Cherries!

Do you know that feeling? When you unpack something and immediately get an idea in front of your inner eye, what this should look like on your pictures? Usually I do not have that too often with my first piece that I put on, but sometimes it happens πŸ˜‰

Today it was the case when I put on the Sakushi outfit and cap from Entice. I have no idea why – I did not see that movie in ages – but when I looked at it, I had a scene in mind from the movie ‘Catch me if you can’. The moment when Leonardo DiCaprio walked into the airport with all this blue dressed stewardesses. Maybe it was the cap and as well the vintage touch of that cherries, but I was stuck with that thought in my head.

 

As usual, that idea did not work out as I found no vintage airport that went with my 50s/60s idea for my picture. So I went back to my platform and tried to built me a set, that at least catches the vibe of what I wanted to do.

While I was rezzing all kind of things I remembered the propellers I got at one of the last FLF from NOMAD and they completely rocked. When I found them all the rest fell into place really easy πŸ˜‰

Now I needed shoes, that went with my idea and when I saw the “Heidi Slingbacks” from [Gos], I first was curing as on the picture they only had flower prints showing and I could not imagine flower prints with my cherry dress. But, when I opened them and saw all the amazing different HUDs, I was doing the happy dance. when I found out that the red of the ‘Boutique HUD’ even matched the red of the cherries, I was sold πŸ˜‰

When I was done with the pictures, I did some sim hopping and while I was roaming around,I found that fabulous “Time Portal”Β  location, with all those different mini locations of all kind themes and times and there was one 50s location too! They had a wonderful diner and as well this cute little pet shop, which you can see in the background of the first picture. As if it would have been fate, there was a bench with some really cool animations in front of it. One of the poses even had a vintage newspaper as a prop and I could not resist to just add one more picture in for this post.

I have to go back and explore this place some more and see what other cool posts I could do with inspiration of different centuries πŸ˜‰

Outfit & Accesories

Dress & Hat: Entice – “Sakushi Baby & Cap” (Maitreya)

Shoes: [Gos] – “Heidi Slingbacks” (Maitreya) – NEW @ FaMESHed

Socks: Entice – “Sweet Dreams Socks” (Maitreya Applier)

Gloves: Sweet Tea – “Formal Gloves Essentials” (Maitreya Applier)

Necklace: :::NOIR::: – “Ava Chocker”

Glasses: Glamistry – “Sunglasses PU2003”

Ring: .:E.A.Studio – “Ring Opal Diamond Gold”

Bag: =Zenith= – “Spring Rattan Bag” (Gacha Rare)

Makeup & Hair

Hair: no.match – “No. Come On” – NEW (Groupgift)

Makeup: Izzie’s – “Aego Sal” (LeLutka Applier)

Lipstick: Izzie’s – “Fae Lipgloss” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

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

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Set:

Cigarette Machine: FIN – “Fifties Cigarette Vending Machine”

Coke Machine: 22769Β  ~ [bauwerk] – “Vintage Soda Machine”

Propellers: NOMAD – “Clean Propeller Fan // Floor & Wall”

Lamps: NOMAD – “Industrial Neon Lamp”

Crates: floorplan. – “Old Crate Stack”

Record Player: Ariskea – “[Record50] Vinyl Record “

Boxes: ..Tuesdays.. – “Keepsake Boxes – Vintage”

Location (Pic 1)

Time Portal, Time Machine Laboratory

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

 

Shades of Purple

TUNES

In the still of the night
Once again I hold you tight
Tho’ you’re gone your love lives on when light beams
And as long as my heart will beat
Sweet lover, we’ll always meet
Here in my deep purple dreams
[Ella Fitzgerald]

Outfit & Accessories

Top: [The Forge] – “Xella” (Maitreya)

Pants: Maddict – “Seren” (Maitreya)

Shoes: [Gos] – “Kendall Boots” (Maitreya)

Gloves: Salt & Pepper – “Winona Gloves” (Maitreya, part of an outfit)

