Best Skins and Shapes...?

[Cindy1150]

Hello. Trying to update my avi. I am extremely picky and am looking for the very best. I do a lot of portrait photography, so the shading of the skin is very important, notwithstanding that you can do a lot with windlights. Have been gathering up demos by the truckload, but have not found 'the one' as yet. Price doesn't matter. I use Slink hands and feet, so appliers are a must. Thanks!

[Syo Emerald]

What kind of style do you prefer?

Because its impossible to name that one store that makes the best skins, because that store does not exist. There are several good ones and which you prefer depends on your own taste. Some like natural looks, others prefer as much shading and gloss as possible or skins that let you look like a doll or super sweet girl.

I'm currently wearing a skin from Izzie's. The store has appliers for slink hands, feet and head, lolas and phatazz. They also have a collection of make-up that fits the skins, so you don't need to run a try and error to find lipstick that matches your skin.

[Cindy1150]

Well, I like a relatively slender body, average to tall, large-ish eyes. I work as an exotic dancer, so a somewhat glamorous look is important. Right now I have a Noya skin that was a good starter skin, but she does not make appliers and has no plans to do so. There are also minor issues with shading.

[Cindy1150]

I will take a look at Izzie's. I haven't checked it out yet. Thanks, !

[Aeromia]

Well, the 'best' is quite subjective. My personal favorites are PixiStix and WoW(Though admittedly I haven't bought WoW in over a year). I've got collections from Pinkfuel, 7Deadlyskins, PandaPunx and a few others that are in the more fantasy realm like FallenGods (who is beginning to make appliers <3) I have more skins than I'll ever have a use for lol. But that's just me, I love coming up with different avi combinations and challenging myself to create new looks that are both dramatic and individual.

Essences has some really, really beautiful skins but I'll never justify paying the 1500L for the same type of quality with the appliers that I need for the price (usually ranging around 800L-1000L)

I've collected some really interesting skins over the past 3 yrs and have found that some of my favorite skins I haven't paid a dime for, whether it be group gifts, finds at festivals or what have you. My favorite Pink Fuel and PixiStix was a token freebie at the skin fair this year lol

My advise to you is have fun and don't be so picky you miss out on that one beautiful skin because it happens to be sitting in the 'freebie section'

[Pussycat Catnap]

This kind of thing is absurdly subjective. A skin I love will be utter junk to you, and vice versa (and I might hate a skin on me, and find it looks great on you).

My suggestion is to follow a few flickr group where posters regularly say what items they're wearing, and when you see a look you like - go shopping.

Otherwise we're just going to end up tossing 153 more demos at you.

 

You can also start asking people in places you go - sure some will get all weird about it, but most people react friendly to that sort of thing. Just if one of them offers to 'give you a copy cause its full perms' I trust you know to not accept that and distance yourself from that person.

 

[Cindy1150]

Thanks for the replies. Really, I do know that opinions on such things are very subjective and I was really mainly just looking for ideas for new places to check. I am not adverse to freebies, as long as they are good quality. I have some freebie stuff that is crap and some that is very good...but...yeah, I am picky and that will never change, lol. I don't change avis a lot so I will have to live with my choice for a while.

[Aeromia]

I wasn't knocking the fact that you're picky, I'm pretty picky myself, just ask my bf lol. I was just trying to give ideas based on skins that I had personal knowledge with.

Hope you do find that perfect skin for you! :3

[Pussycat Catnap]

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Cindy1150 wrote:

just looking for ideas for new places to check.

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Ok. I'll toss a few I like then.

Elysium Skins & Apparel - One of those places that does a stack of tones for each skin. But unlike most she does good enough palms for the darker tones (actually remembers that the palms don't pick up melanin).

Angel Rock - Mostly African skins. A few that are other races. She puts a lot of ethnic detail into a skin, so when you buy an Asian or Caucasian one, it will really have features that fit for an ethnicity from those regions. Palms are done correct.

Lumae & Aeva http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kassar/26/49/21 - another person who does a variety of tones for each skin. She makes the mistake of palms being the same tone as the body, so stick to her lghter skin tones. Has one skin at only 75L every Sunday. All the skins have lipstick pre-applied or they would be great. Still, it might be what someone seeks.

