LAQ Ania and Luck Inc Sweaterdress

LAQ recently released a new Glow Skin.  Say hello to Ania!

Click images to see larger versions.

Even though I love trying on different skins I always go back to my beloved Trisha… but I dunno, I’m really loving the look of Ania and perhaps enough to make a switch! One of the first things I noticed about this skin are the brows.  The eyebrows on my Glow Trisha are a huge part of what I love about that skin, but the brows on Ania are just as good imo.  I’m also loving the shape of the lips as well as the perfect amount of gloss on them.

I’m not one of those people who absolutely must have freckles on her skin.  Not that I have anything against freckles, I think they’re cute!  But I don’t have any in RL so I’ve never desired them on my SL skin.  Ania has a light dusting of freckles, but it’s very subtle (you might need to go to the larger images to see them).

LAQ’s Glow Ania is available in three skintones (fair, peach, and nougat). You get a pack of 10 makeups and optional hairbase, too.

The first outfit I decided to put on with my new Ania skins was my red sweaterdress from Luck Inc.  Red is my favorite color   Luck Inc is known for showing a lot of skin; this sweaterdress covers a little bit more than some of their other items but it still shows off your cleavage and legs!  (Speaking of legs, I think this dress would look cute with skinny jeans, too.)

I started out with my Omnia 10 hair from ::69 but because it’s a long style, it kept cutting into the big cowl neck prim on the dress and it was hard to find a pose that wouldn’t do that. If that sort of thing bugs you, especially when you’ve got an AO with a lot of movement, then I’d say switch to a hairstyle that’s shorter or pulled back, like maybe a ponytail or half pony.

I’m really liking Luck Inc’s texturing, CK Winx does lovely work.  But don’t take my word for it, here’s a closer shot of the dress, in black:

Last but not least, the necklace I’m wearing in the last shot is from Caroline’s Jewelry… and some of you Twilight fans out there might recognize it if you clicked on the larger image! It’s the [Lion & Lamb] Rosalie Crest Necklace. Caroline’s recently released several Twilight inspired pieces, and one of my friends commented that the jewelry would also work with fun outfits like period gowns, too.

Credits…
Skin (all images) – LAQ (a.k.a. Laqroki) – Glow Ania + Cleavage Enhancer 2

3rd image (Left to Right)…
Dresses – Luck Inc. – Sweaterdress in Bulgarian Rose, Black, and Khaki
Hair – ::69, Omnia 10; Little Heaven, Rabi; lamb, Oh Sugar
Shoes – Maitreya, Shanti; Maitreya, Soho boots; LAQ, kneehigh boots
Hosiery – Sheer, KissKiss Tights; Blaze, Pantyhose in tan
Glasses – Naughty, Lennons sunglasses
Necklace – Caroline’s Jewelry, [Lion & Lamb] Rosalie Crest Necklace

4th image…
Hair – Truth, Linda

Avalon & Ariel

Well, I’m a naughty blogger, I am.  I meant to blog these… well, never mind how long ago it was that I’d meant to blog these.  :p

While Violaine Villota of Fancy Fairy is known for her delicate, beautiful fairy wings (both in SL and in RL!) and magical fantasy apparel, she also has really cute hand drawn skins.  Her Avalon skins have pleasingly smooth complexions and tones, and feature makeups that come with optional tribal markings to cater to the fantasy market.

Click the images to see larger versions.

The skins are sold with Copy/Modify permissions, and the eyebrows are tintable. If you get the fatpack, you’re treated to the Sunset and Ruby makeups that aren’t available as singles.  (While you’re there, don’t forget to pick up the Dia De Los Muertos skin pack she has up for a mere 50L.  I realize it’s not exactly that time of year, but these are fab and you should have these!)

I’m wearing the Ariel gowns in these pictures, from Kouse’s Sanctum.  The gowns are featured in the following colors, in this order:  aurora, raindrops, flora, ice, and dusk.

My favorite part of the Ariel gown is hands down the lush, full flexi skirt that swishes and flares with your every movement. I’m especially partial to the colors on the raindrop and aurora versions of the gown. The gown features sculpted gold roses, which also adorn the included armbands and the prims that adorn the bodice/neckline area.

