“What failure? Where?” you ask, because the title of this post is certainly intriguing, isn’t it? There’s no failure in this picture. But ah, that’s where I’ve got you. It’s on my face. Look closer.
You probably recognize it–a style of skins I’ve attempted before. I released three in the past, plus one mesh head that didn’t sell too well. Would you like to know something else? There were seven more skin attempts I went through that never saw the light of day. I never showed anyone anything because I was afraid of people laughing at me.
I worked on this one after creating an amalgamation of my failure skins together, blending each face until a new one appeared from the combined Photoshop layers. I kept working on them, and then put them on several different mesh heads to see what spots on the face needed improvement and what didn’t. When I was done, I showed my friends. And many of them liked it! I was shocked because–all that failure. All that failure. What made the “no” finally turn into a “yes”?
Passing that threshold for a lot of people also means crossing a line of fear. You are not used to “yes”. You’re used to “no”, “stop”, “wait just a little longer”, which after a while you accept future notions of rejection and stop putting in so much effort. You accept yourself as less-than, you stop reaching so high. When a “yes” finally appears, it becomes you that is hesitant. What if you proceed only to find another “no” somewhere down the line? What if someone doesn’t like the idea of you doing well and tries to make that happen for you?
If you think I might be using the progress of creating a skin as a larger metaphor, you’re right. I might even be talking about another area of my life right now, a parallel story in rl that I may never tell you.
Life is full of secret skin failures. Each one held a lesson for me in what mistakes I made in the past. And I think it’s funny that by combining them, I created a skin that works. Maybe not everyone would like it, but certainly a lot more than in the past. And that’s a good enough starting point for me. I can build from there.
You can, too, with whatever you’re doing. Sort through those failures. Collate them and think about what lesson each one held. There’s a “yes” if you combine them. It’s all in the arrangement.
Exile quietly released new textures! I tried on the latest Signe hairstyle and immediately noticed the redesigned HUD too. Obviously my favorites are the Blondes pack and the Fantasy pack. The Choice pack is great too if you’re indecisive and constantly bouncing between hair colors. I couldn’t decide between light pink or light blonde today, so I just wore both.
I always let my hairstyle lead the way when it comes to building an outfit. This whole look started with this playful hair. I wanted a giant bow to finish it off, and the Vale Headband from C’est La Vie ended up being perfect. I’m also wearing colors I normally avoid. Does orange and teal actually work together? I think maybe it does.
My last post about using AI to judge my face caused quite a stir on Facebook. I think Second Life residents on Facebook can be especially rude compared to other social media sites. I don’t know if it’s the demographic, and I don’t necessarily mean age, but something about Facebook makes people react with hostility to absolutely everything.
Moments like that make me appreciate the genuinely nice people I’ve met in Second Life over the years. One of those people is Kavar Cleanslate, the creator of Exile. A lot of you probably don’t know this, but Kavar has been my friend for a very long time and is honestly one of the nicest people ever. We actually live on the same region. Well… technically one day he told me I could rez my house there, and I just never left. It’s been decades now. LOL. I don’t think he knows how to ask me to leave, but honestly, would he even? He’s that nice.
And since this is a a hair-themed post, would you like to win early access to Hair Fair? You have six chances to win. Just follow Hair Fair on social media and like/comment with your SL username for a chance to get in early. I’ll be at Hair Fair before opening, so hopefully I’ll see some of you there!
Unless you’re new to Second Life, you already know that every December LeLutka gives out two free mesh heads. They’ve been doing this for about five years now, so it’s something residents expect and genuinely look forward to. Weeks before December even arrives, I see people in the official LeLutka Discord asking daily when the “12 Days of Christmas” is starting, with the hype steadily building.
I’ve always thought that if they suddenly stopped doing it one year, it would be a bit of a letdown. Yes, it’s a free gift and no one is entitled to anything, but it’s become a tradition. It’s something longtime customers look forward to and it’s also a great way for new residents to dip their toes in and start the new year with a brand new face.
This year, LeLutka is doing things a little differently. The heads are no longer free for everyone, they’re free for previous customers only. There’s also no 12 Days event this year. While there isn’t a collaborative gift giving event, I’m sure brands will still be generous on their own since they enjoy the traffic and publicity.
LeLutka Holiday Announcement
This year, we will not be hosting our traditional 12 Days of Christmas event.
Real life has been particularly hectic for us, and for the first time in five years, our CSR team truly deserves a proper Christmas break rather than working nonstop through the holidays 🙂 At the same time, our focus has been fully on the development of our new line of heads, which requires an enormous amount of time, testing, and attention. Organising a full event like 12 Days of Christmas also means weeks of preparation, coordination with designers, region rentals, promotions, and constant support, and this year we simply did not have the capacity to do both properly.
The holiday season is about giving, and we appreciate the understanding of our community as we take a different approach this year.
That said, we deeply appreciate our customers and the continued support you have shown LeLUTKA over the years. Because of that, we are still giving back.
The free heads have been added to all existing LeLUTKA customers in our database.
Every eligible customer has been gifted two heads:
Vela, our female head
Rune, our male head
You will find them in the Redelivery terminal, under the “Gifted to You” tab.
Please keep in mind that this is Second Life, and there are a lot of you. The server will almost certainly be under heavy load and may struggle or temporarily fail, much like busy regions do during peak events. Your gifts are there and they are yours. If you do not receive them immediately, you will shortly. Please be patient and avoid clicking repeatedly, as that only puts unnecessary strain on the system.
