Copyright © Lashae Karsin ღ
Design by Dzignine
Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Teagan in Summer Chiffon

I could hardly believe my eyes when I was reading my good friend Tapika Tomsen’s blog yesterday. Seriously? A Grixdale skin set for only L$400? Surely I couldn’t have read that correctly! So, I rushed over to Grixdale and very happily found the soon to be retired Teagan skin for only L$400 per skin tone. I had never purchased a Grixdale skin before; so, I picked up the demo and rushed to my studio to try and find my perfect tone! The tone I chose was titled Latte in the demo package, but the corresponding tone on the display is labeled Honey. Whichever… it is beautiful!

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Before I get too carried away talking about this gorgeous skin set, I want to point out what I’m wearing. After blogging Izzie’s poses a couple days ago, I headed over to the shop to see what else the designer had to offer. I was honestly expecting Izzie’s to be a pose shop, but to my pleasant surprise she also offers apparel and quite a few other things as well! The adorable summer dress I am wearing is a recently released design titled Chiffon Summer Dress (blue). I feel as though I should be walking a boardwalk by the beach when I wear this dress, and trust me, I wish I was right there in real life! The dress features two top designs in every layer possible for your various styling needs, two sculpted skirts (one with resize scripts and one without) and an alpha layer to hide your hips beneath the sculpt. And, just between the two of us, I was playing around with the skirt and discovered that the dress is tintable! Let your creativity run wild! Five color choices are available for purchase at L$200 each; I’m honestly not sure if the blue or the green is my favorite. I really love brown and green together, and the dress just screams tropical retreat to me! The gorgeous pearl set I’m wearing is also by Izzie’s (She’s just so talented!) and is available in five color combinations to match the Chiffon dresses at L$120 per set; both the necklace and the bracelet are included in the set. If you have never seen this designer, her store is a definite must stop destination on your next shopping spree!

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Now, back to this luscious skin! By now you should all know that I am rather picky about what I choose to cover my ava with. I like realism but also artistry. Sometimes, it is a tad difficult to find the right combination in Second Life. I do believe that Grixdale has found a very happy mesh between the two. There is most definitely realism in the face, collar bones, back… actually, the entire body of the skin, but there is still that element of a drawn look, and I absolutely love it! None of us can be perfect in real life, but with the right skin, we can get pretty close in Second Life! The skin comes with eight delectable makeup choices in five skin tones. But, a mere eight skins are not all that is included in your purchase but an amazing sixty-four instead! With each makeup, options are included for brown color (brown or blonde), cleavage and dimples. All of the skins below are being worn with the brown brow, no dimples and no cleavage. I don’t know what it is about dimples in SL, but I’m just not into it. Also, two hair bases, two brow shapes and three body shapes are included in the package. As mentioned before, this set is being sold for only L$400 per skin tone. Honestly, it’s a steal!

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As always, the photos displaying the makeup choices have not been edited except for cropping and an added border. This is to give you an accurate depiction of what the skin will look like in Second Life.


Credits
Clothing: *Chiffon Summer Dress in Blue by Izzie’s NEW
Jewelry: *Pearl Jewelry Set in Blue by Izzie’s NEW
Shoes: Montsegur Pumps in Navy by {mon tissu}
Hair: Leah in Brown 08 by [elikatira] NEW
Skin: Teagan in Honey by Grixdale
Pose: Model 157 by Glitterati

* Denotes item provided by designer for review.
Monday, May 30, 2011

Maia in Lace

I was so super excited when I saw the new shoes from Purrfect 10. They are most definitely a mesh of sexy and elegant. I don’t typically look through all the notecards I get about new releases every day simply because of the sheer quantity of them, but I’m really glad that I looked at the notice from Siss Boom. Stormy Weather was the perfect outfit for these shoes!

