Posted in MV-SL-Fashion, new releases on March 30, 2009| 1 Comment »
Skellyflies, originally uploaded by Grazia Horwitz.
OMG… this is the cutest hair thingy I have ever seen!!! Canimal made these and you can touch each butterfly and they wil change colour, texture and shape… and not only once, not just twice, but you can keep clicking, it seems the options never end.
Thanks Cani, you’ve made my day!
Posted in MV-SL-Fashion, new releases on March 29, 2009| 1 Comment »
New @ Artilleri, originally uploaded by Grazia Horwitz.
The new stuff at Artilleri makes me H.A.P.P.Y Great textures, lovely designs… a new fat pack of system skirts \o/ and lovely, vibrant colours!
From left to right:
– Sailorette top, blue
– Simplicity pencil skirt, red
– Icon straw red bangle
– Shiny Things Belle, red
– Vicky top, yellow
– First matecapris, black
– Nora glasses, yellow
– Maggie tattoo
– Truth Limoncello Mina flats
– Inger dress, pink (belt included)
– Shiny Things Saturday flats, pink
– FNKY cigarette
– Marcy top, red
– First mate capris, white
– Shampoo’s chain necklace, gold
– Truth C. Edo flats, black
I’m wearing Bebae Coral Rouge in Cinna and Kin’s hair in the new textures.
Posted in Jewelry, MV-SL-Fashion, new releases on March 28, 2009| 1 Comment »
Preview Gaea, soon @ Lucas Lameth , originally uploaded by Grazia Horwitz.
Finally my friend and master jeweler Lucas Lameth has decided it is worthy to be released: Gaea. Gaea, or Gaia in Greek, is the Mother Goddess, risen out of Kaos, and giving birth to all.
Lucas has been working on this necklace for a long time, meticulously creating the gem textures, crafting the sculpties and torturing the poor prims into their current state of perfection. Or, as Lucas states on his blog, ” I don’t want to release just anything. I want to give you my best.” Luc, I think you succeeded… again.
Posted in fashion, MV-SL-Fashion, new releases on March 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Waternymph Collection @ Nicky Ree, originally uploaded by Grazia Horwitz.
Nicky Ree granted me a preview of this first gown in a new collection. Water Nymph Adrie is like water pixelfied… gorgeous textures with waterdrops and a wavy prim gown. It will be released on Saturday 28 may to the public and has been out for a bit for Nicky’s group members. While I’m showing your the blue version, I’m sure this gown will be released in vast range of colours that we’re used to from Nicky Ree.
I doubted for a bit what to wear with this beauty, and in the end I decided to pick Lucas Lameth’s Athena necklace and earrings to accesorise, because the prism ETD’s sea nymph hair in Abyss, which is not available anymore, but a perfect hairdo to wear with this.
Visit http://slurls.wordpress.com/ for your TPs
Posted in hair, MV-SL-Fashion, new releases, preview on March 27, 2009| 2 Comments »
Coming soon: Tiny Bird, originally uploaded by Grazia Horwitz.
A couple of weeks ago, Autumn Hykova shared a folder with a lovely updo and tests for her new textures with me, and I fell in love. later I understood that these were not for Pixeldust, but that Ms. Hykova has been working on a new hair brand, Tiny Bird, and has been working steadily to create a collection of lovely, feminine hairdo’s.
I’m honoured she’s been willing to share her unreleased designs with me. From left to right, Giselle in the dark Dragees colour, which can be worn with bangs, like I do here, or without, Charlotte, in cream, which oozes class and femininity and Autumn’s latest Esme, which is a casual ponytail in what may be my favourite of her textures, Café au lait.
The Tiny Bird hair will be available soon.
Posted in MV-SL-Fashion, new releases, skins on March 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Nadia, originally uploaded by Grazia Horwitz.
When I first heard of Popfuzz “Poppy” Bamboo she was the Queen of Colours for me. Everything she made, no matter how wild the outfit, came in at least 10 vibrant colours from shocking pink and royal blue through warning sign yellow and apple green. And not only that, Poppy is one of those creators that puts every possible (useful) layer in the pack for massive combining her things with other designs. The other week I saw on her blog that she made this cute naughty nurse outfit, wearing a really cute skin tight dress, and guess what…. Poppy has been making more colours again! She’s been dimming the colours of this dress -Nadia- a little though, making them deeper and richer in my opinion. I’m showing you only a couple of the colours in which it’s available, becaues as usual, it’s a colour fest!
