Maitreya

Itty Bitty

blue Reviews

To my absolute surprise, a reader of the blog, who I’ve never even talked to in-world, sent me a Maitreya gift card the other day.  She sent me a notecard saying that having read my article “What I wear”, she wanted to say “thank you” in some concrete way, and to let me know that she thinks I’m missing out on a more realistic modeling figure, she said I should use the gift card to get the Petite add-on for Lara.  After sending her a huge “thank you!” in return, I went and got the add-on, although with a certain amount of trepidation.

I like how my body looks, I think I’m nicely in proportion, having based myself on photos of a real life model.  I was worried about how I’d look, how I’d change.  I know I change from human to feline, but both my felines have similar proportions to my human form (the snow leopard wears my human shape, it’s all trickery with skin, paws, and head!).  But this, this was a fundamental change to my body image.

But I was surprised again.  After reading the information that comes with Petite, I added it, leaving my shape the same.  The add-on surprisingly changed the shape of my breasts while only slightly changing their size.  If you want larger breasts with the add-on, it’s possible with the sliders, and I upped my normal number to compensate just a bit.  And again I’m surprised that after all this time being in my shape, a fundamental change immediately looked in proportion and well, just right.  This is probably more of a reflection on how well the Maitreya team have modeled and rigged this than my shape!

Over the last couple of days, I’ve been wearing Petite out shopping and while I’m doing the chores that go along with this blog, just to get used to it.  And I think my reader may have been right.  Looking at models in the real world today, despite the welcome inclusion of more representative models that started happening recently, they are, on average, more willowy that the girl I based my shape on way back in 2014.

So, while I’m sure I won’t be making a permanent switch, it’s nice that I now have the option to show you some clothing being made by some of the top designers thanks to a very generous reader!  I went back through my blog, noting down some outfits I’d listed with Petite sizes so I could find something to wear right away.

In case you’re wondering about Petite, it’s an object that you add while wearing Lara.  It automatically hides the bust of the normal Lara body, and as it’s a Maitreya product, the fit is seamless.  It also comes with a replacement HUD, the three Lara layers to suit Petite (tattoo, underwear, and clothing), and a set of lingerie from Addams.

If you’re offended by partial nudity, click away now…

 

 

What I wear

blue Fashion

It’s been ages since I’ve done a full breakdown of what I wear, I haven’t done one since 2020!  Looking back at posts, you see “Lara, GA EG, Slink, Monso” so often you must all think I’m a broken record 🙂  There’s lots more to my look than just these four of course, so let me explain the bits and pieces that help me achieve the realistic look I’m aiming for.

I use the Lara body by Maitreya.  When mesh bodies first appeared on the scene I demoed every single one that was available.  Back then, for me the choice came down to Lara or Venus by Belleza (Freya and Isis didn’t exist back then).  I chose Lara mostly for the ease of use of the HUD, and because I found I could get the shape I wanted fairly easily.

Even before I went Lara, I had Slink hands and feet.  If you wanted a presentable avatar back in those days, replacing the hands and feet of the system avatar was an absolute must.  Mostly because of the number of nail polishes I have for Slink, I wear them to this day.  I only have Slink High and Flat feet, so I use Lara’s feet for mid heels, which I wear often with jeans and shorter dresses.

Nail polish… special occasions sees me looking for special matching nail polishes in my collection, but for day to day, I wear button #8 from a collection called “Sea Deep”.  I’ve had this polish for ages (since 2015!) and it’s my absolute favorite.

Now for some cringe realism 🙂 I have Lara set to BoM, so I can wear system layer body hair tattoos to give my arms a layer of fine hair.  I can’t get that “smooth as a baby’s bottom” look under my arms in RL without irritation, so I have a tattoo for underarm stubble in SL to match.  As a side benefit, this gives the illusion of actual armpits, which avatars just don’t have 🙂  I also wear an applier on the Lara tattoo layer for visible breast veins which we pale skinned redheads are susceptible to.

And speaking of skin, for the longest time I wore a skin from Lumae called Adore Peach, but because Lumae, while being a fabulous skin creator (and a wonderfully generous person to boot) was never considered a main stream creator, it was always difficult to get exact skin tone matches for applier enabled add-ons.  So, back in 2020, I switched to a skin from 7 Deadly s[K]ins called Genie Apricot, and have been wearing that ever since.

