As Skin Fair approaches (beginning today at 1:00 with a skin show), we’ve begun to see even more new skins all over the grid - both from current skinners refreshing their inventories, as well as new entrants. One of those new entrants for female avatars (male skins have been available for some time), is the Michelle skin from Damiani. The new main shop is now open.

SLMen’s Ben Vanguard introduced me to KaoZ Koba, one of the creators behind the brand. His partner is Pompeja Rossini, who is largely responsible for the make-ups on the Michelle skins. She is also a makeup artist offline.

First a reminder that I do not post process skins snapshots beyond cropping, framing and consolidating.

Tones

There are three tones: Sophisticated, Fair, and Tan. The “Fair” tone is actually quite dark when compared to fair tones of other skins, so the “Sophisticated” tone is actually the lightest. A benefit to the Michelle skins is that all are modifiable in terms of tone and lips. However, I have found that using the sliders for tone changes doesn’t always produce the desired result. Your mileage may vary, so experiment a little. For the purposes of this post, I have not altered any of the tones or lips.

Makeups

There are currently 6 main makeups and for each skin you purchase, you receive two variations in lip color. So in fact, there are 12 total variations for each tone. In general, I liked some of the makeups a lot more than the others. Some were not options I would wear often or at all - but of course, that’s subjective. Many are what I would describe as exotic - both in specifics and overall look. My favorites were the Emerald make-ups (Oasis and Ruby lips), which have subtle glitter eyeshadow, bold lined eyes, and neutral lips, and the Smokey Eyes, which are quite dramatic night time looks. All the makeups are shown here in the Sophisticated tone.

Face Detail

• There is fairly heavy highlighting around the cheekbones that will either suit your shape or not. I generally prefer a much lighter touch in this area, but obviously your shape will dictate how the detail plays out. I think it’s probably suited to avatars who are really playing up their cheekbones - while mine are much less pronounced.
• The eyebrows are somewhat heavily drawn and are perhaps the strongest feature on the face. They are currently no mod (color), but this may change in the future I am told. I did create a bald especially for this skin, which you may need to do as well.
• I really like the lips and for me, they’re one of the best features on the skin from top to bottom. Even if your avatar’s lips are on the thin side (as mine are), the lips still look great. I think most people will be really pleased with that aspect specifically.

More makeups and the body after the jump…
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