Brand new to this game, I want to create myself in game. Any suggestions?

[Sarphy]

In this game do I need to/can I buy each individual part for my avatar?

Head, eyes, body etc or even better, can I make my own avatar/face?

Or do I just need to browse through the endless shop until I find the parts(facial features etc) that I'm looking for?

[Kelley Wonder]

http://www.caledonoxbridge.org/

 

This is a good place to learn lots of things. You can go there inworld and they have tutorials on many subjects.

[BlueTrianon]

I agree with the Caledon Oxbridge suggestion.  There's also usually a few friendly people around who are good at answering questions about SL and how to do things here.  Just walk up to them and ask.  

 This link should give you a pop up window that will take you directly there.  Follow the arrows on the floor and it will take you to the area where they normally stand around.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Oxbridge/92/198/27

[Syo Emerald]

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Sarphy wrote:

In this game do I need to/can I buy each individual part for my avatar?

 

Head, eyes, body etc or even better, can I make my own avatar/face?

 

Or do I just need to browse through the endless shop until I find the parts(facial features etc) that I'm looking for?

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As others have suggested, before you dive deep into the details, go learn the basics (which probably will also answer a good chunk of your current questions).

But to give you an idea: Your possibilities for customizing your avatar are endless, in theory. There are uncountable numbers of avatarparts being sold and I'm sure, if you search for a while you definitly find something you like. Thats what most people do, putting their avatar together out of many different parts. I think the only part I made myself was the shape of my avatar. (A shape is the structure of your avatar, that, together with the skin, determines how your avatar and especially the face looks like).

When you are familiar with SL and still want to go into making your own parts, you probably will need to learn some software and building skills. There are classes for that and the internet probably also offers helpful advice. But be aware that this is not that easy to learn and may take quite a while.