Onyx Leshelle – Kittywitchin'

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS!

I hope you’ve all had a fantastic festive season with your family and loved ones. I know I had an absolutely cracking time, but in between RL work and being with loved ones I found very little time to log-in (which is just as it should be!) I’m making up for it now though with gusto, and busily compiling some blog posts for you all to enjoy. So let’s start as we mean to go on shall we?

Seeing as it’s a new year I thought I’d share my first semi-nude shot of the year with you all, LOL! This is me sporting the latest mesh body to hit the grid, ‘Lara’ by MAITREYA. Now, I decided after the BELLEZA malarkey that I wasn’t going to buy any more mesh bodies because with all the DMCA nonsense I didn’t ‘t know if they would prove to be a sound investment. Spendin thousands of Lindens upon something for which you’d expect regular updates, only for the item to be DMCA’d and taken off-grid isn’t a good return on the money spent. Not that I’m tight but I’m not made of Lindens, and I like to be careful what I buy. (Of course you do Kitty, that’s why you have 56k of items in your inventory…PFFFT)

Fortunately BELLEZA returned back to the grid with their wonderful mesh body and a happy Kitty this did make, so when MAITREYA released Lara my initial thoughts were “Nah, I’ll give it a miss.” I already had two mesh bodies, SLINK and BELLEZA, so I didn’t need another one, right? WRONG.

I made the FATAL mistake of demoing Lara. (I blame Magenta De Vinna AKA Skittles for this, because I asked on Plurk if I should give it a go because clearly I can’t think for myself, and Skittles told me that it was definitely worth a demo.) The rest is history. Readers, this body is bloody divine. I zoomed over to a sandbox, opened the box and fell in love.

So what are my thoughts on this bod? It’s very different to SLINK and BELLEZA in that, well to my eyes at least, it’s more ‘lifted’ around the bewbs and bum areas, but not in an exaggerated Nicki Minaj-on-acid manner. It feels youthful and zesty and vibrant and is VERY easy to wear. To me, SLINK feels like the classic mesh body that anyone can wear, BELLEZA feels more modern in some ways, but this one feels, well, fizzy and vibrant, if you get my drift? Indeed, this is the first mesh body I’ve tried where I’ve managed to get a really good skin match out of the box without wearing one of the designated skins. Seaming issues to the neck in this body have been minimal for me, and after a few minor corrections I can’t see a join at all. I have had problems with my BELLEZA body and my SLINK body with the neck area, but the MAITREYA body has pretty much worked straight out of the box, which has made it a real blessing in my opinion. The whole package feels less ‘fussy’ in a lot of ways; although the HUD doesn’t have the panache of say the Belleza HUD, it’s effective and easy to use. I think the alphas are the most

The whole package feels less ‘fussy’ in a lot of ways; although the HUD doesn’t have the panache of say the Belleza HUD, it’s easy to use. I think the alphas are the most effective thus far too; I’ve found fitting my clothing around this to be the easiest of all the bodies that I wear. I’ve had issues in the past where I’ve had to change my shape to get the best fit, I haven’t with this and my outfits look grand.

As far as changes go I’d like to see more hand positions included and more nail polish colours too in the basic HUD, but apart from that I really don’t see what other improvements will need to be made, other than enhancements over time. The HUD needs work I think, even when resized it’s quite intrusive on the screen so if that could be reduced to a tiny icon by the click of a button that would prove useful. It also lacks ‘Oomph’ as far as HUDS go, it could do with prettying up a bit, but that is a cosmetic change that has absolutely no impact on the quality of this body at all. Of course I ended up buying it, and guys I haven’t taken it off since I got it!

If you’re into mesh bodies then you definitely need this one in your collection, and if you’ve never tried them before why not give the DEMO a try? The results are really

The results are really fantastic, as I hope my photographs demonstrate..

I mean just LOOK at my bum, look at the hands…GAH!!! Amazeballs aren’t they? I absolutely LOVE it! There’s plenty of blogger buzz about this release too. I particularly liked Berry’s blog post about this body, which compares it with others on the market (except Belleza), and you can read it here.

Check out the MAITREYA ‘Lara’ body by clicking HERE to visit the Mainstore The body costs L$2750 (That’s about £5.25), and for the product I think that’s an incredibly fair price.

Have you tried the Maitreya ‘Lara’ body yet?

What do you think?

Let us know in the comments below!

No, not that! It’s time for another round of Collabor88 guys and gals, and of course, just like always, it’s a corker!

