Every two years, I shop for a new avatar
skin. It may be because I’m tired of the old skin and need to update my look, or
I just feel like “window shopping” in SL, or I want to see if designers have
become even more innovative in their work. Over the years, I’ve donned four
skins. As a new resident of SL, I chose an un-modifiable freebie shape, later
creating my own which I do to this day.
SL offers a multitude of skin and
shape choices. In fact, I have a list of over 50 landmarks for skin vendors
alone. You could spend days in SL in search of the right look for your avatar. Piqued
by my own curiosity, I wanted to see if I’d missed some well-made skins and
shapes in SL so asked people to complete
a brief survey on the topic.
Twenty respondents completed the
survey--18 female and two male avatars.
SKINS
Some of the respondents named more
than one skin vendor as their favorite. The list came down to these that are
followed by the number of avatars who named that particular skin vendor as a
favorite.
Belleza 3 (females)
LAQ 3
(females)
League 2
(females)
New Faces 2 (females)
WoW 2
(females)
Aeros 1
(male)
AIMI 1
(female)
Deetalez 1 (female)
Deesses 1 (female)
Fallen Gods 1 (female)
Glam Affair 1 (female)
LoveMe 1
(female)
Pink Fuel 1 (female)
Snow Rabbit 1 (female)
sYs 1
(female)
T. Bare 1 (male)
The qualities that the respondents
look for when purchasing a skin are varied:
Hellishly Gothly, who wears the New
Faces Willow skin, said she looks for a “well-shaded, natural look, though it
can be a fantasy skin; no visible seams, facial structure and shape that not
only compliment my face, but enhances it; availability of a good range of
appliers, included items (such as appliers).”
Bella
Rene’
Bella Rene’ wears Deesses’ Lorelay
Milky Chocolate. “I look for true to tone and shape in a quality skin,” she
said. “Deesses has mastered the ethnic and authentic texture so exquisitely,
it’s literally a masterpiece in itself. I have looked across the grid for true
to form skins. Deesses has it to an art form.”
Skye Broadmoor lives her SL as an elf,
uses League’s Taylor skin, and says that she likes “realistic, well done
shading. When choosing which version of a skin to purchase, I prefer the
natural skin. Then, if I ever want to use makeup, I can. The cost of a skin is
important, but if it’s a good quality skin, I don’t mind paying more.”
Helen
“I look for cute features and a kind
of dark shade of skin,” said Helen, who uses the Pink Fuel skin, Harley.
Terillian Belar wears League Isla Deep
Tan and explains that she prefers “clear, defined muscle tone, not fuzzy;
realistic nipples, nails, vagina; a face that doesn’t have a pouting, frowning
mouth. I pay attention to the skin’s shade and go for as realistic as
possible—no orange spray tans. I like League skins because the same skin looks
different when you change hair colors from red to blonde to black.”
SHAPES
Of the 20 respondents, 65 percent said
they did not purchase their current shape:
Delight
Delight said, “I make my own shape. It
is an ever evolving process over my time in SL, and I feel it lets me be me.”
Terrell Merryman explained that he’s
had the same shape since 2008 “and it has helped me create a unique look with
my skins, since the shape hasn’t been for sale in years.” He went on. “I did
purchase a mesh avatar body recently, Narimyth Aesthetic. It’s very good but
limited due to the lack of clothing. Otherwise, I don’t plan to buy a shape.
However, from what I’ve seen, Aeros Avatar is good.”
Terrell
Merryman
Anu Daviau made her own shape eight
years ago. “I am quite happy with it still. The only change I made within those
years, shape wise, was shrinking my overall size.”
Vichonette Constantine has always made
her own shapes and said, “With the advent of mesh, I have so many different
versions of my shape to fit various mesh clothing, I can’t even remember what
the original shape looked like!”
Aelva’s favorite skin vendors are
Deetalez, Fallen Gods, and LAQ. She makes her own shapes because, “I don’t want
to look like a clone.” However, she happily offers this advice regarding avatar
skins and shapes: “Play with it! Mix and match. Try the sliders on the shape
and see what you end up with.”
On the other hand, 35 percent of the
respondents indicated they purchased the shapes they use now:
Joy
Canadeo
Joy Canadeo said that she prefers the
Body Doubles shapes, “because I can look at a specific personality and make my
own adjustments to reflect my personality.”
Morgan W. Mickelobe indicated that she
purchases LaVie shapes. “I fell instantly attracted to the shape I am wearing
now. It is aesthetically pleasing, and I always receive compliments. I will
never change.”
Chelsea Quixote used to make her own
shapes, “but now I am wearing the Belleza Venus mesh body.”
Other shape vendors mentioned by
respondents were LAQ, CStar, the Mitreya-based shape, Wow, and the (Snow
Rabbit) NEA-based shape.
If you’d like a copy of my skin vendor
landmark notecard, feel free to IM me. Mind you, it offers no judgment and is
by no means complete. I, simply, don’t have that many
days to search the entire grid.
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