I think you will see me in this dress more often, or wearing parts of it, because like I said, it is perfect for layering with other stuff for outfits. The release of Nadia is expected one of these days.
No date set yet for Popfuzz‘ new skin Indulgence, which, like the clothes at Popfuzz comes in a plethora of skintones and make ups. Indulgence has a lovely face, with tons of eye make ups and a luscious cherry mouth. There are 2 eyebrow options, light and dark which for me are both on the reddish side, that might be something to work on. Thebody come’s with a normal boob shading, and a cleavage shading, for that Eva Herzigova “Hello Boys” effect. Like I said, Poppy has no date yet for the release of Indulgence.. but if you subscribe to her mailing list in her shop, you’ll receive a nice Indulge skin gift in al 9 skintones!
Upcoming is also a really nice male/unisex release and I just might show that later this week, If SL will stop make me crash every time I try to make a pic!!! *shakes fist *
Other stuff: Exile‘s new hair, with the fab new textures from the new shop at Covet and Icon‘s heart necklace.
Posted in MV-SL-Fashion, new releases, skins on March 22, 2009| 1 Comment »
Mmmm… newness at Fleur makes me happy… especially when it’s newness in the Shoujo line, which currently is my favourite at Fleur. I just love the smooth and soft features of these skins. Roslin and CJ have created 6 new lovely make ups for this season, with soft pinks, sheer blues and powdery peach colours.
The body on this skin is the new Shoujo body, as it was introduced late last year. The soft glow, the handpainted look and the level of detail on this body makes Shoujo a worthy alternative for those of you who do not pursue the current trend for hyper realism and shine. And on another level, I hear many people complaining these days that everyone seem to use the same references, whether they were legally acquired or not, well… The creators of Fleur have been on a quest for references NOT used by everyone and their mom, making Fleur skins some of the most authentic and original skins available.
Hair: Alicia by Truth, eyes by Miabella Foxely (don’t even know if she sells them, but she should!), face shots made with the Filtercam from Mechanized Life (Codie rulez!)
Posted in new releases, skins on March 13, 2009| 3 Comments »
Warning: opinion ahead!
The latest project of the multi talented Ms Ryker Beck is skins. Those who follow her on Plurk have been taken on a weeks long journey of development and teasing and finally, the end result is here, and it’s very pleasurable.
Eden has a face that remotely reminds me of some of the skins that I used to wear a lot, it has a full, luscious mouth like Evermore’s Hybrid and the carefully plucked and styled eyebrows like Pixeldeep skins. Said eyebrows are non mod though, and while they are subtle enough to not be “in your face” for the more fair haired, it would be nice to have options, especially since Ryker has made a tintable landing strip on clothing layers. To tackle the alpha bit in a skin is not the easiest thing to do though, so it might be something for the future to work on. As are the freckles, I really like a freckle face, I even like a freckled skin better, but for Eden I’ll go with the non freckled version, because honestly, these freckles look more like a adolescent skin problem to me. Eden comes in 8 skintones, ranging from a very pale, desturated skintone to a really dark one. Some of them more saturated than others, some of them quite orange even. I’m sharing the fairly neutral Nutgmeg with you which I totally like. Eden will be available in 20 make ups.
On to the body… Ryker is known for some fairly explicit skin reviews in the past, and while you won’t get any spread eagled shots on this blog, I’ll try to be as explicit in words as I possibly can. (more…)
Posted in hair, lingerie, MV-SL-Fashion, new releases on February 27, 2009| 1 Comment »
Skinflicks, originally uploaded by Grazia Horwitz.
I’ve blogged Mavis McGettigan’s designs before, and I just like her stuff very much. The other week she sent me a folder full of her latest underwear and nightwear releases @Skinflicks which were waiting in my virtual closet for the right moment to be blogged. The release of PXL Creations’ fashion tan Grace is such a moment. Just a perfect occasion to show off a great skin in pretty undies. And since I was wearing Pixeldust’s upcoming Posh already, I decided to show you some of the other colours that it will be released in as well.
