Otherworldly

On July 23rd, Zodiac opens. A new monthly, themed event (have I mentioned I love themed events?) centered around the Zodiac. I am already looking forward to Scorpio very expectantly, but first up is Leo. And for that sign, Faery Sola of Studio Sidhe has made a lion which she very kindly gave me a preview of.

Also, don’t forget that Hair Fair is still going strong; the hair I am wearing is one of Wasabi Pills mesh hairs for the event.

We finally got some actual sunlight here in Sweden, but last night I did manage to shoot some more Hair Fair 2012 photos, this time to feature a few hairs from Alice Project on the Hair Fair - Flower sim.

First, however, I really have to congratulate the team behind the Hair Fair for this years build. I am on a pretty poor connection while on vacation and my laptop isn’t all that great, but I was actually able to pop in and grab a few things as long as I kept my draw distance down. Things seem to rezz very well and the layout is easy to navigate. Plus, it looks great.

Munchflower Zaius of Nomine has been creating skins in Second Life for as long as I’ve been around and then some. But now she has announced that the brand-new Nephilim line will be her final line of non-fantasy skins. That alone is a good reason to try these skins out, but an even better reason is the fact that these are really lovely skins. And if you like your skins pale or even paler than pale, you are in for a treat. The Nephilim line comes in six shades, with at least three of these being paler than what many skin makers offer as their lightest tone.

On the Hair Fair - Garden sim you will find Leverocci and from them comes the second hairstyle I’ve chosen to feature from Hair Fair 2012. It is another long mesh style, this one with a bit of femme fatale feel, and since Leverocci offers a mix pack with selected colours I was able to get my hands on a range of options for a good price. But it had to be a red for this shot.

Hair Fair 2012 is finally here and with it comes four sims full of brand new hairs. As usual, the fair benefits the Wigs for Kids charity, so you can shop and contribute at the same time. Mesh is, as expected, big this year and the hairstyle of the fair has to be the braid across the shoulder; I’ve seen a bunch of great ones.

My first pick is a mesh hair (for long hairs, I find it hard to even consider anything else now) but it isn’t a braid. Instead, it is this charming style from Exile, found on the Hair Fair - Sand sim.

From the 9th to the 15th the One Voice fundraiser is taking place on the Mesh sim. The fundraiser has been organised to raise money for Gala Phoenix of Curio who has been caught up in a legal battle concerning her skins. She explains the issue in detail on her blog. Since the potential exists that any other creator could be targeted in a similar manner, many Second Life creators have decided to take part in this fundraiser to show that they will not idly allow such things to happen.

One Voice features a large number of creators who, on very short notice, have setup to sell creations that benefit Gala Phoenix at either 50% or 100%. Many have even created new and sometimes exclusive items for the fundraiser. In this post, I am showing just a few pieces, from Solange, elymode and mE. I am also using poses from Bent available at the fundraiser and I am using a Curio skin.

With the Ashima blouse, Zaara is making her first foray into mesh, and I am happy to report that the style of this blouse is one that has the potential to work very well even if you don’t like to change your shape for mesh. The billowing sleeves, the drapery across the torso and the loose fit over hips and bottom means that it is very forgiving. It is also great for wearing with mesh pants since it covers the sometimes problematic waistline, so I have paired it with a pair of jeans from One Bad Pixel. My shoes (and feet) are from lassitude & ennui and my hair from Wasabi Pills.

Finally, I am also wearing a jewellery set by Dark Mouse which sadly will be closing soon and is having a sale on all her jewellery and hair. Don’t miss that!

I did this last year as well (though I don’t recall if I blogged it or just posted to Flickr), but this time around I decided to compare three of my personal shapes. They’re all built along a similar base as there are certain elements I like in a shape, but they’re each a slightly different type. I tend to think of them as Curvy, Average and Athletic. I’ve tried very hard to make them quite realistic in their proportions, though they are definitely more towards the idealized than average end of the head-to-height ratio at roughly 8 heads tall. That’s a concession to what I feel works best within SL. They are also taller than they “should” be since I built them to specific height when the old, incorrect height detector was the only one available. As a result, they are 18-20 centimetres (7-8 inches) taller than I intended them to be. But getting that short in SL is not easy, plus I have enough issues fitting clothing and furniture as it is.

Yesterday, I found myself wanting to get a photo or two in for the Hair Fair contest before the deadline at midnight. But, all the ideas I came up on the theme of “Freedom” with lacked the right hair or the right clothes or the right poses. Until, when flipping through poses, I came across LAP’s “Getting Down” set. Ah-ha. Dancing, losing oneself in the music, that is definitely an expression of freedom. I bought a hair I had been eyeing—Mango from DeLa, a new-to-me store with some really nice mesh hair and a nice range of reds—and I knew I had the perfect outfit in elymode’s 54 separates.

But, where to shoot? It proved very hard to find a good-looking disco or nightclub that wasn’t packed with people, but then I recalled a recent release from chanimations called NeonLights. It turned out to be perfect.

Freyja’s already covered some of the items available for women at the Fairy Tales event, but there are a few—not many, but a few—things suitable for men. One of them caught my eye, from a designer I’ve not visited before: Vita’s Boudir.

It isn’t often that you get such a treat, but the skin I am wearing today is a new version of an old favourite; Zarya from Skin Within. It is available at Flawless Summer Lovin’ Sale for just L$50!

I am also wearing a drop-dead gorgeous new jewellery set from Earthstones and the mesh sari from {bilo} that came out some weeks ago.

The Fairy Tales event opened yesterday. It runs until July 8th, but with such a theme I just had to try and get in there as soon as possible. The haul from my first visit ended up being a hair from Exile and a mesh corset from Aura. I had my eye on another mesh piece as well, but since there wasn’t a demo I had to pass it by.

I am also wearing a pair of brand-new mesh sandals (with mesh feet) from lassitude & ennui and I am using the Godswood skybox from Trompe Loeil.

I’ve been aware of the pose store Del May for a a good while but for some reason I had not given it a closer look before this weekend. What a shame, is all I can say after Ran and I spent a few hours browsing through all the amazing poses and the amazing photos showcasing them. If you are looking for unique, expressive poses—singles, couples and groups—you absolutely have to give Del May a look. We found that the couple poses fit us unusually well even with our avatars not quite being the SL standard in size.

To see what we got up to with the poses we picked up, click through. It is all quite NSFW.

The final limited edition fantasy gown from Nomine is out and Ameno is an opulent piece, perfect to finish this series with. It needed just the right setting to shoot in so I headed over to the roleplay sim Venexia.

From Slink comes these gorgeous ballet slippers in mesh, made to work perfectly with her lovely mesh feet. I thought they went quite well with this two-part dress from Sn@tch which has a clothing layer top and a mesh skirt that was quite forgiving of different shapes. I am also wearing the latest skin from Adam n Eve, Esha.