Getting older not always has to be a bad thing ;)

I found something very special at the Vintage Fair and this time for the first time, the pictures took me nearly a week, as all I tried did not work out like I wanted it to be.

What I am talking about is the amazing skin from POEMA & AG. They released some amazing aged skins for the Vintage Fair. Since I do love my LeLutka head, I had 3 different skins to try – “Paloma”, “Eva” and “Sarah”. When I tried them, I felt immediately that those are made with phenomenal skills of designing, but as well with a great knowledge of human aging. When I tried the skins I immediately got a feeling, that they are 3 different stages of age. “Paloma” looked the “youngest” and “Sarah” the oldest. When I tried “Eva” I nearly fainted as for what ever reason it looked like an older version of Wicca without changing anything to my shape – even a perfect no-eyebrow version! The first thought was… that will be my skin for the time, when I will retire modeling *snickers*

I saw aged skins before and I never liked them as they looked kinda overdone, comic like or just awful, but the POEMA skins are really well thought and developed and have the most realism to that kind of ages that you can get in my personal view – That made me want to blog about them.

I have to admit, I used my usual “Pores & Blemishes” face ‘pimp’ applier, since the skin felt so ‘Wicca’ to me that I really could see myself in it. But since that only add freckles and some little folds on the forehead, I did not feel that it would ‘destroy’ or change the skin too much, especially because I put it to 50% transparency for this post.

Skins are something, that people are very picky about because it is part of the personality that you would like to show to others and that you have to feel comfortable with yourself. Who likes to look into a face every time time after login, that you do not like… ?

There are many different skins in Second Life and as well many different likings, that people have for their skins. Still you can find weird and awful skins that have no depth, structure or any kind of human traits to them even if they are meant to be human. There you can see that some designers spent hours, days and weeks to develop a skin and some just use free, basic templates – that are meant to be worked on – and just do them in different light and dark shades… no a black skin is not just a white skin pulled down to black with a slider in PS or any other graphic software. Every skin type has a certain ethic type , that it is based on and only then you can develop a character in my view. I am not a skin designer and I would never dare to make skins, as I never looked deeper into what it needs to do skins, but I am a user that tried various skins.. good and bad ones so I developed my very own sense for skins that I do like. I like it when pores and skin structure can be seen, I like it when you see wrinkles and non perfect spots in face or body as a realistic skin is rarely without any errors and usually never symmetric. All those little details make them real and ‘alive’ for me.

The “Evy” Skin from POEMA &AG, has all those things for me. The wrinkles that age the skin are not too blunt, they are very subtle but they are perfect to create a wonderful realistic look. You can see what you loved on your grandmas face if you take a close look onto the face and even the body skin was made in a way that shows that this is not a young woman. Since I am not a huge fan of naked shots and I felt a grandma should not wear a bikini, you have to take a look at yourself, but I can promise you you won’t be disappointed 😉

That was the next issue… I wanted to have a grandma look not only for the face, but as well it should be in the theme of this years Vintage Fair. The sim is Asian, vintage themed like for example Shanghai in it’s 1920s – I guess the last was the one that it was … but since I am always so confused… do not nail me down on that one 😉 You should go and see for yourself, how amazing those 2 sims are decorated!

The dress as well you can find at the vintage Fair, if you make your way to Senzafine. To the long, tight dress was perfect for my classy, elegant and sophisticated idea for my granny. The textures are amazingly crafted and with the nigh neck but the little cut out at the chest I was able to even wear a necklace, which I found as well at the fair. So many amazing items, designs and creations are to find there until the 24th, so make sure to not miss it 😉

I was looking all over SL to find something Asian tea house looking – until I realized I had a wonderful “Tea Ceremony” from 22769 – DOH… sometimes it really helps to look into your inventory before you spend hours teleporting through SL. I did set up the lovely tea house and all it’s parts on our photo parcel right beside the Wicca’s Wardrobe main store.

You will not only find clothing and accessories at the Vintage Fair, but as well amazing decorations and furniture from all kind of different epochs and continents. For example the great room divider and the beautiful pictures on the back wall were made for the fair as well by paper.crowns.