Next, I wear a Jennifer mesh head from GA EG.  Similar to my experience with selecting Lara, I must have demoed over 20 heads.  I’ve detailed my mesh head adventure before, so I won’t repeat all that here.  To summarize, my shape is totally custom, and this includes all the settings for Jennifer.  All my shape settings are aiming for a realistic girl next door look, with certainly nothing exaggerated.  While I think my avatar is pretty (I based my look on a real life model after all) I’m not so outrageously glam that it looks silly.

I wear hardly any makeup, except on special occasions.  My standard look only includes a neutral lipstick from the “London” pack by AlaskaMetro.  I also use some subtle green eyeliner to highlight my eyes, which is done using the “Smoky Eyeshadow” add-on for Jennifer.

My eyes were originally freebies from Mayfly.  Sadly, Mayfly no longer has an in-world store.  But you still can purchase the same eyes on the marketplace.  Eyelashes and eyebrows are both done via the Jennifer HUD.

Hair… oh dear… I have absolutely hundreds of hairstyles, they are one of my favorite things to change my look in SL!  Over the years, I’ve gravitated to a couple of favored creators, chief amongst them Monso and Exile.  I favor short hairstyles because they don’t get in the way of the dress or top I’m trying to photograph for the blog.  It’s not like RL where you can just flip your hair out of the way!  For the longest time I was wearing a lovely bob from Monso called Chahong, until I spotted a girl on a beach wearing this hairstyle and I though to myself “that looks like Chahong, except messier” and I clicked and… Monso!  I ran out and bought Ruda2 right away and have been wearing it for at least the last half year.

Is that it? she asks, checking the “Wearing” tab… It looks like it!

Wait!  I have one tattoo that I wear all the time too.  It’s on my right foot (and only when I’m wearing Slink feet, there’s no applier for Maitreya).  Lilies happen to be my favorite flower.

Here’s a list of all the items I wear on a day to day basis.

A Sky Full of Stars

Aeon Fashion, LotD, Reviews

‘Cause you’re a sky, you’re a sky full of stars
Such a heavenly view.
– Coldplay


Aeon’s pose is Always 3 from GLITTER Poses

Aloha kākou! Hello, everyone! Happy Friday!

I’ve had these pics for a month or so now, sometimes I get some pics taken but don’t get the time to post them. This is a beautiful dress that I picked up at an event a month or two back.


Aeon’s pose is Febgift 15-6 from Exposeur Props and Poses (Marketplace link)

I love the combination of the short hem and the high neck. It’s just perfect for wearing with leggings… or a lovely racy feeling with bare legs! For these pics, though, I paired it up with a couple different pairs of tights from Alaska Metro <3

Aeon’s pose is Look Up! 1 from [Kikay] Poses

The right shoulder is a tinted opaque panel. Colours are sold separately, but I kinda just had to pick up a few of the available colours. I really love the purple and the black here! Each version is available in two options: with and without stars on the opaque (coloured) portion of the dress.


Aeon’s pose is Virgo from Astalianda

I wish you all a wonderful Friday full of stars!
Aloha! A hui hou kākou!

Pictures were taken in a custom-created skybox at Realm of Light

Bryn Oh’s Immersiva Grey Dust windlight was used!

I am wearing:
•UNA. — Estela (purple, black) (Maitreya/Maitreya Petite/Legacy/Perky fitmesh) (Marketplace link)
•Alaska Metro <3 — Lyra (06 gold holo) leggings
•Maitreya — Zoie (black) boots
•Analog Dog — Em Hair
•DS’ELLES — Clemence (Ambre) skin
•Mayfly — Luminous Twilight Forest eyes
•[GA.EG] — Barbara mesh face
•[GA.EG] — Glamour Lashes
•Maitreya — Lara mesh body, hands and feet

Snowfall

Aeon Fashion, LotD, Reviews

There’s something right and beautiful about celebrating the turning of the year with lights…. our memories of the past light our today, the hope of the future lights the path ahead.

Aloha kākou! Mele Kalikimaka a Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!


Aeon’s pose is Me from {Way} (now Lov poses)

I recently discovered Carpe Noctem, and have another wonderful little warm snuggly outfit to share with you. This is the lovely Iby cable-knit sweater dress, and it’s individually available in twenty different colours and ten different patterns. Like the Andie top, you can get each of the patterns separately — no colours/textures are reserved for the fatpack!


