Poison Ivy...You can look but you better not touch

So I've got that Halloween buzz already which is making me anxious to start dressing up. Originally this post was intended for my plurky blogger challenge, which was supposed to showcase only my hair shoes and skin, but wouldn't you know it I found some lingerie I simply couldn't resist posting. The lingerie is from Luxuria and is part of the latest release from  Roslin Petion, of 5th and Oxford. As soon as I saw it I knew it would be the perfect compliment to these roses that wrapped around my body. I decided to go for a villainess look and do my take on Poison Ivy.



The Look- Poison Ivy
*Hair- LAMB! , Lamb Bellic- Sick Muse- Blood Fruit- 75L Christmas Special 2009
*Skin- Gala Skins- Gala Phoenix, Moonbeam (Dark) Elf- Christmas Group Gift From 2009
Shadow Liner- L Fauna, Launa Fauna- Shadow Edge- 2.0 Tattoo Layer
Lingerie- Luxuria, Roslin Petion- Belinda- Turquoise
Shoes-Bax Boots, Bax Coen-Black Leather
Roses- AtomicBambi, AtomicSparkle Skytower- Body Vine- Rapture (Ruby)
*Freebie Items or Discounted 

Blue on Black

I've been playing in 2.0 viewer today. I wanted to give it a fair shot since I'm so hooked on the Phoenix viewer. I'm still not a fan of this viewer (2.0). I have problems when using my space navigator. Currently it runs into a problem where the move or fly cam won't work properly. Also I don't have those cool shadows that most people get to play with. I sure hope Second Life is able to provide shadows for Macs soon and that they fix the 2.0 space navigation problem. Ok enough of my mini rant.



Really what i'm digging about this whole look is the hair it's from Amacci, Carina Larsen dropped of some new styles on me, released September 19th. My current Favorite out of the bunch is Doris. Doris really shows the growth that Carina has had in her hair styles and textures. The edges are beautifully done giving symmetry and fullness as well as bringing a softness to this hair. I choose the color Midnight Blue because the dark blue highlights totally brought a glow and made my eyes look pretty.  In all Amacci is growing in style and with every new release Carina is improving her skill.


The Look-Blue on Black
*Hair-Amacci-Carina Larsen- Doris-Midnight Blue
*Eyes-  Exodi- Ryker Beck-Zbilja- Deep
*Skin-Glam Affair- Aida Ewing-Leona Skin-Dressing Room Special
Dress- Nylon Outfitters- Nylon Pinkney-Goldfish Dress
Necklace-Addict- Treasured Peacock Necklace
*Earrings- Turnstyle- Kingston Augustus- Sand Dollar Earrings- SLDD Item

*Blogger Gift or Special Discounted item.

One Of the Boys....

I can't remember who plurked it first, but one of my fellow plurkies asked the question, " have you ever changed your shape from male to female to see what would happen?" This kinda stuck in my mind for a couple of days and finally I clicked. What I discovered was pretty funny.  I altered my shape a bit and finally came up with a look that i found acceptable for blogging.

This weekend the, "Make Him Over" hunt launched and outfits and skins from top designers of SL placed freebies across their stores. Here are some of the items from the hunt and my boy shape. I plan on trying to add more male items to the blog in the future. This is just a first attempt for the blog. Please feel free to comment and offer suggestions on how to improve upon my manly shape.




The Look- One of the Boys
Hair-Aden, Aden Breyer-Edie- Brown
*Skin-Unique Megastore, Nany Merlin, Apolo M2 caminho barba queixo- hunt# 21
*Eyes-: Exodi- Ryker Beck- Tetra Eyes - Naturals Leaves
*Sweater/Hoodie-*FIR & MNA, Rob1977 Moonites, Hartford Hoodie-hunt #5
Jeans- friday, Low.Rise Jeans (Midnight)
*Pumpkin-!BANG- Trieste Minuet-Hold this pumpkin-Pose 6 male

*Blogger review item or freebie gift.

Plurky Blogger Challenge Quattro (4), The Background

This weeks Plurky Blogger Challenge is all about the background. I decided to show my favorite place in SL to take photos. Yep, My home.



Here is a front shot of my home. It's design is from Aya Liotta of Adobe. This home is one that was given to me as a review item before I left for my vacation this summer. As soon as I rezzed Niko, I knew it would be perfect for my Fall home. Yes, I tend to change homes as the seasons change through the year. Niko home has a total of three rooms and two patio areas. It's only 217 prims which left me with plenty of space to decorate for all the holidays that are approaching. I'm already working on my Halloween decorating.