Satisfied now with my look for that amazing skin and as well for the background and set I really had fun doing those pictures… maybe even too much as I did not even take off the skin for a few more days enjoying being called Grandma for that time 😉

Outfit & Accessories

Dress: Senzafine – “Mei-mei – Qipao Palette” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Vintage Fair

Gloves: Wicca’s Wardrobe – “Misaki Short Gloves” (Gacha, SoI)

Shoes: kisetu – “Basic Geta” (Slink Flat Feet)

Jewelry & Cigarette: [Glitzz] – “Tiffany’s Jewelry Set – Gold” – NEW @ Vintage Fair

Glasses: Hatpins – “Kelcey Pince-Nez – Gold”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: :::Sn@tch::: – “Dolores Hair & Sticks” – NEW @ Vintage Fair

Makeup & Lipstick: Izzie’s – “Fae Eyeshadows & Lipstick” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Skin: POEMA & AG – “Eva” (LeLutka & Maitreya Applier) – NEW @ Vintage Fair

Face: Izzie’s – “Pores & Blemishes” (LeLutka Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Selfmade with Anypose & FATE Hand Poser

Set: 22769 – “Tea Ceremony” (Gacha)

Pictureframes: paper.crowns – “Split Panel Canvas 1” – NEW @ Vintage Fair

Paravant: paper.crowns – “Ming Divider – 2” – NEW @ Vintage Fair

Location

Wicca’s Wardrobe (parcel to the left of the store – open to public)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Expand your Horizon!

Summer is coming without mercy… I am more of a winter type and the heat in summer just knocks me out usually. What is nice about the fact that you sweat with every movement and cannot even sleep tight and without any breaks because it is just too hit and not even at night it cools down to a ‘proper’ temperature…?

I never got that 😉 So I just suffer every year and shower like 10 times a day until autumn is coming again and rescues me again…

I lately took a look at the Pantone colors for Summer 2018. I love how they name their colors and sometimes it is even a little bit funny. This time I found 2 colors that did touch me somehow and I did not even know why. Especially because they were so bright and kinda pastel looking – Meadowlark and Arcadia. Comparing those 2 I got a strong and intensive vibe. As you know usually I am no the most ‘colorful girl’ but some colors just pull a trigger for some reason. The more I was happy when I saw one of the latest releases of [Gos] having exactly those 2 colors in their amazing huge HUD. The “Bella” crop top and shorts are the actual release of [Gos] at UBER.

What I do like a lot os the way how the top is wrapped or twisted under the chest. It gives the whole look something loose and cool and the wrap looks amazing realistic as well. The pants do have the option to be worn with or without belt and certainly both are made for the most popular mesh bodies.

To complement such a great outfit, you certainly need matching shoes and as well the right makeup and accessories 😉 To match the colors in a perfect way I chose the “Monza Belted Boots” as well made by [Gos]. For the shorts I loved the look of the over-knee boots, and the color perfectly matched to the belt as well.

With pastel and bring colors, I certainly had to find hair, accessories and makeup, that feature that kind of colors even more.

Sintiklia became one of my favorite hair stores lately. I love her hair textures, the possibility of the tint HUD, the way how the hair connects to the head (you sometimes do not even need a hairbase) and the most I do love her styler HUDs. How often you wished your hair strand would come down on the right side and not on the left? How many times you thought about pushing your hair back just for one pose in a picture series? Exactly that you can do most of the times with the Sintiklia styler HUDs!

With the tint HUD (included in the fatpacks or available as single item) you can tint the monochrome hair packs to unusual colors without making them look dirty or just over colored and you can pimp certain hair colors with it as well. To me all those possibilities paired with amazing hair textures are the future for hair styles.

Who else that Zib Scaggs, owner and designer of Zibska could make such cool colored makeup *winks* She again made an amazing combo called “Delia”. You can find “Delia” at the actual round of the Blush event.