Collar: CURELESS[+] – “Sentinent Collar”

Choker: Mossu – “Temptress Choker Black” (Maitreya)

Earrings: !Rebel Hope – “Tassel Earrings”

Rings: *Bonita* – “Rings Love” (Maitreya, Bento)

Nails: Meva – “Nails 3” (Maitreya, Bento)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Tansfer” – NEW @ MoM

Makeup: Flair – “Eyeshadow – Sheer” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Tattoo: Queen of Ink – “Legend Tattoo”

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

Lashes: Flair – “Eylashes – Diva” (LeLutka Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Fairey Poses

Backdrop: FOXCITY – “K-POP Star 2 – Ringa Linga (3)” (Gacha, Rare)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

My Decision…

Not too long ago a very close friend of mine, Seaside, was IMing me, asking if I would be ok. First I was wondering why she would ask me that, but then she told me she was following my flickr and the latest, and very dark pictures did concern her. I thought that was very sweet and I tried to explain to her why I do have this super dark and destructive side as well. I was suffering of depressions a very long time of my life and I sometimes still do, but I learning to live and work with them. So if I do those very dark and morbid pictures, to me it is like checking up on an old friend, deep inside of me. This friend will never leave me, but we both learned how to co-exist. I just have to go there sometimes, to check on him and if he still is there in place, where I put him a long time ago. I do not know if that makes sense, but for me it is kinda like therapy and it does work out 90% of the time. The hard times, where I often was close to the moment of giving up, or even tried to give up are gone and that is what counts for me.

For quite some time, I did not want to see that. I thought with medicine, pills and therapy I can make it go away – I just wanted to ‘heal’. After many different attempts to do that, I met a wonderful person, that to me was more valuable than every therapist I ever met before. He was a therapist too, but I did not met him as a patient, I met him at one of my concerts and we became friends over the time. After we met several times we had a discussion about depressions and he gave me a completely new view on it. He told me, depressions would be kinda the same thing as being alcohol addicted, you can fight the symptoms, but not the facts, case or reasons. He stated, that I can decide, if I let the depressions take over my life or if I take control over the depressions. That sounds very easy , but it is not and I probably would not have been able to do that without any help. I was very lucky to have real friends and family, who helped me over the time of the learning process and it was not done in just a few weeks – it took years.

I decided to take control – even if I maybe never will have 100% of control, it made my life way easier that to just give up and live for the depressions. I wanted more from my life that what my depressions would have allowed me to do. But like I said before, sometimes that ‘old friend’ knocks at my door and I have to decide if I let him in, or if I just go out with him for a while or even go visit him at his place, where I can leave him when ever I want.

I know, depressions can be very different and there is no general solution for that, but you always have decision to fight against or to give up – I never won’t judge over someones decision, as either of both is an option to choose and while one can be good for someone, it can be bad for another person.

I hope, I could make sense with my words – English is not my first language πŸ˜‰

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit: Enfant Terrible – “Kimi” (Maitreya)

Boots: Blueberry – “Celia Boots – High Heels” (Maitreya)

Rings: Elle Boutique – “Bloom” (Maitreya, Bento)

Collar: Salt & Pepper – “Slumber Party” (Gacha, Rare)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Role”

Makeup: Zibska – “Mina Liner” (LeLutka Applier, Ltd. Gift)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLeutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

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

Tattoo: [White~Widow] – “Anon” (Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Prop: R.O.T. – “End Nature”

Poses: Foxcity – “Stairs (Sitting)” (Bento)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Cheeky Bunny

I do not know what it is, but something changed in the past month for me when it comes to taking pictures. I worry about a lot of things, I never thought about before, I do like playing with lights, projectors and “no light” or “low light” windlight settings. The less light you have around you, the more control you get about the lights around you. In the past I first chose my windlight and then added one or two lights or projectors – lately I do it the other way round. I first set up my lights and then look for a windlight, that supports my idea. In the beginning it felt weird to set up out of the darkness, but it becomes better with each try. As well I discovered different desires, which I would like to have for my pictures and so I started a few new “learning projects”. I watched a lot of tutorials, practiced a lot and learned many new things.