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Stormy Weather is indeed a simple outfit, but what it lacks in ‘parts’ it more than makes up for in texture and design! The ripped top is completely sexy, and if you are a more conservative lady, you can very easily add an undershirt to hide the necessities! I am more conservative myself which is why I chose sideways poses; I’m wearing this right now in Second Life with an adorable red undershirt (it matches my lips hehe), and it still looks very sexy! You get three different versions of the top all of which are black with different colored ‘sparkles.’ Of course, you can never go wrong with an extra pair of beautifully textured leggings. At L$100, this outfit is a steal. Grab it before the price jumps up!

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The Maia Lace Heels are probably my favorite Purrfect 10 shoe to date. There is so much detail included in the lace; they are absolutely beautiful. As with any other shoe from Purrfect 10, Maia includes options for skin color, color sync (which is really nice if you have multiple pairs of their shoes!), walk, size and sound. A feature of the full priced shoes that I absolutely LOVE is the ability to turn them black. But, not only can you turn the complete shoe black, but you can pick and choose which parts to turn! There are so many options in that one purchase! The ‘normal’ color is always listed as the primary, and black is always the secondary. So, what if you purchase the black shoe? The black shoe’s secondary color is always white or silver. Ten scrumptious colors are available for the Maia Lace Heels at L$690 each or L$5,500 for the 10 Pack.

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Purrfect 10 has also released new gifts for both the VIP Group and the regular update group. To become a VIP group member requires a onetime fee of L$510, but for at least ten free pairs of shoes every year, it is so worth it! The Amara Heels in Snakeskin is the gift available to the VIP group and the Serenity Heels in Ocean (LOVE the colors!) is available to both groups. Hurry and grab them!

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Just a side note… I have joined 2ndHub.com, and if anyone else has an account there, please feel free to friend request me! If you aren’t familiar with the site, it’s like Facebook for Second Life. Lol Just what I need… Another social media site to keep up with!


Credits
Clothing: Stormy Weather by Siss Boom
Shoes: [1, 2 & 3] *Maia Lace Heels in Black, [4] *Amara Heels in Snakeskin (VIP Group Gift) and [5] *Serenity Heels in Ocean (Group Gift) by Purrfect 10
Hair: Bethany in Mocha by TRUTH
Skin: *May [Dark] Blackbird 2 (Sundust) by Curio
Tattoo Layers: May Bonus Makeup 1, 2 & 3 by Curio (Group Gift)
Environment: Lockdown by Glitterati
Poses: [1] *Pin-Up 09 by Izzie’s, [2] *Pin-Up 02 by Izzie’s and [3, 4 & 5] Lockdown by Gliteratti


* Denotes item provided by designer for review.
Sunday, May 29, 2011

Taste of Second Life: Memorial Day

Memorial Day kicks off the unofficial start of summer in the United States, but more importantly, it is the day which we have set aside to remember and honor those military men and women who have fought and died for our freedom. Taste of Second Life is celebrating Memorial Day by giving us fabulous products at bargain prices! The three designers I am featuring include INDI Designs, Izzie’s and Magnifique Poses.

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For TOSL, INDI Designs has set out a set of three retro bikinis. I absolutely love the design of these! The top and bottom include enough material to cover more than just the essentials, and the textures are fabulous. A red, blue and cyan bikini are included with the purchase for L$150, making it only L$50 per bikini! The red bikini features adorable dots, the blue bikini features vertical stripes and the cyan bikini features horizontal stripes.

As a blogger, I believe that it is absolutely essential to have a lot of poses, but then again maybe I’m just using that as an excuse to continuously expand my collection of the thousands that I already have. Poses are definitely one of my favorite things to ‘collect’ in Second Life, maybe even more so than hair, shoes and skin! Blasphemy… I know. Lol Izzie’s Pin Up (left) and Magnifique Poses’ Salute! (right) are perfect additions to my pose stuffed inventory. The Pin Up collection includes twelve poses for L$120, and the Salute! collection includes five poses for L$50. Either way, you cannot go wrong!

