I remember checking Minnu Model Skins out before the move to the last, new shop before starting up Glam World along with Maitreya. At the time, I admit I was not very impressed with what I believe was the first generation of male skins. There was promise there (more clearly evident in the female skin line at the time), but it was not at all what I was looking for. How times have changed.
This is (again, I believe) her second generation skin, and my foggy memory suggests it’s leaps and bounds over her first generation skin. The texturing, especially on the torso, is mouth-watering. The “grain”, one of the underappreciated but absolutely necessary features in most male skins, makes it pop out. It’s probably as photosourced a hybrid as anything else out there, but the Minnu male skin wouldn’t be very much out of place in a Boris Vallejo painting.
Skin: MM Pale by Minnu Model Skins
Hair: I’m So Preddy v3 (retextured) by Calla
Outfit: Mistletoe Boxers Red by Adam n Eve
Great abs, right? Not too toned, the sort you’d see on a casually ahtletic guy who’ll do a quick work out from the comfort of his home before wrapping it up with a cardio-stimulating run and then maybe a game of flag football. This is one of the finest torsos that I’ve seen on male skins in SL, really. It avoids the pitfalls of going too far with the shading to suggest gargantuan muscles, instead presenting a sleek, solid package.
I admit the back strikes me as less impressive than the front. I’m not sure what it is, exactly, that’s at play. Despite my remarks in my earlier review regarding the Scorpio skin and its heavily shaded rear, I do think a bit more shading in that area would have fit better with the gorgeous torso that they’ve managed. As it stands, it looks rather flat to my eye. A little more definition in the shoulders would not have been amiss, either.
It handles the face of my shape very well, strong cheekbones in particular, which is a real necessity. So, too, does it handle the nose (another example of a strong, long nose) quite well with little obvious distortion.
An extra tip of the hat goes to the fact that the skin has a nicely defined mouth, although I will say that I find the lips on the male skin (and especially on the female skin) somewhat too large. As you can tell by the thinned corners of the mouth, I’ve fiddled with the shape to pull the lips down to something I’m happier with. If there’s anything else to complain about on this skin, it’s the fact that there are no options for brow color beyond black; this is rather par for the course, though, for most skins out there. I’ve mentioned to one of the Glam World assistants that I’d love to see them offer red and blonde brow (and matching body hair) options and she said that she’d pass it on. Will we see results? One can hope. Speaking of body hair, I’d like to point out that this one does have some on the arms and leg, which is a nice detail that adds a sense of authenticity to the skin.
New male skins, third generation, are due out early this month, and I’m certainly going to keep an eye out for them to see if I need to adopt some of them and bring them into my warm, loving inventory. I should note that the present male skins include a number of makeup and facial hair options, including the ever-popular “guyliner” that makes fitting eyelashes that much easier (err, that is, if you tend to put eyelashes on your male avatars… *cough*).