One project that started – I tried to start that, since my vacation had begun – was to paint hair. I do have a graphic tablet forever but besides using it for textures I never touched it for pictures, as my mouse felt so much better with that. But try to paint hair with your mouse.. even if you really think you can control your mouse perfectly, but things like the pen pressure, I only get with the tablet. I forced myself to play with it and watched many tutorials. Slowly it starts working, but it really needs a lot of practice and I am not yet ready to show it offΒ  more than a few strands of hair πŸ˜‰

To not loose my motivation, I started to play with some ready made hair strands and wisps as well as hair brushes for Photoshop, as those as well helped me a lot to understand the basic hair drawing. When I found the strands from Rayne Morgan, I was completely speechless. I rarely saw such a well drawn hair in all it’s details and if you are willing to credit her work, she even offers a few free downloads on her Deviantart site (https://www.deviantart.com/raynemorgan).

There I found some interesting ready made hair as well for instant use. I always had wondered, how some photographers were able to paint or photograph hair and have such amazing results on Flickr. When I saw the website of Rayne Morgan… I immediately did know how a few did that πŸ˜‰

It is really breathtaking how that hair can change a Second Life picture like it did for the closeup above. You get the hair as a PSD file. You are able to color and as well warp it, until it matches your Second Life snapshot. I could not resist, to even work on that one by adding some more wisps and paint some little strands myself. It is not the end of my hair-paint experiences, as I really want to archive painting my own hair completely one day, but I wanted to share the progress and as well the way of keeping up my motivation to do so πŸ™‚

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit: //Ascend// – “Diora” (Maitreya) – NEW @ The Fetish Fair 2018 – 2nd Edition

Panty: .:Avanti:. – “Adara Panty” (Maitreya)

Shoes: UTOPIA@Design – “Jora” (Maitreya)

Hand & Rings: [Since1975] – “No Mercy Rings” (Maitreya, Bento)

Mask: FnH – “Bunny Mask”

Earrings: Elle Boutique – “Jaclyn Earring”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: Besom – “Piggy Bank”

Makeup: Zibska – “Radi Eyemakeup” (LeLutka Applier)

Lipstick: Izzie’s – “Metallic Lipsticks” (LeLutka Applier)

Hair for Closeup: Rayne Morgan

Head & Body

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

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

Legs: Zibska – “Wild Thang” (Maitreya Applier) – NEW @ TheSecret Affair

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Set:

Couch: [Ds] – “Contempo Ladies Chaise” – NEW @ The Fetish Fair 2018 – 2nd Edition

Lamp: Trompe Loeil – “Wiggle Modern Light”

Statue: NOMAD – “Bright Headed Mannequin C”

Mirror: [Figure 8] – “Narcissus Mirror Silver”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Fallen Angel

Fallen Angel

Late at night I could hear the crying
I hear it all, trying to fall asleep
When all the love around you is dying
You do it all for my own protection
You make me feel like I’ll be okay
Still I have so many questions
How do you stay so strong?
How did you hide it all for so long?
How can I take the pain away?

How can I save,
A fallen angel, in the dark
Never thought you’d fall so far
Fallen angel, close your eyes
I won’t let you fall tonight
Fallen angel, just let go
You don’t have to be alone
Fallen angel, close your eyes
I won’t let you fall tonight
I was right beside you
When you went to hell and back again
I was right beside you
When you went to hell and back again
And I, I couldn’t save, a fallen angel
A fallen angel, in the dark

Never thought you’d fall so far
Fallen angel, close your eyes
I won’t let you fall tonight
Fallen angel, just let go
You don’t have to be alone
Fallen angel, close your eyes
I won’t let you fall tonight
Fallen angel
[Three Days Grace]