For SLurls, check: http://slurls.wordpress.com/
Posted in MV-SL-Fashion, new releases, skins on February 17, 2009| 6 Comments »
Well, a lot has happened since I first met Hart Larsson, late December 2007. Not only have we become friends, he has also involved me intensively in the development of his skin lines. Sometimes he has driven me nuts, sending me proto type after proto type, beta after beta, with sometimes as much as 1 pixel difference from the previous… “But LOOK, Grazia…. I changed the collarbone…….” “Hart…WHAT did you change???” “aaaarghh…. that pixel to the left that annoyed me, of course!” Uhm.. yeah… <chuckles> Luckily I often got my revenge, sending him back to the drawing board over a pixel or 2 as well, which must have driven him crazy at times… we’re both not easily satisfied I suppose. The result is that I do strongly identify with PXL Creations skins, I have seen them come to be from the very first upload, til the end result and I know them like…well.. I know them like my RL skin.
So for Grace, the upcoming release at PXL Creations, I thought it might be fun to share some of the beta’s from the whole drawing process. Some, because like I said before, I think I have over 30 of them, all slightly different. To the far right there is the first beta that can actually be determined as an early Grace which Hart sent to me mid November. As you can see, she has no eye brows yet, and still has the mouth of old Crys for the time being. The second (I think it’s v12 or 13 in the whole process) got me all excited. Not only did she get her own lovely mouth, but Hart gave her freckles…body freckles… tiny, lovely, girly freckles all over the completely re-modeled body. I should also tell you that Hart likes to play with belly buttons… I think in the process of creating Grace, he has shown me about 8 different navels, not to mention all the other changes he kept making to the body.
The third beta in this photo is the first one he sent me with a make up test. He was still fiddling with the mouth, adding highlights and texture to give it more depth. By then we are in January. The development process of Grace got interrupted several times, for the holidays, but also to help out and make a special for Heart of Love, which basically was a mix of Linda and Grace, and later being asked to contribute to the Digital Alchemy event from Rezzable, which brought Efe to the grid before Grace was finished. But the 2nd skin from the left is the final nude face for Grace. By then Hart finally was happy with her, and I coudn’t think of another pixel that I would prefer to see in a different position. That was about a week ago.
From then for Hart started the tedious work of adding all the make ups, the different brows (black/red-brown and blonde) and the freckles, of which you see a sample to the left (dark eyes and the new flamenco lips). The photography of the vendors, which is something that I used to do for him on occasion, but thanks to my crap computer is not feasible at this point and of course the creation of all demos, which is a chore that he hates. Yesterday Hart was loading vendors, so I think that somewhere later this week, if RL permits, Grace will be released. (more…)
Posted in fashion, hair, lingerie, MV-SL-Fashion, new designers, new releases, skins, SL on February 10, 2009| 1 Comment »
A couple of days ago I received this kind postcard from the Pearl sisters Adelaide, Cecily and Vivian telling that they just completed finishing school and that they are now residing with their guardian Mr. Byron Westminster in his beautiful home. I’m pretty sure mr. Westminster has his hands full to protect these 3 playful young ladies from the perils that these vulnerable creatures are exposed to once they will make their debut, butfor the time being, the household seem to be pleasantly disciplined.
Under the protective yet firm hand of their guardian, the Pearl sisters have been diligently working on a few projects for their Cheeky Girls brand which now are ready to share with the world. The visitor to their home may expect some lovely lingerie sets, made out of soft silk and antique lace, with knickers and brassières the leave some to be discovred yet and which are perfect to surprise your Valentine with. There are a couple of hairdo’ s, wickedly innocent, some with colour change accessoires and with lovely soft textures in girly colours. Demure yet alluring. There is a modest collection of beautiful shiny eyes that will make him melt when you look up at him… either in utter adoration, or while teasing and feeling frisky. And then there is a pretty skin collection which has some innovative and slightly naughty features….
One can purchase extra textures to these skins with a freckled cleavage, or if you indulge being more of a tomboy-ish girl, skinned knees. However, for the naughty among us, there are some adorable spank marks on the cute bottoms which makes you wonder how much fun Mr. Westminster really has with his cheeky protègées. A brief, but very pleasant with the lovely Ms. Vivian taught me that more work is to be expected, and that they are having some other naughty ideas to share with us as time will pass.