Now, I really enjoy using my home as a photo spot because I feel it's really reflective of my style. I'm also lazy when it comes to exploring at times. I often change my home to match a photo that I'm working on, adding different props and in some cases rezzing special rooms. My backyard area is where I take most of my photos. Here is where I have the most space. I also have a giant photosphere that frankie referres to it as the UFO. The photosphere is where I get all my basic, plain Jane background shot in. I also rezz a prim and incorporate textures from Distressed textures for a little more pop to basic backgrounds. Currently I'm enjoying using the white room set.



Finally, The plurky blogger challenge bonus included the color orange. I felt that I had worn so much orange so far this season so I decided to tone down the amount I was sporting during this last shot. I'm only highlighting the color orange rather than having it cover me from head to toe. :D I hope you enjoyed my background post for the plurky blogger challenge.

*No Credits due to illness in RL. LM included for review Items.

"Wacky and Wild" Plurky Blogger Challenge Tre, (3)

I'm a bit late on this weeks Plurky Blogger challenge. All I can say is better late than never. This weeks Challenge is Wacky and Wild. I'm not sure how wacky or wild this look is, but I gave it my best effort without losing my personal style. I'm going to try to keep this a short post and only talk about a few things instead of giving a history like I have in other Plurky Bloger Challenges.



So when this challenge came up I was stumped. I mean, what exactly is Wacky and Wild? I tested out items from my inventory that I thought were interesting until I stumbled across this hair from Piddle. I believe this was a halloween freebie from last year. I never had the occasion to wear it because it seemed so festive and completly out of my character. I knew this would be my starting point for the Wacky aspect. I really wanted to try and steer clear from resembling a Halloween look, but with this hair it would have been hard to manage. I tried other colors, but all had my avatar resembling a giant pumpkin. With Halloween a few weeks away I gave in and matched with white and black.



When it came down to the Wild aspect I wanted to bring in a little animal flavor. Artilleri's "Ah, Bella! Zebra" shirt totally came in handy when bringing this in. Now for the rest of the look. I paired Paper Couture's jacket layer from the Utters dress and Kyoot's Loathed high waisted mini skirt to complete the bottom part of my dress. The jacket layer wraps around the torso and resemble suspenders which gives this mini skirt a unique top. Paired with Maryeta's Gold Shanti and my Wacky and Wild look was complete. rrrarrw! or whatever animal noises Zebras make.

Photo Credits:
*Hair- Piddle- Balloon Hair- Orange- Oct 2009
*Skin-PXL, Hart Larsson- Dafne SK Twiggy Makeup MEB
*Full Body Freckles
Shirt-Artilleri- Anotnia Mart- Ah, Bella!- Zebra
Layer suspenders-PC-Utters-Backwards Overall Top
Skirt-Kyoot Loathed High-Waisted Mini
Shoes-Maitreya Gold- Shanti- Black
Bracelet- W&B Ribbons and Pearls Bracelet Plastic Pink

*Freebie or Blogger Item given

"Falling" with Sn@tch

I have to admit I was overwhelmed when I received  Ivey Deschanel's Blogger pack from Sn@tch, it had so many goodies. I went through the box slowly trying to pull together outfits that were perfect for the fall season. Here are my favorite three.

 

*Hair- Curio, Rita Groshomme- Lovely, Dark Brown- Hair fair Freebie 2010
*Accessory-Clawtooth- A place to call home (birds) Valentine Sweets- Hair Fair Freebie 2010
Skin-Le Lutka, Minnu Palen, Lola, MM, Sunkissed, 50L Friday
*Pose- Bang!, TM, Airplane2
Shoes-Bb Pirate Boots Tabacco
*Sn@tch Goodies, Ivey Deschanel
Pray for Rain, Ribbed Dress Top, Green
Traumatic Finish-Velvet Button down, Brown
Classic Trousers- Black

Sn@tch is not a new store to me. I have Ivey on my plurk and I have shopped at her store during the holiday season for gifts.  I will say that I have always been a bit intimidated by her designs. Sn@tch is a little more edgy than what I would typically wear. Plunging necklines, Gothic wings and horns all kept me at bay when it came down to shopping. I can tell you this, I was totally wrong! Sn@tch not only has great designs, but they can be versatile as well. When I mixed and matched outfits I soon began to realize this.



Hair-Lamb, Lamb Bellic- Heart- Snickers
*Skin-Dutch Touch, Ikil Ikarus- JoSeje-VIP only preview skin
Necklace-Addict-Treasured Peacock
Undershirt-Armidi-Signature tank- Light Pink
*Sn@tch Goodies, Ivey Deschanel
Hotshot-Gold

Now, I want to get into the heart of the review and mention some problem areas I had with Sn@tch designs. Although they are wonderful, to me some outfits highlight more cleavage than I'm comfortable showing at times. I know you're thinking, "Bells, don't you show a little boob now and then." The answer is Yes I do, but ideally for this dress I would have loved to see an undershirt; perhaps something sheer like lace. Some outfits fell mid thigh on me which became great when pairing with pants as a shirt, but when attempting to wear as dress I felt I showed a bit too much. I'm in no way attempting to discredit or bring any negativity to Ivey or Sn@tch, but am only stating the challenges I faced when trying to bring in my personal taste and style on the Sn@tch brand.