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit: [Glitzz] – “Melinda Body” (Maitreya)
Shoes: A&Y Cybernetics – “Aglaya Latex Cyber Boots” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Fetish Fair 2018 / 2nd Edition
Collar: .:Avanti:. – “Nayomi”
Horns & Septum: [CX] – “Wicket Beast”
Wings: Blueberry – “Oakley Wings-Black” (Gacha, Rare)
Headpiece: CURELESS [+] & DISORDERLY – “Dollhouse Survivors / Handy Tiara-Burnt” (Gacha)
Forehead: CURELESS [+] – “Leonius Marking”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Shield”
Hair Straints on the Closeup: Rayne Morgan (highly edited)

Body & Tattoos

Head: CURELESS [+] – “Luxurious Dolls / RARE / The Crystallized Doll Head” (Gacha, Rare)
Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”
Arms: CURELESS [+] – “Melodic Doll Arms” (Maitreya, Gacha, Rare)
Tattoo: CURELESS [+] – “Divine Delineation” (Maitreya Applier, Group Gift)

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity
Backdrop: %anxiety – “Catacomb”

Model & Photographer

Music was my first Love

Music was my first love
And it’ll be my last
Music of the future
And music of the past.
To live without my music
Would be impossible to do
In this world of troubles
my music pulls me through

[John Miles]

When I saw the outfit from today, I immediately had something in mind for pictures. As usual it did not wanna come out as intended and I had to think about something else.

The “Melodic Doll” from CURELESS[+] is another masterpiece of their amazing design. I always loved CURELESS[+] as they are creating things that are usually outside the box and very special. The details and the incredible skills of designing always was something that was marvelling. Every little detail is sharp and crisp and their creations usually need more than just one look to see their full beauty.

The whole set is rigged to fit the Maitreya Lara mesh body and with the alpha HUD you can fit the outfit perfectly to your avatar. The arms and legs of the “Melodic Doll” look typically like the ball jointed dolls, which we all might know from your childhood play toys πŸ˜‰ I totally love the look on my avatar now as well πŸ™‚ The limbs are a little thinner as your regular mesh body ones but that even more gives you the doll feeling.

The “Quaver” shoes of the gacha set are only working with the common dolly legs and won’t work with normal human feet. Some other unrigged shoes of mine did fit the dolly feet as well, but for the post I certainly chose the matching ones from the “Melodic Doll” gacha of CURELESS[+]. The box has no special animations in it but you can adjust it to every pose that you use easily.

The RARES of the set do have a HUD for full customization, while the COMMONS only have little HUDs that change the details.

As a musician, I adore the whole set and it was a must have for me. I hope you will have the same fun and happy feelings that I had when you get your “Melodic Doll”!

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit (incl. Torso, Arms & Legs): CURELESS[+] – “Melodic Doll” (Gacha,Maitreya, Bento) – NEW @ Epiphany

Doll Key: Cybernetics – “Ornamental Doll Key”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Arrest”

Hairbase: MINA – “Myla” (LeLutka Applier)

Makeup & Lipstick: Zibska – “Agafia” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Skin: .la petite morte. – “Amalthea Unicorn” (LaLutka, MaitreyaApplier)

Eyes: Anatomy – “Angel Eyes – Silver”

Poses & Props

Backdrop: CMYK// – “2. pastel magical studio” (Gacha)

Butterflies: Wasabi Pills – “Butterflies Swarm” (FaMESHed Birthday Gift 2018)

Poses: Foxcity

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Unique? Different? Special? Outstanding? – Human!

Not too long ago I had an interesting discussion with a good friend of mine about modeling and how it changed over the past years. It was interesting and a few things she mentioned really had me think about a lot.

I went back to the basic idea of a model… what is a model? The model usually is a blank vessel, where a designer can project his vision on (quote of Wolfgang Joop). That means it is not about the model at all, it is about the designs. Certainly a designer might have special preferences about certain shapes and faces, but in general they are just a mannequin wearing the designers creations, styled after the designers imagination of how he wants to see the outfits.