If you’re a fantasy roleplayer or if you just plain love flitting about the grid in gowns, pay a visit to Fancy Fairy and Kouse’s Sanctum to see these and more. 

Credits…
Skin – Fancy Fairy, Avalon skins
Gowns – Kouse’s Sanctum, Ariel gowns
Hair – fri.day, Cassie (first image left); Truth, Luna (first image right); fri.day, Eloise (second image left); LAQ, Radiant F03 (second image right)

Look of the Day: Blowpop Blue Roses, LAQ Jewel, J’s boots, and booN

This is the third in a series of posts about some new releases from Blowpop that I’m really loving. In addition to the cute triangle bra & boyshort sets, and the three goddesses set, we’re treated to lots of colorful camis.  The Blue Roses cami made for a great casual top, and I cruised around the grid in this outfit for a couple of days. 

Clicking the images will take you to larger versions.

I’d say that 99.9% of the time, I’m not at all fond of wearing t-shirts in SL that feature a store logo and I know from previous discussions on Plurk that I’m not the only one who feels this way. I’m more than happy to make an exception for these tops from Blowpop, though! The Sailor Jerry styled artwork is beautiful and displays Blowpop’s (slightly naughty sounding!) catchphrase, “Lick, Don’t Bite”.

Also worn is LAQ’s Jewel skin, a fairly recent addition to the Glow Skins collection.  Jewel is quite stunning, and is available in darker skintones (you can see more of the tones and makeups below).  I seem to gravitate toward boots a lot in SL; maybe this is because I never get to wear them in RL?  I live in Hawaii and the only time you ever really need to wear boots here is when you’re doing yardwork or gardening, lol.  But anyway, I was long overdue for some updated cowboy boots and I finally recently splurged on J’s Western Boots.  Finishing off the look is my favorite new hair, a sculpted dreadlocks style from booN.  booN has a whole bunch of dreadlocks that look incredible and I’m hoping that the selection will grow in the future.

As with the three goddesses tops, the Blue Roses camis are available in both long and short lengths as well as on a variety of clothing layers to maximize your mix and match potential.  They’ve been made in a bunch of colors, and they go perfect with the lowrise boyshort undies.  I think it’s the perfect combination for chilling out in your skybox with your closest friends. 

Accompanying the release of the Blue Roses camis are the Rampant camis, which feature a gold lion rampant……. licking a lollipop!  Haha.  I’m curious to see the Blowpop coat of arms.    These, too, are available in a bunch of colors:

Credits…
Camisoles – Blowpop – Blue Roses (1st, 2nd, and 3rd images); Rampant (4th image)
Lowrise boyshorts – Blowpop – from the Cassie underwear set
Skin – LAQ – Jewel + Cleavage Enhancer 2
Hair – booN – LUV205
Shorts – League – Booty Shorts dirty
Boots – J’s – Wester boots

Cassie undies from Blowpop, LAQ’s Glow Drew, & cheapo knit button boots

As I said in my previous post, Annyka Bekkers of Blowpop very recently released a bunch of new items, and instead of putting everything all in one giant post, I want to savor each pretty

Today I want to talk about Cassie! The Cassie Low-rise Boyshorts & Bra set, that is. Click on the images to see larger versions:

The texturing on this set is gorgeous. Yes, it may all be virtual, but you can almost *feel* how soft and comfy these bra and panty sets are! The shading and highlighting are perfect, accentuating curves in all the right places. I really like the light shading right at the band above the ribcage area, which gives the bra a nice three-dimensional feel.

Cassie sets are available in a lot of delicious colors, and they all look fantastic. I also think these babies are a great bargain at the price they’re set, and I totally say go for the fatpack! That way you get to mix and match the colors, too, which is fun I own a lot of underwear, swimwear, and lingerie because I like to use these types of items in my shape ads for my store, and just based on my own personal consumer experience I’d have to say Annyka is arguably one of the best designers you’ll find on the grid right now, period. Seriously. I love her stuff.

