Do I need a mesh head for make up?

[Monique Bellambi]

Hey! I'm a little confused when it comes to my avatar.  I bought a SLink body/hands and then a Balleza (since it included 3 feet options and it was cheaper than a Slink feet fatpack).  I would love to use all the cool make up, vampire teeth etc that I see, too.  Would I need a mesh head? I've been looking at Fiore heads since I love their ethic heads.

 

Thanks!

[Ariel Vuissent]

Not necessarily. Many newer makeups are made for mesh heads, but you can still find plenty for system heads. Makeup for system heads is typically made for the tattoo layer, and you can buy full-face makeup or mix and match different ones - one for lipstick, one for eyeshadow, etc. Just remember you're limited to five of any layer, so you can wear up to five tattoo layers and no more, no matter where on the body they appear. Vampire teeth are trickier, and you'll probably get some better options with mesh heads, but you can find just mesh or prim vampire teeth, tattoos to give the appearance of vampire teeth, or even just mesh mouths (rather than an entire head) that have optional vampire teeth.

If you want to buy a mesh head, go for it! Look for one with appliers to match your body, then look for makeup with appliers for your head. Unfortunately, Fiore is not an applier system, so you'd actually have a buy one of their skins, and you can't buy extra make-up for them. There are many other heads that work with appliers, though. Mesh heads are, in my experience, a bit trickier to get the hang of than mesh bodies, but far from impossible. Grab some demos and see what appeals to you. 

Some more food for thought: Bento! The new Bento bones allow for more flexibility to adjust your mesh head IF you buy a bento head. Several stores have made one or two, and more are coming out, so they're work trying demos, as well. 

Mesh Body Addicts is an amazing resource for both head and body reviews. She has reviews for many mesh heads, including some of the new Bento heads, so it's definitely worth a look, there.

 

[Marianne Little]

Makeup on tattoo layers, I absolutely agree with the poster over here. It can even offer you a freedom mesh heads don't have, you can layer more of the same on a pre mesh head. (limited to 5 layers) Therefore, you can wear 5 eyeshadows. Or 5 lipsticks. Of course that will be unpractical. but I enjoyed mixing a bigger baseeye shadow with eyeliners over. Typically, there is only one option for each part of the mesh head and one tattoo layer on top. Well, it can change.

Even if the ads don't show so many ethnic mesh heads, the big brand heads has lots of skin options provided from other designers.

When it comes to vampire teeth and animations, I will say that a mesh head is THE BEST solution. No discussion. Because teeth before mesh heads were all sitting still in your mouth and when you play an open mouth animation, your mouth opens and your teeth don't move.... it is not pretty!

Animations in general look much better on mesh heads. The default SL animations is crude. Horribly crude, and almost deform the face more than animate it. But you can try to use one of the free HUDs for emotes, and judge for yourself. https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/aDORKable-Poses-Emoter-HUD/1081190

Remember that this is what you get, SL will not make more animations for their system avatars. While a mesh head creator can animate the head in almost any way.

You need to demo a lot of mesh heads and with the animations offered. Bento is really the future, buying a not-Bento head now would be unwise.

The mesh heads has evolved so fast, it is almost like an arms race. I used too follow this flickr just to see where I could find makeups, but she has not posted so often lately. Her photo of an Catwa hed with Khadijah skin from Atlier Pepe made me go out and buy just that combination. https://www.flickr.com/photos/50446962@N04/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/50446962@N04/23882564361/in/photolist-MC91WS-Nh7c5m-N6UrZ4-Mc9iyW-MbUk85-MBaWhp-MsU8mV-MqUTn2-D5eXYt-CYjfgB-CzfTj9-CQXGUS-Bzq9TD-Coqok4

Today I would buy a Bento head and not this head, but I still love this combination.

[Pussycat Catnap]

Only get a mesh head if you both:

1. Are not satisfied with the head the built in avatar provides - it is somehow failing to give you the look you desire.

2. There is a mesh head that looks a LOT more like "you" and is Bento.

 

It will add some learning complexity to your SL to have a mesh head, but like anything else once you learn it you'll likely be in your comfort spot with it.

Makeup and other things - if there is some particular makeup that you MUST have that only comes for a certain Bento Mesh Head then yeah - you will need it. But otherwise tattoo layers can be layered and worked with easily.

Note that I keep mentioning Bento because if the head you get is not Bento, you will more or less look like just like everyone else using that same head - especially if your skin tone is common in SL, such as a shade of caucasian. Bento will be needed so that you can modify the shape of the head - and you will want to demo your options to be sure you can modify it to something that looks "you".