Skin & Shape Expo!!!

-Update!-
SLURL Near Posh, Milk Motion, nr. 9
http://slurl.com/secondlife/KMADD%20Events/84/95/21

I'm so overjoyed with excitement! The Skin & Shape Expo begins tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 26th. Do you feel the lag already??? Luckily, the expo will be open until October 10th (2 weeks). The delicious expo will be held on the KMADD sim - I'll be sure to update this post with SLURLs for anyone who may need one. In the meantime, here's a few tips to help fight the first week of major lag:

Tip #1, Bald is beautiful & the newbie limp is okay so be sure to detach all prims and scripts from your avatar.

Tip #2, Demos! Collect all the demos you want and tp out to try them.

Tip #3, Put your graphics on low. This will help your computer load the graphics faster. Go to Preferences > Graphics > check Custom > check Bump Mapping & Shining > check Basic Shaders > check Avatar Imposters > check Hardware Skinning > Apply > Ok!

There are going to be several new skin line releases with some of the biggest name skin makers in Second Life. I have seen some of the new releases and they are amazing!

Stay Posted,
Lv, Tekila Vella

Skin Tight

Everyday, I log into SL & look over notecards and notices and aimlessly go through my bulging inventory. I was tp'ing around to skin stores I have not recented. Some were no longer there, some moved & some are still around and going strong, one of those stores is Skin Tight. The very generous & talented designer, Myrtle Spyker, recently sent the group gift below via subscribe-o-matic:

(click on image to view full)
This strikingly gorgeous skin is very original in a SL world where many skins can start looking alike. Four tones are in the gift &, as if the designer wasn't generous enough, there is also a lucky chair with a set of skins in-store (not shown) that are just as beautiful as the subscribe-o gift.

So, a big thank you to Myrtle! Be sure to try out other demos as there is a healthy selection of skins to choose from at Skin Tight.

TP to Skin Tight

Lv, Tekila Vella

Sales & Gifts: Oh Yeah!

Sales are everywhere - maybe as much as hunts - these days. That is great for consumers & business owners alike. SO, who is having these sales?! Here are a few to list:

Skin:
:: Vive 9! Yes, I know, I'm a huge user of Vive 9 skins on my blog and now they are having a sale! Skins can be found for as low as 150L. These cute soft faced skins are definitely demo-worthy. TP to Vive 9's Skin Sale

:: *Fishy Strawberry* has just released a new skin & shape line & to celebrate they are putting all of their older skins & shapes on a 50% off sale for the next 6 days!
Tp to *Fishy Strawberry*

:: Dutch Touch has a new special group gift out & the skin is very lush! It comes in two tones, here is one:

Dutch Touch has several model-like gorgeous skins - shop around and try the demos first :)
TP to Dutch Touch

Clothing:
:: PixelDolls has a sale on all their singles. Nothing is over 100L here and there's lots to choose from - great for mixing and matching with other sets! And the quality? Some of the best in Second Life in my humble opinion. TP to PixelDolls

:: Church of Luxe is having a sale on ALL merchandise! There is lots of entire outfits up for sale for as little as 50L, in several colors, most of which are very modern chic and conservative.
TP to CoL

More to Come!
Lv Tekila V

Vive 9 & Donna Flora

This is just a quick little post this fine Sunday night to let you all know that Vive 9 is now making hair! The ever-so-generous designer of Vive 9 has released two group gifts, this beautiful skin named, Twiggy & new hair not pictured here. Twiggy is delicately soft with full pink lips.

*Click Picture to see Full Size*
Also Shown,
Dress & Earrings by Donna Flora
Hair by Posh

Lv, Tekila V.

* Alluring Secrets *

Talented, with an eye for beauty, the modest Alluring Secrets designer, Hotla Hoodoo, possesses all the above. Hoodoo's works are elegant, but are also made with a touch of sass. Hoodoo has been designing for years in sl - even longer in rl - and is unquestionably an artist to watch for in both worlds. Below are a few of her latest fall fashion pieces up for review:

(Click on images for full view)
Outfit 1, Eternity Gown in Copper & Salmon

Eternity is classy and very feminine when greeting the eye while presenting a mere touch of risqueness with the reveal of partial cleavage, too. More technically, as with most designs, the trim directly under the breasts is a bit pixelated, as well as the lace of the gloves when zoomed in - unless someone is set on extremely zooming in, the pixelation should not be a problem. Eternity comes with both jacket and pant layers, gloves, a tie-string for the back & 2 skirt options: one sheer, the other solid (shown above). There are 4 attachments in all, all manually modifiable. . . I say manually since SL is seeing more resize scripts in attachments.