The knit button boots I’m wearing in these shots are from a Japanese designer named Masami Niekerk. I’d actually found her boots by accident while browsing mindlessly through Xstreet. The boots are loaded with texture change options and walking sounds. I’m actually not a fan of shoes with sounds, but I loved all the sweet color options and it was only 10L! Speaking of Xstreet, I’m kind of sad about the impending changes that will be made to that site. I realize Linden Lab wants to create a marketplace that isn’t so cluttered, but once these new fees go into effect I sincerely doubt we’re going to find these sorts of gems anymore.

I’m also using LAQ’s latest Glow Skin release, Drew. Drew was actually an original Portrait Skin line face, but Mallory Cowen has given her the Glow treatment and the result is beautiful. Drew is available in three skintones. With each tone pack, you get ten makeups and a hairbase option for each.

Around the same time I tried on the Cassie undies, Carson bought a vacuum cleaner for me! It’s the Meggasuc Vacuum from -RC- Cluster and when you attach it to your avatar, a vacuuming animation takes place. I think it’s super cute, and tried it out in our new skybox that Carson’s been putting together. I loved it so much I had to take a vid, hehe.

And, see? The undies are so comfortable I like wearing them while doing housework.

Credits…
Hair – Exile – Cherry
Underwear – Blowpop – Cassie Low-rise boyshorts & bra
Skin – LAQ – Glow Drew + Cleavage enhancer 2
Boots – Masami Niekerk – button knit boots

In the video…
Panda doll – Pink Fuel – Regular panda
Water box with straw – *mocorin* – sizuku pack water
Vaccum – RC Cluster – Meggasuc vacuum cleaner

Look of the Day: Three Goddesses from Blowpop

Annyka Bekkers, the talented designer behind the Blowpop brand, has released another fresh batch of tasty apparel items that you’re going to want to devour.  I was really tempted to cram it all into one huge post, but I decided I want to focus on each set separately because, frankly, I think her work deserves that kind of attention.

I’ve incorporated her Three Goddesses Tank & Panty set into this “look of the day” post.  Featuring the Tridevi of the three Hindu goddesses Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati, the tank top is an eye-catching burst of colors that I knew I immediately wanted to pair up with jeans, my new Moccasin boots and Lennon glasses from Naughty, and my new hairstyle from Maitreya.

Click the images to view larger versions.

The Three Goddesses tank top comes in two lengths, and on a variety of clothing layers.  Yay for options like this!  You can mix and match with other clothing articles and/or tattoos, and decide whether you’re in the mood to show some midriff with those low waisted jeans. 

Going on to the other items in my LOTD photo:  I’m really glad Lost Thereian has started creating new items for the Naughty brand.  I’m pretty much in awe of his skill and attention to details.

I have a preference for glasses that are all primwork (it’s just a personal thing, really; I’ve also seen some very good-looking texture-type glasses) and so I was happy to find out that the Lennon glasses are all sculpted prims.  The prims that make up the wireframes are thin, delicate sculpts and I actually didn’t realize they were sculpted until I looked at them closely.  Call me spoiled, though; I’m used to buying scripted glasses that let me switch the position of the frames, control the texture color and opacity, etc.  These glasses are Copy/Modify, though, so I was able to make the tint on them lighter in about three seconds and I’m sure making a copy adjusted to fit up on my hair will be just as simple.    The glasses have really cute color names, too; names like Strawberry Fields Forever and Imagine (mine is Black Dog).  Carson bought the aviators, and they look great, too; I’m tempted to go back and buy a pair for myself!

I almost didn’t get the moccasin fringe boots because there weren’t any demos available in the store.  But, after a couple of visits to the shop that was spent looking at them longingly, I decided what the hell, I’ll just buy them… and I’m glad I did!  These boots do not require a system shoe base, and they’re Copy/Modify.  The fringe on them has great movement since they’re actually textured onto flexi prims.  The fringe texture also has a bit of shadow added to it, creating a look of realism that I really admire.

