More from Enchantment

Hey all. Well, sometimes it is really hard to think of anything that looks like a vaguely interesting title, so I just went for something really, uh, straightforward instead.

The current round of Enchantment is still going strong, and in these pics I'm wearing some of the store offerings from May's Soul (the Beast horns in black) and Unrepentant (the Precious Rose corset). Both include a stamp card which you can redeem for super-exclusive prizes (more info here on the official blog).

Also pictured is the latest release from Calico - the Daphne hair style is available now at We <3 Role-Play. I love the tumbling waves... this style also comes with flexi add-ons, not shown here.

The top is from 22769, but I changed the colour completely. Sometimes, with modify items, I'll buy them in white or a very pale shade so I can play around with them later. Of course, you lose a lot of detail when you colour them yourself so just be wary of that!

Lastly, the footwraps are from Cerberus Xing and must have been a Christmas special (they're called Joyeux Noel and feature a little jingle bell) and the manicure is from La Boheme - a hunt prize freebie.

Beauty

 More from Enchantment!  This time out, I'm wearing BCC's beautiful gown, La Petite Morte's skin, and posing with An Lar's Beauty Series poses.

Each of these is a featured main store release, and each includes a stamp card.

Wear your stamp card(s) and visit all the stores participating in this round, and click the stamp machine in each store whilst wearing the card. Once your card has all 20 stamps, you can teleport to the prize location and and claim your prize.

Marian

Last day of The Secret Affair! Don't miss this amazing round, and watch out for the Maochi horns and fur vests from May's Soul!

Antlers: May's Soul - Maochi horns (at The Secret Affair)
Fur waistcoat: May's Soul - Maochi vest grey (at The Secret Affair)
Dress: May's Soul - Pompeya dress brown
Hair: Calico - Marian
Circlet: Bite & Claw -Mesh Elven Circlet - Saida
Arm warmers: The.Plastik - Catori Warmers// Tyrant Queen (part of outfit)

Skin:  Leafy -  Mirabai - Pure - LBB (worn with some included makeups)
Eyes: Ikon - Spectral Eyes - Hazel
Hands: Slink - Avatar Enhancement Hands
Shape: Self-made

Enchantment: Beauty and The Beast

The latest - and last - round of Enchantment opens on 1 Feb.

You can read my explanation of the process in this older post, or even better, read the instructions on the official blog - you'll find Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese and German translations there also.

Enchantment in SL will also have previews of all the exclusive prizes.

The gown I'm wearing is Luminary's store release for the event. It's inspired by Beauty's fateful rose and comes in five different colours. One thing I love about this dress is how the folds at the bottom of the gown were done. Grab yourself an demo and check it out for yourself!

Caelan Hancroft has created some brand new jewelry for the event. The Belle ring set contains rings for left and right hands, and a pair fitted to mesh hands. They're hud controlled, so you can switch up the colours of the metals, the pearl, the rose, and the small gems on each.

The necklace, called Belle's Rose, is an event exclusive and will never be sold again. You'll also only be able get your hands on it if you have a completed stamp card. (A card from any merchant's Enchantment special will work - you can swap a card for a prize from any of the participating merchants.) The necklace is hud-controlled too, so you can wear it in gold, silver or bronze.

My skin, Beauty, is a brand new release from .la petite morte.. It comes in 8 tones, and each pack contains 4 skins with different brow/cleavage options. I'm wearing a medium tone here, but I'm liking the darkest tone too, so will probably try that one out soon... assuming SL co-operates and actually lets me take pictures, which is a bit hit-and-miss these days. Grr!

Coming soon...

The final round of Enchantment opens on 1 February, with "Beauty and the Beast" as its theme.

Yes, you read that correctly - it's the last ever round (sob).

Winter lavender

I've always been a big fan of  Kaethe Dyrssen's Leafy skins, so I was really happy to see a new release - her first in ages - pop up in her Flickr feet. And, guess what, appliers are included... for Loud Mouth,  Nyam Nyam, Phat Azz, Tangos, and Slink Hands & Feet.

