin. It makes me look angry, no matter which shape I use. (weird, I know).
Desiree, you should try changing your bald(hair) cap. It’s not the shapes that really mess with eyebrows its the bald cap.
As for the skins, gala’s skin + dskins eyebrows=epic win
I notice the new Gala line makes my avatar look sad no matter how I try to edit it. lol
Anyway ty for the comparison 🙂
Tuli has evolved a lot. I love how she is constantly improving her line. I would like to see fresher lips on her line sort of like the Gala skins.