Eternity's backside reveals the length of the back, dipping in an acute v-cut as far down to pass a panty line. The back's exposed skin is partially covered by a laced up copper string. Aside from some pixelation near and underarms, zoomed in, the quality of Eternity's textures & cuts are superb.

:: Also Shown ::
Hair - Analog Dog, Bella

Outfit 2, Slacked in Olive

Slacked is semi-casual wear and it offers a chance to mix & match with other garments in different layers. It comes in a jacket layer for the outter part & a shirt layer for the tank top. There are 6 ruffles for the Blouse that are not modifiable. The multi-layers of these frills are flexi and give a nice wave when moving, very subtle and natural. The midriff, slighty sheer tank top has a lace design along the top held up by spaghetti straps. The lace looks mildly blurry when zoomed in, but is accetable good quality. The pants come in 2 layers: one with boot cut (shown above) & the other with a slight flare. The dark denim jeans have a detailed shadowed/highlighted line running down the middle front. This lengthens and draws focus inward, creating a skinnier, long-leg look.

:: Also Shown::
Hair - Posh
Boots - Adam n Eve, Tia

Outfit 3, Tootsy in Red

Racy, wild & just plain fun. Tootsy in red comes with a silver metal belt & black leather thigh-high boots with a twisted chain lining the backside of the lower leg. Tootsy's belt is very commanding, reminiscent of the big Texas-type buckles that say, "I'm in charge here." By design, the belt's thick band makes the lower torso appear smaller. The plunging neckline is nothing far from bold & sexy as it's marked by the folded back flaps of its upper half. A single button holds this onesy outfit together. Texture-wise - its fabulous! The cuts & seams hold true to their designs & there are no apparent jagged edges.

:: Also Shown ::
Hair - Atomic
Skin - Staged
Heart Glasses - Elate!

Alluring Secrets is not only for women - there are also tons of items for males! Stop by to really see what Hoodoo has to offer.

TP to Alluring Secrets

Lv, Tekila Vella

Wasted Youth

Only 3 months into the virtual world of fashion design, Kendall Freenote is creating a variety of SL apparel ranging from uptown chic to punk rock glam to sweetheart casuals and back again. Here are a *few* designs by Kendall, available in her store, up for review:

Part One, High Waist Studded Skirt

The high waist studded skirt is patterned with silver metallic triangles. The mauve-like color is the undertone color featuring an elastic type waistband. Like the texture, the cuts of the skirt are decent. This skirt comes in a Jacket & Pant layer, with a modifiable prim attachment for the bottom-half of the short lengthed skirt. This would be great to pair with one of Freenote's many blazers, but being that it is only a Jacket layer for either - it is not yet possible.

Also Shown,
Hair by Truth, Farrah
Neglige by Urbanity
Boots by Adam n Eve, Tia

Part Two,Times Square Jacket

Tricky, that's what this texture is. It may appear a bit pixelated, but then again its a certain type of material the texture is portraying - a fuzzy, cotton wool type. Shadows are plentiful in this piece, giving a layered put-together look. The sleeves are manually modifiable sculpties & the blazer itself is only available in a jacket layer. The backside of this blazer is very interesting as in the darkened detail lined down the spine from neck to tail. This centers the focus inward, thinning the shape of the avatar.

Also Shown,
Hair by Truth
Gloves by Emery
Panties by Mai, in-store gift, 0L

Part Three, Vintage Rose Dress

I love vintage pieces! This near rustic-textured piece is very feminine while paying homage to a style not always seen in SL fashion while still keeping it modern & flirty. The off the shoulder short dress comes in both Jacket/Shirt & Pant layers. The skirt is sculpted & modifiable. Though pretty to the eye, there are a few flaws with this particular dress. It's difficult to resize the sculpted skirt with the belt attached to it: If you downsize too much, part of the belt gets lost in the avatar's body; If you expand, you risk having the belt too loose with parts of the sculpted skirt showing in either the front or back (bottom right). Last part may not be a big deal to some; however, there is extra shadowing along the top of the outfit.

Also Shown,
Hair by Truth
Earrings by [glow] Studio

There are many more great outfits not shown here! Feel free to stop by Freenote's store as she continues to grow in her designs : )
TP to Wasted Youth

Lv, Tekila Vella

*NEXT On TekilaUnplugged: Things get Hot with HotLaLa!*