So why some models throw a tantrum, when they get told certain styling requirements? Like short hair, a certain makeup and strict regulations about jewelry and accessories?

I was thinking a lot about that and where in Second Life that could have come from…

Maybe it is because people got mixed up by pageants and modeling? Both of them have nothing to do with each other. A pageant is about the person doing it, modeling is about showcasing designers creations!

In the beginning, there were not so many models in all those pageants that were held in the past. All of a sudden everyone had to be the face of whatever and to win the “Miss Whatever” title – I never understood why to be honest, I never had that desire. I was talked into doing this kind of things 2 or 3 times and I regret each time, as it only did cost money and time for nothing. It was not what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a model, to showcase designers creations and their hard work – not being a beauty pageant participant, being all pretty and smooth and kiss my way up to where ever it was necessary. We all know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and with a good relationship to an event owner, designer or judge, your chances get higher by nature – we are all humans. In the end no one wants to work with a winner, that he/she can’t stand for a certain period of time, again we are all humans after all πŸ˜‰

But what did that do to SL modeling?

All of a sudden people wanted to be recognized for their avatars when they were walking a runway. One started to pose “fierce”, the next one tried as hard as possible to ‘accessorize’ the shit out of every outfit – anyways if it did fit or not – to be noticed on the runway.

By all means, I do love expressive posing myself on pictures and at themed shows or productions, that request those kind of poses. But for a general casual, formal or regular runway show, to me it makes no sense to spread all limbs out as far as you can, even if for quite some time it was called “fiiiierce” posing.To me fierce or dramatic posing doe snot have to be all spread out and hands up in the air like I would be ready to take off or acting like a GoGo dance animator in a discotheque.

If you ever watched a RL runway show for general fashion – not talking about special shows like Alexander McQueen had – the posing is very clean and simple. Again models showcase a designer, not being actresses on a red carpet – and even those keep it quite simple usually as they represent a designer with their clothing most of the time as well πŸ˜‰ I am not saying there is no room for anything else, but for ‘usual’ runway shows I can see, why people prefer the more simple way of posing and styling. Simplicity can be the key and it can be so much more modern if you keep your poses updated and re-invent your posing each time and not just use the same 20 poses over and over again.

There is as well 2 kind of shows in Second Life, that require two completely different ways to approach them with posing and stying. We have the ‘usual’ runway shows like fashion weeks or special designer showcases and then we have the theater, show or event like shows which are mostly themed. For example a special Halloween show, where the main focus is on the event itself and in opposite to a fashion week those kind of shows are more to entertain people. Last summer Trouble Dethly and his group did an amazing example how fashion, event and as well a theater fashion show can be combined with their Thereafter event. Designers provided outfits, but as well did know it is not just a runway show but more of a ‘happening’ to entertain the main grid users. There we can go all crazy with posing as long as it follows the story, you even can use little animations to underline your character while on a runway I am all for static poses.

For accessories it was quite the same and all of a sudden avant garde was the way to go on the runway. I love avant garde BUT in Second Life avant garde seemed to mean you put a bunch of metal scraps on your head, go half naked and try to fill as many attachment points that you can and certainly do not forget your wings… If you look for the general idea of avant garde fashion that is so way off… it could not be more away from the subject, but thats a completely different story πŸ˜‰

But I can understand why modeling is kinda dead in Second Life at the moment, because of all this things besides an economic/business aspect as well which made fashion shows not anymore profitable for most of the designers.

I get that models were taught to be unique and to stand out, but there is so many ways how you can do that without taking all attention off the clothing and onto your avatar… It is so much more important to make a brand out of yourself on your flickr and blog instead of runway shows. When you are making pictures or go out window shopping all prim-perfect styled, it can do a lot. Especially on blogs and pictures you can express your styling abilities, your way of posing and you kinda have no limits if you are not blogging a certain piece for a designer. That is why I love posts and pictures so much where you do not have to showcase any specific item and just can go with the flow of your imagination.