For a full listing of designers participating in Taste of Second Life, please visit the official blog.


Credits
Bikini: Retro by INDI Designs
Hair: Lucia in Mocha by TRUTH
Skin: *May [Dark] Blackbird 2 (Sundust) by Curio
Poses: [1] *Pin Up by Izzie’s and [2] *Salute! by Magnifique Poses

* Denotes item provided by designer for review.
Saturday, May 28, 2011

My Shopping Bag

I’m so happy that summer is almost here! Not only will summer bring warmer weather (hopefully!!), but I will also be able to blog more often! Yay! There is a new discount shop on the grid; I know there have been so many pop up the past few months, but honestly… can we really complain? Who doesn’t want awesome products for rock bottom prices? I’m all about saving money in real life as well as in Second Life.

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One of the designers featured at My Shopping Bag is Essences skin. I honestly love trying skins from different designers; there is so much variety in Second Life that there is absolutely no excuse for your ava to have the same old look every day! Especially with these discount prices! Essences' contribution to the collection includes a very pretty skin titled Sarah. This skin features a lighter tone with a brownish/organish eye shadow and to die for pink lips! I really, really, really love the lips on Sarah; they are so luscious and juicy! The highlighting and shading is very pretty and appropriately placed throughout the body. For only, L$70, can you really pass this up? I think not! Hurry though… I’m not sure how long this collection will last at My Shopping Bag!

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-- Note -- The top photo contains lighting adjustments made in photo editing software while the bottom photo has only been cropped with an added border to allow you to see a true representation of how the skin looks in Second Life.


Credits
Clothing: Chalk Dress in Scarlet by Tee*fy
Hair: Theory in Brown 08 by [elikatira]
Skin: *Sarah by Essences @ My Shopping Bag
Pose: [1] Model 140 by Gliteratti
Background by indigodeep

* Denotes item provided by designer for review.
Monday, May 16, 2011

The Secret Store @ Culture Shock

I have to say that I absolutely love the classy new outfit The Secret Store has out for Culture Shock. I’m rather conservative in real life, and I think that part of my personality definitely shines through in Second Life as well. The vintage texture of this two piece outfit is extremely adorable. The prim pieces are extremely well made and blend beautifully; I especially love the flower attachment for the jacket! The Popsicle dress is available in five options for L$200 each; the Eglantine jacket is available in three options for L$189 each.

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Credit
Clothing: [Dress] *Popsicle in Floral and [Jacket] *Eglantine in Floral by The Secret Store @ Culture Shock
Hair: Rhythm in Brown 08 by [elikatira]
Skin: *May [Dark] Hydrangea 2 (Sundust) by Curio
Pose: *Model 436 by EverGlow

* Denotes item provided by designer for review.
Sunday, May 15, 2011

P10 @ 2011 Shoe Fair

One thing that I definitely own a lot of in Second Life is shoes! And, of course, I can never say no to a new pair that is exquisitely crafted. Purrfect 10 has most definitely established itself as one of the top prim shoe designers; the sculpts are beautiful and the textures are amazing. Purrfect 10 is participating in Lazy Sunday this weekend as well as the 2011 Shoe Fair. For Lazy Sunday, Purrfect 10 has set out a new version of the Serenity heels titled Venom; these shoes feature a fantastic shade of purple with a snake skin pattern. For only L$75, you would be crazy to not pick these up! They will disappear at midnight SLT; so, go get them quickly!

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As a special for the 2011 Shoe Fair, Purrfect 10 has placed three colors of the Florence Heels at 25% off normal price. These shoes feature all of the options of a regular priced pair of shoes from P10, including the option to turn the shoes black. Color options include Chocolate/Brass, Silver/Gold and Silver/Salmon, all placed at L$517 each. To help with coloring the prim foot to match your skin tone, Purrfect 10 now has a skin toner available absolutely free of charge. Pick yours up at their main store location or in their 2011 Shoe Fair store!

