Rfyre, Tuli Bella and Dark Mouse Review..

When I was young (don’t ask how long ago) and an Art student, I took a number of classes in drawing Costume (as opposed to nudes, which I took as well). I always enjoyed seeing clothing from different era’s, countries and historical periods. To see this shared interest put into wearable pieces by a designer is very exciting to me and serves a purpose well beyond just clothing oneself. This outfit, Oksana by Raven Pennyfeather of Rfyre is  an interpretation of a Russian Winter/Christmas costume. Check here for more on Russian Christmas traditions and here for an historical costume.I have matched the outfit to Tuli’s newest skin Bella and Jewellery by Dark Mouse.




I decided that the only proper way to showcase this outfit was to go to Red Square. The only problem is that Red Square, Moscow Island is a Hub for Russian Sl’ers and so the whole area was pretty crowded and not my usual empty Sim. Also as it happened a lot of my pictures suffered from the black shot of death. (Usually fixable by dumping cache and re-logging.) So this pic above was the only good shot I got off.

 

What can I say about the beautiful and exquisite Bella by Tuli Asturias? Honestly, words fail me when trying to give an unbiased review of this skin. I can only say that I feel Tuli captured an incredible face, beautiful body and a deep personality within a pretty limited medium. The make-ups are truly a work of art and the body shading is so masterfully done that I can only marvel at her skill. I have heard a few people say that the skins don’t work with their Avatar and that is as it should be. This lady Bella is an individual and she has her own mysterious ways.. To my mind she is pretty perfect all around.



If you see me around the Grid you may notice I’m not wearing very much today…Darn it but I look good though! Tones in Bella range from Dark Tan, Tan, Sunkissed, Fair and Pale. These pics were taken in Oubliette, which is dressed up in its frosty winter finery.



This necklace and earrings are a new offering from Dark Mouse. I think they capture the lustrous metal texture splendidly and compliment well the gown. Speaking about the Outfit, Oksana, the skirt comes in two skirt lengths with slightly different tailoring and pattern. All of the textures are rendered with care and a high degree of precision. The headdress is unusual to say the least, and I’m not sure I’d wear it to any SL functions but I can appreciate the artistry and beautiful features as well as the attention to detail. Through a little bit of research on the subject, I found a whole slew of headdresses of Russian origin and this seems to have been a very important element of Historical dress (which has some Byzantine influence). I had to really think about a perfect hair for the headdress and found it in Maitreya.  Most Maitreya hair is not high at the top which makes them perfect for hats and such. All Poses were by Diesel Rogan of Dieselworks, a new pose pack called Shake 599L {R}.



Credits: Skins Tuli Bella Kellie (in Pics) Makeups available Elysium, Flutter, Gogo, Helena, Kellie, Kira, Natural, Raven, Sofia, Violet. All Skins come with 3 cleavage options and 3 eyebrow options Single skin 1000L, Fatpack 4950L {R}.
Pics (with Dress)-Dress Rfyre Oksana Russian Christmas Holiday Dress 600L {R}, Dark Mouse Wild Leaves Necklace and Earrings (copper) 200L {R}, Hair Maitreya Aisha II (blacks), Boots Bax Coen Ankle Boots Black Patent, Eyes Exodi Vetro Black.
Pics (with silks)-Solange Sheer white (silks), Eyes Exodi Vetro Hazel, Hair Maitreya Bo (Blonds).

A Fleur by any other name…

Every now and then in Sl you find yourself back where you started…

This is one of the first Photo’s I ever took in SL. The picture looks bad but then I was a noob (first Pic was of my back!). I joined SL in May 2007, but found myself in Orientation Island Hell as my ‘Puter could not handle the graphics…on to August when I was born again, so to speak. I guess it’s no surprise when I notice I was wearing Tete a Pied Biba skin along with my first love which was …all things Japanese. I think I walked into the store in Nouveau completely by accident and noticed, and was highly impressed by the layout, skins and general feel of the place. I was still a noobie though and hadn’t even started spending money but I promised myself that when I did I’d be returning (which I did a week or two later), buying a few make-ups in Biba and Celeste.