Aeon’s pose is Winter Spirit 02 from *Eternal Dream*

Iby is available in Legacy, Legacy Perky, Lara, and Lara Petite fitmesh. Lara Petite! I’m over the moon! The patterning here is just really perfect, the snowflakes look just wonderful.

I added my Snow Flurry necklace and earrings from EarthStones, as well as some lovely gold tights from Alaska Metro <3.  They’re the perfect complement to the gold and silver snowflake motif of the dress.


Aeon’s pose is Dust in the Wind (mirror) from Luanes World

It’s been a long year… and 2021 will definitely have its share of challenges — but I wish you a wonderful new year filled with light and peace and love. Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!

Pictures were taken in a custom-created skybox at Realm of Light

The Nacon’s Nighty Fog windlight was used!

I am wearing:
•Carpe Noctem — Iby Cable knit dress (Lara/Lara Petite/Legacy/Legacy Perky fitmesh) (30 individually sold colours and patterns)
•EarthStones — Snow Flurry lariat necklace and earrings
•Alaska Metro <3 — Lyra (06 gold holo) leggings
•Maitreya — Zoie (black) boots
•Truth Hair — Athena
•DS’ELLES — Clemence (Ambre) skin
•Mayfly — Luminous Twilight Forest eyes
•[GA.EG] — Barbara mesh face
•[GA.EG] — Glamour Lashes
•Maitreya — Lara mesh body, hands and feet

Lara 5.2

blue Stuff

Just a quick note, so quick, not even a photo!  I just wanted to mention that Maitreya have released version 5.2 of the Lara mesh body.  There are only two changes, and the first is support for the new Petite Chest add-on from Maitreya, which I suspect won’t affect too many people reading this blog.

But the other change is of interest to nearly everyone that uses this body.  For the first time, Lara has rigged feet, which means you can change the foot size via the slider while editing your shape.

For anyone that’s been around pre-mesh bodies, I’m willing to guess that all of you will have your foot size set to zero in your saved shapes.  I know I did, as the system feet are so horrible, I wanted to hide them as much as possible!

So, with the new Lara, you might have a little chore to do.  Wear each of your shapes and edit it and set the foot size to 25.  This is the default size to match the prior version of Lara’s foot size.  If you don’t do this, your feet will certainly look funny on your existing Lara-sized shoes 🙂

Lara V5 released!

blue Reviews

Ever since Bakes on Mesh went live, Maitreya have been promising a new version of Lara to support it directly.  They released a temporary BoM HUD that let you try it out, but now the new body has been released!  If you missed it, there’s a notice in the Maitreya V.I.P. group (FREE to join) that contains an updater so the store is not swamped by people visiting for updates.

The first thing I did was strip down to Ruth and add the body HUD, and I ran into a problem straight away.  You can imagine that as someone who puts together a new outfit every day, I spend a bit of time on the built-in pose stand in Firestorm.  The collapsed HUD by default attaches to the top left, and is positioned right under the pose stand floater lol.  I tried to edit the HUD to my normal position, but the HUD editing won’t let you move it. Fortunately, it’s easily fixed by attaching the HUD to the top position.

Next, I added the full body alpha and the body.  There are twelve new skins from Glam Affair, now giving you a total of twenty two to chose from.  There are new options on the skin section of the HUD too, that let you change the nipple textures, and options to change the nipple shape to allow you to select original, hard, or puffy styles.  But horror, the four skin save slots are nowhere to be found!  I use these all the time for different cleavage options to save me having to attach my skin HUD, change cleavage, and detach again.

As an alternative to the save slots on the HUD, there is a “save stick” with the new body.  You can rez these and rename them and save skin and other presets to them.  You can read more about them in the manual.

I applied my normal skin from Lumae using their Mairtreya applier without any issues.

And the other immediately noticeable thing about the body is that the hands are feet are attached, and you can’t remove them (although you can alpha them out, whew!)  Also, there are two new foot positions, one between flat and mid and a shape on tiptoes (what Slink call Kitten and Pointe).

And speaking of hands and feet, a few more alpha cuts have been added around the wrists and ankles, which may be useful.  But of course, you know what I did, right?  I alphaed the hands and feet and attached my Slinks 🙂  Happily, they still seamlessly fit with the new body.

