AIR - Lace & Arabesque Glasses

Sometimes really amazing things come in small packages. Air is a small store with a fabulous line of very sexy reading glasses. Yes, you read that correctly. Reading glasses. Beautifully detailed glasses. You will fake a vision problem just to have an excuse to wear them. Don't buy all the demos - they will just make you want every single pair. And I can guarantee from the comments I got while wearing these that guys definitely make passes at girls in these glasses.

My pictures don't do justice to the amazing level of detail in these - lacy frames with drop chains and jewels that look as good with an evening dress as they do with a sweater and jeans. There are multiple styles for all face shapes and preferences, but not all styles come in all metals or colors. The first pair I fell in love with was the Arabesque which only comes in Antique Copper and sells for L$600. I couldn't show them all, but the Lace Glasses can be bought individually for L$500 or in a Fat Pack of gold, copper and silver for L$1000.
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See everything more clearly at the AIR Main Store.

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Top left:
Hair - Writer (Night) by Detour
Eyes - Transparency Shine (Clear Grey) by Glanz
Glasses - Lace Glasses (Silver) by AIR
Skin - S5 Tan Natural 1 (Freckles) by ::Tuli::
Top - Full Sculpted Knit Jacket (Black) by Cubic Effect

Bottom right:

Hair - Writer (Night) by Detour

Eyes - Transparency Shine (Clear Grey) by Glanz

Glasses - Arabesque Glasses (Antique Copper) by AIR

Skin - S5 Medium Classic 1 by ::Tuli::

Top - Full Sculpted Knit Jacket (Black) by Cubic Effect

Skins Deeper

I have a ton of skins, I mean a stupid number of skins. An especially stupid number since I wear maybe 5 on a regular basis. I certainly don't need to go hunting for new skins to try for sure. So, naturally, I spent the day trying on skin demos, surfing skin shops and (predictably) buying a skin. Yes, just one. But it may indeed be a big part of my blogging photography from here on and has rocketed into the regular wear rotation already.


I decided it would be fun to take pictures of several of my favorite skins in identical lighting, setting, shape (as always) and clothing to do a side by side comparison of the impact of a skin. It almost worked until I simply had to make a hair swap, but I played fair and didn't include it to keep everything the same. By far the most commonly worn skins in my wardrobe (is that the right term for skin storage?) are from ::Tuli:: and I am showing my personal favorite out of a large (very large) sea of both s5 and new generation skins - S5 Tan Diva 1 (top left).
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Unfortunately, the second skin has recently been retired - the dramatic Vivant Bronze Feline 3 (middle right) by Fleur (formerly Tete a Pied). It was one of my first purchased skins in SL and it always looks spectacular with swimwear, lingerie or animal print clothing. I took all the pictures using an Animah pose - Arched Back out of Shooting Poses (pack 9) and while wearing Glanz eyes in FreshBlue, Writer hair by Detour and the black knit cardigan by Fuel. The last skin to be added to my arsenal is Laqroki Portrait skin - Tasha 11 in Tan (bottom left). I definitely think it deserves it's spot in the ranks with the smooth yet interesting features and smoky dramatic makeup. Oh, the face light used for all the pictures was by Laqroki, the earrings are Crystal Charm (Creativity) by EarthStones and the body art is Eternity Awaits by iNFLiCT.

Transportation Links:

::Tuli:: Main Store

Fleur Main Store

Laqroki Main Store

A Perfect Color - Teal

I realized that I'd not done a color post in a while and, remembering how much fun the last one was, I decided to do another one - this time with teal. Teal isn't all that common, with other blues and greens predominating, but I did find quite a bit. Sadly, nothing yet that matches my lucious teal Dune boots from Maitreya, but I'm still looking. The first outfit that turned up was Gunkalicious by Dulce, a Victorian inspired confection of textures, beautifully detailed, lightly bustled and including an adorable feathered hat to finish the look. Pick yours up at Dulce for L$500.

One of my lingerie staples, Melanie by Insolence, also comes in teal (as well as black, chocolate, red, violet and white) and has both a bra and corset to match the panties and stockings for only L$290 per color. While the April sandals by Insolence don't come in teal, they are available in a variety of neutrals and metallics and look wonderful with the set.

