I blogged Damiani’s first skin “Michelle” a while back. Now, KaoZ Koba and Pompeja Rossini have created their second face, “Isabelle.” I think this skin shows some good improvements over its predecessor, while retaining an excellent body.

Quick reminder that these snaps have not been post processed beyond consolidating, cropping and framing.

Like Michelle, Isabelle comes in three tones and this time, the light tone is actually light, which should make fairer tone lovers happy. Isabelle - like Michelle - is still what I consider a more exotic face, so a truly fair skin probably wouldn’t look best.

There are 12 make-ups in each tone, and each is priced at $1500L, which includes 2 skins with different trim options.

In contrast to Michelle, the eyebrows are quite light - but I much prefer them. My biggest issue with the previous skin was the shading on the cheeks - which has been significantly toned down on Isabelle. I think that alone will make this skin more wearable for a broader audience.

I found these skins to be particularly shape dependent with the lips specifically. You may need to tweak your shape to get the lips the way you want them - although for the purposes of this post, I kept my shape unaltered. Cherie Parker shows the perfect lip shape for these skins here.

See more of the make-ups and the body after the jump…
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Annyka Bekkers has just released new makeups for her skin brand, Blowpop. Part of the “Mellie 3 skins,” they’re edgier makeups than the first 3s released - with great eyes and lips. Mellie 3 debuted just weeks ago at Skin Fair and already some new makeups to try.

Reminder: these snaps have not been post-processed, simply cropped and framed.

All these makeups were snapped using the Release Client with Windlight technology, which for me, tends to make all my skins look a shade lighter than non-Windlight viewers. There are some skins I much prefer in Windlight, and this is one of them. I don’t know if Annyka worked on them in Windlight - but they seem to be optimized for the more realistic lighting you get using that client.

Mellie 3 Seether in Caramel tone

For me, this third generation skin has great improvements over the earlier generation (which is still for sale half off at the Talisman location). The biggest issue for me with the earlier skins had been the eyebrows - even being mod, they were still tricky for me to get right and I much prefer not to have to mess with sliders if I can help it. With the Mellie 3s, there are now 2 options in “trim” - brown and black - and overall, the look is just much more everyday usable for me. I did create a bald especially for the Mellie 3 skins, which you may want to try as well.

Mellie 3 Screamer in Caramel tone

With each makeup that you purchase for $1250L you get 8 options with different black/brown trim for eyebrows and lady bits, plus freckled versions, which are very natural looking freckles sprinkled around your face and shoulders. All the makeups I am showing here are in the Caramel tone (my favorite) and all with the subtle freckles, which I notice are quite hard to see in the Release Client. But they’re there, and very nice.

The other makeups after the jump…
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Over the last week, I’ve talked skins several times - Damiani, Gala and then Skin Fair more broadly. Today, I thought I would let the skins be the inspiration for several different looks. It’s taken me a few days to put this together because I haven’t had much time in SL lately…hopefully, I’ll catch up with my shopping lists soon!

Starting with the new La Sylphide skin from Stephanie Misfit, Ingrid. I’ve made no secret about how much I am really enjoying Steph’s work - and Ingrid is another beautifully distinctive face that I was drawn to instantly. Plus, these are available in my preferred light tones - and they’re lovely. They inspired a couple pictures on my Flickr before Skin Fair, and now, they’ve inspired a spring ensemble made up mostly of new items from Elephant Outfitters at Armidi.

My favorite piece of the ensemble I am wearing is probably the vest. Until now, I have been mostly enjoying Armidi hair and shoes, but the new releases at Elephant Outfitters are very much up my alley in terms of clothing. I love the simplicity of a piece that doesn’t need prims to be special. I know I may be a dying breed, but I still prefer a crisp and finished texture that can stand alone, and all the new items from EO do just that. My tank is new from Larue Laval at LaLa Foo Foo. I am always saying “why doesn’t anyone make basic colored tanks I can layer with????” Thankfully, there are plenty to be had here. My hair is “AnaLu” from Truth, a little wild and definitely beautiful.

My shoes are the new “Verve” heels from Maitreya. I don’t know what I can say that hasn’t been said about Onyx’s shoes before…but for me, these are my favorites of her releases - not because the texturing is perfect (it is), and not because they come in usable colors for every outfit (they do), but because they literally hug your foot from every angle. I am guessing that is pretty hard to do - and these are literally flawless in that regard.

See Fleur, Wax Poetic, and Chai mixes, plus full credits after the jump…
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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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