Lionskins has a new skin out, Nova, and while I was absolutely NOT impressed or even amused with her previous skin/collab with Leezu, at first glance this skin looks better again, more like the old Lionskins, like Cana and Zulu. So it was time for an up close and personal with Nova. Nova is available in 4 skintones from ultra pale, to pretty much African dark.
I tried the demos in pale and sun and eventually decided to go get a skin in the sun tone, so I could show you the skin sans demo signs and lines. Oh how I hate them, they emphasize seams that you might not even notice if not for the lines, but once you know where to look for them, even without the demo lines, this skin shows a few subtle seams especially around the ankles and the hips. The template edges on the legs are quite efficiently masked by a skin highlight, but in my opinion it is a bit too harsh.
From a distance this skin looks pretty good, but zooming in on the body, theres is a LOT of noise on the textures, especially on the back. A bit of graininess adds to a realistic look, but too much looks like you have a skin problem. The shading on the lower back and the bum on the contrary is quite delicious. Again, too bad for the noise.
I love the shading of the stomach area, toned, but not muscular. Pretty much the way I wish my own tummy would look like in RL. I really wish there was at least an option for a bellybutton piercingless skin, though. It is almost a dealbreaker for me, and I think this time will be the only time I have worn this skin with a bikini or undies. It’s going to be strictly PG, or high waist swimwear with Nova!
What I also wanted to share are the legs of Nova, but not because I think they are stunning. The knees look kinda old to me, the toes are so tightly placed on the template that it seems a toe is missing and on the back of the knees the shading is so dark that my first impression was varicose vein alert. But on second glance, the shading is just too contrasted.
Oh my, now that I am actually scrutinizing this skin, I see a lot of little things that irk me. I like thicker eyebrows, but hmm… it doesn’t hurt to use tweezers every now and then, and I think it’s ok to use a photo-base… but please… I don’t want pimples on my forehead… or pores on my cheeks… at least, not the huge ones! But… all that taken in consideration, I still like this face enough to spend 1k for this skin. Not in the least for the awesome vinyl lip gloss! Other little (but easy to cover up) issues I have with this skin are the highlights on the breasts, and the vagina, which… well… nuff said… try a demo if you want to see it.
Last but not least, I appreciate it when content creators offer a little extra, like in this case 2 versions of a hair add-on for the hairbase skin, but please, dear creatives of SL… make it matching to your hairbases, or a lot of people will run around the grid with awful hair, and that is NOT good publicity for either the skinner, or the hairmaker.
Sooooooo… yeah, you’ll occasionally see me in this skin, but I surely hope for a more refined and subtle V2 of Nova. As always, try a demo for yourself before buying a skin. My shape is quite a determining factor in how this skin looks on me, and the effect might be totally different on you.
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