Finishing off my LOTD is the Green hairstyle from Maitreya.  I felt the slightly tousled look of it, with it’s locks twisted and casually draped over the shoulder, fit in perfectly with the easygoing feel of the rest of my outfit.  Because I wanted to show off the tank top without any hair covering it up, though, I’ve also worn friday’s cute Tatum hairstyle in the second photo.

Credits…
Tank top & panty set – Blowpop – Three Goddesses set
Jeans – Armidi – Grace
Boots – Naughty – Calf High Moccasins, adobe
Glasses – Naughty – Lennons, Black Dog black
Hair (image 1) – Maitreya – Green, Bistre
Hair (image 2) – friday – tatum, cynical black
Skin – LAQ Glow Trisha

COCO Gift, Maitreya Hair, and LAQ Boots

This will be a short & sweet post because it’s nearly my bedtime. 

One of my favorite stores, Coco, just announced a new group gift tonight.  It’s a cute black turtleneck!  It comes with two different sized collar prim attachments, and sleeve attachments.  Clothing is provided on all layers so that you can opt to wear it untucked as I’m wearing it in the pic below, or you can go with the shirt + underpants options to wear it tucked.

I figured my new Charli hair from Maitreya would go nicely with it, as well as the new Midcut boots from LAQ. The boots from LAQ are beautifully textured and come in a bunch of colors, I think my favorites are beige and olive.

You can click the images to see larger versions.

Oh, and one more thing before I end this post… is Lost Thereian back to creating new items for Naughty Designs?  I paid a visit recently and came across some fringed boots vendors that look really cute but I haven’t picked up any (yet).  They were in a new building that I could swear wasn’t there a month or so ago when I last visited, along with a bunch of tops and sweaters that are sorted by color:

I don’t know exactly how long these items have been out but I’m guessing they haven’t been there for too long.  The sim looks like it’s still undergoing extensive redesign, the parking lot was floating up in the air. :p

Hair – Maitreya Charli
Skin – LAQ Trisha
Sweater – COCO Group Gift Turtleneck sweater
Skirt – LAQ blue jeans skirt
Shoes – LAQ Midcut boots black

Look, Ma… no lag! Blue Mars Meet & Greet

On October 14, 2009, 9:30 Hawaii Standard Time, Blue Mars Staff and Beta testers had a little get together at Beach City.

I’m pretty sure that most SL residents have heard what Blue Mars is by now, but for the benefit of those who haven’t who might be looking at this post, I’ll just swipe a sentence from the website:

Blue Mars is a free to play massively multiplayer virtual world made of an expanding set of independently operated cities featuring a wide range of entertainment, education, and business opportunities. Register today to get an early look at our open beta and the future of virtual worlds.

In some ways BM is like SL, and in a LOT of other ways, it’s not like SL.  It’s also very much in Beta, so a lot of the client’s features are still being refined.  Beta testers are encouraged to participate in the BM forums to offer feedback, suggestions, and of course report bugs.

But anyway, back to the meet and greet!  Here’s a short video I took; I took it right when everyone was busy making their avs walk or run in circles as a little experiment suggested by Glenn.

There were a lot of avs present, as you can see from the screenshots and video.  But you know what wasn’t present?  Lag!  I’m intimately acquainted with SL lag, and I know that when you’ve got a sim with 35 or more avatars on it, lag is pretty much unavoidable.  It seems BM can really handle a crowd; it was mentioned during the conversation at the get-together that they’ve successfully tested 1,000 avatar concurrency on a sim.

Lots of people were saying they want to see the chat bubbles go the way of the dodo bird, or at least be given the ability to toggle them off.  I personally have mixed feelings on this.  I agree that the chat bubbles are annoying, but the chat history is in need of some improvement in the usability department so until they get that straightened out, I actually find the chat bubbles helpful, albeit annoying to look at.

It was also pretty much unanimously agreed (has been for some time on the forums, actually) that we need names to appear in association with avatars.  You basically don’t know what av is standing in front of you until they actually say something in chat.

Some other tidbits that came up during the meet & greet’s discussion:  we found out that a lot of the users present at our little assembly have 64 bit systems, the BM staff have been testing streaming media, BM is updated with patches and they’re looking at doing these patches in increments so as to make it painless for users, and there was talk of testing solutions for slower PCs.

