What is the best mesh head for maitreya?

[NanR]

What is the best mesh head for maitreya where the skin always matches easily and never have to match it up?

[angeoco]

Almost all mainstream mesh heads will work with a Maitreya body, and if you buy an Omega full-body skin applier (or separate head/body appliers in the same tone from the same creator) you can apply it to both your body and head for a guaranteed match. However, if you want to simply get a head which includes skins that match Maitreya's default skins, then I believe Lelutka heads do that. Somebody else might confirm that.

[Nalates Urriah]

Any head that allows you to apply your skin.

Most heads and brand name skins will work together. Those that are less popular use Omega. So... any head.

How easy it is by brand of body and head is WAY debatable. But, none of it is too complicated or difficult.

[Fionalein]

25 minutes ago, NanR said:

What is the best mesh head for maitreya where the skin always matches easily and never have to match it up?

8 minutes ago, angeoco said:

However, if you want to simply get a head which includes skins that match Maitreya's default skins, then I believe Lelutka heads do that.

Lelutka is seamless and has the same skins preinstalled... but basically any omega capable head will do if you go the omega skins way. I reccomend Lelutka, or utilizator normie + a fitting glam afair logo Skin that matches your body's colour (for a supercheap 500L+500L=1000L effort) if you want any more animations I would however go for a Lelutkta, Akeruka deluxe or Catwa head... most plugins are made for Lelutka and Catwa. And Akeruka deluxe and Lelutka animations are almost always interchangable because the heads are very similar rigged. 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2018 by Fionalein

[Blush Bravin]

Any mesh head will work with the Maitreya body. All you have to do is be sure you have the neck size set to the same number on both the head and body and use matching skin appliers for the body and head. The ONLY advantage a Lelutka has over any other brand is that the default skins in the hud match the default skins in the Maitreya hud. 

There are tons of skinners that do appliers for mesh heads and mesh bodies. Don't be constrained by the notion that you need to go Omega. Sure it's an option but certainly isn't necessary. I prefer to get skin appliers made specifically for the head and body I'm wearing rather than one that is supposed to work universally as the Omega appliers are designed to do.

Also, may I suggest you join the Maitreya Lara Friend's Group. It's a great source for help in all things related to the Maitreya body and in most cases we can help with mesh heads or can send you in the right direction to get help. 

[AyelaNewLife]

"Best" is a pretty hard thing to define, when so many (pretty much all) mesh heads will work with a Maitreya body. It comes down to personal preference, based on the look the heads give you.

Catwa is the most commonly used brand; although most cosmetics these days have an omega applier that allows them to be used on most mesh heads without a problem. I personally love Laq heads, I think they produce the prettiest heads and have a good range of skins available. Lelutka and Akeruka are two other good places to look.

Don't get the Catwa Catya head, you'll end up looking like a cookie-cutter clone of every Starbucks-sipping basic white girl out there. Any of the other newish Catwa heads are good options though.

[Marianne Little]

For skins that match Maitreya, don't forget that Glam Affair (who makes the included Maitreya skins) often has groupgifts, participate i Fifty Linden Fridays and Collabor 88.

I was in and took the Halloween gift, a zombie skin. It was also an August and a September gift. If I remember correct, the group is free to join.

@ChibiDragon007one of the gifts had a Laq applier. I have a Laq head somewhere in my inventory, but I don't use it. So I am not sure if it's good.

The skins have 5 eyebrow versions and freckles/moles on tattoo in the applier, so it is fully working skins.

[Blush Bravin]

Also, before buying any mesh head, if you're like me and like to have your face animated all the time, be sure you demo the heck out of the head using the animations that come with the head. Those animations have in many cases helped me to decide either for or against a mesh head. I'm super picky though. I want something that is subtle and extremely natural looking with the lips almost never static. That's not easy to find.

[Bebe Bunny]

This http://meshbodyaddicts.com/mesh-head-reviews/ and this http://meshbodyaddicts.com/mesh-head-reviews/bento-mesh-heads/

[Rhonda Huntress]

It is hard to go wrong with LeLutka, LAQ or Catwa.  I have  heads from each of these and they all are top quality with their different quirks and strengths.  I have been hearing good things about Altamura but I have no personal experience with them so can't say one way or the other.

Demo and try several heads and their HUDs from each of these and pick the one closest to what you like.

[Rio Mizin]

As mentioned above, pretty much any head can match if you do it right. As for what's "best" is subjective, but coming from a guy's angle I can confirm LAQ has my personal favorite ones too. I'm pretty much guaranteed to have an instant crush on anyone using the Leia head, it's my weakness ?

[AyelaNewLife]

2 hours ago, Rio Mizin said:

As mentioned above, pretty much any head can match if you do it right. As for what's "best" is subjective, but coming from a guy's angle I can confirm LAQ has my personal favorite ones too. I'm pretty much guaranteed to have an instant crush on anyone using the Leia head, it's my weakness ?

Oh hi there

[Rio Mizin]

41 minutes ago, AyelaNewLife said:

Oh hi there

O-oh, well hello ?

[TheCelestialToymaker]

On 10/14/2018 at 2:16 PM, Sylvannas Zulaman said:

This http://meshbodyaddicts.com/mesh-head-reviews/ and this http://meshbodyaddicts.com/mesh-head-reviews/bento-mesh-heads/

Do they ever update their reviews? Some of them are years old and no longer reflect the product.

