Merry Christmas Eve SL! I hope you’ve all finished your RL and SL shopping – though there’s some time left for last minute gifting! I’m doing everything on Marketplace this year, then in-world to shops with easy to use gifting vendors. I think next year… there should be a list published somewhere of all the shops that have gifting vendors.
I’ve been dying to blog these new hairstyles from LeLutka. They are Georgeous, Wintour, Module, and Willamina. There are a few more styles at LeLutka.. you’ll have to go check it out.
What I’m Wearing:
Laqroki – Vilda 01 (Fair) Glow Skin
LeLutka – DIELLICIOUS jumpsuit (Shrub)
LeLutka – Saffron Pumps (Neutral Black)2.0
Cake – Barcode / Pretty on the outside tattoo
& elefantu – Gift Wrapping Station
I’m horny! These Glasgow Kiss Horns from Two Cats One Cup are so sparkly and includes a HUD with 15 different colors! I don’t usually wear horns, but they seem really popular with the human-hybrid avatars! I think the avatars on the vendor ad are really cute, you have to check it out.
The HUD!
What I’m Wearing:
Pink Fuel – Harley (Peach)
cheLLe – Mermaid Makeup
Truth – Lyma (Blondes05)
Teefy – Aurelia Summer High-Low Dress (Creme) S
Two Cats One Cup – Glasgow Kiss Horns
From time to time, I see fellow bloggers expressing frustrations that designers don’t comment or acknowledge that their items were featured on a blog post. I know designers are super busy creating, but not all designers are completely aloof. There are plenty of designers who will take that extra effort to ‘thank’ their bloggers, by simply faving a picture on Flickr or leaving a comment (anywhere). I favor designers who pay attention (to me), more than those who don’t. I like attention, and if I know that you’re paying attention, I’ll make more of an effort to feature your products.
Oh my god, the secret is out!
Here’s my tip for designers — want to get blogged more? You have to either create stellar stuff, or pay attention to people who do blog you. Or pretend that you do pay attention. Try this for a month, and I think you will see that your coverage on blogs massively increasing.
Shout out to all the designers who comment/fav/like my pics, say hello, etc! You’re rock stars. <3
What I’m Wearing:
Pink Fuel Skin
Truth – Maiko hair/Headphones
Teefy – Marlene Blouse (Floral/Mint) S
Teefy – Marley Skirt (Spring) S
Hello and welcome to my blog! Long-time readers already know that blogging is my passion, and I have no plans of stopping anytime soon. Over the past 17 years, my interests have varied and evolved, but everything you see on JuicyBomb is a true reflection of me. I’m thrilled to join the Got Blog! Bloggers Challenge. Through this challenge, I hope to share my thoughts on blogging and offer readers a deeper understanding of the Second Life blogging community.
When did you start your Second Life Blog?
I started my Second Life blog in 2007. My blog is nearly as old as my avatar!
Why did you start Blogging in Second Life?
My first Second Life blog was on a free platform, and it wasn’t a fashion blog. I just wanted a place to document my adventures in Second Life, so it was just candid photos and brief captions. Eventually, I decided to make a proper blog, so I bought a domain and started a blog called Gogolita. The name Gogolita was a combination of my avatar name (Gorgeous) and my favorite fashion style at the time (Lolita fashion). A year later, I bought a region and named it Juicy, so I rebranded to JuicyBomb.
Do you feel the Blogging community in Second Life has changed since you started Blogging, and if so, in what ways?
Back in the day, I felt that (fashion) bloggers wrote to share a genuine love for items they discovered and to connect with other residents on the grid. I used to know most of the bloggers in Second Life—not personally, but through their writings and being in the same groups and attending bloggers-only events. Designers were really nice to bloggers in general; they tried to be our friends, hoping we’d promote their stores. Now, some designers act like we’re their employees, setting requirements to be part of their blog teams. Even the bloggers appear to be more focused on meeting deadlines and promoting products rather than sharing things they genuinely love.
Do you think that Bloggers have a positive impact on Second Life culture and community, and if so, do you have any stories about that?
Where would Second Life be without bloggers? I feel that all bloggers have contributed to Second Life and filled the information gap when Linden Lab fell short. Additionally, our love for shopping and sharing that love on our blogs has positively impacted e-commerce here. Imagine Second Life without bloggers! It might have shuttered long ago.
Are you approachable as a Blogger by content creators that may have interest in you as a Blogger for their Brand/Store? – if you have review policies etc. feel free to include them.
