Note: This is an old post copied over from my previous blog. The original post date was 12/31/2014 and I am moving it back over here for posterity and post count reasons! 😀
I can’t believe 2015 is almost here!
Among all of the things I wanted to do this Fall/Winter, I’m sorry to say that this blog has fallen by the wayside. This was not part of The Plan but as we all know by now .. no plan survives first contact anyway. In this case, first contact involved three, and later two, very demanding toddlers. Not that I’d trade the last months for anything, of course. 😀 Babies are fun!
I realized pretty early on, too, that my initial concept for this blog is VERY ambitious. If I wasn’t working as much as I am, it might be different. If I wasn’t -quite- so busy with other SL hobbies, well, same goes. Since I have been so busy, though, we’re going to have to dial back the intensity level here enough that the thought of posting a blog doesn’t make my head explode. 😉 So we’ll have mask posts (fantasy, high fashion, sci fi, etc) and mien posts which covers what I tend to wear from day to day in Second Life. When time permits I’ll do both together, of course, but not at the expense of sanity and/or sleep!
So first thing’s first! I GOT A NEW SKIN!
This is where I let you in on a little secret, too, because I’ve always been a bit spastic about skins in Second Life. The first time I heard about someone changing their avatar’s skin, I was absolutely horrified (oh, the innocence of those first months in SL); it felt a little ‘Silence of the Lambs’ to me and it took a LONG time to reconcile the need to remain up to date with any squeamishness I felt over both the figurative and literal attachment to my avatar’s skin. Everyone creates their SL avatar with an idea, a preferred aesthetic, and for me it’s always been important to have a distinctive appearance. This is something I accomplish with careful shape-building, true, but the skin is what brings those first hints of life and personality to the avatar. Needless to say, I’ve not changed skins often; in five years, I’ve owned six skins, I believe, and it isn’t for lack of trying to stay current. Every month or two I make a point of scouring the grid for new skins and skin creators just to see if I’m still on point with my avatar. Imagine my shock when I dropped by Lara Hurley Skins a couple of months ago to see this lovely lady (Fae) front and centre:
Would you believe I had to call a friend over to see me in the demo? To make sure I wasn’t crazy for falling in love with a new skin so quickly? For me, there were very few adjustments to be made and it turned out that I actually loved the darker eyebrows with my avatar’s light blonde hair .. which is handy since Fae does not come with blonde brows. The only other change I’ve really affected with this skin is in the lips. Again, with a paler avatar, the (admittedly GORGEOUS) lips provided by Ms. Lara Hurley are a bit too much for me. Thankfully, DeeTalez’ (TINTABLE!) natural lip shades makeup is a seamless addition to the best version of my Portia avatar yet!
It’s hard to believe I’ve spent so much time raving about the new skin when the above picture includes the lower half of the STUNNING new mesh body (also named Lara, hah) from Maitreya! For now, I’ll just say that we’re all lucky this isn’t a rear-forward pose or I’d be writing all night. For those of you who would like to read a good review right NOW, definitely take a look at Mena Lancaster’s blog, ‘The Newest Wrinkles’ and, of course, what Strawberry Singh has to say about the Maitreya body on her own website. I couldn’t do any better than these ladies if I tried.
That’s all for now, sweeties! Happy Tuesday!
Credits:
Skin: Lara Hurley-Fae natural/Milky ~ Lara Hurley
Eyes: IKON Promise Eyes – Quicksilver ~ Ikon Innovia
Beauty Marks: Beauty Marks (Fae skin) ~ Lara Hurley
Makeup 1: DeeTaleZ Makeup NATURAL Lip shades (Shade 1) ~ Steffi Villota
Lashes: *MC* “Falsies” Eyelashes ~ Freya Olivieri
Mesh Bod: Maitreya Mesh Body – Lara V1.0 ~ Onyx LeShelle
Hands: Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands – Elegant1 ~ Siddean Munro
Nails: *Fishy Strawberry* Slink Fingernails -Extreme French ~ Fae Eriksen
Hair: [LeLutka]-VAGUE hair – Powder ~ Thora Charron
Jacket: Fur/Suede Jacket – FOX – REDGRAVE ~ Emilia Redgrave
Jeans: L’Emporio Jeans Blue-Pants- ~ Brunhild Uriza (Omega applier)
Boots: MG – Boots – 60’s GOGO – Naturals ~ Maxi Gossamer
Pose 1: (marukin) [forever] lithe stillness_2 ~ Valencia Southard
Pose 2: (marukin) [light] everything comes to pass ~ Valencia Southard
Photos taken in The Town of Pinebrook, Eastwood County, Barbada.
Note: Some of these items were available at shopping events in early December (FaMESHED, Uber, and Collabor88, I believe) but as it’s near the end of the month, they are either in the mainstores already or will be very soon.
❤
Mask and Mien 