Asia Ristow

You're welcome! You can demo skins on the heads, that way you know exactly what you're getting before you purchase. It's a long process but well worth it if you need a specific look.

Awesome! I'm so glad it worked for you.

Hey there! Welcome to Second Life! There are so many places to RP, the possibilities are seemingly endless. I recommend going to the in game search and looking for "Space RolePlay" in the places section. You'll find a fair amount of options, some more popular than others. Make sure to look into the rules of the sim before hopping in, though! Some require you to have certain huds or to apply.

Seconding Marianne here, I wouldn't go with TMP. They're very expensive and also very limited. I fell into the trap of purchasing them for my first female mesh body and regretted it within the day. I recommend checking out Mesh Body Addicts for an in depth comparison of Mesh body types to help choose what is right for you. You can play with the slider options for the demos you're trying to see if you can bring the bulk down a bit. Keep in mind skins can help cover the muscle tone, but it's really tough to find skins that don't hav pecs and a defined stomach. The Soft version of AG's body appliers is the closest I've found for men. Make sure to grab demos for the bodies and the skins you're trying so you can play with them and see what works for you.

Unfortunately it's not possible, though hopefully Linden Labs allows us to have seperate body and head shapes soon! It would make shopping and creating so much easier for everyone involved. LeLutka Simone and Maitreya Lara work wonderfully together, so many shapes you'll find for Simone will look alright with Lara.

I love Summer Glau! What a fun model for an avatar. As far as getting a specific look in the shape, you may want to consider a Bento head. It gives you the ability to use the shape sliders to customize the face. The most popular ones currently are Catwa's Catya and LeLutka's Simone. Catya would likely look more similar off the bat, but I've found that with thinner noses the shape tends to look a bit pinched. LeLutka keeps a natural look for the majority of the slider's options. You can get demos for both to see if you'd like to go that route. Skins are a bit tougher to call. I would recommend demoing like crazy. You CAN demo skins on Catya, I don't recall about Simone. For realistic skins I like 7 Deadly s[K]ins. Wow Skins isn't bad, either. What you get will largely depend on what head you get and how they look on the shape. I'd look for the skin tone and maybe basic contouring for the most part. It's ok if the makeup isn't perfect on the skin since you can get that seperately.

Mesh Body Addicts is an awesome resource, I'm glad you've checked them out! Picking a body is largely deciding what's right for you. I recently purchased Maitreya's Lara and absolutely love it. It's a very popular body so there are a ton of clothing options for all price ranges. It was right for me because I wanted to be able to easily find outfits and have a choice of quality clothing. Being able to individually hide body parts via the HUD makes almost any clothing so easy to fit. Finding a mesh body that will allow you to wear the clothing you already have can be tricky, so demoing was definitely the way to go. That being said, think of your mesh body as an investment not only for the present but for the future. You'll likely want to use it for a long time, so you'll want to ensure when you buy new products you'll be able to find them for the body. Abar's eBODY has support, but it's nowhere near what the heavy hitters (Maitreya, Slink, Belleza) have. Many products rely heavily on appliers, and if Omega isn't working 100% you may want to consider if you want to invest in the eBODY or look into another. Keep in mind that for many Mesh bodies you can use the sliders in the edit shape area to alter the look a bit. Be warned that altering it too much can result in difficulty with clothing, but it all depends on the individual piece. Lots of mesh clothes come with various sizes. If you need any more information or have any questions please feel free to ask! I hope I've helped a little.

Your best bet is to see if you can view them in game. I like to browse the marketplace when looking for something specific, then go view the item in world. Some stores may have models using the body oil so you can get an idea of how it looks. Two popular ones for women are Alessandra and Sintimacy.

Sometimes HUDs act a bit wonky if you rez them on your body or on the ground. If you think your HUD may be broken you can consider a redlivery. If it's for the Maitreya body you can get a redelivery by going to the store you purchased it at and looking for the Redilivery kiosk. That'll give you the entire folder again and you can use the HUD from new once more. Make sure just to wear or add the HUD, don't rez it on the body or on the ground. The Maitreya one shows up at the top of your screen toward the left.