Absolutely! If brands want to collaborate with me, please reach out to me in Second Life – Gorgeous Aurelia. I’ll blog about women’s fashion, home and decor, and landscaping items. I will also explore your region or promote a project that I find interesting. I blog about all sorts of things, so if you think it’s something I might want to highlight on JuicyBomb, let’s talk!
It’s the second day of Blackout August and since I’m not shopping, I decided to revisit enhancing Second Life photos with Krea.ai. Lately, vendor ads in SL are full of unrealistic hair, faces, and clothing that don’t actually exist in-world. I don’t know what tools other people are using, but out of everything I’ve tried, Krea.ai has been one of the easiest and probably the most beginner-friendly.
Like most AI tools, the free version of Krea has some limitations. You won’t get full customization or the highest quality images unless you upgrade, but I’m using the free version for this.
To enhance your SL photo, make sure you use the Enhancer tool. If you use the Image tool, it tends to change things too much and doesn’t look like your original. Once I upload my photo into the Enhancer, I can adjust the sliders on the right to tweak the AI strength, resemblance, clarity, and more. The paid version gives you more range, but the free version is still workable.
Personally, I don’t love the full Krea output on its own, so I save the enhanced image and overlay it with my original SL photo in Photoshop. Then I blend them together. Sometimes I just blend the hair, or just the face, or whatever needs a boost. My final result looks really polished and still about 80 percent true to Second Life.
One note of caution—some brands will ban you for using AI editing in your photos. I think it’s a tool like any other, but use it with intention.
Let me know in the comments if you’ve been playing with AI editing and which apps are your go-to.
Are you tired of me starting every post with Blackout August? Well, it’s day 22. The original creator of this challenge, Imogen Aurelia, deleted her link on Flickr and kept part of it on Facebook. I’m not even sure she’s still doing the challenge herself, but I’m pushing through. I’m determined and almost at the finish line. What this challenge has shown me is that I’ve been selective for a long time, so while it started out kind of painful not being able to instantly grab that new hair I wanted, it also revealed that I don’t actually love everything made in SL, and I don’t need to have it right away.
For today’s look I dug deep into my inventory and remembered how much I used to love a brand called M.Birdie. I don’t think it’s open anymore, since the store’s Flickr is gone and the SLurl in the designer’s profile leads nowhere. I liked this store so much, but most of my items from them came through gacha events. Everything I have is made for Maitreya, but I managed to wear it with LaraX because this top is roomy and I used the alpha layers. If you still want this top, even though it’s at least seven years old, you can still find it on the Marketplace. If you know what happened to the M.Birdie store, let me know in the comments.
When my friends heard I was doing this challenge, they gave me tips on how to cope with not shopping. One of them said, “You could go spend store credit.” Which is true, I could, if I even remembered where I had store credit. The truth is I don’t want loopholes, I want to go without. I’m still blogging for a few brands and new items are hitting my inventory often, so I don’t feel completely deprived. I decided to sit out on promoting much of it this month, but that doesn’t mean I can’t promote it later. The great thing about Second Life is that when brands create items, they can keep selling them for years as long as the quality is good and people still want them. There’s this constant push to buy new and wear new, but I think that actually does brands a disservice. A dollar earned from a new item or an older one is still a dollar.
If you like the idea of Blackout August, you can start any time. Wearing items you already own shouldn’t ever feel like a betrayal, and it won’t make your favorite brands think less of you. They probably won’t even notice.
Mamboo Chic is a new-to-me brand that has quite a large collection of skins. I haven’t done many skin reviews this year, and it’s been awhile since my last review (since August), so I thought I would share with you guys the newest skin from Mamboo Chic. This Shapira skin has a sweet lil’ face and comes with tattoo makeup and tattoo lipsticks. I love tattoo makeup, and I think every skin brand in SL should have ’em.
The Shapira skin is available in 5 skin tones, 8 lipstick (tattoos) and 15 make up (tattoos) layers. I have mixed-and-matched a couple of the tattoos to create different makeup looks above.
This skin has an attractive face & the options available are just enough to create many different looks. Of course there’s room for improvements, but from my interaction with this designer, I think she’s very willing to accept feedback and make improvements for future releases. I would love to see more brows (tattoos) offered with future releases, as well as some more upgrades on the body.
Thank you for featuring elefantu! Have a safe holiday and a very Merry Christmas!
xx
Gin