Adam n Eve’s Mei Li skin is available in (...)
Read the rest of Freckleface: Mei Li (114 words)

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Post tags: Adam n Eve, Junk, Kunstkammer, Tableau, Tiny Bird, Zaara

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Another round of freckled skins for us to compare! Hooray!

Freckles are awesome, and so are these faces.  I love that these skins bring very unique personalities to the same shape, with the same brow, lighting and hair.

I wanted to talk about eyes in this post, and what characteristics to consider when comparing eyes between skins.  So I made you an annotated  animated gif. Yay!(...)
Read the rest of Freckleface: Eye see you! (135 words)

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Post tags: Atomic, Blowpop, IC Skins, Pulse, PXL, The Loft, Tiny Bird, [LAP]

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I find that darker skins in particular show off the unique character of the skins.  Not only does each skinmaker create unique shades in the darker range, the differences in facial features — lips, eyes, nose, brows — often become more pronounced.  Now, I’m wearing my usual shape, so of course they’ll appear different on your shape — do try them on.

With different skinmakers come different body shadings.  We’re looking at the overall body shading and the usual fine details — collarbone, boobs, elbows (front and back) abs, knees (front and back), toes, shoulderblades, spine, buttocks and heels.  Look closely at how each skin treats these body parts differently.

Now, shoo!  Go try on some dark skins!  Even if you think the darker shades don’t suit you or your av, I encourage you to try on a demo — the elegance of these beauties is worth it.

Also, the bra and panties set is an exclusive release, part of this weeks Fifty Linden Fridays, so if you like it, you’d best grab it before midnight tonight.

Credits:
Hair: Adam n Eve Lena – Black
Skins, left to right:
Rockberry Farrah F dark
Adam n Eve Desire 2 Preview – Nutmeg
Curio GP Bean – Light – Vixen – Majesty 2
Eyes: Exodi Zbilja Eyes – Brown
Lingerie: 5th & Oxford Little Miss Lingerie in Olive (Fifty Linden Friday Special – today only

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Post tags: 5th & Oxford, Adam n Eve, Curio, Exodi, Rockberry

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Siren is part of Adam n Eve’s new generation of skins, and she’s truly stunning.  While Portia focused on the lighter skin tone range, the new Siren shows us sultrier darker tones.  Like all Adam n Eve skins, Siren is available in four skin tones, pictured below, from a not-quite-light-skinned shade through caramels to a rich mocha shade.

(...)
Read the rest of The Siren's call (297 words)

© SarahTheRed for Red and Re-read, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Adam n Eve, Dark Mouse, Insolence, Madsy, Tiny Bird, Tyranny Designs, [LAP]

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Ms. Beck was kind enough to drop a few review copies on me, and I’ve chosen to show you the skins at the ends of the spectrum, Sugar and Juniper.  Often, the extremes of skin tones can be a little off — pale skins can be too yellow, too pink, or too geisha-white, while dark skins tend towards an orange or gray tone.  The Genesis skins, on the other hand, are just lovely.  Sugar is creamy and porcelain, and Juniper is rich and chocolatey.

There are a total of 20 makeups available for the Eden line, including the ten shown here.  Shown above, from left to right, top to bottom, on each skin tone are Au Naturel, Bare, Chocolate Orange, Codie, First Time, Irish Eyes, Pretty Pixie, Reluctant, Rockstar, and Saturday.  As you can see, each makeup has been slightly modified to compliment the lightness or darkness of the skin tone.  The variety of makeups is excellent, and should suit a variety of avatar looks and situations.

The face in general is quite nice to look at, and well suited to a variety of av shapes.  The brows aren’t my favorite shape, nor are they offered in multiple hair colors, but that’s not a big deal to me.  The eyes are fantastic, with well-defined eyelids.  The lashes are painted on, which not everyone will love, but I like them that way.  It’s so much easier to wear a skin with lashes than to fit prim eyelashes.  The nose is good.  Ryker Beck has a narrower, pointier nose than any of my shapes, and the highlighting at the tip of the nose seems a little odd on me.  Again, a minor detail, and may or may not affect you.  Now, the mouth.  The mouth looks rich and lush on full lips, as you can see on the Juniper shade.  I often have trouble with the mouths of skins not fitting properly on my rather small mouth (my usual face is wearing the Sugar tone here), but the Eden skin only took minimal tweaking, and looks good.  That’s a huge plus in my book.

Now, the freckles.  Oh the freckles!  I’m in love with these freckles.  They have a very natural look to them.  The color is just right; the scattering across the nose and cheeks is just right.  They’re nicely blended with the skin tone, so they avoid that “drawn on” look some SL freckles have.  I particularly like the freckles on the darker skins.  I do wish the freckles continued on to the chest, shoulders, and back, but that’s less important to me than having good face freckles.  Of course, if freckles aren’t your thing, the makeups also include a non-freckled version, which is lovely and luminous.

The body, for the most part, is luscious.  The blending on the skin is, overall, quite good, with a smooth and creamy texture.  There’s subtle highlighting and shadows, giving the arms and legs a three-dimensional appearance, without looking like they’re slathered in baby oil.  In addition, there are a few small moles scattered across the body, which add interest without being distracting.  (Perfectly smooth skins bore me.)

The cleavage (which I just realized you can’t see with my top)  isn’t overly pronounced, so if you’re looking for WonderBra or silicone cleavage, this skin may not suit.  However, it doesn’t particularly bother me.  The abdominal region (please see the first pic in the post)  has some muscle definition, and is drawn to suit a thin av.  It doesn’t look bad on an average-sized av like mine, but if your avatar is much curvier, the abdominal definition will definitely start to look odd.  On the back, the shoulder-blades are delicate and non-stabby-looking (yay!), and the shading along the spine is quite nice.  The dimples just above the buttocks are the kind of subtle detail that really entrances the viewer.

The knees, elbows, and heels are all very nice.  The shading is soft and not overly harsh, capturing the unique planes of these oddly-shaped regions of the body.  Please note the insides of the elbows and the backs of the knees.  The backs of the heels immediately caught my attention, and I really appreciate the work that went into an often-overlooked area.

Other reviewers have noted flaws with the hands and the feet.  To be honest, I hate avatar hands and feet in general, and do my best not to look at them.  The one thing that bugs me about this skin, though, is from the front, the toenails are distinctly claw-like — they’re arranged in an odd arc.  But I usually wear closed-toe shoes in-world, so it’s a non-issue for me.  In addition, the shading along the thighs isn’t quite as smooth and creamy as other parts of the skin.  These, however, are minor flaws, and don’t detract from my enjoyment of the skin.

Overall, this is a lovely skin, and you should totally go try it for yourself.  The subscribe-o-matic at Genesis has demos of the skin tones (just click to subscribe, then click again and choose “History”), and the full line of skins will be released on March 17th, Saint Patrick’s Day, at 5pm.  Each makeup will include freckled and unfreckled versions of the skins, 5 pairs of eyes (I’m wearing the hazel and the brown here), and a cute little belly ring!

Credits:
Hair: Truth Nikhita II in Auburn (tinted)
Skin: Genesis Eden in Sugar and Juniper tones
Top: part of Reaction Gridlock Bikini Set in Black
Shorts: Armidi Jordyn Shorts in Black
All poses by Dove Swanson of [LAP] Long Awkward Poses

© SarahTheRed for Red and Re-read, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Armidi, Genesis, Reaction, Truth

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