What Do You Look For in Skin??

[Dustine Underwood]

What do most people whom shop like to see on skin? Is it realistic, color,wild makeup, price, etc. ? Im curious to know what you all think is important when you shop for skin.

[Peewee Musytari]

Gender...I looks terrible in man skins

[Irene Muni]

Skin WITHOUT makeup.

[Rhonda Huntress]

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Peewee Musytari wrote:

Gender...I looks terrible in man skins

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Can we have pics to verify this? 

[Wildcat Furse]

Interesting question! when I looked for Wildcat's skin, I have spend weeks (in '07) to find the right one, because I had no idea at all what I wanted. Important to mention here is that I designed my shape first, because the shape is as important as the skin, some skins would look good on a slim shape, others tend to look better on bigger ones!

I tested a lot of skins from various brands with different make-ups, lipgloss, .... untill I found this one (as seen in the picture), it was a perfect match and Wildcat was born and alive :smileyvery-happy: *meows*

[Stella Carver]

The main thing I look for is attention to detail, especially on sometimes overlooked areas like the back of the knee. Some makers seem to concentrate on face and a few other key areas, but hands and feet sometimes seem to have been an afterthought.

Now that we have makeup options, I like my base skin to be relatively neutral makeup wise so I can go tattoo layer mad and match my mood or outfit.

Also, nipple placement-I once had a skin that was perfect in every other detail, but made my boobs look cross-eyed.

[Peewee Musytari]

 

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Rhonda Huntress wrote:

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Peewee Musytari wrote:

Gender...I looks terrible in man skins

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Can we have pics to verify this? 

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Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu LOL

 

Imagine how some of your man friends have looked as Ruth with facial stubble and a hairy chest and thats close hehe

[Rhonda Huntress]

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Dustine Underwood wrote:

What do most people whom shop like to see on skin?

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First, it must look nice.  This is a very broad and open ended criteria, I know, but it is primary.  More important than realism over cartoon;  even more important than color tone.  I want it to pop.  I want to be dazzled.  After that, here is what I look at.

Shoulder.  This is a problem area.  Is the texture stretched and distorted looking?  All those little dots and small imperfections that make a skin more real turn into stretchmarks and burn scars over the shoulders.

Does it fit my face?  I am willing to tweak my lips and nose slightly to fit a skin.  With my eyes, I am somewhat more reluctant to modify the shape.  Everything else is a no.  And none of these will I make any form of drastic change.  I don't want puffy lips, I don't want a tiny nose, I want the same face I have now.  I will modify a touch if the corner of the lips break a little above or below my current shape but not by much.

Eyebrows.  How many good skins have you seen only to wind up with Groucho eyebrows painted on with a stroke of a wide sharpie.  If you want to let people be able to match the curtains with the drapes, you might consider leaving them off all together and putting them on tattoo layers along with the hairbase.

Body shading.  Abs need to be subtle but still there.  Too little and there is no structure.  Too much and it looks like I'm juicing.  The butt area is also a place I look for shading and highlights.  I can work around or with a lot of different versions and it is hard to get right because the mesh is working against you, but as long as it doesn't look like I am out of paper at home, I can deal with it.  To a lesser degree is the shading around the hands and fingers.  Feet could be flat and void of all texture as far as I am concerned but then there are more people that prefer avatar feet over prim feet so don't  skimp on the toes.

One thing that bugs me about my current favorite skins are the nail bases.  Especially on the thumb. They do not line up well and in the case of the thumb, it almost looks like it was crushed with a hammer..  I have done a little kludge and made gloves that match the skin base and cover up the last digit of my fingers. This is what I wear along with prim nails.  I don't have cuticles this way but it is less noticeable than doing without the patch.

Cleavage shading!  I thought these were funny when they first came out.  Now they are part of my everyday dressing routine. Whether they are loose or in a bra or with a corset, I can get just the perfect look.  Totally optional but big brownie points for having them.  And don't forget the A cups.  Be sure to include a reduced shading version.

Makeup options are nice to have, but by now they are a totally different line of sales.  One good nude base is all I need for a skin.  If you do more, great.  It is a plus and nice to have.  However it  is not a requirement like it once was.

