lelutka

  • Sweet

    Bygogo Uncategorized
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    Sweet

    The only thing on my calendar this weekend is the Spoonful of Sugar Festival. This event raises money for MSF/Doctors Without Borders, and I always admire the designers who donate their time to causes in Second Life, especially the smaller or lesser-known charities. Every year I look forward to SOS because some of my favorite creators are part of it.

    This year it feels like a lot of people might be skipping the festival. The Seraphim mention didn’t include a gallery, and even SOS’s own website doesn’t have one. That made shopping a little tricky, but I went straight to the brands I love such as Izzie’s and Alaskametro and found some great things. There’s even a gacha area if that’s your thing.

    Pro tip: Keep an eye out for a bowl of sugar if you want to grab some L$20 bargains from participating brands.

    Sweet
    Izzie’s – Age Yourself (BoM Layers) – Left: Bare skin | Right: With face wrinkles added

    One of the highlights for me was Izzie’s new Age Yourself set. Wrinkles and aging looks seem to be getting more popular in Second Life, and honestly, she’s scary good at transforming skins. The set comes in 50%, 70%, and 100% opacity layers so you can blend the wrinkles with your current skin.

    Sweet
    Alaskametro – Soft Brows – Left: Light brows | Right: Tinted brows

    I also picked up the new Soft Brows from Alaskametro. I never use the brows that come with a skin, so I’m always hunting for new ones. These are the perfect thickness, and they looked great when I tried them on. The only thing I wish is that they came with a HUD so I could play around with the opacity. I like layering BoM brows under LeLutka HD brows. On the left you can see the light colored brows, and on the right the tinted ones. You lose a bit of detail when tinting, but it’s fabulous that the option is included so you can get the exact shade you want.

    Check out the SOS Festival, show your favorite brands some love, and support a good cause while you shop.

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    Stillwater Village

    Bygogo Fashion, Hair, iheartslFeed, JuicyBomb, Second Life, Uncategorized
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    Stillwater Village

    Hello from Stillwater Village! I needed a pretty place to show off my pretty new teacup from Sparkle Skye, so I found this gorgeous estate and decided it was the perfect backdrop for these photos. The trick to crashing an estate in Second Life is simple: act like you belong. Stand in front of houses or public buildings, but steer clear of homes where people are inside. I’ve never once been asked to leave. Most estates are surprisingly welcoming to bloggers and photographers.

    A little bird told me that today is Truth Hawk’s birthday, so happy birthday to one of the most prolific hair creators in Second Life. Thank you for two decades of beautiful styles! One of my earliest memories is wandering into Truth’s shop in an urban region, back when he only sold clothing. Are you old enough in Second Life to remember that? It feels like things have come full circle now that Truth is releasing clothing again. This top might be a little nipply, but I don’t care. It’s cute, it’s still modest in its own way, and I love it.

    Stillwater Village

    I spent the entire month of August without shopping. I survived retail blackout and came out the other side.

    Now I’m back just in time for autumn cozy vibes and everything the grid has to offer.

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    Wallflower

    Bygogo Fashion, iheartslFeed, JuicyBomb, Second Life, Uncategorized
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    Wallflower

    Let’s talk about the little details you can add to your skin to make your Second Life avatar feel more realistic. Back in the day, I couldn’t stand imperfections. Every skin I wore had to be flawless. No wrinkles, no freckles, nothing. I still don’t want freckles, but I’ve come around to appreciating a few imperfections. Right now, I’m obsessed with layering Izzie’s Body and Face Veins over my skin, along with her Feet Veins and Toe Creases. I didn’t go heavy on the face, just a few veins around the eyes. I also added Neck Creases, which I never liked before, but suddenly I’m into this week.

    I also switched my Glam Affair skin two shades lighter, from L005 to L003. I wanted to stick with L005, but the face shading was way too dark, and there’s no way I’m layering dozens of Izzie’s fixes just to correct something that shouldn’t need fixing. L003 is lighter overall, and that means the shading is softer too, which works out much better.

    Wallflower

    Even though everything I wear is available to everyone and nothing is made just for me, I still feel one of a kind. No one else is going to make every single choice I make, and that’s what makes your avatar unique. It really does come down to the details if you want to stand out.

    Are you counting down with me? Only four more days until Blackout August is over. Rejoice!

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    Party

    Bygogo Events, Fashion, JuicyBomb, Second Life, Uncategorized
    1 Comment
    Party

    I left my platform and went to Alicia’s birthday party. In case you didn’t know, all the OG bloggers know each other. We go way back, decades really. If you cross one of us, you cross all of us… just kidding! It’s not like that, but we do keep in touch.

    For a long time, most of my Second Life friends were either bloggers or creators, but I’ve since expanded my circle to include people I’ve met around Bellisseria.

    I’m always open to meeting new people and making new friends. I accept random friend requests. If someone’s bold enough to send one, I figure I should say yes. I sometimes send random friend requests too, to people I’ve known forever on social media, though we often never end up talking or seeing each other in Second Life. I’ve always been notoriously bad at showing up in Second Life. Crowds and teleports used to make me anxious, but I’m slowly getting better at it.

    Since I’m not shopping this month, I have lots of free time and I’m finally ready to accept teleports.

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    Something in the Water

    Bygogo Fashion, iheartslFeed, JuicyBomb, Second Life, Uncategorized, What I think
    3 Comments
    Something in the Water

    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.