To our customers, and to every hardworking designer and creator in Second Life, we wish you a peaceful and happy Christmas. Thank you for your continued support, loyalty, and understanding over the years. We wish you all the very best for 2026.
Even though LeLutka is a private business and not Linden owned, it’s such a major part of the Second Life economic ecosystem. So many brands rely on LeLutka staying popular and relevant so they can continue selling skins, makeup, and accessories made specifically for their heads. I’ve always thought it made perfect sense for LeLutka to give away heads once a year. It helps them stay dominant and ensures their partners keep creating products that elevate the brand all year long.
Other mesh head brands have followed this same model, often giving away free heads to capture market share. There are even free LeLutka heads available in the Second Life library.
Unfortunately, for new residents or people who have never purchased from LeLutka, there won’t be a free head this year. That said, I imagine at this point nearly everyone owns something from LeLutka, so the number of people missing out is probably pretty small.
To get the mesh head, you’ll need to go to the LeLutka store and touch the Redelivery kiosk on the wall, or use the Redelivery HUD in your inventory. Here are the details I found posted in their Discord:
This year’s gift heads are for existing customers only. Meaning, only folks who have bought/received something from Leltuka in the past. Everyone in the redelivery system as of the announcement had the free heads added to their redelivery.
If you have never gotten anything from Lelutka before, buying something now or in the future will not give access to this year’s gift heads.
The heads themselves are not at the store. They are not anywhere. They are in your redelivery list.
The heads are in the “Gifted to You” tab on the redelivery page.NOT the main page, you must navigate to the tab for gifted items.
You can access redelivery through the redelivery HUD, if you have it. If you do not have one already, you will have to swing by the Lelutka main sim to get one, or use the redelivery link. And yes, the sim will be full for a while. And it will be laggy when you get in. Please be patient. The delivery server cannot handle everyone having the gifts sent at once anyway, so as always, patience is key.
If you are attempting to have the head delivered and it’s not working, you can’t access the website, get an error, etc. please be patient. Thousands of people are doing the same thing. CLICK ONLY ONCE. Clicking more will just bog it down further, not make it work.
Redelivery HUDs will not be sent in groups, put on MP, etc. It would just overload and break if everyone tried to get on the website at once. Again, please be patient. Thousands of people want to get the gifts, it will take time now matter how it is done.
The heads will be in your redelivery page forever, so there is no “deadline” to get them.
ALSO
PLEASE DO NOT USE A REDELIVERY HUD SOMEONE ELSE GIVES YOU, OR REZZES OUT SOMEWHERE. We cannot verify any of these HUDs are legitimate, and they could be sending you to a website that will steal your data or do some other nefarious thing. Please only use the official redelivery HUD you receive from Lelutka.
I decided to give Vela a whirl and spent many hours last night tweaking the face to perfection. I found the eyes a little droopy on me and a bit challenging to work with, but everything else looks amazing. I’m still wearing the Billie mesh head though. Most of you are probably thinking, “This looks exactly like Gogo!” and yeah, I guess it does. I’m wearing the exact same skin and makeup, so the similarities are definitely there.
Let’s be real though. Even though LeLutka has released dozens of mesh heads by now, most of the grid is still wearing Avalon, the very first EvoX head. This phenomenon should honestly be studied. I tend to move on every few months if a head suits me, but a lot of people don’t like change, and that’s totally fine. Avalon is very similar to the newer heads and is actually the smartest choice since so many skin brands still make skins specifically for it. While you can wear an EvoX skin on any LeLutka head, the head it was made for will always have the best fit.
Have you tried the new free LeLutka mesh heads yet? Let me know in the comments!
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Exile will be releasing this Dominique hair tomorrow!! It's super cute and has a hairband that changes 7 different textures. I couldn't decide if I'm blonde or brunette today, so I'll show both colors! The 'Harlow' blonde from Exile is my favorite tone, it goes with everrryyything!
<– Laqroki 'Jasmin' lips, perfection!
I totally forgot how much I liked the Laqroki 'Jasmin' skin, I went and picked up another one with pink lipstick today. So cute, right? I want these lips on everything.
Milana (hair) is a collaboration between two designers, Asuka Martin of Dernier Cri and Sharifa Morenz. This new brand launches with a bang! All 20 styles are released at once, and they’re ssssmoking hot.
Fans of Dernier Cri will find this Hair Dye Menu HUD familar, cos Milana uses the same one. I really like this HUD, it reduces inventory clutter, and also shows me the full range of colors available. However, in laggy situations, the recoloring process can take up to a minute to complete and you may have to press the color selection more than once for all the prims to change.
Although these two creators are using the same textures, I find their style very different. Asuka’s hairs are very beautiful but a little on the small side and Sharifa’s hairs are larger and chunkier.
I’m definitely very excited to see what else Milana releases, cos I just love their hair texture (colors) choices. Strawberry Pink hair <3!
Second Life just unveiled a new black and blue logo! Do you like it? I’m quite shocked at that they left the old teal green color behind – and decided to go with a generic bright blue. The explanation on the official blog announcement sounds nice and generic – the sky’s the limit!
I’ve always thought that the teal green color from the old logo was a nod to the name and Linden tree. Trees are green and soothing. Please take a vote below, and let me know if you like the old logo or the new logo!
<– Laqroki 'Jasmin' lips, perfection!
Can’t wait to “see”. Love all your posts.
Thank you! I’ll release it soon.