It is always exciting to me to experiment with colors since that really is way out o f my personal comfort zone, but I have to admit – each time I do it, I feel like I expand my horizon a little more again 😉

Outfit & Accessories

Top: [Gos] – “Bella Crop Top” (Maitreya) – NEW @ UBER

Pants: [Gos] – “Bella Shorts” (Maitreya) – NEW @ UBER

Boots: [Gos] – “Monza Belted Boots” (Maitreya)

Nails: *PL* – “bento nail #27” (Maitreya)

Necklace: Zibska – “Bellie Necklace”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: Sintiklia – “Mimi”

Makeup: Zibska – “Delia Eyemakeup” (LeLutka Applier) – NEW @ Blush

Lipstick: Zibska – “Delia Lips” (LeLutka Applier) – NEW @ Blush

Body & Tattos

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Face: Izzie’s – “Pores & Blemishes” (LeLutka Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses:

Pic 1: Belle Poses – “Santa Honey 2” (Bento)

Pic 2: Belle Poses – “LadyCrow 2” (Bento)

Pic 3: Belle Poses – “Mi 3” (Bento)

Pic 4: Body Language – “FineSand 2m” (Bento)

Background: /\/.ɪᴄᴇ – “The Mod Backdrop – Yellow”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Post Apocalyptic – What is that?

As promised, I will today talk a little bit about post apocalyptic styles in comparison to cyber/cyberpunk, which I wrote about in one of my last posts (https://wiccamerlin.de/cyberpunk-what-is-that/).

Maybe lets start again with a general description from Wikipedia and then go from there 😉

Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of science fiction, science fantasy or horror fiction literature in which the Earth’s technological civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; natural, such as an impact event; man-made, such as nuclear warfare or resource depletion; medical, such as a Pandemic, whether natural or man-made; or imaginative, such as a zombie apocalypse, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, or alien invasion. The story may involve attempts to prevent an apocalypse event, deal with the impact and consequences of the event itself, or it may be post-apocalyptic, set after the event. The time frame may be immediately after the catastrophe, focusing on the travails or psychology of survivors, the way to maintain the human race alive and together as one, or considerably later, often including the theme that the existence of pre-catastrophe civilization has been forgotten (or mythologized). Post-apocalyptic stories often take place in a non-technological future world, or a world where only scattered elements of society and technology remain.

[Wikipedia]

Post apocalyptic is the time after an apocalypse, that means the world like we know it is gone and we have to live from all that is left over. Most likely electricity is not working in general.. maybe via a few generators that are left as long as we have the fuel to run them. Water might be rare, so the everyday shower probably has o be skipped as well 😉

It probably is a martial, warlike environment, where all just try to survive – anyways how.

Let’s think about what you could wear then or what kind of fashion would be most certain…

I would say makeups will be a rare case, maybe we can use coal or clay, maybe even some berries or fruit that survived, to bring color on our faces. I do not see that very colorful or even neon looking.

For the clothing, when we looted all existing warehouses and clothing stores, we most likely have to wear what we can find, or what we can create out of that. Maybe that’s why I love that genre so much as it is very simple but as well can be very creative in terms of fashion and creating outfits.

Because of the fact, that I really do love post apocalyptic clothing and environment, I really was happy when I heard that there will be an event exactly for that. From the 18th to the 27th of August, the Thereafter event is taking place.

A full sim created in a post apocalyptic style, with many amazing designers who designed fashion, furniture, ambience, poses or landscaping items for exact that futuristic imagination.

Thereafter has a tight schedule of many events. Dj’s, live musicians and a cool fashion theatre are taking place! Event Schedule: https://thereaftersl.wordpress.com/event-schedule/

The outfits and props for my todays post are all from the event and as well the pictures are taken there. Don’t you love it when you can go shopping and as well take amazing pictures or walk around in the perfect environment for the event?

For my first post I chose the “Bena” dress with the amazing belt and scarf. The dress comes in many different colors and together with the 2 amazing accessories it just looks totally amazing, even if you can wear the dress without those as well.

From Boom I used the super cool shoulder plates, that are made of car plates – I just love such neat little details!

Last but not least I am wearing the event exclusive from ~isil~, the extraordinary mask of the “Survival Mask & Helmet” design. You can choose to wear only the mask or the helmet with the HUD that comes with it and as well lets you retexture the whole item to many different colors – even the little light in the mask you can colorchange.

For the rest of the look I am wearing many parts of DeathRowDesign, that are as well the creators of the amazing building in the background of the pictures. The “Sewer Shelter” is a wonderful collection with all kind of fantastic furniture and as well a built that you can use as your perfect post apocalyptic hideout 😉

Over the next few days I will have a few more exciting news from the event, as it became an addiction to make pictures on the Thereafter sim 😉

If you like this kid of style as much as I do, or if you are just curious and want a kick ass experience, even if you just love making snaps in cool scenarios – you should NOT miss out on the Thereafter event!