The build itself deserves some attention as well. Mr. Westminster has made himself a lovely secluded home, with a very imaginative entrance. Aside from the first floor, which has been opened to the public and where the collection for now is on display, the doors are shut… but who knows what’s going on behind them…
Posted in fashion, MV-SL-Fashion, new designers, new releases, preview, style-up on February 3, 2009| 1 Comment »
W&B, originally uploaded by Grazia Horwitz.
Finally I got a go from Twiggy Whippet to use these dresses in a blogpost. She sent me these some time ago as a gift, but since she was no where near to opening her shop, it didn’t feel right to put pressure on her by blogging them back then.
Twiggy is the primary designer of Whippet&Buck and she’s currently building her shop and inventory and when I asked her about the status of things, she gave me a go, and she told me she’s planning to open in about 2 weeks. So keep an eye open for more information and SLurls and such.
So from left to right, I have styled the Bardot Tartan Tube dress in a few different ways:
The Olive drab dress I’m wearing with LeLutka’s black Dietrich blouse, Kyoot Army’s brown/black Electro belt, and Maitreya’s lime patent pumps. The purple Valentino I’ve teamed up with the scarlet medium length gloves from Fleur and the Feur scarlet Leather Sash Belt. The necklace is Aemilia, from W&B and the shoes are Belle, from Shiny Things. Then there is the Indigo, which I’m wearing with the Cole boat neck top from W&B in Electric, and the Turquoise patent belt from Fleur, and the classic blue stacks from Shiny Things. To the far right I’m wearing the Bardot Tartan Tube dress in gold, as is, with only the Calla necklace from Dela and the yellow Dahlia pumps from Armidi.
Further, in all 4 cases, I’m wearing Efe,fromPXLCreations, which I’ve been told is about to be released later this week and Damselfly’s Valerija hair.
Posted in new releases, skins on January 23, 2009| 1 Comment »
Sachi Vixen, designer for Adam ‘n Eve, has always been one of my favourite skinmakers. She works very thouroughly, and you may or may not like all of her work on your avatar, but her skins are all of impeccable quality. Recently though, Ms Vixen has been venturing into more photorealistic skins, and she has made a major leap in the way her skins look. Not only is she one of the real skinmakers that work with little pieces of photo references to create a unique look, she also manages to create said unique look without seams, blotches, cosmetical camouflages such as over the top highlights or shading, and her years of drawing skins give her the ability to work the photo material in such way that it renders geat in a lot of windlight settings.
And then, there was Bliss. Bliss will be released either later today, or tomorrow. Usually I prefer a more drawn look to my skins. But with this skin, Sachi really nailed it. The faces are lovely, in 4 different skintones there are 8 different make ups, as well as some with freckles on the face, and some special make ups. I have the pleasure to show you Nude in skintone 1, Smokey in skintone 2, Citrus in skintone 3 and Red Candy in skintone 4. The texture of the face is beautiful. Where I think most photoreal skins have pore issues, this skin is smooth with a soft healthy gloss and a lovely shading on the cheeks. All make ups are impeccable and the mouth is luscious and has a sexy pout to it. I know that some of you would like to see modifiable eye brows, but unless you are a hard core ebony or platinum head, these will work with a wide range of haircolours.
The body is one of the best I have seen in this genre. It glows and has a very feminine softness to it. Over all shading is great, but the breasts and the bum are remarkably well done. I have to mention that Sachi has always been making great butts, and this one is no exception. The belly has a slight tone to it that indicates an active lifestyle without really working out. The nipples are pretty and in harmony with the skintone. A lot of people rant about the few pixels that are available to draw a vagina and how it sometimes looks so bad. Well, you’ll have to believe me when I tell you that this one looks pretty decent. The skins come in a shaved and trimmed version, so that leave you some choice. Special attention is always given to the feet in Sachi’s skins, and Bliss’ feet are actually better than one might expect on an SL avie.
Am I a fan? You bet. You’ll see me often in this skin, it’s a welcome addition to my skin collection and usually I leave the “go see, go try” out of my blogposts, but this skin really deserves a closer look when it will be released. Keep an eye on the Adam ‘n Eve blog for the announcement of the release.
