I’m Back!! New Year…… New Head!!

Firstly, sorry for not blogging before now, it was a busy Christmas and New Year J

But now I’m back with my regular ramblings! As most of you know, I don’t go into too much depth relative to my appearance and what I’m wearing, my blogs hopefully relate more to my observations more than anything else. This blog however is different.

I’ve had several conversations over the last four or five months where the word “bento” has been subtly mentioned. I assumed it was a new browser or a new game within SL or something, but then I asked the question…… What exactly is this bento thing all about? Now on the whole, my friends, similar to aren’t really techno savvy, thank fully though, I do know a few people who are, one of which was only too happy to regale me with information about skeletons and bones and a revolution in Mesh design. I smiled sweetly as most of his excitement flew way over my head, however I got the gist which was a new avatar skeleton was to be introduced to SL which meant that, (for me anyway!!), mesh heads would be infinitely modifiable, just like the good old days before mesh.

So I got my new “bento” browser and excitedly went shopping. Long story short, after trying a couple of these new heads I eventually settled on the new LeLutka Head, the Simone 2.0 – why, well as a bit of a dullard when it comes to HUDs and sliders and the like, I just found the LeLutka one a little more user friendly. The other ones, particularly the Catwa Catya head are great also but for me, the LeLutka just had the edge.

At this point I should say, if you want to get a really good nuts and bolts review of the heads try Strawberry Singh, (http://strawberrysingh.com/) or Mesh Body Addicts, (http://meshbodyaddicts.com/), they really are much better than this sort of thing than me!

This rambling is more about an age old, pre Mesh problem in SL – you see a lovely skin and you think, “that will look fabulous on me!!” so you buy it and it doesn’t look anything like the advert, why?......... quite simply because a lot of the time skin designers work with a particular shape, which means all those subtle shadings around cheeks, lips and eyes don’t look nearly as good once the skin is applied to your avi! So here’s my suggestion, if you’ve bought a new bento head, don’t just pick a skin, take a look at the shape designers first. The advent of bento heads mean there are a lot of great shape designers making stuff for the new heads, a few of my favourites are; Kittycat Heron, who has been prolific since the bento’s were launched and is a self-confessed mesh addict! You can find her creations at “Shapes by Kittycat” here; https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/186551. Check out her Flickr also at; https://www.flickr.com/photos/138298686@N07 My other personal favourite Ni Avril, (n i n i) from Lyrium, who is not only a fantastic shape designer, she is also a fantastic artist, don’t miss her Flickr which has some of the most beautiful pictures I’ve ever seen in SL, https://www.flickr.com/photos/137896428@N06/, but her marketplace shop which has much more than just shapes is here; https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/94671.

So why choose a shape designer when you can do all the slider stuff yourself? Well, for me two reasons, firstly, I haven’t got the patience and secondly, people like Kitty and n i n i spend hours and hours perfecting the perfect combinations of both skin and shapes, let me show you an example;

This is the result of me fannying around with sliders with a new skin which looked lovely on the picture at the shop for HOURS!!

It’s kind of okay……. I can live with it but it’s not great, it’s not quite what I want…….

So, does the skin make a difference? At this point I looked at MP and saw a shape and skin I loved at Lyrium. I look at it and I’m thinking…. well, the shape is similar to what I have so I just need the skin, here’s the result;

Okay, so it’s better but…… it’s still not right!

So I think, I wonder if the shape makes that much difference, here’s the result........

Tadaaaaa!!!! It’s almost there, much more realistic face shape and matching the skin perfectly. Still needs a little tweak to make it mine but that’s the beauty of Lyrium, the shape is mod so you can adjust to fit your individual taste!

So the moral of the story is; pick a great shape designer and then follow the instructions on the style card :)

Here’s the details;

Head - .LeLutka.Head.Simone 2.0

Teeth - .LeLutka.Teeth.Simone 2.0

Eyes - CATWA UN-RIGGED EYE V1.0 [Left] & [Right]

Shape - L y r i u m_ ALICIA SHAPE FOR SIMONE BENTO HEAD

Ears - L'Etre Olympe mesh ears

Skin - L'Etre Skin Shop - Simone Skin [Golden Tone] - Head Skin at Uber Dec/Jan, body applier at the main store

Brows - Glam Affair - Lelurka Brows 02 at Uber Dec/Jan

Make up - Glam Affair - Lucrezia ( LeLutka Applier ) Jamaica - NB, this is also the skin on the first picture, also at Uber Dec/Jan

Hair - ::Exile::One Way or Another Reds