When the temporary relay came out, I speculated that Maitreya might do away with layers that support appliers.  Instead, they’ve been very clever and made the layers separately wearable objects!  There are three layers, clothing, underwear, and tattoo to match the standard system layers.  These layers support your existing appliers.  If you’re not using appliers in an outfit, no need to wear the layer, et voila, a marked reduction in avatar complexity!  And you can wear one, two, or all three layers if you wish to use appliers.

And BoM is now supported directly.  Just remove your full body alpha and enable the “Bakes on Mesh” button in the “Skin/Base” tab in the HUD, and wear system layers like you did in the good old days 🙂

I’m not going to take photos of all the HUD changes, you’ll surely see them for yourself soon enough.  I’ll just add a photo with the included lingerie from Erratic, similar to the photos I did all those years ago when I first got Lara.  Little in looks have changed, but lots in functionality has!  Well done to the Maitreya team!

Across the Ecliptic

Aeon Fashion, LotD, Reviews

Aloha kākou!  I hope everyone is ready for a happy and relaxing weekend! I apologise, we probably should have seasonal posts here this time of year, but I had picked up this lovely dress from Spyralle and I really wanted to share it with you.

Kerryth’s Astera comes in twelve beautiful patterns, one named for each of 12 of the 13 constellations of the Zodiac (poor Ophiuchus always gets slighted by the astrologers, but we astronomers remember).  This is Virgo, beautiful in blues, greens and violets.

I’ve added some beautiful feathery earrings from Zaara.  Actually, I’m wearing both feathered earrings and ear cuffs, but they work so well together.  I’ve had these for a while, but with my big curly hair that I’m usually wearing, they kind of… vanish.  They suit Astera very well!

I hope you may find time to pause and breathe.  Sure, maybe for the season, but maybe just because you need it.  I know that I do!  Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

Mahalo!  A hui hou kākou!

Pictures were taken at Mauna Waipio.

I am wearing:

Prowl

Aeon Events, Fashion, LotD, Reviews

She walked with a feline grace, and a sense of purpose, barely contained, hunting….

I came across this lovely strappy… minidress, I think, at We Love Role Play this month.  Midgar II is from Sasheba’s Closet, and comes with a lovely texture hud with ___ options.  I may not be exactly sure what it is, but I like it!  It has wonderful strappy detail, and is rather … cheeky.

Midgar II has a lovely slightly-dystopian feel to it that seems right at home for a huntress in the city streets.  Perhaps you might pair it with a few pistols… or a couple of long knives.  I have slightly different weapons in mind, though.

It was close, so close she could smell it in the air… she was closing in, there would be no escape this time.

She followed the scent of her prey until she found it in along the market street, bathed in neon light, waiting for her.  She licked her lips in anticipation…

  • <K&S> — Loveliness #1 pose

… the dim sum would finally be hers.

Aloha!  A hui hou kākou!

Witchy Witchy 2

Jaz Fashion, Reviews

Wait I have another witch costume! Toward the other end of the color spectrum here, and another one of my mix and match specials!

The basis for this one is the beautifully detailed Locus Pocus Witch outfit by IrriSIStible. It consists of mesh hat, bra, two versions of the skirt with optional veil, bangles, appliers for the gloves and socks with a nice sparkle pattern, and two versions of a wand, one of which is animated. The outfit looks terrific on its own but you know I can never leave well enough alone and I just had to add more stuff… flexi sleeves and skirts from two different outfits, a choker, arm and leg garters, sparkle body dust, star particles… You know, maybe I can add just one more thing…

 

In this closer view you can see the wonderful mesh detailing that IrriSIStible achieves.

Locus Pocus is available for the major mesh bodies.

Did you save some candy for me? Cheers!

Witchy Witchy

Jaz Fashion, Reviews

Spoooooky! And maybe a li’l bit sexy too… Neverwish serves up a nice little treat for you, with the KittyButt outfit. It includes Bento kitty ears, the top, a thong, and a skirt with an integrated Bento kitty tail. One cool feature of this set is that as the tail and skirt are one item, when the tail bobs up and down with the animation, the skirt part it is attached to moves with it in a nice natural way.

KittyButt is for Maitreya bodies and is available in 10 colors, with a hud for changing 2 trim colors and 6 fur colors. The bracelets are a separate item but come with a hud with matching colors to KittyButt.

  • Broom and pose: Witch’s Broom by Elemental

Trick or treat, my sweet friends! Cheers!