Posted in fashion, new releases, skins, SL on October 22, 2008| 1 Comment »
A lot of people have talked already about the latest addition to the Fleur skin family, but I still feel I can add to it. Fleur skins belong to my favourites in SL, I joined when they had their second skin in the Tête à Pied shop, and managed to get a hold of their very first ones when they were still available at gNubie. I followed the development of Vivant, and have pretty much all of them, as well as Boutique and Shouju. The idea that Roslin and CJ had, to add a 4th, more photorealistic, skin to their collection made me bounce. I love the smooth perfection of their mainly handdrawn bodies, and I was so anxious to see how a more photorealistic Fleur skin would work out. And I have not been disappointed.
Allure comes in 6 new skintones (from left to right: ivory, alabaster, truffle, cinnamon, caramel and sable) and like we may expect from Fleur, a vast range of make ups, varying from barely there, to in-your-face gorgeous. What I really like with Fleur, as opposed to some other popular brands, is that they offfer every make up on every skintone. It has happened so often that I see a make up that I love… but then it’s not available in my preferred skin tone. Fleur‘s creators adjust the make up to every skintone, so slightly more saturated for the darker skins, and less intense for the lighter skin tones. So far so good for the versatility of Allure, on to the details.
And there are plenty of details in this skin. As usual there are the mod eyebrows, and the pubic hair in different colours on the panty layers. And then, on many a make up Roslin has drawn eyelashes, that are so sweet that you don’t really need your system lashes (well, who needs them anyway, since they usually dont look good) but you can do without prim lashes as well… or opt for the very subtle ones that Miriel has in her shop. The mouth on Allure is quite different from the previous Fleur skin, so you might need a little tweaking of your shape, but once you get it right, you’ll notice the lovely plump lips and the pixelfree medusa ( sorry, I just hate visible pores err, pixels on my upper lip).
The body has great and subtle detailing. The clavicle stands out, as do the nipples. The breast shading as a whole deserves an A+ as far as i’m concerned, and looks good on both small breasted shapes and the more curvaceous frames. The abdomen on Allure is more defined too.. the upper ribs show vaguely, and there is a definition of muscularity on the tummy, still without the 6 days a week crunches look, which only makes RL me feel guilty for not having the same look. The whole body has subtle highlights that give her a more 3d look than the previous skins. On the back you’ll find about the most perfect shoulderblades made in sl so far, as well as the dimples on the lower back that I simply adore. The knees and elbows look good on this skin too, and when you look at the skin for a while, really focus, it sometimes has a slightly blue shimmer on the places where a human skin would be thinner, showing the veins under the skin, without becoming an anatomical lesson.
Incredible attention has been given to our so often neglected pixel subjects. The feet. In this world where female avatars run to get shoes with prim toes because their pixel feet just look hideous, CJ has worked endlessly to make the feet and toes look as good as they possibly can in SL. And for those of you who like to emote… Fleur’s teeth got a make over with the introduction of Vivant… and they still are the brightest pearly whites in SL.
Whereas Vivant fitted practically every avatar like a glove, Allure has more of a character of her own. I guess that just is the consequence of photorealism, it’s a little less forgiving than a mainly drawn skin. So what I would really recommend you to do is to get the demos first and play with your shape sliders to obtain the best look for your avatar. Often there is no need for drastic changes, just a but of tweaking will do. Besides, Fleur offers the demos for free, and they are transferable as well.
Posted in new releases, photography, photos, preview, skins, SL on October 18, 2008| Leave a Comment »
So here is another one of the photos that I have been taking with the new Fleur skin. This photo is hardly touched. I have created the softness with in-world lighting and glow. Ok.. I retouched the buttocks, as they tend to look so edgy when you sit (and added the cast shadow)
But what this is about is not discussing photoshop techniques. It is to show you the details of the back of Allure. This skinline is fully hybrid, and showing more photorealism than previous Fleur skins. I think this back is so pretty, with the delicate spine and the shoulderblades so beautifully done. Oh, and did I mention I positively adore the dimples?
Allure will be available as of Sunday 19 October noon slt.
Hair by Truth (Deux), Earrings from Kraftika (No 130) , Tattoo from Marly’s (Man Ray)
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