I don’t know about you, but I’m finding it harder and harder to spend any real time in SL doing the things I love due to grid performance. It’s incredibly frustrating to have to log-in on off hours (like 3:00 a.m.?) just to be able to attach my hair, TP, have a store rez fully and receive purchases >.< Until now it’s never been a huge deal to me - but lately, it just makes me cranky.

However, I finally was able to mess around with two contrasting looks on Sunday. One casual and one a bit more smart. I suspect I’ll still be wearing this first one for a few days given that it’s what I logged out wearing…and who knows when SL will let me change it. Not that it matters since I’m fond of it.

Yep, Gillian in blonde hair. I used to wear blonde in SL all the time but since I have very dark hair in RL, I eventually switched to dark here too. However, I wanted to try the new MMS hair textures and blonde just looked better with this hair I thought.

It’s my turn for a late rave about the “Venus” sandals from HUB…they’re completely awesome and I love them. I’m also totally loving the new “Kamoana Shell” sets from Earthtones.

The flip side of the coin after the jump…
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I seem to be doing quite a few skin posts lately, but there are great new ones to talk about. Not the least of which are new make-ups from Annyka Bekkers and her Mellie 3 skins at Blowpop. Did you know that Annyka also won “Best New Skin Designer” from Second Style Magazine? This was the first “Second Stylies,” recognizing exceptional contributions from content creators in a host of categories. It was a lot of fun putting together and I hope it’s a tradition that we’ll continue next year. Congrats, Annyka!

So there are two new packs out at Blowpop - 4 just released make-ups with unbelievably dramatic eyes and 4 “Black Mamba” make-ups with deep, smoky eyes. You get great options with each make-up purchase (brown/black eyebrows, freckled versions and optional trim on the underwear layer) but even better pricing than before. The new price for each single is $950L, with packs of 4 makeups for only $2850L. That’s quite a discount and well worth it.

My favorites are the colorful eyes (my top pick “Midori” is shown above) - although honestly, all the make-ups are unique and it was hard to choose a favorite.

For the Black Mamba pack released, there are four choices in make-ups - ranging from light lips to a bolder red. Below are 2 make-ups in the freckled versions. All my snaps are in the Cream tone (no post processing - just consolidating, cropping and framing).

See the rest after the jump…
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You know that fair girl that burns before tanning? The one with the freckled nose? The one with the sensitive skin?

In SL too, I most often wear fair skins because I personally find them the most beautiful for my AV and a truer reflection of my real self. Of course, many of my friends often sport the tanned look, which suits them, but I regularly gravitate to the fairer tones if possible.

In this case, I’m talking about the Gen 4 Fair tone from Minnu Model Skins, which like the other darker tones, contains a wide-variety of make-up choices for a range of different looks. It’s by far my favorite MMs release to date…as I know it is for so many.

For this post, I’ve let the make-ups in the tone guide my clothing choices…and they took me in and out of my inventory for several hours. I’m impressed by the range of looks you can get with just one tone - or even just one skin, since each comes with 2 different eyebrows AND freckled versions.

I do have favorites though…make-ups #3 and #4 (shown here) are definitely 2 of my top picks.

Continues (with a few sneak peeks)…
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I recently posted about a new skin at Damiani by KaoZ Koba and Pompeja Rossini called “Isabelle.” Now, after only a couple weeks on the market, they’re already expanding the make-up options. With the new make-up additions, they’re packaging two make-ups for the price of one in every singles pack.

As a quick reminder, there are three tones sold - and shown here are the 12 new make-ups in the the lightest available tone. Anddddd another reminder that I don’t post-process skin snapshots beyond consolidating, cropping and framing.

My favorites include the aqua eyeshadows (2 on the left), which are very pretty and soft. I’m not a huge fan of the wilder eyes or lips, but I do think they would have a place for more artistic looks perhaps.

see the rest after the jump…
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