    Something in the Water
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    Bright

    Bygogo Events, Fashion, iheartslFeed, JuicyBomb, Second Life, Uncategorized
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    Bright

    It’s day 15 of Blackout August and I finally left my platform. I went to the FLF Bday Bash for the free gifts and it was actually really fun to click through everything and feel that familiar rush of new items piling into my inventory. There are hundreds of gifts here, so if you enjoy opening boxes and trying things on, this event will keep you busy. After spending nothing, I teleported home and put together my outfit.

    Even though I’m doing this no buy challenge, I have to admit FLF Bday Bash is a great event. Everything, even some fatpacks, is just L$50. If something still catches my eye in September, I will grab it then. For now, the freebies are more than enough.

    I found some really cute clothing at the event, but I ended up wearing the Maret dress from Pixicat, which was free at June’s Shop & Hop. Honestly, I still have so many Shop & Hop items waiting to be sorted and blogged.

    This photo was taken at Mirai Melody. I have visited before, but now it has a futuristic twist! I love all of the colors and chaos behind me.

    What I have learned on day 15 of not spending is that changing my outfit in Second Life is just as fun with freebies as it is with paid items. The feeling is pretty much the same for me.

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    Aperture Viewer Presets

    Bygogo iheartslFeed, JuicyBomb, Second Life, Uncategorized
    1 Comment
    Aperture Viewer
    Raw snapshot taken with the Aperture viewer

    It’s day 5 of Blackout August. I made it through the weekend without buying anything, which feels monumental. I usually do most of my Second Life shopping on weekends, so I’m starting to feel more confident that I can go the entire month without shopping.

    If you’re quietly doing this challenge with me, maybe today you can try something new. Have you tried the Aperture Viewer? It’s the only viewer I’m using for Second Life right now. Today I made a bunch of photo presets in the Aperture Phototools Suite. It’s different from EEP settings because you can enhance colors, add depth of field, adjust glow, and so much more. If I figure out how to share presets, I will.

    I shopped from my inventory today. I can’t even remember when I bought this sandwich, but the time stamp says June 22. The shocking part is realizing I have thousands of items I’ve never blogged or worn. Let’s see how many we can uncover this month.

    Here’s a video showing all of my new raw presets for Aperture Viewer
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    Farm Girl

    Bygogo Fashion, iheartslFeed, JuicyBomb, Uncategorized
    0 Comments
    Farm Girl

    Can The Arcade be back if it never left? Maybe it went quiet for one round, but I don’t remember it ever stopping. Even during the gacha ban in Second Life, it kept going with those miepon machines. I don’t really care for no copy decor items, but for clothing and accessories, that’s fine. I’m not likely to lose those to rezzing errors.

    I looked at the latest Arcade gallery and didn’t see anything I wanted enough to play the game of chance. My friend, though, said she spent a boat load of money and ended up gifting me a bunch of her duplicates.

    Honestly, I think I’m happier when I don’t want anything badly enough to waste my time. This dress is cute, but to me, it’s only worth one pull. Not enough to keep playing and end up with extras I don’t need.

    Are you happy gacha is back in its original form? Do you still play? Let me know in the comments!

    Farm Girl
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    Rosalinda

    Bygogo Fashion, iheartslFeed, JuicyBomb, Second Life, Uncategorized
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    Rosalinda

    If you ever want to make an entrance in Second Life, you need a gown and a crown. The Rosalinda Crown from Sparkle Skye comes as a full double crown or two separate headbands. You can even get creative with the mix-and-match color options. I have no idea where I’m going in this look, but when the moment calls for it, I’ll be ready. You can find this crown at Midnight Order.

    Rosalinda

    Just Because is one of my favorite spots for gowns. The price is fair and the HUD gives you tons of colors and options. I’m wearing the Magnolia gown from Just Because, and I love that you can toggle the flowers on or off if you want something a little simpler. It’s no secret that I love gowns and dressing like I’m a 19th century lady.

    Rosalinda
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    Summertime

    Bygogo Events, Fashion, Hair, iheartslFeed, JuicyBomb, Second Life, Uncategorized
    0 Comments
    Summertime

    I came across this trend that’s going viral right now with Second Life residents, where you take an SL photo and drop it into ChatGPT with a prompt to generate a realistic image. It’s fun, it’s cute. I saw my friends doing it, so of course I had to try too.

    Here’s how you can create your own SL to AI Selfie! Use this AI prompt and upload a photo of your avatar to go with it. You can edit it however you like, add details, change the time of day, whatever you want.

    Create an image that looks like a selfie taken with an iPhone. There should be no clear subject or specific composition, just a casual, unintentional snapshot. The image should be clear and lit evenly by daytime. The aspect ratio should be 9:16. It must not look AI-generated, but rather like it was taken by a real person.

    While I was doing this, I had a moment where I wondered if any creator reading my blog is going to ban me for running my photo through ChatGPT and then I immediately decided I don’t care if people are going to be witch hunty about it.

    Remember that blog post I wrote a while ago about some creators banning customers for using AI editing tools? Yeah, still relevant. Check profiles before you shop, because you don’t want to support anyone who’s going to turn around and blacklist you.

    Summertime

    I’m screaming at how cute this new Penelo skin from Glam Affair is. I did fix a couple things on the face with Izzie’s tattoos, mostly the pinkish circles around the eyes, but overall it’s such a pretty skin. My favorite thing is definitely the lips and the lipstick, it’s the best I’ve seen on a skin in a long time.

    My outfit today is the Penny dress from GAWK and I’m wearing it with the Starfish pendant necklace from SIGMA. It’s summer, you have to wear a giant starfish. This new hairstyle from WINGS is everything I want in a hair.

    Summertime
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