Meet Jamie, one of two Senra avatars coming soon to Second Life. These are the New User Experience (NUX) avatars created by Second Life for new residents. They come with a mesh body, mesh head, skins, eyes, hair, shoes, clothing, and a basic animation override.
The Senra avatars (Jamie and Blake) briefly appeared in the Library on the main grid and are now gone again. I recalled that the beta grid lags behind the main grid, so I logged on there in search of Jamie, and I found her in the Library. I had an authentic new user experience because my inventory was empty, so I had to make do with Library items.
As I have mentioned before, I have been struggle to find “Elle” in Second Life – her look, her character and where she fits in after all these years. But I think I have accomplished one thing this week – I have found Elle’s face…
My return to Second Life has been, overall, uncomplicated. I logged in, got addicted to Linden Homes, and of course, I shopped. I have to say that I am a bit disappointed in the fashion choices in Second Life: So-Many-Outfits-Look-Exactly-The-Same. I spent many an hour visiting the latest events attempting to find that perfect new outfit. Alas, 75% of the time, my event shopping resulted in disappointment. I don’t know if it’s the demos the designers decide to use or if the efforts are just – bad. The pattern continues – I teleport to the current “Event Du Jour,” and an advert catches my eye. With the flick of my mouse, I would click that demo prim faster than you could say “Lindens.” Then, excitedly I would port home to one of my, err, seven Linden Homes and gleefully try the demo, and more often than not, the demo unveiling would reveal a horrible plastic-looking shirt with no depth or a skirt that was just..sad. But…not the Skin featured in the plethora of events: Oh My…Not the Skin.
Hello Second Life! Elle Couerblanc here, renoobed and restyled. It’s been about 5 years maybe (??) since I did any sort of Second Life blogging, photos and well anything besides decorating whatever house I am living in at the moment. Overall, I have been really gone, except for log in spurts here and there, for about four years. But something about SL has intrigued me this time around.
I can be pretty hot when I wear a realistic skin, right? Don’t fault me for being the quirky sort that likes hand-drawn skins, though–I’m a painted skin appreciator! I love to collect them. But with this new LOGO mesh head release, I’m leaning towards photo-realism to bring out the product’s best aspects.
This is LOGO Mae, the versatile new mesh head available at Uber right now for about 500L. The product bundle comes with the head itself, several basic skins and makeups, and an animation and customization HUD. The matching body skin is sold separately for about the same price the head bundle goes for. You can basically get a new look for a bit more than 1000L right now.
This is a long and kinda technical review, so let’s dive in!
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!
EDIT: These horses are limited availability for now, so only about 40 of them are released to beta testers. You must wear the Water Horse group tag to purchase the horse. Water Horse will sell horses freely again when they iron out the bento head deformity bug.
Bento has been pretty fun so far! I’ve purchased a few things, such as the Medhue Elephant and Red Remora’s Fennec Fox avs. Both are Bento-enabled and add a lot of fun to playing SL.
So, here’s a new creation to add to this list: Water Horse has released their Riding Horse for beta testing. It’s a wearable vehicle but uses Bento bones to animate the mesh. No more claymation texture cycling! Your avatar will look like it’s riding a real horse in-game.
Seriously. This exists in SL now. And currently, the horse is going for about 3500L. Less than a mesh head! That’s a steal.
A few caveats if you buy the horse: it’s still in beta so there are bugs. They’re currently fixing a bug that deforms Bento heads when you ride the horse. They’re also looking for users to report anything else that’s wrong so the devs can fix it.
Shaping making has always been a past time of mine, but many people find it frustrating or time consuming. I made a shape for the LeLutka Simone Bento Head, it’s for sale at my store in-world and on Marketplace. I’ve also made a video for you to see it in action!
All Juicy Shapes are custom made to bring out the best features in a specific bento mesh head. Every purchase includes a styling card with detailed information about where to purchase the mesh head, skin, eyes, and hair featured in the ad.
Style Notes: Wear the shape and brows layer with the LeLutka Simone Bento Head. For the best look, wear a mesh body, hands, and feet with your mesh head.
All Juicy Shapes are mod/copy; please make a copy of your shape before making adjustments.
IMPORTANT: This purchase is for a shape only, mesh head not included. The shape is for the LeLutka Simone Bento Head, so it will not look like the ad on any other head.
“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
Bento is here! Both official and Firestorm clients with Bento have been released now, so you’ll see a lot more people wearing Bento items around the grid. Everything from mesh heads, to tails, to giant avatars are already being released. Even Bento hands and AOs, which means you can have an animation override where your individual fingers move!
For this entry, I wanted to talk about a cheaper Bento head for those interested in Bento but not wanting to pay a lot of money for some of the high-price options out there. Lightstar is a smaller store but has released two great heads to pick from. As of this entry the price has been raised to 2,000L for each of them. Still, that’s cheaper than some less impressive Bento heads I’ve seen so far. The mesh head you’ll see in this entry is Lightstar Marian.
This Bento head is Omega-friendly, so you can wear all your favorite makeups with it. You can also purchase a separate expression HUD (250L) for about 29 different expressions. Here are some of my favorites:
Lightstar is a great option for those who want to look different but still use their favorite skins. I don’t like the default skins that come with the package, but once you install Omega it’s all uphill from there. Well worth the price to check out! Head to their store to pick up a demo.
There are soooo many new Bento things I want to check out and feature here! I’ve got my eye on Medhue Animations’ elephant avatar, and I’m waiting for the attachable Bento horse coming soon from Water Horse. Organica is also working on a wearable wyvern!
Have you purchased any new Bento items yet? New heads? What’s your favorite so far? Lemme know!
What I’m Wearing
Lightstar Marian Head
Pink Fuel – Kiyomi Skin (no brows, Latte tone)
Belle Epoque – Caelan Armor (We <3 RP)
Moon Amore – Crystal Queen Tiara RARE
Lamb – Dust Bunnies
HEXtraordinary – Elven Throne (We <3 RP)