Each time Collabor88 comes around I think, “Nope, I ain’t gonna go mad at it this time. No, there won’t be anything I want, I’m sure of it..” I adopt a firm disposition that lasts, ooh, about ten seconds and then flies straight out of the window. Then I spend all morning trying to get in, and leave with ALL THE THINGS!!! I have zero willpower, it’s pathetic. But can you blame me for being so weak-willed when you consider just how awesome C88 is? It’s always jam-packed with quality lovely stuff and things and this month isn’t any exception at all; if anything I think it’s possibly one of the better rounds of recent times. Not that any of them have been duff, but this one is FULL OF JUMPERS amongst other niceies, and you all know how much I love jumpers. And coats. And basically all things warm and snuggly..and there are plenty of those to be had…oh JOY OF JOYS!

First up is this bloody amazing, huge and super snuggly coat from Maitreya. Now there’s something a little Mod about this; the shape reminds me of London street-stylings, and it’s more than a little Crombie-coat-esque. Can you imagine wearing this in real life? It is HUMUNGOUS. This is the kind of coat you wouldn’t need to wear a jumper underneath because you’d have a hot flush. The shape is fabulous actually, and it’s made even more blinking fantastic by the fact that it comes with sleeve extensions that change this from a three-quarter sleeve into a full-sleeve coat. You know, a lot of the time I gauge an item in SL against the likelihood of my wearing it in real life. Rightly or wrongly a lot of what I wear in world is an extension of what I’d love to wear in real life, had I the cash/figure to wear it. Needless to say but I would so wear the shit out of this coat. I would wear it in blinking summer I love it THAT much. Yes, I might die from heat exhaustion, but I’d die looking outrageously awesome.

The over-sized shape allows a lot of space for a glorious texture, and it’s finished really well, which is just what you’d expect from Onyx Leshelle. Onyx is a creator par excellence and whenever she release anything new to the grid you can practically hear the rumble of a squillion avatars feet running towards it. I love everything about this coat. I could even lick the ruddy buttons I love it that much. Best of all? It’s just L$188, which is a bloody scandal really. It’s available in six variations and every single one of them is as delicious as the other, but for me it just had to be this gorgeous red, called ‘Syrah’. I’m sure Jez could fit in this with me, which would be super cosy indeed!

Incidentally, I’m also sporting a new GLAM AFFAIR skin that can be found at C88. It’s called Mokatana, and is simply stunning. I’ve become totally enamoured with the GLAM AFFAIR brand this year, and Mokatana is a stunning addition to their exquisite skin-stable. So what does this skin have that attracted me so much? Allure, dear heart, and then some. Like every GLAM AFFAIR skin it oozes personality from every virtual pore; add to that the fact that they are so darn pretty; they have beautiful body shading and great make-ups and you’re onto a winner. They also have sweet optional additions such as moles and freckles, something that I’m festooned with in real life. (RL Titbit: I used to think the moles on my body mapped out the constellations as a kid. Mad I know, but kind of a nice thought!) The real selling point on Mokatana though are the lips. These are the kind of lips that are made for kissing, and biting, and basically ravishing. They’re dewy and soft and just so gorgeously, mouthwateringly perfect that basically I went into squee-spasms when I tried this skin on. So I had to have it, natch. The other vital selling point for me are the brows; Aida Ewing knows how to make GREAT brows, and various brow colours are very thoughtfully included in the skin pack.

For my second look I’m wearing another make-up from the Mokatana line, and I’ve teamed it with a comfy combo comprising of this divine sweater from COLOR.ME.H.O.F. and the skirt/leggings combo in black from BAIASTICE. This is another great sweater and again, an example of a quality texture that has been perfectly applied. I love the height of the neck and the inverted ‘v’ pattern on the front of this. It looks like a very expensive, designer sweater, don’t you think? The sleeves are styled to be large and shaped before finishing just on the wrist. The body-length of this is good too; I get a bit annoyed with jumpers that are too short in SL, which is a bit daft really because it’s not as if I’ll feel a draught while wearing them, but it’s just a bug-bear of mine. It was hard not to buy all of the range, but my favourite shade of red (In this case it’s called ‘Oxblood’) just had to be mine. Moving on to the skirt/leggings and it’s hard to believe that I first blogged Baiastice way back in 2008. It’s simply marvellous that Sissy Pessoa’s brand has become one of the fashion benchmarks of Second Life, and she goes from strength to strength. It would be easy to dismiss the skirt and leggings as relatively simple mesh creations, but that would belie their strength. They’re extremely well created, the fit is great and the incorporated belt can be worn in either a gold or silver finish. Speaking of finishing, the detail on the front of the skirt really adds something extra to an item that would have worked just as well had it been left plain, but it’s this attention to detail that has always made BAIASTICE creations stand out amongst their peers.

So there you have it, just some of the goodies available at this round of C88. But there are tons more, and I’ll endeavour to feature some of those very soon too.

But if you can’t wait, here’s your taxi!