Hair-Lamb, Lamb Bellic-Witch-Snickers
*Skin-Dutch Touch, Ikil Ikarus- Yui Carmel- Group Gift
Scarf-Zarra, Zarra Kohime- Kashmiri sozani work shawl-Peach
*Sn@tch Goodies, Ivey Deschanel
Top- Precious Cargo Sweater- White
Pants- Community College Capris-Brown

Finally my favorite out of all three (Shown Above). The Precious Cargo Sweater is sheer and somewhat naughty which I love. It match perfectly with the Community College Capris. These two pieces can become staples in anyone's wardrobe because of the great layering options available. In all Sn@tch is a store that I will continue to watch. Expect more appearances from this brand on my blog that's for sure. With my favorite holiday approaching I know just I'm going bring out the Demonic Influence that Sn@tch has to offer. One last thing to mention Sn@tch is a very generous store in the sense there is a large discount/freebie selection. The prices are very reasonable and all items are transferable which is why it's a great store for gifts.

*Blogger or Gift Item

"Wind is cold alright back in Dallas.
The neon light from the building lets
you know you're home."
Ben Kweller- Falling

"Gone, But Not Forgotten", Blogger Challenge Due (2)

So spring boarding right off the heels from last weeks Plurky Blogger Challenge here is week number 2, "Gone but not forgotten". If you still haven't signed up for the challenge please do. This week there is a special challenge dedicated to the color Red so please keep your eyes open for that post.

Today's post was quite the excursion because finding designers that are no longer creating or on a hiatus (6 months w/o updates) and still in your inventory is quite the accomplishment. (Since most SLers tend to delete items for inventory cleanup.) I wanted to add an extra bit of criteria on this post for myself and wanted to refrain from using stores that were part of, "The Big Four". In turn I became extremely happy with my look.



Hair- Marlys-Marleen Vaughan- Blacklight Beanster,Red- Acquired March 2008
Marly's was pretty great back in the day. I loved the retro, edgy, eclectic designs this store had available. This hair was one I purchased because of the total rockability look it carried. I enjoyed the fact that the buns were lined up across from top to bottom and gave this hair an equestrian look. The color was so vibrant that wearing it was a bold statement in itself. According to Marleen's profile she is currently away from SL. Under Picks and Classifieds there is no information listed. One can only assume Marlys is no longer open.

Skin-BEBAE-Torie Senne, Belina Cara Runway2b, Acquired Feb 2009
When this skin was purchased, I was in a skin rut dying to try something different and break away from the MM skins I had been wearing. I asked for advice and Luna Jubliee suggested I visit this shop. It's the only skin store that I have in my inventory that meet the requirements for this blog post btw. The last release from this store was March 2009, according to the BEBAE webiste, so I count this store as on a hiatus.

Glasses- Gudshu-Gudshu Udal-Geek-Acquired Dec 2006

Gudshu's Geek glasses have been with me since my earliest months in SL. They were the first purchase I had in SL. At the time a lot of people that I had meet in SL looked very similar. I wanted to stand out a bit so I opted to purchase Gudshu glasses. These glasses were the first experience in tinting and manipulating prims.  I'm afraid I was never able to set these glasses correctly. I remember Gudshu had asked for customer to send in their photo wearing his glasses and here is mine.  I can't believe I actually found it in my inventory.


Dress and Pant Combo

Church of Lux- Lo Jacobs
GNUbie-The LBD- Acquired Aug 2009
Naomi, Smoke Skinny Jeans- Acquired Feb 2009
Church of Lux was a store I first discovered along the Tableau sim. I was extremely sad to view Lo Jacobs' profile and see that this store was no longer in business. The dresses was a cute freebie. A teaser to the designs Lo created. The pants were a part of a outfit for winter. All items had excellent quality and several layer options which became perfect for mixing and matching. 

Paper Couture, Lu Sisters
Nightengale Jacket, Acquired Feb 2009
Black Orchid Necklace
To be fair PC, is not closed, but the last release was in Jan2010/ Dec of 2009 so I'm going to count it as a hiatus. We all know that PC will probably be back soon and that the Lu sisters will shock and awe us with their brilliant designs. The jacket I choose because of the feather aspect on the collar as well as the lavender color. The necklace has hints of lavender encased by the simmering black pearls. The most unique thing about these two pieces are the use of prims or textures. I love that instead of creating a heavy piece of jewelry PC, decided to provide drawn jewelry that is placed along the undershirt layer of their designs. I hope to see some tattoo layer jewelry, which I think would be an interesting concept for future works. The jacket also provides an interesting perspective with the use of prims.