At the moment, there's just one pack of Mirabai available, which includes three skins in two pale tones with different brow options.  Also included are 25 different tattoo layers with makeups, freckles and so on, brow shapers, and cleavage enhancer layers.

The skin is young, fresh, and pretty; and I think 875L is not a bad price for what you get in the box. If you like pale skins, I definitely recommend that you grab a demo and check it out.

My outfit is new from Soedara - the very smexy Wyntir camisk.  It's hud-driven, letting you choose between five different tones and clean or dirty versions. You also get upper arm bands, bangles, and a belly jewel.

While short hair is not traditional for slaves, I thought this tousled style from Elua could make for some fun roleplay. Perfect if you've had your hair cropped as a punishment, for travel, or due to illness.

The lavender headdress is from Lode, and it's at the current round of The Secret Affair. The theme is "Untamed Purity", and if you haven't already visited, be warned! The event is so full of delectable and desirable objects that you're going to need a wallet full of Linden dollars...

On ice

One of the starring items in these photos is Melora, the new hair from Calico. It's out now at We Love Role-Play.

This hair is super-intricate, so it would be ideal for a character of high status, such as a lady, mage, or even a pleasure slave. Basically, anyone who would have the time or the help to create all these rollsand looping braids; it's not really a style for farm girls or tavern wenches! The hair also comes with an add-on flexi piece to add movement to the style.

Calico Ingmann also updated her texture packs a couple of months ago and there are now a lot more shades in each pack. An example: previously you might buy the browns, dark browns, or light browns pack, each containing five basic shades.  Now you buy the browns pack, containing 20 shades. There's also a separate streaks hud for customisation.

Another featured item is the new 'Indian Necklace' from May's Soul which comes in either silver or gold. Also from May, but slightly older, are the Dyona circlet and the white fur from the Harvest Moon gacha.

The bracers are and older release from Enfant Terrible (pre-mesh!) and a group gift gown from Junbug. There is a 250L join fee for the Junbug group but it is well worth it if you're a fan of Juno Mantel's creations as the gifts are both very generous and regular!

Another diversion...

I randomly came across dolldivine.com and had so much fun messing around on it, I thought I'd share.

Essentially, it's a simple flash-based game which lets you create and dress a 'doll' from  a range of pre-existing backgrounds, doll components, outfits, and colour selections.

There are umpteen characters you can create, such as a Hogwarts schoolgirl, the concubine of a Chinese emperor, a Game of Thrones character.

Above is my LotR style elf, and after the jump is my Tudor lady.

For each outfit, you have a huge range of variations - choose your undersleeve, oversleeve, kirtle, surcoat, change the colours and so on.

Wouldn't it be amazing if there was a similar mesh clothing system in SL?!

The sands

When the vendor image for this stunning headdress popped up in my flickr feed, it was love at first sight.  I knew I had to have it! Luckily, it wasn't too long to wait, and this stunning collaboration from Eudora and Enfant Terrible is available now from Uber.

There's a close-up photo after the jump, and you should definitely take a look, as the textures are so amazingly detailed. It's priced at 400L, which I think is definitely a fair price for an original mesh creation as beautifully realized as this.

I'm also wearing top from 22769, chestpiece from Storybook, silks from Soedara, jewelry from Aisling, and sandals from Maitreya.

Last days

It's the last days of the year, and the last days of the month... which means the current rounds of many events will be over soon.

Earlier in the month, I grabbed a few pieces from We Love Role-Play, among them this gown from Evie's Closet and the Faunus Crown headdress from Gauze & Trap.

There are lots more amazing things this round that I probably won't get the chance to feature, but do make the effort to get down there before the round finishes on 31 December, to take advantage of the discounts.

The choker I'm wearing is from Sweet Thing at The Arcade, from the Song of Swans collection which has some really nice pieces. It's 50L a play, which is reasonable.

In contrast, I definitely think some of the machines at The Arcade can seem overpriced - specifically some of the ones priced at 100L (nb some, not all! 100L for a quality skin is still a pretty good price).