Finally, one of my most worn and least publicized separates, the AC Courant sweater in teal, part of a fat pack for L$275 or sold individually by color for $50. All of these colors are deep and rich and perfect over a pair of jeans when you don't feel like investing a lot of time but still want to look good. The available colors are brown, red, purple, dark teal, blue, forest green and dark green. Top Left:

Outfit - Gunkalicious by Dulce

Skin - S5 Medium Diva 1 by ::Tuli::

Boots - Thetis Boots Midnight by Dark Eden

Stockings - Emee Stockings by HSC

Middle Right:

Lingerie - Melanie (Corset, Teal) by Insolence

Jewelry - Stone Donut Earrings Labradorite by EarthStones

Skin - S5 Tan Natural 1 by ::Tuli::

Bottom Center:

Shirt - AC Courant (Dark Teal) by Aphrodite

Jeans - Hell and Back (Black) by The Abyss

Jewelry - Stone Donut Earrings & Necklace by EarthStones

Skin - S6 Elf Rose by ::Tuli::

Boots - Thetis Boots Midnight by Dark Eden

JCNY Model'Fest - June '08

So, I'm innocently checking out some friends' shop where they have been redecorating when I notice this fabulous dress upstairs, down the wall and in the corner. (Don't worry, I'm getting to the Model'Fest part, promise.) Next thing I know, it's in my inventory and I'm trying it on. Now, the NewbieDoo mission is to give back to SL with good quality, tested starter clothing, shapes, skins and accessories, but the Black Leather Ballet dress is far from newbie gear.
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So there I am, checking out the new duds and chatting. On a whim, I put on one of the Nikki "Beaten" skins and start accessorizing. One thing leads to another and before I know it, I find myself shopping for doll keys before stopping at JCNY, picking up the Model'Fest rules and then traveling to Dickins Photography Studio to take 7934759745 photos for the portfolio (for which you only need three, of course). No, I don't expect to win, place or show, but it's definitely something new and different and I certainly had fun putting the photos together.

The contest ends at the end of the month with prizes including L$30K, a modeling contract, gift cards to some of my favorite stores, a photo shot and a layout in Best of SL magazine - so some pretty cool stuff. If you decide to enter, read the rules several times and make sure you go through your entry step by step so you don't miss anything - I nearly overlooked a few things and I was being pretty careful about it. Now, the pictures I'm including here are the ones that I didn't send in, since I'm assuming those are now the property of JCNY, but they should give you an idea of what I sent in as well as inspiring you to visit NewbieDoo and own a Leather Ballet Dress of your own.

On the left:

Skin - S5 Tan (Glam 2) by ::Tuli::
Hair - Writer (Night) by Detour
Jewelry - Precious Seas (earrings and necklace) by JCNY

On the right:

Skin - Nikki (Gash, Freckled, Light) by ::Tuli::
Hair - Writer (Night) by Detour
Jewelry - Precious Seas (earrings and necklace) by JCNY
Dress - Leather Ballet Dress by NewbieDoo

Doll Key - Celtic Needle V3 (Silver) by All Dolled Up
Stockings - Dark Lusts Black Fishnet Stockings by Blacklace
Shoes - Lizziey Black Myla Boots by Whittentons

