The weekend’s here, and I’m not feeling anything other than getting ready to hit the beach irl tomorrow. While I’m on the shore contemplating new ways to paint, here’s some questions I’ve got for you. My fab list is brought to you by RC Cluster’s Lifty Fizz Soda, plus my brand-new super-cute skin that’s out right now.
Did you know you can make your own Bento mesh head? Buy this creator’s program from Yabusaka Loon, and play with the sliders until you’ve got a face you’re happy with. Further customization can be achieved by editing the mesh file in Blender, if you’re so inclined. Omega carries an easy installation kit for your finished head, too.
You got Slink Dynamic Hands, great. What about nails, y’all? Get on the long tips train and pick up some nails from Gorgeous Dolls. They even carry a claws set!
Did you know there’s a free Bento hands poser on Marketplace? Aren’t I seriously saving your life right now?
Have you checked out the new exhibit of Second Life’s history? I initially thought it would be a pile of cheerleading horseradish, but it turned out to have both praise and criticism of the company’s past. I recommend checking it out if you can.
Know that Bento horse I wrote about a bit ago? It’s being released tomorrow! The final price of the horse is L3889. There will be English and Western horses available to buy; if you purchase one variant, you can get the other horse for L1950.
That’s it from me! I’m off for outings, beachings, and tannings. See ya!
Siddean Munro has been hard at work adding even more fabulous new makeups to her latest Isabelle skins available at SLink later today. Shown below is the Isabelle Makeup 13 in Fair tone. This one is my favorites and I’m officially renaming it Barbie makeup, even though all the skins don’t really have a name. I love this pink glossy lips and baby blue and pink eyeshadow combo, its perfect for platinum Blonde hair.
The body shading is fantastic and totally reminds me of roller blading at the beach, so I put on some Canimal Blingphones and VOGEL‘s latest bikini release!! I’m wearing the Skull Logo print above. <3
Six new Isabelle makeups! Click the image to view larger size.
One last close-up of my favorite Barbie makeup….
Tp to SLink to demo these skins! HOTNESSSSS… <3333
I thought the graphics were excellent when I tried Second Life in a browser two weeks ago; however, I did not think it was better than the graphics on my own computer. So, I logged into Second Life today using a viewer, then logged into my alt on the browser to compare. I took these screenshots by arranging the SL Viewer on the left and SL browser on the right.
I found it interesting that the SL browser’s default graphics settings were set to High instead of Ultra. I changed it to Ultra and made all of the graphic preferences the same as those on my PC, even using the same EEP setting. I noticed that the browser version appears much brighter and even a little washed out.
If you find the SL browser too bright, go to the graphics settings and lower the Brightness (exposure) from 1.0 to 0.7, or adjust the brightness on your EEP settings. Some residents have reported experiencing headaches when using the browser, and I can see why. I noticed some flickering and refreshing on the screen. I think streaming SL may not be the best way to use it for extended periods; however, in a pinch, the browser version works. Even though the SL browser isn’t perfect, it’s still a thousand times better than the mobile app.
If you have a computer that typically runs Second Life on low settings, do you see an improvement with the browser version? Can you share a side-by-side comparison? I would be curious to know if anyone feels that this has enhanced their SL experience.
When I sorted through my inventory the other day, I noticed that I have dozens of hairstyles from one brand and only a handful or none at all from others. WHY? Sometimes it's because brand A has cuter styles that appeals to me more but let's just pretend that brand A and B both have cute styles at similar prices and I adore them both. Brand A fits 90% of the time straight from the vendor, whereas with brand B, the demo doesn't fit right and I can already tell that I will be remaking the hair pretty much, which I hate.
[ Example Brand A | Example Brand B | Example Brand C ]
For example, with hair A, most of the time it's a perfect fit and I don't have to move a single prim, but when I do need to modify, it's very slightly. Modding hair A would take me 10 seconds at most (edit, stretch a few decimals, done).
Hair B on the other hand, takes a bit of work. Maybe I can stretch it, but I also have to move some prims around too, since I don't actually want to stretch too much and have the bangs be floating too far away from my face. It all depends on the style.
Hair C, I'm actually going to avoid buying completely. I can already tell that I'll be spending most of the evening remaking this hair since too many prims are sunken into my avatar's head.
I can mod hair prims, and even with hair C, I did a pretty good job and kept the integrity of the hairstyle as the hair maker intended, but it wasn't fun! I don't mind modding hair, but I mind when I've purchased a fatpack and I have to do anything more than just simple stretching. I like all my hairs to be modded the same way, and it bugs me when modding a hair involves more than a dozen steps, ugh.
So yeah, hair makers of Second Life, if you care… that's the reason why I don't have more of your hair or none at all. They don't fit me! Your head/profile is too long, too flat, too short, too round, too narrow, too small, etc. When I buy a new hairstyle, I just want to wear it and not feel like I'm assembling hair from a DIY kit. I'm pretty happy when hair fits right out of the box, see below:
Some of my friends will avoid hair brands because "the hair doesn't fit". For me, where there's a fashion will (like I totally love your hair), I will find a way to make it fit. But for some others, maybe they're not good at modding prims and they just want to look cute right away? Your hair brand is now less appealing, and may even be avoided.