I noticed a version of the Drift's De Vrouw vest at The Dressing Room Fusion but didn't like the colours available there, so I tp'd to the mainstore and picked up the the 'Wildlife' version instead. It's hud controlled, with 10 colours, and you can change both the fur and belt. For 195L, it seems like pretty good value.

Full disclosure - you can't see from the picture, but as the Evie's Closet gown is quite 'poofy', the Drift vest doesn't fit ideally over the rear. (The vest is perfect with slinkier gowns though, I tried with a bunch.) You can get away with this for a photo, but just in case you were considering buying the items to wear together... try the demos first!

One thing I noticed when trawling through my inventory for this look is that there definitely seems to be a shortage of nice elbow length gloves (why are they all latex?!). 

Most of the detachable sleeves and armwarmers I own seem to be from the same or very similar templates, which is a little dull. The Blogging Elf mentioned a new set from Stitched recently, so I must go and check them out, but...

If any creators are reading this, pretty please make some nice new gloves and armwarmers for us?!

I think it's snowing

I recently stopped by Creation.jp and left with a considerably lightened wallet as there were so many cute things.

This vest or shrug from Gizza was designed as a contemporary item, but inspired me to put together a wintry look for a slave or panther.

Fortunately, snow in SL isn't all that cold, so you can run around with bare chest, tummy and thighs, even if you do inspire shivers in onlookers. Otherwise, you could always just layer it over some warmer clothes.

Also at Creation.jp are some fabulous new windblown hairstyles from Tableau Vivant. This is Harukaze which includes both male and female sizes. The other is Breeze, which you can buy for either male or female avatars.

The socks are actually from last year's Frost fair, by Lapointe & Bastchild. They come with a colourchange hud which allows you to turn the pompoms off, but I just had to leave them on...

Witch in winter

I finally got round to exploring the 30L Midwinter Fair yesterday and I was seriously impressed. There's lots of great shopping there, gachas for 30L a pull, 30L items for sale, and lots of dicsounts.

If that wasn't enough, there's a whole pile of free gifts for you under the tree. I haven't even unwrapped those yet.

I'm wearing a dress (common) and leather top (part of the rare) from May's Soul Derire gacha.  Sleeves are from a slightly older gacha by May - Arcana, which will soon be re-appearing at the mainstore.

The cloak (second and third photos) is from the Junbug gacha. I was lucky enough to get the uncommon black on my first pull. The rare white cloak is gorgeous, but I've given up chasing rares for the sake of my linden balance!

The fair runs until 24 December, so try and take a break from midwinter madness to check it out.

Seafoam

This month's round of Collabor88) is themed 'Snow Day' and one of the featured colours is a beautifully frosty seafoam / aqua tone. I grabbed this shawl from Baiastice and the long mermaid skirt from Fashionably Dead to put together this modest look.

I delved deep into my inventory to add a short dress from u.f.o, top and sleeves from On a Lark, and a flexi skirt from an old FallnAngels outfit.

The hand jewels are an older design from Crystal Line. They're not intended for Slink hands, but with a little tweaking you should get a reasonable fit on at least some of the Slink hand models.  I'm wearing Casual and Elegant hands in the pictures.

Headdress is from Modern Couture, and the beanie hat I'm wearing as a hood comes from a Soedara outfit, tinted to match the shawl.

Finally, if you're super-quick you might still be able to catch the poses on special offer for Lazy Sunday at Ma Vie.

Winter snug

This yummy coat is the current  We Love Role-Play offering from May's Soul.

Frankly, this coat looks so unbelievably snug that I wish had one RL! However, at least in SL, no fluffy animals were harmed to make this coat, which makes it easier for the vegetarians amongst us.

The mittens are a free gift under the tree at the event - just join the update group and help yourself to some awesome goodies.

I'm also wearing my trusty Arachzis horns from The.Plastik and Dyisi boots from Evie's Closet. Neither are new releases, but they're both items I turn to again and again. Does that make them classic?!