[AyelaNewLife]

2 hours ago, TheCelestialToymaker said:

Do they ever update their reviews? Some of them are years old and no longer reflect the product.

Nope, yet people still insist on linking them to new people. It's pretty counter-productive.

The tutorials are pretty good, and worth advertising, but sending a newbie towards the review section does more harm than good.

[Fionalein]

6 minutes ago, AyelaNewLife said:

Nope, yet people still insist on linking them to new people. It's pretty counter-productive.

The tutorials are pretty good, and worth advertising, but sending a newbie towards the review section does more harm than good.

The comparison pages are pretty good ... if you can do better and insist on someone doing something better - do so yourself! I'm lazy - I won't!

[Bebe Bunny]

The list is worth looking at for anyone wanting a start because so far no one did a better one to compare all the heads, including new ones. Better than get half information about people defending their preferred heads on the forums.

Edited October 25, 2018 by Sylvannas Zulaman

[Fionalein]

Actually I never reffer to the list without the group - you can ask the damn group, but don't expect a usefull answer from them - they are just full of people defending their favourite mesh like any other place, it's just there are good chances you will get someone online in there who has more than one and might tell you how they differ and why they prefer one over the other.

Edited October 25, 2018 by Fionalein

[Blush Bravin]

These days I refer most people to the video reviews done by Strawberry Singh. They are current and there's nearly a video on every head/body out there .. nearly but not all. Here's a link to her Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE6xvjkOu6wE-wJ-7-1x5bw. Scan down to the Second Life Content title and you'll see playlists for mesh bodies and heads, both male and female.

[AyelaNewLife]

1 hour ago, Fionalein said:

The comparison pages are pretty good ... if you can do better and insist on someone doing something better - do so yourself! I'm lazy - I won't!

The comparison page is almost entirely wrong (outdated). You send a new resident there, and they could spend several hours doing their 'research', making an 'informed' decision on which head to buy... only for them to quickly realise that everything they read is wrong, the moment they head in world.

I'll use a Laq head as an example, because I use a Laq head so can tear this apart easier than the others:

• The price is wrong (5700L vs 3100L)
• HUD is two major reworks out of date, many options are gone, many crucial ones have since been added
• Makeup shades have been removed or changed, replaced by a far wider range of addon appliers for sale
• Skin tone included - this is false
• Head size setting removed
• Scalp size setting removed
• It's marked as non-bento, but either was released as bento or has since been updated

You take all the incorrect parts out of this review, and you're left with the fact that it blinks (like every other mesh head), inbuilt omega compatibility (nice, but not a game changer), an outdated HUD preview, the fact that it fits mesh bodies (such unique) and that the HUD has save slots. That's kinda it. The rest of the review is no good, or it's mentioning features that are standard across all major brands. It doesn't even touch what is probably Laq's biggest selling point, the unique price scheme that lets you buy the HUD separately from the head while keeping the overall price close to that of its competitors.

I just can't see how that set of reviews is useful to anyone making an informed decision. These reviews are still practically useless, most of them are half a decade out of date. All of the major brands have an order of magnitude more head options these days, with a vast array of looks, so you can't even use the thumbnails to narrow down your selection. 

The tutorials are fantastic, don't get me wrong, they were massively helpful to me when I was new. Those tutorials are a fantastic resource that all new residents considering going mesh should read. But aside from being a list of brand names, the reviews section just aren't any good. Maybe in 2016 they were useful, but no longer.

Maybe if those links included a copy/paste paragraph explaining the issues and limitations of the reviews (ie, the tutorials are great, the reviews are useless but there's a good list of head creators to check for yourself) then those links would be okay. As it stands, getting half information from brand cheerleaders is actually more useful than getting incorrect information from a blog that's half a decade out of date.

Here endeth the sermon.

Edited October 25, 2018 by AyelaNewLife

[AyelaNewLife]

This is something that annoys me because I've gone through the "scared newbie" phase quite recently, just a few months ago.

I was fortunate enough to have a friend who took me on a quick tour of the three relevant body brands - which included telling me how little new clothing is made for other bodies, which is vitally important - and the Catwa, Lelutka and Laq stores. Armed with a stack of demos and an experienced friend to bounce questions off, I got my look together within a day or two.

Before that friend's intervention, I was about to buy a full TMP avatar. See, I'd found those links, and found an advert for TMP at a a freebie sim that made their deal look too good to refuse (500L for the body+head? I can't remember). The price seemed too good to pass on. I had no idea that the body and head were both almost entirely redundant and unsupported by creators. That's the kind of crucial information you don't get from a 5 year old review, but it's information that you need to give new residents if they are to make an informed decision rather than a blind guess.

[LittleMe Jewell]

1 hour ago, AyelaNewLife said:

The tutorials are fantastic, don't get me wrong, they were massively helpful to me when I was new. Those tutorials are a fantastic resource that all new residents considering going mesh should read. But aside from being a list of brand names, the reviews section just aren't any good. Maybe in 2016 they were useful, but no longer.

Maybe if those links included a copy/paste paragraph explaining the issues and limitations of the reviews (ie, the tutorials are great, the reviews are useless but there's a good list of head creators to check for yourself) then those links would be okay. As it stands, getting half information from brand cheerleaders is actually more useful than getting incorrect information from a blog that's half a decade out of date.

Noted.  I actually had been to the website in a long time until you mentioned this in another thread recently.

I've also bookmarked Strawberry's videos for future reference for folks.

Edited October 25, 2018 by LittleMe Jewell