I'm just saying! I might be a minority opinion, I might not. If you want to be as popular as hair A, maybe its because hair A fits the majority of the customers that passes through, whereas hair C sends the newbies running cos they've written your brand off after trying on demos.
Armidi is back! You can read all about it at theofficialpressrelease.com site. For those of you who are newly rezzed, the Armidi designers are alts of previous designers in SL.
London Armidi = (Armidi)
Adian Armidi = (Armidi)
Juju Armidi = Julliette Westerburg (Tres Blah)
Hudsen Armidi = Emma Gilmour (Surf Co)
I guess we’ll be seeing lots more Armidi newness in the coming months…. do I smell a Winter collection?
Also, Friday announced recently that they will be focusing on releasing more clothing and accessories and less hair and we now know why! Rumor has it that Parvarti Monday is Elikapeka Tiramisu (of ETD), so now that Parvati is scaling back hair releases, welcome back Elika (again)!
The ETD sim is gone from the grid but there is a new Elikatira sim. Fans of ETD will be happy to know this! I wonder if we’ll be seeing new textures and more sculpted styles at the new Elikatira sim?
Speaking of hair, Truth has pulled out of Hair Fair. Sadness! This year’s theme is kept a secret, even from the designers so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if it’s worth the wait.
/Edit/ I had originally posted that London and Adian Armidi are alts of previous designers but I am told that they are in fact original Armidi accounts and not connected to any previous designer accounts. So there you have it! 🙂
If you’re not in the [Pink Fuel] group in-world, get in there now! Mochi Milena just sent out the most amazing Harley skin pack to the group which includes a full skin, lip gloss, eyeshadows, and appliers. The skin pack is a group exclusive, so you won’t get it any other way!
What I’m Wearing:
Pink Fuel – Harley – Lid 01 – (bwnbrow – B)
Exile – London Arcade June 2014
Teefy – Laura Unbuttoned Knotted Shirt (S) Country
I want to clarify that I don’t know the creator of Blueberry (Blueberryxx) personally. Everything I’m sharing here is based on public information and my own observations.
If you’ve been a resident of Second Life for a while, you’re probably familiar with the brand Blueberry. From my understanding, Blueberry is comprised of a team of creators and customer service representatives (CSRs) and has been consistently releasing content since 2012. This brand has been quite successful. In January 2023, it was announced that Blueberry raised $6 million in seed funding, which means they got investors. As you may know, when investors come on board, they take partial ownership in exchange for their capital.
A little over a year later, in April 2024, Blueberry informally announced the closure of the brand on Facebook. This news shocked their fans in Second Life, who refused to believe that the closure was permanent, thinking it might just be a break. The announcement remained inconsistent over several weeks, causing confusion about whether Blueberry was taking a break or closing for good. The CSRs in Second Life eventually announced that there were no staff members available, and they were effectively just volunteering while the brand was winding down.
Residents had several months to spend their store credit and come to terms with Blueberry’s closure. Then, in August, the creator of Blueberry announced a comeback under a new brand called “The Kiwi Co.” under a new avatar (Kiwi Blossom). Side note: did you know that a kiwi is also a type of berry?
Here’s what we know: Blueberry’s investors decided to close the portion of the business operating in Second Life. Blueberry the brand is still active on other platform, such as Roblox. While the Blueberry brand remains closed in Second Life, all of the products are still available on the Marketplace. The creator of Blueberry decided to reopen without the investors, taking her former Second Life team back with her and launching The Kiwi Co.
I’m not certain why the creator chose to return to Second Life under a new brand, but I do know that it’s a savvy business move to leave the old brand behind. With the introduction of Physically Based Rendering (PBR) and several new avatar bodies since Blueberry’s launch in 2012, why not rebrand and start fresh? Very few brands in Second Life tend to update old content with PBR or new bodies; they prefer to move forward and create new products. Supporting new products is simpler than managing a vast catalog of old ones.
So, if you loved the Blueberry aesthetic, you’ll be pleased with The Kiwi Co. The launch includes a dress and a pair of shoes as a gift to customers. Offering a generous free gift during a brand launch or re-launch is a smart strategy. The Grace Dress and shoes are both fatpacks, available in PBR and non-PBR versions.
Transferring Blueberry credit to The Kiwi Co
If you have Blueberry credit that you want to transfer to The Kiwi Co, please contact Blueberryxx resident in Second Life to facilitate the transfer.
I’ll show you the difference between the PBR (Physically Based Rendering) version of the dress and the non-PBR (Blinn–Phong) version. I photographed both with the same lighting in a PBR viewer. My EEP is optimized for PBR, which makes the non-PBR version appear a bit flat. Both versions look great, but if you know how to adjust your lighting, PBR will always stand out more. This dress features very subtle PBR effects, as it’s not a shiny fabric. I experimented with extra light sources to highlight the fabric, but most users probably won’t notice this while wearing it in-world.
I won’t endorse any specific PBR viewer, but if you’re still using a non-PBR viewer, consider upgrading (if possible). Second Life is evolving, and many brands might stop providing fallback textures, focusing solely on PBR optimization.
If you want to check out this dress, visit The Kiwi Co. in SL!