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Credits
Shoes: [1] *Serenity Heels in Venom @ Purrfect 10 Main Store and [2-4] *Florence Heels @ Purrfect 10 2011 Shoe Fair Location
Skin: *May [Dark] Pure 2 (Sundust) by Curio @ 2011 Skin and Shape Expo
Pose: Model 12 by Glitterati

* Denotes item provided by designer for review.
Saturday, May 14, 2011

May

I can officially say that I am totally in love with the new Curio skin featured at the 2011 Skin and Shape Expo. I did my review pictures for this skin a bit different than typical. First of all, all the pictures are HUGE so you can see more detail. Secondly, I wore different skin tones! Haha So, you get to see more than just Sundust now.

I absolutely love how natural five out of the six makeup choices look for the May skin. The sixth more dramatic look is beautiful as well; it is just not a makeup I would wear in my every Second Life day. Each skin is available in individual makeup choices for L$1500 or in the megapack for $3000 (highly recommended). In the megapack, you will receive all twelve makeup options in all skin tones with choices between dark tone, light tone and freckles. It truly is an amazing value. There is also a special version of May being offered at the 2011 Skin and Shape Expo that is exclusively for charity; the eye shadow is a very beautiful blue tone.


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When I went to crop my photos, I noticed something I had never seen on a Curio skin before. On one of the Moonbeam makeup choices, I noticed that part of the makeup was missing on the side of my avatar’s face. When I looked closer, I saw the same vanished makeup on all of my pictures and was a bit puzzled by it. I didn’t think that Gala Phoenix had forgotten to draw half the face; so, I went on a hunch and rotated my studio so that the sun was at my avatar’s back. Problem solved! I knew about the increased sun exposure that prim pieces would pick up, but I had never noticed it on my avatar’s skin or clothing layers. Needless to say, I completely retook every picture; I couldn’t go with half my face missing!

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Credits
Skin: *May by Curio @ 2011 Skin and Shape Expo
Lashes: Lash Set 3 by Apple May Designs
Hair: Details in Black 04 by [elikatira]
Background by indigodeep

* Denotes item provided by designer for review.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Split Peas

One of my favorite things about Second Life when I first joined was wearing big, poofy dresses every day! You just can’t do that in real life unless you are a princess, and I certainly am no Kate! Lemania Indigo Designs was my one stop shop for all things poofy, and although she does make many other beautiful types of clothing, her poofy pieces are still my favorite.

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Split Peas is the latest piece to be added to Lemania Indigo’s poofy collection. I absolutely love the colors in this gown; beautiful greens, browns and golds are swirled throughout the dress. I really love the texturing on the back of the bodice; the ‘wrinkles’ gives the texture the look of a real fabric; the highlights and shadows are simply beautiful. As with all other Lemania dresses, the skirt moves beautifully; it is definitely perfect for any dancing event you may be attending. At only L$100, you cannot miss this!

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Here is a sneak peak of the new skin line from Curio that I will be posting hopefully tomorrow. May has very natural makeup choices which I absolutely LOVE! Yes, I do like more dramatic looks at times, but for my everyday wear in Second Life, I like to look as natural as possible. I don’t believe there is any Curio skin that I don’t like, and I get so excited when a new design finds its way to my inventory! This skin can be purchased at the 2011 Skin and Shape Expo.


Credits
Clothing: *Split Peas by Lemania Indigo Designs
Hair: Here in Brown 04 by [elikatira]
Skin: Hydrangea 1 [Dark] May (Sundust) by Curio @ 2011 Skin and Shape Expo
Poses: [1] *Coy Honey 02 and [2] *Coy Honey 03 by Reasonable Poses
Background by indigodeep

* Denotes item provided by designer for review.
Sunday, May 8, 2011

The Party Dress

I would like to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all of the wonderful mothers today, and most of all, I would like to with a Happy Mother’s Day to my real life mother. She is such an amazing person; I truly do not know where I would be without her.