Things Change - Six Months in SL

As I was pondering the pending 6 month resident milestone, I ran into someone I'd not seen in a while who commented on how much my avatar had changed. I was kind of surprised as all the elements are still there - I'm still a brunette, I still don't have max hooter sliders and my basic taste in clothes and colors are the same. But it started me thinking about how much difference little incremental changes could make to the "everyday look" - Second Life Evolution as it were.
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I dug through my old pictures and, while I'm soooo not going to post my rez look (mainly because I can't find the pics anywhere), I do have my first "newbie outfit" after my initial visit to The Shelter. I'd almost forgotten I had red hair and was apparently built like a 12 year old boy. All in all, I've seen worse, but still oozing of clueless noobit - the shoes just make me want to cry. I'm sorry to say that I have no idea what the skin or clothes are in the first shot, but I can say they came from either The Shelter or The Free Dove - both fabulous places for new residents.
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The second shot, I'd moved to brunette (I'm thinking this was still the first few weeks), hair was still long, but I remember shopping forever to get a skin I loved - Vivant Bronze Feline 3 by Tete a Pied (now Fleur). I'd also discovered Glanz eyes (which are still the only thing other than my shape that hasn't changed at all) and I'm pretty sure I'm wearing my 30 day free hair from Gurl 6. Not a bad look, actually, and I still have everything in the picture in my wardrobe.
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I'd say the biggest change occurred when I started finding short hairstyles that I liked. They seem to be everywhere these days, but I swear I don't remember there being nearly as many 6 months ago as now. My first short style was the Aveda Short Crop 2 which I still wear when an outfit needs a clean edgy look. About the time I started blogging, I discovered The Poynter by Armidi, which seemed to work a bit better with my facial features and which isn't featured here because it's the style you can see in my blog profile pic. Skin remained TaP Feline which I still wear for the fabulous dramatic eyes and the picture was taken at Toby's Juke Joint - one of the best places for casual blues in SL.
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So, where am I today? Well, I have a lot of skins, but Tuli (Tanned) dominates the inventory with Fleur close behind. I've fallen so utterly in love with the Writer hair from Detour that I've actually bought multiple colors (and regret not investing in the Fat Pack, but that's the story of my Linden Life, much to my financial chagrin). I'm pretty much still in jeans when I'm not shopping, photographing or blogging, but my collection of boots is utterly fabulous, my t-shirts have actual texture and I'm completely enamoured of SL's incredibly talented tattoo artists.
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If you ask me I'd probably tell you that this is close to the final evolution - I feel utterly "at home" in my current skin and hair, though I expect those may evolve with new generations and techniques. My shape and eyes have not changed since my first "store bought" set, so I expect they are there for the duration. All in all, my friend was correct - I certainly don't look the same. But, hey - never doubt, never look back (much), right?

Update - Nikki & Emily Skins by ::Tuli::

At about the same time as I was writing up my post on the three new next generation skins by ::Tuli:: (Celeste, Emily and Nikki), Tuli Asturias was making my post happily out of date, releasing the Sultry makeups for the Emily skins. Yes, I admit, I was one of the folks hoping for a stronger lip color and it doesn't disappoint.

I'd also like to thank Tuli for the set of Nikki "Beaten" skins - they have received many compliments already, including two requests for photographs. Even more exciting (because the skin is beautiful), there will be a line of regular makeups for the Nikki skins, though the Beaten makeups (Gash and Grief) will remain exclusive to the Dogtown store.

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Skin - Emily Sultry (Tanned, Freckled) by ::Tuli::

::Tuli:: - "S6" Skins (Emily, Celeste & Nikki)

The long wait is finally over, the "S6" skins are out - and they have names. I'm a ::Tuli:: skin fanatic - they are absolutely gorgeous in every detail and perfection on my shape. I own a rather excessive number of S5 skins and bemoan the fact that I discovered them too late to own the S4s (especially the spectacular freckled ones). When I received my group gift of the Emily and Celeste skins, I was not disappointed.

There are three next generation skins - Emily, Celeste and Nikki (which is exclusive to the Dogtown location). They come in light, pale and tanned skintones (Nikki only pale and light) with four eyebrow colors (dark, medium, light and red) and two tintable styles of pubic hair (landing strip and heart shaped). The base skins are shaved.

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Emily combines a glossy lip with a dramatic eye that makes for a wear all the time skin (especially the freckled versions) that is absolutely luminescent. The released makeup colors are candy, petal, coal and paradis. Celeste comes in air, smoke, lumina and dawn, continuing with the deep eye and the lighter lip makeup, but using brighter colors in matte for a feeling of innocence. Individual makeups are L$1150 and include both the freckled and unfreckled versions, a fat pack is available for each skintone with all four makeups in both versions for L$3000.
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The Nikki skin is special and spectacular in several ways. Sold only in pale and light through the Dogtown Urban Shopping store, Nikki comes in freckled and unfreckled versions of the gash and grief makeups. Gash features cuts and scrapes across the eye, lips and cheeks, grief combines a tearstained smeared eye with a scraped lip so beautifully as to satisfy any urban waif. The makeups are L$1250 individually or $1850 for a fat pack of the entire skintone (both makeups, both versions). Someday I will own the Nikki skins, but I am holding out to save up for the fat pack - they are that well done.

