Mellie3 represents a significant evolution of the Mellie-line from Blowpop. The differences between Mellie and Mellie2 didn’t seem that major to me, but here we are talking about a full renovation. The skin is still recognizably a Mellie, and the skintones are all more or less the same (though they have been refined and an additional tone, cocoa, has been added), but considerable work has been done over the whole body as well as the face.

The Cinnamon tone that I am showing here has become a little lighter and a little more saturated, which I think is quite flattering. I am not precisely an expert in pinning down differences between skins, but it looks to me as if the highlights are brighter and the lowlights not quite so dark. The breasts, in particular, benefit from this, looking more natural and less inflated.

The stomach is still a little strongly contrasted against the ribcage and hip, it comes out to a very regular and clearly defined tear-drop shape that perhaps should have been broken up a bit with some more shading on the stomach area itself. Not necessarily to suggest muscle tone but to suggest roundness. The ribcage is also a little too defined for my tastes, and I would have loved it if the nipples had stayed fairly dark (though this shade is more natural than on the Mellie2). Overall, the front of the body is definitely improved.

The back may actually be more noticeably different than the front on some ways, because here the increased definition really becomes apparent. Not the least on the bottom, which has become very nicely shaded indeed. There’s also some adorable little birthmarks on the back.

Finally, the face, and I must admit I was nervous when I first put the new Mellie3 on. Would it suit my avatar as well as the Mellie2 had? Overall, I’d say yes. There are some distinct changes to the lips and, I think, to the nose, so the expression does change. But, it still looks like a Mellie, just a glowier, more fresh-faced Mellie. On the face, the new highlighting really works nicely. I also think that some who may have found the old lips unsuitable for their avatars may have more luck with the new ones. Personally, I liked the slightly sly smile you could get with the old ones, but these are very pretty too.

In case you’re still uncertain, get yourself into the Blowpop group to pick up the group freebie, which consists of the makeup-free skin in all the skintones, with two brow options (brown and black), two pubic hair options (trimmed and bare) and with or without freckles.

Also launching at the Skin Fair will be Alanna from Adam n Eve. I can hardly profess to be an expert on darker skintones, but to me this certainly looks like a very appealing dark skin that retains a warmth and a richness that I have seen lost in other dark skins. This, btw, is the darkest skintone of four.

As with all of sachi Vixen’s skins, you get a smooth, well-shaded and as far as I can tell seamfree body which nicely balances photorealism with idealism. I think there is a little more definition to the stomach on this skin compared to some of her others, though it could be the darker tone fooling my eye. Either way, it certainly looks good, and I do think that definition is particularly important on a darker skin, to give it more life.

The breast shading looks pretty natural to me (I am definitely all for natural rather than pumped-up) though as I may have mentioned already my personal taste runs to larger nipples, so these are a little small for me. However, I do think they are very nicely done.

I suppose you can’t really say that the best part of a skin is the back, seeing as the face is pretty important, but with sachi’s skins I do have to admit I spend a bit of time now and then admiring their backsides. ;) Here’s another very nice bottom.

Finally, we get to the face, here seen with the Gold Tones makeup that I think looks very beautiful against such a dark skin.

The shape being used here is the one I have made for my Blowpop skins, but I think it works pretty well with Alanna too. I did end up making some changes to the mouth, however, since this skin requires a bit more fullness of the lips than the fairly conservative settings I generally use. Overall, I think it works quite well, with the highlighting on the cheeks suiting the high and wide-set cheekbones of this shape quite well. It also handles the strong nose on this shape very well, so I think it should work very well for creating a pretty ethnic look.