Lyrical Store - African skins only, and the shop has been taken down and onlt half rebuilt for about a year now (so for some items you have to buy the demo on MP, product inworld, and for others - the other way around). Was once THE PLACE to get an African skin in SL...

Pink Fuel - probably know about this one already. They do tones from light to dark. They make the mistake of making palms the same tone as the body. But the skins are well done, if not pricey.

 

- You might notice up there that I'm also very picky, especially about mistakes in things like the palms. There are other issues I get picky about too, but places that made those mistakes don't even get on my list at all... :matte-motes-wink-tongue:

I'd be a skin maker if I could, but its hard. 

 

Shapes.... Make you own. Seriously. The shapes that are for sale are all highly distorted. The shape selling business in SL has the lowest quality of any segment of SL... and its dominated by people who would fail beginning art classes (or have simply never taken them).

I've got a link in my sig on doing proportions. Use that, use the settings you want - but make it look good knowing what it takes to look good. And then when you get to the face, look at some photos of some people of interest, and blend in elements as you just go nuts with the dials slowly perfecting things.

 

[Purplerain Horowitz]

I got a beautiful skin from Akeruka Italian Creations. It is nice because they have the matching Slink feet and hand colors for some of their skins (including mine) so it is easy to do matching. They have demos. 

[geko12]

Al-Vulo has beautiful skin/shape combos.

[Bobbie Faulds]

Curio and Rockberry have some lovely skins and have the appliers as well.

[Mercedes Avon]

I personally love Elysium skins. I also like Dreese skins, New Faces and Glance.

[Summer Tison]

I'm a huge fan of LAQ skins, I use my own shape, spent many, many hours getting my avi to look as I want her..but there are a lot good skins out there, you just have to keep looking until you find the one that is you. GL with your search.

[Josie Ryder]

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Cindy1150 wrote:

Hello. Trying to update my avi. I am extremely picky and am looking for the very best. I do a lot of portrait photography, so the shading of the skin is very important, notwithstanding that you can do a lot with windlights. Have been gathering up demos by the truckload, but have not found 'the one' as yet. Price doesn't matter. I use Slink hands and feet, so appliers are a must. Thanks!

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I prefer Pink Fuel skins.  They have great facial definition (some skins pixelate around the lip-edges), you can add "athletic" musaculture tatts and cleavage enhancers already mached to the skin, and they have applier for SLINK and Lolas mesh attachments.  Pink Fuel is also one of the brands that N-Core mesh shoes will match skintones with.

 

 

 

If you want to buy a shape, Body Doubles is a place to go where you can find variety and also shapes that are matched to specific skins. 

[Debbie Xenno]

Pulse skin created by Lorac Farella has the best skin hands down.  It's the only skin I would ever wear.  I've tried other skins.  The skins are so realistic and beautiful.  

[Moz McGinnis]

On 4/21/2016 at 6:02 PM, Debbie Xenno said:

Pulse skin created by Lorac Farella has the best skin hands down.  It's the only skin I would ever wear.  I've tried other skins.  The skins are so realistic and beautiful.  

But where has Pulse gone? Is it only in the Marketplace now? The teleport is no more.

 

[ChinRey]

3 hours ago, Moz McGinnis said:

But where has Pulse gone? Is it only in the Marketplace now? The teleport is no more.

That advertisement is a year old, Moz. and if they were so desperate for marketing they nekroed a two year old thread back then, it's not very likely they're still here.

Edit: When you see somebody with hardly any other posts on the forum going all crazy about the products of one particular store, you can safely assume it's the store owner in disguise or somebody paid by the store to promote it.

Edited May 21, 2017 by ChinRey
Lots

[Sagadin]

I was following this thread and so checked out Elysium. It turns out they are closing their store and so have sweet deals on skins! Sad to see a store closing, but they have beautiful, nicely detailed and now very affordable skins. (And in this case I am not an owner or employee ;), just passing on a bargain find.)

Edited May 22, 2017 by Sagadin