It occurred to me whilst shopping at Magika earlier today that here are plenty of blog posts around explaining how to adjust prim hair to make for a better fit, but I haven’t seen that many that tell you how to actually shop for the stuff!Now, I know that may sound bonkers, but if you’re going to do a job then do it properly and yes, there is a method to shopping for hair that is astoundingly simple but will save you lots of hassle and probably Linden in the process.To begin with then, let’s go back to basics. What kind of style are you after? Long, short, spiky..all these styles can be found at a myriad of sources across the grid, but be selective about where you shop. Try somewhere that has been recommended by a blog like the fabulous ‘Savoir Hair’ which features loads of neat styles, or ask your chums or people whose style you admire what stores they recommend. Also, if you’re out and about and you fall in love with a style that you see another avatar wearing be bold and ask where they got it from, if you don’t ask, you don’t get after all! Finally go to the obvious stores, places like ETD and Gurlywood. Bear in mind though that these sims are usually rammed to the rafters with punters, so perhaps it’s a better option to visit a sim like ‘Hairspray’, which is purely dedicated to hair fashions. Many of the big names have satellite stores here, so use it as an opportunity to find brands that you like, and then visit their main store to check out the full range.
The method then is as follows:
Yes, go home! Trying on is best done in a familiar environment if you ask me, but if you don’t rent a house or own land go to the least laggy sand-box that you possibly can. The reason I’m asking you to do this is because the most popular stores usually have a lot of patrons, and you want as little interference as possible when you are wearing your hair demo. If the sim is laggy the hair may not fit right or be glitchy. Once you are wearing it, adjust to attain the fit that you are happy with and then proceed to use your camera controls to view it from *every* angle. I’m not over-egging the pudding when I say this, and although it may seem a little over-cautious remember that you’re going to be spending pennies and you want to be 100% sure about your purchase. You won’t get a refund on it after all!
Incidentally, it’s highly likely the demo-style will be a dodgy colour or mixture of tints. At this point we’re establishing if the shape and the style works with your avatar’s individual appearance and style of dress. Move on to your colour selection when you’re satisfied with the hair design.
Now it’s time to get wardrobe happy, and throw on your favourite outfits with gay abandon! Wear nothing and look at yourself as nekkid as the day you were born. If you wear a skin that features different make up looks, then try each of those on in turn. Wear prim eyelashes or glasses if you sometimes like to use these as part of your look. Sounds mad, but this makes perfect sense if you will be purchasing a fringed hairstyle because you need to ensure that it doesn’t look a right bugger with eyelashes or frames poking through..Now this next hint will probably be very painful, but trust me on it. No one wants to be seen walking around in demo hair as it makes you look like the worse kind of noob or a complete skinflint, but you need to go to a few places that you normally frequent. Again we’re doing this to see how your hair reacts to lag, and also if you’re happy with the way your style moves around. EG in a nightclub you may want to hop on a danceball that you use regularly to see how your style works with the dances. (Obviously this only applies to longer hairstyles, if your hair is non prim or a tad on the short side you’ll be making yourself look like a complete twit for nowt!)When you’re happy that your style has met all of these standards then go back to the store and buy it. Of course, you could just buy it in the first place and save yourself all this trouble, BUT I think this method makes for much more fun, and ensures hair happiness forever more. It also stops your inventory being filled to the brim with impulse hair buys that actually look really horrible but at the time seemed the best thing since sliced bread:)
Of course, another way of avoiding this is don’t go on SL when you have a bottle of Chardonnay and an empty glass beside your keyboard…
Kittywitchin' 