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The new design that I am wearing today is by an amazing friend and a wonderful mother. Lestat Reuven has once again moved her store since the last time I featured a design by her, and I would have to say that the new build is most likely my favorite to date. The buildings are of course beautiful, and I absolutely love the color of the sky. My picture was taken in the Redgrave windlight with nothing extra special done; the sky is courtesy of the wonderful sky dome type structure that Lestat has put around the island. The lighter green color goes so beautifully with the dark greens of the land and the dark browns of the buildings.

The Party Dress is a perfect short dress for all of the spring and soon to be summer events that I am sure you have been attending. I absolutely love the way the skirt moves; it’s very smoothly and a bit slowly (which I love!). There are eight color variations for the top of the dress, each available for L$370.


Credits
Clothing: *The Party Dress in Iris by Siss Boom
Jewelry: Marquessa Diamond Bracelet by EarthStones (Group Gift)
Shoes: Montsegur Pumps in White by {mon tissue}
Hair: Novel in Brown 08 by elikatira
Skin: Elf 2 [Dark] Sprite 2 (Sundust) by Curio
Pose by Glitterati

* Denotes item provided by designer for review.
Monday, May 2, 2011

I Always Come Back ♥

Heaven help me! I have sat down to write this post a good billion times in the past three weeks, and without fail something comes up or goes wrong and it never gets completed. My latest problem is that my Second Life viewer refuses to open. :| After the latest update, I get to the “Initializing VFS” box and then the viewer completely crashes. I have tried manually deleting my cache, completely deleting everything related to Second Life from my computer and reinstalling, and even contacting tech support. I cannot believe they actually had the audacity to tell me that since I’m not a premium member, they could not help me. Excuse me, but I spend a crap load of money on this ‘game’ even though I wasn’t a premium member. I did upgrade my membership in the hope that they would help me, but I’m not holding my breath. If anyone has any words of wisdom for my problem, I would gladly accept them. =)

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On to fashion! I really love this outfit from SE*Designz even though by now I’m sure that they have something much newer out. I love the simple feeling it gives me; the feeling of freedom… to be able to run barefoot across soft spring grass! Before I took my very short hiatus, I saw a lot of the folded shirts on the fashion feeds. I absolutely love the look; it’s so roomy and pretty at the same time! The textures included in the skirt are very soft as well; this is definitely a perfect match! Both the Nested Neckholder Top and the Denim Skirt can be found at SE*Designz for L$125 each.

Although the top is very beautiful in itself, I personally found it to be a bit too low cut for my tastes. So, what was my solution? Exactly the same thing that I would do in real life! I took advantage of the layering abilities of V2 and put on the Intrinsic Tank in cream by JANE which are absolutely FREE!  You really cannot pass these up!

I am really glad that I was able to cover Fashion for Life last March; while serving an amazing cause, it also exposed me to many new to me designers. One of those designers is the very talented Zaara who specializes in Indian clothing and accessories. I absolutely fell in love with her jewelry pieces; they are all very bold and full of color. I picked up the Indra painted stacked bangles while I was at the fair and then paid a visit to the store where I picked up the Karmuka necklace (colored) to add a little flavor to my simple outfit. This is most definitely a designer I will be keeping my eye on!


Credits
Clothing: [Shirt] *Nested Neckholder Top in Broze by SE*Designz, [Undershirt] *Intrinsic Tank in Cream by JANE and [Skirt] *Denim Skirt by SE*Designz
Jewelry: [Bangles] Indra and [Necklace] Karmuka (Colored) by Zaara
Hair: Breath in Brown 08 by [elikatira]
Skin: *Jealous 1 [Dark] Sweetheart (Sundust) by Curio
Pose: Model 50 by Glitterati

* Denotes item provided by designer for review.