Thereafter Taxi: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sarastro/159/171/26

Details

Outfit: Miss Chelsea – “Bena” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Thereafter

Right Leg: Wicca’s Wardrobe – “Naesala Boots” (Maitreya)

Left Leg: DeathRowDesigns – “Post Apocalyptic Prosthetic”

Shoulderpieces: BOOM – “Plate Armor” – NEW @ Thereafter

Arm Armor: DeathRowDesigns – “Female Armor”

Bracelet right: Lapointe and Beastchild – “Swear Holiday Corded Bracelet”

Mask: ~isil~ – “Survival Mask & Helmet” – NEW @ Thereafter

Hair: Discord Designs – “Senay”

Skin Dirt (incl. nailpolish): Izzie’s – “Body & Face Dirt” (Maitreya/LeLutka Applier)

Makeup: Zibska – “Noir Pack 06” (LeLutka Applier)

Props: DeathRowDesigns – “Sewer Shelter” – NEW @ Thereafter

Poses: Poseidon

Basics

Head: LeLutka – Simone 3.0″

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Shape: Selfmade

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

Location: Thereafter

Cyberpunk – What is that?

Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a future setting that tends to focus on society as “high-tech low life” featuring advanced technological and scientific achievements, such as information technology and cybernetics, juxtaposed with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order.

Cyberpunk plots often center on conflict among artificial intelligences, hackers, and megacorporations, and tend to be set in a near-future Earth, rather than in the far-future settings or galactic vistas found in novels such as Isaac Asimov’s Foundation or Frank Herbert’s Dune. The settings are usually post-industrial dystopias but tend to feature extraordinary cultural ferment and the use of technology in ways never anticipated by its original inventors (“the street finds its own uses for things”). Much of the genre’s atmosphere echoes film noir, and written works in the genre often use techniques from detective fiction.

[Wikipedia]

Classic cyberpunk characters were marginalized, alienated loners who lived on the edge of society in generally dystopic futures where daily life was impacted by rapid technological change, an ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, and invasive modification of the human body.

[Lawrence Person]

Cyberpunk to me is a very interesting style category and not always easy. Many times I saw people confounding cyberpunk with post apocalyptic styles and the other way round. But in the end those are 2 totally different things. While you have kinda nothing to style from for post apocalyptic looks – basically you only can wear what you find, left over after an apocalypse – with cyberpunk you have all kind of fancy, hyper high-tech and futuristic accessories and implants in a sci-fi looking surrounding.

As well for the colors you have a very different choice. While post apocalyptic mostly uses, black, brown and all kind of grey shades, for the cyberpunk stuffs you see a lot of lights, electricity and mostly you have a blue, teal, green, pink and cold/neon looking color palette where you go from – besides black certainly 😉

It is very easy if you just type cyberpunk or post apocalyptic to google and then look at all the pictures and movies you can find. For me a typical cyberpunk movie would be Ghost in the Shell or even the Matrix Trilogy to just name 2 popular ones of so many existing 🙂

Maybe I will go over post apocalyptic soon too, since we are short before the amazing ‘Thereafter‘ event (https://thereaftersl.wordpress.com/), but I had a desire to do some cyberpunk today, because it is such a great style that rarely gets showcased and I really do love it a lot. We can do all the funky things with implants and not yet existing gadgets 😉

You should try it and be not afraid of looking awkward or funky in the first place.. I just can say when you started, it can become an addiction 😉

Only the sky is the limit since everything is a futuristic dream when it comes to cyberpunk  – and all of us have different dreams and visions of the future…

 

Details

Outfit: Wicca’s Wardrobe – “Samara” (Maitreya)

Shoes: *DL* – “Baggers”

Headpiece: Wicca’s Wardrobe – “Commander Headset”

Hair: EMO-tions – “Stars”

Rings: FORMANAILS – “Rings Simple” (Maitreya)

Weapon: Breach – “USP”

Right Arm: [Neurolab Inc.] – “EV3 Android” (Maitreya)

Makeup: Zibska – “Noir Pack 06” (LeLutka Applier)

Lipstick: je suis… – “LeLutka Lips no. 006 [blues]” (LeLutka Applier)

Tattoo: Letis Tattoo – “Rigel Princess” (Omega Applier)

Poses: Poseidon

Location: [Neurolab Inc.]

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

Basics

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Shape: Selfmade