Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Splitting Hairs!!!

Now that the Hair Fair is almost over…(not really there are 6 more days to come to the fair) and pretty well everyone has blogged the subject (except for me), and everyone is sick and tired of hair, (although how that could be possible..?) I am sharing some of my faves.

This doesn’t count the hairs I haven’t yet bought or the “specials” I’ve put aside for the right outfit.

HairFair1

Calico Ingman Designs Megan, Dernier Cri Michelle, Exile Lindsay, Argrace Fedora Hat (texture ch) Glamourous Wavy, Fuel Coco, Fashionably Dead Dorothy’s Way, Fascino Gorg, Find Ash Fickle Lover.

Hairfair2

Raspberry Aristocrat Krissy, Hairapy Elena, Maitreya Dylan, Kin Raine, Onigiri Ichigo, House of Munster Axel Reds, Lamb Baby’s on Fire, Katey’s Claudia.

HairFair3

Refuge Harriet, Tiny Bird Hayden, Simply Britnee Tonta, Vignette Kasey, Wasabi Pills Ailith, Truth Sofia, Sirena Drusilla (up and Down comes with hair sticks).

Credits: Skin Blowpop N2 Elizabeth Tone C Mulberry Wine, Milk Motion My loose TShirt Silver Bird, Eyes Exodi Vetro Hazel, Socks Tea Lane Cupcake HF Gift, Reaction Girl Flower Shorts, UBU Pornstar Hightops Multi, Jewellery Violet Voltaire Cuppycake Birthday Set, Tuli Henna Colourable Tattoo. Poses - Flowey and Striking Poses.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

A little Blowpop N2….

It’s probably not much of a secret that Annyka Bekkers has been working hard to further develop her already well known and beloved skins. And many of us who belong to her group have also been checking out her pre-releases which have been lovely. Finally she has released her new line of, Elizabeth, Carmen, Ava and Maya skins, each with a whole range of make-ups and options. I was really hoping to have the opportunity to review these skins and I thank Annyka for allowing me to do so. When I looked at the range that is available for all the skins I realized that I couldn’t in all conscience jam all the information and pics into one post. I decided to dedicate this post to the body and overall quality of the skins and do further posts on the individual skins which in themselves each have a unique personality.

Tone 3 Bare2 – Elizabeth, Ava, Carmen, Maya, Hair Tiny Bird Willow/Buttermilk, Chestnut, Cafe au Lait, Expresso

Blowpopblog2

I have been running around the Hair Fair wearing Elizabeth for the last day or two, bald (sometimes) half dressed, sitting on a red cube so I can move and I must say, you really have to like the skin you’re in, under those circumstances. It has given me the opportunity to really look at the skin. I first started by going through the skins themselves in my skybox, comparing them with my own shape and the shapes developed for the skins. One of the issues I have had in the past with blowpop skins have been the lips. The lips have never really worked on my Avie and when I compared them with the shapes for the skins, I realized that they were quite different. Like many others I am quite attached to my own shape but I found a nice compromise between the Shapes made for the skin and my own. I have found that small changes don’t really change me too much and I just save the new shape under Blowpop or whichever new skin I’m using so I can refer to it later. Generally I usually wear the lighter shade for most skins but I am really enjoying the darker shades as well, maybe because the shading is so nice and very natural. Or maybe it’s because of summer…

Tone 2 Bare2 – Elizabeth, Ava, Carmen, Maya, Hair Tiny Bird Willow/Buttermilk, Chestnut, Cafe au Lait, Expresso

Blowpopblog3

One of the first things I noticed about these skins is that there are no glaring examples of photosourcing, ie. the ears, which so often look weird. Most skins nowadays use some photo sources but what is nice here is that most of the skin appears to be hand drawn. The nose-eyes-mouth area is particularly nice and since this area is so important to my liking a skin, I really have to be sold on it. As well the boob area, tummy knees, bum are all nicely shaded without being overdone. There are areas of shade on the body, under the arms, Bum, behind the head and chin which don’t usually get much attention and except for under the chin neck area (which bothers me a little) is really well done. Clavicle, ribs, shoulder blades, knees, back and tailbone are nicely rendered as well. I am also very impressed with the feet, given the limits one has to work with in this area, they are likeable. Each skin comes with 3 eyebrow shapes which makes it easy to match with your face. Between each of the different skins, there is also a slightly different shading at play which you can notice if you demo Carmen and Maya. (With more highlighting on Maya.) Each skin has unique features. The unmentionables are also well rendered (for those that like that sort of thing) and each skin comes with a …bush. (Not that kind of bush!!)

Tone 2 –Elizabeth Twilight2, Ava En Deshabille2, Carmen Candela2, Maya Queen of the Night2, Hair-Tiny Bird Emma/Cafe au Lait, Outfit Analise.

BlowpopBlog

All in all, a lot of care, attention to detail, understanding of anatomy and artistry have gone into making these skins. There are so many nice details that I could keep talking…but I’ll save the talk for later. Blowpop N2 skins are available here. A single skin (with 2 lip make-ups) is 900L. A value pack of all skins in one tone are 3200L. Value packs include the shape for that skin, and the shape alone is 600L. Poses by Persona and Striking poses.

Friday, June 19, 2009

I am Lazy…..

Lately I have noticed an interesting trend within SL. Designers are stretching their creative muscles and moving in interesting and new directions. (Like that’s new you say..) What is really interesting of course is when they take their creative personality and stamp it on the new thing. I guess I first came to know of Lazy places on account of the Boots..(feet…?). The Gryphon Boots are one of my favorite things in SL and its a testament to this small store that partners Sakuradawn Lei and Sven Okonomi have been a part of, Black Swan, Victoria Bushfire Relief and Heart of Love efforts.

Lazy Hair

I am really happy to say then that hair is in the offing!! There are four new hairs and what I love about them is that they are texture change..so you can add really wild effects to match an outfit or just match the hair to the original colour. And I think a bit of syncronicity was at play today because as preview packs jumped into my inventory I was shooting an outfit in a pair of Woolybullies. Uno,dos … (excuse me while I cut the rug.)

WoolyBullypng
one, two, tres, quatro.
Matty told Hatty about a thing she saw.
Had two big horns and a wooly jaw.
Wooly bully, wooly bully.
Wooly bully, wooly bully, wooly bully.
Hatty told Matty: "Let's don't take no chance.
Let's not be *L-seven*, come and learn to dance."
Wooly bully, wooly bully.
Wooly bully, wooly bully, wooly bully.
Matty told Hatty: "That's the thing to do.
Get you someone really to pull the wool with you."
Wooly bully, wooly bully.
Wooly bully, wooly bully, wooly bully.

(Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, I’m thinking The Specials Version tho, Ok that was really random…but I couldn’t resist..)

And there you have it. Clever people, cute store, and their stuffs want to make me dance and act in totally inappropriate and reediculous ways. The new hairs will be at the hair fair with demo’s available. There are piles of tasty colours with one of my favourites being Creemsickle. I also snuck in a few of my purchases from the Nomine and Silent Sparrow Sales. (And whoever thought of these two sales in the same week has my gratitude..)

Credits: Skins from Nomine-Leanansidhe Black and Pink, Pierrot Luniere, Vampire Touched. Outfit Silent Sparrow-Skulls velvet Corset Pack, Grimley Skirts Flourish Punky, Boots-LazyPlaces WoolyBully HOL Shir Edition (this edition not available.)Accessories from Violet Voltaire, Gauze and Sn@tch.

Hair-Deeba, Dawn, Arya, Liir (available at the Hair Fair in 20 colours.)