August has been a very good month for skin releases, at least when it comes to the creators that I am a big fan of. I have already shown a sneak peek of sachi Vixen’s Persephone (for which the first 12 makeups—out of a total of 28—were finally released this weekend), and I hope to be showing more of her soon, but today’s entry is dedicated to the latest skin from Skin Within, Anaise.

Ayesha Bisiani calls Anaise a creole skin, and has given her features and a skintone that suggests a mixed heritage. When I first tried her on, she fit one of my current shapes quite well. However, since that shape is firmly married to Blowpop’s Mellie3 skin, I felt I needed a new shape for Anaise. This actually marks the first time that I have created a shape to fit a skin, though I don’t doubt that Anaise will work well on many existing shapes too. This time around, I am also using the skin with the skintone unmodified, but as all Skin Within skins Anaise can be modified.

Since the opening of the remodelled Adam n Eve store some time ago, sachi Vixen has been a very busy bee when it comes to making skins. She has released two male and three female skins. Ran has already covered the rather edible male skins, David and Nicholas, but I have been a lazy girl who has not gotten around to showing off the gorgeous female skins. So, I am about to remedy that, though in a slightly abbreviated form compared to my usual skin reviews. Partly, I wanted a shot at showing off the three skins next to each other.

A couple of notes before the closer oogling of my naked pixels commences. Ran and I still work for Adam n Eve, so we cannot claim to be unbiased in regards to the skins. However, we wear these skins with regularity, and we’re picky about how our avatars look (he’s especially picky about my avatar’s bottom ;P). Also, I made a little mistake in shooting the picture of Lily (furthest to the right in the pictures). She has mod eyebrows and mod pubic hair, and I modded the eyebrows via the bald cap but forgot to mod the pubic hair via the sliders. So, it is rather too pale in the picture.

Jewellery is a weakness of mine both in SL and RL, and in SL I can indulge myself rather more often. In particular, I can indulge myself with pieces that are a good deal more spectacular, though my RL jewellery tastes definitely run in other directions than more modern & mainstream as well. Today’s find comes from a store called Mad About and it is a licensed reproduction of a piece of RL jewellery that I would definitely love to get my hands on.

In recent months, Dernier Cri has been getting some attention. Asuka Martin, the proprietor, had the reputation of being one of the top Teen Grid designers and her entry into the Main Grid received significant attention when she opened her store. I can’t speak to the hair and clothing she offers, other than to say that it looks good, but I can comment on her first male skin after having purchased it.

The second of two new male skins released by Adam n Eve, the Nicholas skin is a handsome, somewhat exotic-toned skin. A bit of realism goes a long way in establishing the looks of this skin, as it’s not really a typical “male model” sort of look.

Before I get on with the gushing over pretty things, allow me to squeal. I won a contest! Specifically, SL Posers inaugural Flickr contest. My entries can be seen here and here. Now I will have even more fabulous LAP poses to play with. Poor Ran (he’s the photographer) will not get a moment free. ;) So, what’s on the menu today, other than showing off sexy poses? Well, a new fabulous dress from Adam n Eve (the colour is absolutely sinful), some more Tekeli-li jewellery and a skin reminder.

I have had my eye on Naergilien Wunderlich’s store for a while now. She is an RL costume designer who is reproducing many of her own designs for Second Life. Her store includes a lot of Victorian clothing, some Elizabethan outfits, and some outfits inspired by various period or fantasy movies. In addition to this, she has a separate store for modern clothing and she has also made a few photorealistic skins as well. Most recently she has added her first batch of period.appropriate hairs. It was this latest addition that prompted me to finally pick up a few things.

When it rains, and pours. sachi Vixen of Adam n Eve has released not one but two new male skin lines in the space of two days, and there was much rejoicing since it’s been a good while since she’s done a new male skin for sale. This review is of the first one, the David, which is available in four tones along with four facial hair options; each purchased skin comes with the option of head hair and bald. The tones run from relatively pale to quite dark, and the face (when compared to the second skin, Nicholas) seems a bit younger. 

As I popped over to check out Calla’s new store this morning, I ran into Tekelili Tantalus of Tekeli-li. Just the other day he released his latest set of fantasy jewellery, and he made me a very happy girl by giving me a copy of the full set. I guess that means I’ll catch up on some of the older releases that I don’t have yet instead with the funds intended for that purchase. ;) Alternatively, I’ll see if I can’t persuade Ran to let me buy him a copy of the new set too, because unlike past Tekeli-li releases this one is intended as a unisex set. As such, it includes two sizes of the bracelets and the choker.

I was trying to be a good girl yesterday (at least in terms of not spending all my hard-earned Lindens too impulsively), but we all know what happens to good intentions, right? In this case, mine took wing and flew out the window as soon as I saw the forum post announcing a new jewellery set from Tekeli-li. Off I went to check out the new offering, and moments later I was teleporting back home with a much higher ARC than when I arrived. Oops. ;)

When I saw the Lord Edward suit at the Fleur-Nicky Ree Spring Ball, being worn by a model, I just had to get it. It’s perhaps the most gorgeous piece of 18th century-inspired clothing I’ve seen in SL. The brocaded waistcoat, the big buttons against the green stripes, the aged lace, the knee-high stockings—just utter perfection, precisely the thing to suit this particular avatar (based on a roleplaying character I’ve always supposed existed in a sort of broadly 17th-18th century sort of setting). Alas, Nicky hadn’t gotten it into her store then, so it was an anxious few days until I could finally get my hands of it.

Yesterday, Ayesha Bisiani of Skin Within launched yet another addition to her line of gorgeous and highly distinctive female skins. The new addition is called Zarya, and it is intended as a Greek skin. Certainly, Zarya’s olive complexion, slightly toned body and wide variety of stunning makeups are definitely worthy of a classical goddess.

What do you get if you mix a limited edition fantasy makeup from Skin Within with a fae costume from Adam n Eve and some gorgeous accessories from Tekeli-li? A pretty striking result, if I may say so myself, but do read on and see if you agree with me.

Lately, Ran and myself have started to develop a slight addiction to silent sparrow. We’ve had an interest in hyasynth Tiramisu’s gorgeous Victorian and Gothic offerings for some time, and picked up a few pieces (as well as many very lovely freebies), but it has been the most recent releases that have had us eagerly opening up any notecards from her group to see what is on offer. Today the Beloved suit arrived, available in a male and a female version, and we realized we just had to get ourselves a matching set. 

For the last few days, I have been sauntering about in rather less than what one probably ought to wear in public, but I simply have had too much fun wearing the new Crochet silks from Adam n Eve to take them off unless I am going somewhere .... well, respectable. ;)

Now, silks from Adam n Eve are generally of a style than you can wear in most areas, as they tend to feature full skirts and tops that amount to a bit more than pasties. The Crochet silk is from a similar cut, with one of the four bottom-half options being a full skirt (the other are a mini-skirt, a loin-cloth style skirt and harem pants), but as the name suggest the material isn’t all that covering.