I’m glad I was able to make this meet and greet, and hopefully I’ll be able to participate in future ones, too.  My guess is that they’re going to try and stagger the times to accommodate people from all over the world, though, so we’ll see!

And since we’re on the subject of Blue Mars, here’s a couple more vids and screenshots.  I love the look of the ocean in BM (These are raw screenshots straight out of BM.)

You can see more of my Blue Mars shots by checking out my Blue Mars collection on flickr.

LAQ Glow Carina

LAQ released a new Glow skin a little while ago, and her name is Carina   Carina is actually one of the faces from the original Portrait collection, but given the “Glow” treatment — updated body, skin and facial features that are enhanced with a healthy “glow”, and sharpened details.  The result?  A skin that has a natural look and fresh feel to it.

Carina is available in three skintones, with eight makeups for each.  Each makeup has a bald version, and a hairbase version for wearing with certain “hairbase” hairstyles from LAQ.

Visit LAQ to try out the Carina skin demos!

Other credits…
>> in the fair tone:
hair – LAQ Imani
outfit – Last Call Femme Fatale
heels – Maitreya Gold Salience
Shot at Mont Saint Michel sim.

>> in the peach tone:
hair – Argrace Baseball Cap relaxed ponytail
lingerie – insolence clara
shoes – UBU Drunks
jacket – COCO bomber jacket
tank – fri.day cream basic cami
Shot at the Harold sim.

>> in the nougat tone:
hair – Truth Belinda
lingerie – Blowpop Jolene
Shot at private location.

Return of a classic favorite: LAQ Glow Lacie

Well, I meant to blog about the re-release of the Lacie skins at LAQ as Glow skins a while ago now, but life has been rather hectic over the past week.  (Just thinking about how crazy things were is making me tired again!)  Better late than never, though, right? 

The Lacie skins are available in four skintones, and each skintone comes with eight makeups.  You get two versions of each makeup:  bald, and hairbase for wearing with certain hairstyles.  There’s a lot of pretty details on Lacie, but the part I love about this particular skin most are her eyes:  she has deep set eyes that are framed by nicely done brows that aren’t too thick or too thin, but just right.

Anyway, enough talk… let’s just get on to the pics

You can click on the images above to see (much) larger versions of them on my flickr stream. Visit the Laqroki sim (Laqroki 154, 67, 23) to try demos of the skins.

On a side note, I never thought I’d see the day where I’d drop over 1k on a single pair of shoes in SL. Ever. But omg, I did! I splurged on a pair of Maitreya Gold shoes and I am 100% free of buyer’s remorse. These shoes boast prim toes/feet and the designers included skin presets/notes so that you can match them to most major designer skins. They’re fabulous so I *had* to show them in one of my pics <3

Other credits… >> in the milky tone image
Hair – LAQ Claudia
Top – fri.day basic cami
Shorts – fri.day denim shorts

>> in the fair tone image:
Hair – Exile Voodoo
Dress – LeeZu freebie
Shoes – Maitreya Gold Salience

>> in the peach tone image:
Hair – 69 Q.B.
Jacket – Aoharu Black short jean jacket
Bikini – Last Call Yelena gold bikini
Tattoo – Aitui Fuse
Jeans – Gearshift Maverick jeans

>> in the nougat tone image:
Hair – LAQ Imani
Top – Last Call Tatienne lacy shirt
Bag – =E.M.A.=

LAQ Glow Jessica skins

Mallory Cowen of LAQ (a.k.a. Laqroki) has released her latest installment in the Glow Skins series. Say hello to the beautiful Jessica Glow Jessica skins come in four different skintones. For each skintone, you get a pack of eight makeups. For each makeup, you get two brow color options, blonde and brown.

And now, on to the pics! I’ll refrain from writing too much, and will just let the pics do the talking. Larger versions of these images are on my flickrstream, and there will be NSFW pics after the cut:

I’ll admit, the most important thing for me in a skin is the face and so that’s almost always what I focus on, but the skins in the Glow line deserve a look from head to toe.  NSFW pics to follow after the cut…