Fast forward to last week…and Fleur announcing that all the Skins in the Fleur Sim were on sale for 50% off. Not only that, but all the skins will be going bye bye in preparation for a new line being released. It had been a while since I had been shopping at Fleur and I started thinking, as I bought a few skins I had been wanting, how our experience in SL is strongly influenced not only by those we meet but our encounters with the energy and creativity of SL’s designers.

A very interesting thing happened when I started doing some research on TAP–Fleur skins. Me being a little blond, spent a while surfing the net trying to get a feel for where and when the skins started. Roslin Petion and CJ Carnot are the co-creators and it has always been their desire to highlight the makeups, which is what I think really sets all these skins apart. The skins are lovely too with shading on the subtle side. Of course (duh!) the best place to see the development of these skins is to look on the Fleur Blog, which began in May 2006 with Roslin’s first post. The early skins were hand drawn with later versions beginning to incorporate some photo sourcing. There were two generations of TAP skins before the Vivant Line was introduced and even with these skins you can see the lovely detailing the skins have become known for. When I started buying skins the price had been reduced to 500L and there were monthly limited edition skins as well as customization available.

Eventually Tap outgrew their store and their name and so the skins were re-branded as Fleur and the store was moved to a larger island. I remember doing a hunt around the railway station. New skins were introduced. Boutique, Parfait which was a hand drawn skin, Allure which was a further refinement of the Vivant line. Shoujo, an Anime style skin and Biba, an updated version of my early favorite. As well the creative element has been alive and well with specialty makeups, like Oiseau and China.

One of the skins I bought recently which I am really taken with is Parfait. This is a uniquely designed skin, hand drawn and I must say I don’t think there is a skin in SL which looks quite like it. It’s ironic that as more and more skins are relying heavily on photo-sourcing I am beginning to really appreciate the craft of the hand drawn skins.

Skinmaking in SL has always seemed to me a little like alchemy so, although I am sad, seeing a little bit of history passing, I am also wondering exactly what these two Magicians have up their collective sleeves…

(The sale is still on so there is still time to pick up some of your favorites.)

Credits: (except for 1 all eyes Dendou grey)

Pic1-Hair Shop Seu Odongo, Kimono Sweetaholic, Skin TAP Biba (no longer available)

Pic2-Hair Gritty Kitty Penny, Outfit Wrong Black Bondage Mini –Work Shirt-Spike Band,Sn@tch Dirty Biker Cuff, TAP Celeste Buff, *(Decrux)

Pic3-Hair The Stringer Mausoleum, Outfit RFyre Carnival DNuit Garnet, LH Bustshadow, Necklace Kusthammer Blackheart (DSN),Skin Allure China, *(Decrux)

Pic4-Hair Aden Windblown Lightblond, Outfit Evie’s Closet Aria, Skin Allure Biba II, *(Decrux)

Pic5-Outfit HanaWanpi pink and Hair, Shop Seu Bosabosa, Hair Butterfly Minajunk, Skin Shoujo Boutique *(Koreshan)

Pic6-Outfit Bijou Amethest Black Swan, Hair Pudge The Crystal, Skin Boutique Parfait, *(Decrux)

RFyre meets The Stringer Mausoleum…..

"When heading out into parts unknown, the wise traveller takes a few well chosen necessities; a good map, compass, travelling shoes, food and water as well as a few extras such as a guide book or camera will go a long way towards easing any stress encountered by the intrepid explorer. A weapon such as a knife can be useful also but may be misconstrued and cause more problems than it prevents. I have always found the best approach is to "do as the Romans do, when in Rome...". (And considering the reputations of ancient Romans that could prove interesting.) When entering areas of some disrepute one must be respectful of all the inhabitants unless that is likely to get you killed... Play close attention to the flora and fauna of the region you are entering. Innocuous plants and insects may be harbouring poisonous tendencies!"
Excerpt from Shelby Rasmuson's, A Gentlewomans Guide to Travelling alone in Second Life.

Credits:Outfit-RFyre Bytterwynds II Black Leather, Hair-The Stringer Mausoleum Kyphotic Dirty, Boots-Hexed Demonia, Eyes DenDou Light Grey, Skin Tuli-Hope(group Gift), Earrings and Bangles-chuchulet (gift for bloggers).