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Get comfortable (or uncomfortable) in your skin at the ::Tuli:: Main Store at LeZoo or the ::Tuli:: Store at Dogtown (Nikki only available here).

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Top left:

Skin: Emily Light (Coal - Freckled) by ::Tuli::

Hair: Luna (Night) by Detour

Earrings: Crystal Charm - Creativity by EarthStones

Center right:

Skin: Emily Light (Coal) by ::Tuli::

Hair: Writer (Night) by Detour

Tattoo: Gecko by Muisim

Shoes: Viniani Heel (Black) by Armidi Gisaci

Bottom left:

Skin: Nikki Light (Gash - Freckled) by ::Tuli::

Hair: Writer (Night) by Detour

Earrings: Crystal Charm - Creativity by EarthStones

The Basics - Redux

It's been a few months and some things have changed. While I still love my Fleur skins and pull them out all the time for outfits, my day to day look has switched to ::Tuli:: S5 (S6 coming soon) skins. Most often I'm in either the medium or the tan tone - natural, diva, classic or glam makeups. Tattoos still lean heavily to addiXion and iNFLiCT, though the Gecko design from Muisim is getting a lot of play time.

My favorite hair and the one I return to over and over is The Poynter by Armidi, but I recently discovered the Detour textured flexi hairs and am madly in lust, so we'll see. Writer is about all I've worn since buying it (in two colors, no less). I've looked at a lot of eyes and lashes in different colors and styles and I really don't think they are going to ever be changing - I stumbled across Glanz eyes early on and I simply love them. Along with the ::Tuli:: makeups, they are just perfect for me.

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I suppose since folks have started asking me where my hair, skin, etc. came from, I should throw out a little advice to the "even newer than I" residents. If I had to pick just one tip to hand out it would be to invest in a good skin and shape. Pick up every demo you can find and keep trying combinations until one "fits". Don't hesitate to delete the ones that aren't perfect - the right one will come along and you won't be sifting through the maybes to find it when you have the L$ to buy it. And speaking of buying it - skin and shape are not the place to save Lindens, trust me.

All Photos:

Hair - Writer (Night) by Detour

Skin - S5 Medium Diva by ::Tuli::

Eyes - Transparency Shine Eyes (Fresh Blue) by Glanz

Top left:

Tattoo - What is the Matrix by iNFLiCT

Blouse - Buone Vacanze Blouse (Mirtilli) by Gisaci

Earrings - Moon & Tide (Silver) by Miriel

Right and center:

Tattoo - Gecko by Muisim

Blouse - Dress Shirt (Blueblack) by Naima

Skirt - Leather Skirt (Black) by Naima

Shoes - Verve Pumps (Black) by Maitreya

A Perfect Color - Red

I've read across several different blogs that simply picking a color and searching on it can inspire some great outfits. Since that matches my "mix and match" philosophy on Second Life fashion and I was also in a serious RED (yep, all caps) mood, it seemed like a great idea. I decided to do at least one casual look, at least one evening look and then the third could be whatever the pieces leant themselves to merging into. I also eliminated outfits that had been blogged about recently.

I had a great time pulling together a few outfits and playing around with the studio controls and came up with three "ready to go" outfits. The first outfit I happened to have acquired earlier today - Cachet's Garbage Dress, which comes with 5 different belt colors including - neon red. I love the slim upper body combined with the puffy bubble skirt and bright cinch belt. Certainly evening wear with an edge. Maitreya's Verve Pumps (red) are a perfect match for the belt. I also have to say that this was my favorite picture of the bunch.

The second outfit is pure casual with Maitreya's Dune Boots (red), X2 Gothica's Dress Shirt (red) with the Hell and Back Light jeans from The Abyss. In retrospect, I should have tried black jeans or leather pants as well since the jewelry is Earthstones Yin Yang Red Jasper/Onyx, but I liked the final look anyway. Finally, I dug into the Canimal folder and pulled out the Rocker Jacket (stripey red) and one of my favorites, the Black Lace skirt. I tried several pairs of shoe and boots and they all looked terrific with this, but when I put on the ::69:: Succubus Pumps (Dark Cherry) I knew I had the perfect pair for the picture.

