(Note, ALL these shots are raw from Second Life. Click for a larger and closer look.)

So the waiting is over, and the Belleza Venus mesh body has hit the grid and is already a huge success.  Not really a surprise, it’s been much anticipated over the past few weeks.  When the Slink Physique was released there was a huge rush to own what was seen as something of a revolution in-world, and it’s been the same for this release; which is why the beautiful new Belleza main store is jam-packed with punters all eager to try it out.
I braved the crowds and got a demo to test. I own many Belleza skins, so the idea of a bespoke Belleza mesh body is an exciting prospect. But has it been worth the wait, and the considerable hype?

First impressions? Well, it’s a beautiful body, no doubt about that.  The shape of the body itself is very good indeed;  there’s a lovely swooping arch to the spine that makes your bum look pert, and the breast shape is  simply fabulous. In fact, the boobies are a real selling point for me; they look perky and nommable.  There’s a push-up option too but I’m not sure how often I’ll use it, the regular ones look great! In the interests of science (Yay! Science!) I  played with the sliders and the mesh shape seems to accommodate changes  very well indeed. This is a good thing, because when it comes to clothes slight adjustments had to be made to ensure a good fit. The ability to select various body parts to ‘alpha-out’ is  very useful, but a few improvements do need to be made.  I found a couple of areas around the inner thigh that just wouldn’t go alpha despite my changing my shape slightly, but I’m sure such issues can be addressed in future updates, of which I am sure there will be many.

The main attraction with this mesh body,  for me at least, are the inbuilt hands and feet. Rather than rooting through your inventory to find the right hand shape or foot style  you can select  from a number of options via HUD, and change via a quick click. It’s like magic. The hands are especially beautifully sculpted, and the ability to change hand position and foot shape via a simple HUD click is worth the price alone. This is a huge selling point for the Venus body, and the results are fantastic.  The fast HUD driven  changes will be particularly coveted by bloggers, who can choose the perfect hand position for their shot with just a quick click. The feet look good too: flat, mid or high, but in my opinion they aren’t quite as special as the SLink fee, which  in my opinion are ever-so-slightly more detailed. That said the advantage here is that you don’t have to fork out for individual foot styles. There are some manicure and pedicure colours built into the HUD to allow for styling changes, but in my opinion it wouldn’t hurt to add a few more colours. There wasn’t a green polish for a start… (yes, I do wear green nail polish in real life on occasion, LOL) but I am sure that like SLink  more appliers will soon become available. ( To be honest I’m messing about a little here, the included nail colours are more than acceptable:)

If you have a huge SLink manicure, pedicure and shoe collection then you’ll want to be able to continue to use your purchases and to accommodate this there’s a Belleza  Venus Body included without hands and feet so that you can continue to use your SLink appendages.  You know initially  I didn’t know how I felt about that; on the one hand it’s great to be able to continue to use SLink assets with this body, but isn’t it a wee bit on the cheeky side too? That said, doesn’t the fact that such an option is even included recognise the fact that SLink Physique set the bar pretty high to begin with? I don’t do SL politics, but I can say that BOTH of these mesh bodies are pretty darn fabulous and equally worth owning, and I certainly don’t think that sales for SLink will be seriously impacted by the release of Venus. In fact, if anything the release of the Belleza Venus Mesh Body will encourage further developments in mesh body technology, a prospect I certainly relish!

In short then the Belleza Venus gets a thumbs up from me.  The HUD is fantastic, the hands and feet awesome and the one-click change is a brilliant idea.  The boobs have great shape, as does the body itself.  If you’re thinking of splashing out the cost is L$3995 (That’s about £12.50 GBP) but you do get a lot for your money so I actually do think that this is a very fair price indeed. This is a list of what you’ll get:

• 8 Original Belleza Skintones
•  16 Skintone Presets
•  8 Skin Applier Save Slots
•  Tattoo, Underwear and Clothing Layer
• Extensive Alpha System
•  Natural or Push-Up Breast Options
• 16 Hand pose options for each hand built into HUD with simple 1-click change
• 3 Nail Lengths – Short, Medium & Long
• 20 Finger & Toenail Polish Presets
• 4 Feet Options: Flat, Medium, High, and JustDesign built into HUD with simple 1-click change

That’s a lot isn’t it?

If you’re considering buying  I highly recommend that you demo Venus first, and by that I don’t just mean try it on in a sandbox. Wear different outfits, play with the sliders, add different hairstyles and most of all MOVE ABOUT….

Seriously, stick on some tunes in your virtual abode, and using your favourite dancing animation throw some shapes.  That’s exactly what I did above. Observe  how the mesh body moves, and how the clothes move with it.  Try the different feet shapes and hand shapes; see if you will be able to live your Second Life in this body successfully.  If you’re happy, zoom on over to Belleza to purchase one.

Oh and if you’re wondering? I haven’t actually bought one…yet. I’ve heard that there’s a curvy one on the way (although it already accommodates curves very well)  and I need to see that before I make any purchasing decisions…watch this space!

Last but not least, this release has gotten a LOT of blogger coverage.  I particularly liked this post on the ‘Miss3chevious’ blog which really shows how curvy and svelte the body can look, this one from Bitchzilla and this excellent video tutorial from Vixie.  The amazing Kaelyn Alecto provides fantastic coverage on her beautiful blog ( I have serious blog envy whenever I visit!) and Grazia and Lucie‘s posts also prove how amazing Venus looks when worn in a voluptuous and buxom style too.

Have you got a Venus Mesh Body yet? If so what do you think? Let us know in the comments below!