 

Is all that too much to ask?  I can pick over some more details if you want but those are the broad and general categories I think about when shopping for a skin.

 

[Jo Yardley]

Realism, age and inperfection.

I am close to having my own face turned into a SL skin because there are so few skins that actually look even slightly like RL me.

It seems people in SL are either very young and pretty or very old and ugly.

I am neither.

I was hoping someone would start making average skins, very normal and realistic, far from perfect.

And perhaps with tattoo layers to make it older and less pretty, for instance by adding bags under the eyes,  wrinkles, crowsfeet, etc.

[LoveAngeL Lyre]

Hello to all. Although i have over than 6 months to buy or to look for a skin (i am happy with mine), sure i want to try a demo before i buy a skin and generally everything. Usually its different the pic we see at Marketplace or  the pics into a store and different the result when we have when we try or buy a skin because very simply our image is a combination or a skin, a shape and other things. A great skin without a suitable shape hasnt usually the result we desire. Personally i care very much about the make up and about the possibility the skin to support or include many of them. The face is for me here and in real life also the mirror of our appearance so i care very much for a good for my taste make up. About the price now, never was my problem. If i like something, i get it.

[Venus Petrov]

First, settle on a shape that you like THEN shop for skins.  Look around and pick up demos (they are usually FREE), try them on, change your windlight setting to Nam's Optimal Skin and closely examine the skin (when you are naked!) on a pose stand. 

Many things are personal preference. For example, I like a few moles or beauty marks.  I also like pretty nipples and no landing strip.  I do not care for shiny, oily or orange-looking skin.  There are many wonderful skin makers in SL.  You should have no problem finding several that you like.  After that, it is a matter of choosing!

[Willow Danube]

I wish we have more asian male skin being created in SL. This dude below has been on my 'Hot' list for a long time and wouldn't it be great to live your SL life as the partner/gf of the man of your dream?

[valerie Inshan]

Peewee, remember I have one pic of your male alt saved on my hard drive (and he's in very bad company....... )

[Anita61 Anatine]

Freckles....I have to have freckles! not too much makeup, I like a more natural look, But I also like to have a more glamarous makeup for a night out.

The skin must fit my shape more or less, I don't mike making some minor adjustements but I have to look like me

 

[Peewee Musytari]

 

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valerie Inshan wrote:

Peewee, remember I have one pic of your male alt saved on my hard drive (and he's in very bad company....... )

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LOL Val, that one looks hawwwwwwwwwwwwtttt!!! He is supposed to be male so he has a male shape too. Its when my regular girly shape wears a male skin that it becomes a visual crime - The process of switching between the 2 avvies has some pretty undesirable moments too hehe

But yay my male alterego is a pin-up!! Woots fame at last lol

[Micah Kalinakov]

I look for skins that look realistic for everyday. The eyebrows are very important, I want them to look like actual hair, not just paint. Lips are important too. If they are going to be anything but flesh toned, they should have a little bit of a sheen to them. Makup is important too, again, it shouldn't look like paint, but should look like actual make up pigments.

As far as the rest of the body goes, shading is super important. Abs should not look drawn on, Tan shouldn't be Jersey Shore orange, and key spots like knees, breasts, and the like should look natural, not overdone or under done. The best skins I have seen are from Curio. If you look closely at the skin tones, they have such a fleshy and flushed look to them, like real skin. The make up is impeccable. I have seen other skins that come close to perfecting these looks, but I won't buy ANY everyday skin unless its Curio. Plus, all the skins look virtually the same on my shape, where as some skin creators go off the dimensions so much that one skin can look great on your shape, and the one next to it looks terrible. Basically, any skin I buy from Curio looks like me, just with different make up, which is important to me.

If its a fantasy skin, again, I do look for realistic make up textures. Some fantasy skins are much to matte. The best fantasy skins I've found are from Miasnow (like in my profile badge thingy). I do have to fit my shape for the skin slightly, to get the desired lip ratio, but once I have the one midified shape created, I can trust to use it on all my Miasnow skins.

To agree, demos are you're best bet to finding the right skin. Even though I am a sucker for my few brands, I still try different stores demos from time to time and sometimes even buy them, but they usually sit collecting dust in my inventory : )