Shoes Style Starts Here, Simone Stern, Couture Ankle Boots, Feb 2009
Simone! was one of the first stores I ever visited in SL and was always a stop when I was searching for a ballgown or costume. What I loved about this store is that in most cases undies were included in the dresses. Which was great because you wouldn't suffer from embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions. Simone! is another store that I consider hiatus, I tried finding out when the last release was but there was no website available. When visiting this store there was no new releases and the last blog entry on the forums page was dated from 2009. When taking a peak at Simone's profile there is a message about her being back on a limited basis.

I tried to include where I found the information on the last releases these designers had, but sadly some are not available. If these designers do start creating again or if they have new identities please let me know. I would hate to be missing out on some great items. Also I apologize if these stores are not on a hiatus and I overlooked something.

Just Because...

A couple of days ago Hart Larsson of PXL Creations dropped off his newest skin, Dafne on me and well I simply can't get enough of these beauties. I have been playing around with different looks and skin tones trying to create a look that will highlight Dafne in a manner that shows just how much detail PXL creations gives each skin. What I've discovered through this process is Dafne is perfect for dressing up into something Glam or when trying to give yourself that girl next door look. It's even great when slipping into something smexy. Totally versatile PXL skins are special, beautiful and packed with options!



Each skin includes the following selections.
3 eyebrow colors (light, medium and dark)
1 Tattoo Layer for freckles
1 Cleavage enhancer (option for Undershirt or Tattoo Layer)

PXL Creations has a total of four skin tones in it's Dafne line.
LT (Light), SK (SunKissed), NAT(Natural) and PA (Pale).

The Makeup aspect
So getting down to the most colorful and soulful part of any skin the Makeup. This is where Hart packs the creative heat and is in tune with his customers. I've seen his plurks where he asks for advice from fellow plurkies on what they would like to see on a skin. The amazing thing is that Hart follows the ques and incorporates these suggestions creating an assortment of colors and style.

There are a total of 7 lipsticks
Nude, Pale, Bronze, Pink, Wine, Rose, Passion

A total of 4 Eye makeup options
Nude, Extreme, Glam and Special

A total of 27 skins in each skin tone. Prices for indivudial skin tones are $1,000L while eyepacks containing 7 skins are $5,000L.

* Remember if you are a part of the PXL female VIP Group you can recieve 10% discount on your purchases.



Photo Credits

1) The Mariner's Bride
Hair- Paper Couture, Powdered Wig, Seaside and Pearls- 2008
*Skin-PXL Creations, Hart Larsson, Dafne, LT Blue Makeup MEB
*Bonus option- Dafne LT Pushup (Tattoo)
Dress-Paper Couture, Ava Lu, Peach Sorbet, 2008
Ring- Zarra, Zaara Kohime, Kashiti Bobble Ring *Pearl and Silver

2) Fall's Girl
Hair- Magika, Sabina Gully, Dara (Chestnut)
*Skin-PXL Creations, Hart Larsson, Dafne LT NE NudeLips MEB
*Bonus Option- Full Body Freckles
Dress-Surf Co, Emma Gilmour, Somer Dress Top- Goldenrod
Sweater-Surf Co, Emma Gilmour, Artist Cardigan-Gray 2 (50L item)
*Pose- !Bang, Trieste Minuet, Feeling Blah 6

3) A Burlesque Tease
Hair-Friday, Parvarti Monday, Deena, Thoughtful Brown (2009)
*Skin-PXL Creations, Hart Larsson, Dafne LT GL PinkLips MEB
*Bonus Option- Dafne LT Pushup (Tattoo)
Lingerie-Ooh LaLa!, Nylon Pinkney, Lined Corset, Yellow Pink
*Pose- !Bang, Trieste Minuet ,This shit is bananas 6

*Blogger or gift Items.
*Blog title given by Beulah Mills, Thank you

La Dolce Vita

Ahh The Sweet Life. Somedays life seems so overwhelming for me and these are the moments I stop and think about the sweet or good things in my life. I close my eyes and think about the positive not the negative that surrounds me. Try to accept the changes that this world is presenting and think of ways to bring a smile to the face of loved ones. Yes, I truly believe you can have the sweet life anywhere. It's not exclusive to a location but rather is a mindset that we could all share with others.

The Look- La Dolce Vita
Hair- Amacci, Carina Larsen, Laura-Dark Brown
Skin- L.Fauna Skins, Launa Fauna, Lola-Candy, Tan2
Dress-Katat0nik, Katat0nik Pidgeon, Confetti Dress-50L friday
Jewerly-Caroline's, Caroline Apollo, Cupcake Charm Set
Pose- Glitterati, Katey Coppala, Headshot 6

*Special thank you to Strawberry Singh for releasing a video tutorial on how to get a closed eye effect.