So, there you have it - red, red and more red. Which is what I have - tons more red. This might be a post idea that I need to revisit on a semi regular basis, just to keep things fresh.
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Top left:
Outfit - Garbage by Cachet
Shoes - Verve Pumps (red) by Maitreya

Center right:
Shirt -Dress Shirt (Red) by X2 Gothica
Jeans - Hell and Back Jeans Light by The Abyss
Boots - Dune Boots (red) by Maitreya

Bottom left:
Top - Rocker Jacket (stripey red) by Canimal
Skirt - Black Lace Skirt by Canimal
Shoes - Succubus Pumps (Dark Cherry) by ::69::

All pictures:
Jewelry - Yin Yang Set (Red Jasper/Onyx) by EarthStones
Skin - S5 Medium Diva by Tuli
Tattoo - Gecko Tattoo by *Mu Mei Do*
Hair - The Poynter by Armidi

Group Gift of the Month - February

When I first started doing this, I had a few ideas for "special" posts, one of which was to save my group gifts from the month, try them all on and pick the one to feature. Little did I know two things when I decided to do this - the first was that there would be so many great gifts and the second was that I'd wind up picking a skin. Interestingly enough, my second choice was another skin, so I guess it was inevitable that my maiden post in this category would require some creative photography. I have to admit that I paused a few times before uploading the pictures today, but a skin post is kind of pointless if you can't see the skin. Plus, it seemed appropriate for the opening of the Skin Fair today.

February brought some great Valentine's Day inspired gifts in reds and blacks to play with for months to come, the Valentine's Pumps from ::69:: were adorable and the Evie's Closet Chimera Gown in Diamond (exclusive group gift color) is simply gorgeous. I also spent an afternoon trying demos so I could use my L$500 Fleur skin group gift card - great fun for me since Fleur (formerly Tete a Pied) make up a large percentage of my skins. With all those great choices and more, I have to go with the ::Tuli:: S5 Skins group gift as my pick of the month, however.

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The day I got the group announcement and attachment, I had just been thinking that what I really needed as a special occasion skin was one with a very natural look and dramatic eyes. Now, I don't often change my skin unless a particular outfit or look really demands it, so having not one, but 7 skin tones with a natural makeup and fabulous eyes drop out of the sky on me just made my day. Ranging from goth to exotic with everything in between and a variety of tans and tones, there is a skin here for nearly every occasion or event. A big thank you to ::Tuli:: and all the groups that are so generous with their members!

::Tuli:: Main Store at Le Zoo

(Group Name - Tuli Update Group, Cost to Join - L$0, Group Tag - TULI-holic)

Kurotsubaki - Cardigan Sweater

Previous blog posts to the contrary, I'm probably most often seen in jeans and sweaters. Love the sweaters. And, hey - they aren't even all black, though the one I'm featuring today is. If you haven't been to Kurotsubaki, you should definitely go look around - absolutely adorable sweaters with great textures and eyecatching designs at very reasonable prices. I'm wearing the black cardigan sweater here, which has four attachments to provide the flowing look here. If you are wanting a more form fitting silhouette, just leave them off and it looks like a different sweater.



Equally good with jeans or leather pants, gorgeous over a skirt, the black cardigan has an asymmetrical neckline and bottom adding a ton of interesting detail. Zoom in closely, you can almost feel the warmth in the textures. At L$160, seriously consider picking up all three colors (black, green, purple) or shop around and grab one of the short knit cardigans or a basic turtleneck or two but don't leave empty handed - these are foundation casual wardrobe pieces and you will find yourself reaching for them over and over.

For those cold winter nights, fill your cedar chest with sweaters from the Kurotsubaki Main Store.

On the left:
Sweater - Cardigan (black) by Kurotsubaki
Pants - Iki pants by ::Tuli::
Boots - Bloom (black) by Maitreya

On the right:

Sweater - Cardigan (black) by Kurotsubaki

Jeans - Dahlia by Last Call

Shoes - Barbed Wire Stilettos by Sentou Yousei