Gypsy

If you've been living under an in-world rock, you might not have heard that Truth Hair currently have a massive sale on, until 15 December. Everything at the mainstore is 50%, even the most recent releases. (The exceptions being those styles which are currently exclusive to various events round the grid.) So now is the time to stock up on anything you may have missed!

Also, Leafy skins are back on the grid, and there's another sale. You can pick up a gacha skin for as little as 40L, or 'standard' skins are up to 175L, with big reductions on fatpacks as well. Hopefully this means there will be new skins - and appliers! - soon.

Clothes are from Senzafine, jewelry from Zaara, and the belt is part of an outfit from Evie's Closet.

Free in December

It's the most wonderful time of the year... for gifts in Second Life of course!

Once again, you'll find a series of Advent Calendar gifts at Alice Project. Each day, you'll find a different gift under the tree (there are two gifts, one for group members, and one that anybody can take).  The styles are beautiful, and have a seasonal touch with red and green streaks through the hair.

I picked up a couple of great gifts while on the Peace on Earth hunt. My outfit (gown, hair accessory and armbands) is from Bubblez Style, and skin is from WoW Skins. All the prizes on this hunt are 0L.

Some designers have also put out gifts at Totally Top Shelf - most of these are near the landing point. That's where the wings I'm wearing from, courtesy of Chimeric Fashions.

Other gift locations include the current rounds of We Love Role-Play and The Arcade (I might wear some of these in a future post).

Double trouble

This is my first attempt at a double avatar photo, using some of the tips in this tutorial.  I might try this technique again, it's quite useful for showing off a lot of stuff at once.  Editing the images together is super easy, but I did have to mess around quite a bit in-world.

Anyway, what I'm showing off in this post is my Black Friday haul from The.Plastik,The sale runsuntil 23.59 on Monday, so if you have any linden dollars left, do not miss it.  There's between 30% and 50% off almost all the clothes and accessories, so stock up. Fatpack prices have also been slashed

Also, please note that today is the last day of this round of Enchantment - which also means its the very last day you'll ever be able to get your hands on any of the exclusive prizes.

Miss Miller

Time to get your skates on - there are just four days left for the Rumpelstiltskin round of Enchantment.

In these pictures, I'm wearing both of Dead Dollz's offerings. First is The Miller's Daughter Choker, which is the item for sale.

It includes a stamp card, which you can complete by visiting all the participating stores and tagging the card. Then you can exchange it for any of the prizes in the special prize location. (Full details on the official Enchantment blog.)

This brings us to the Dead Dollz second item - it's the special exclusive Enchantment prize, The Miller's Daughter gown. Isn't it beautiful?

As one of the special prizes, it will only be until the end of November. After this, it will disappear into the ether, never to be seen again.

The fur shrug I'm wearing is from The Annex - it's another special Enchantment item, while my eyes from Adored are another Enchantment prize.

The armwarmers/sleeves are from Junbug, from the Midnight Fae gacha at The Secret Affair. Don't miss this one, because the price for play is set to only 30L for the duration of the event. The prizes include sleeves, wings, and fabulous gowns. This round also ends on 30 November, so don't miss out.

Oh, and a slightly early Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating!

FLF reminder

Super quick post to remind you to take advantage of Fifty Linden Friday before it's too late.

There's another outfit pack and Slink nail appliers from The.Plastik. I'm wearing just one version of the corset, boots, and horns in the pictures, but there is so much more included. A rough count suggests 22 different items, including jewelry, long skirt, and five different styles of the corset. As always, a ridiculous steal for 50L!

Other offers you shouldn't miss -  a smokey-eyed skin from Belleza, and poses from oOo Studio and !bang.

Celestial grace

 The Fantasy Collective has just opened, and this round is inspired by the theme 'Celestial'. The designers have really stepped up to the mark, so expect to leave this round with heavily loaded armfuls of ethereal gowns and accessories.

For me, one of the outfits I simply couldn't miss was Valentina E's 'We are all made of stars'. The outfit consists of a base gown, an overgown, and a crown (crown not shown here). Each of the items is sold separately, so you can decide exactly what you want to spend your lindens on, and how you'll incorporate the pieces into your inventory.