Like the pictures for today’s post. I tried to put the idea of standing out off a crowd with not too much accessories and to underline my statement about being unique. I already posted all the items before when I wanted to showcase them and so I had room and freedom to play with them now and try to create my imagination in Second Life. It was not an easy way though and probably took the longest time I ever needed for a picture to be done. I wa struggling with the idea and the inspiration since March 2018. Now we have July and I am still not 100 % satisfied but this time it felt that was the best I can do with my actual skills – I am learning everyday something new πŸ˜‰

The face is something that makes every human unique anyways – if they do not have a twin and even those have their unique trademarks if you take a really close look. So if you ever were at a Second Life modeling agency you were told your face is the most important and unique trademark you have. Anyways what it looks like as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, if you push the limits of human face proportions slightly and well thought you really could create a very unique look in the past with system heads. Then for quite some time many models were struggling wit the first wave of mesh heads. The static mesh heads in the beginning were not really as ‘character’ friendly as the system heads were. Only a very few sliders reacted to customizing and the skin more or less was the only way to create a unique look somehow. I hesitated a long time myself until I gave it a try and I felt so relieved, when bento came to live and we were able to customize your faces and heads again more even with a few limits to bento bones. Nowadays I am very happy with the head and the skin and even if we are told constantly to update I am stuck with the head and the skin since I got it.

With the pictures I wanted to try to express a feeling or an emotion that follows me for quite some time in both worlds. I am not yet ready to really tell the whole story behind it, as it is a very vulnerable spot in my soul, but maybe with the ongoing process of playing with that picture idea, it will come out eventually and I am brave enough to tell. But for now it shows how you can have a face, how you can be unique with not much on yourself than just your face. I really hope i did make sense in what I was talking about, even if I tried t not go too deep into it and not let my emotions take over too much.

Big thanks goes out to Hill.S (Hillany Scofield) and her amazing exhibition that let me find those mannequins, which I needed so desperately for my pictures. She is an incredible artist and picture queen and has such an amazing installation going on – I have to go back and take a picture there, as I promised her πŸ˜‰

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit: .:EC:. (Enelya’s Creations) – “Norena” (Maitreya)

Face Art: Slackgirl – “Circles”

Nails: Slackgirl – “RingQueen Nai” (Maitreya, Bento)

Hair & Makeup

Makeup & Lipstick: Zibska – “Piper” (LeLutka Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Props: Snowpaws – “Static Store Mannequins”

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Skin: YS&YS – “Ginny Vamp” (Maitreya & LeLutka Applier)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Who says it always has to be a Bikini?

Do you know that feeling, when you get told by people what you can do and what you can’t do?

I do and sometimes I am getting tired of it πŸ˜‰ That usually brings out the little rebel in me and I do want to prove them I can do everything I want – usually in SL that is easier than in RL, but it works in both worlds somehow πŸ˜‰

I was in such a mood, when I put on the new lingerie from [Gos]. With the “Diana” lingerie set, I was thinking about an idea for pictures. I tried all the usual stuff first – laying n a bed, a couch or a sofa… on the ground with some aerial, wavy cloth… all looked ‘ok’ but none did the ‘WOW’ for me. That made me think of something completely different. Why not doing a summer, pool inspired scenery. Like you come from work, or you were on a walk with your dogs and you see that amazing pool and have no swimsuit or bikini? If you have a lingerie like the “Diana” lingerie from [Gos], it is not a problem to use that for a quick refreshment *snickers* Who says it always has to be a bikini?

When I saw the cute “Fun in the sun Frenchies” gacha from Bee Designs, I fell in love with the little puppies in a blink. The gacha holds 4 different kinds of little dogs in 4 different coat colors – Swimmers, Held Puppers, Companions and Wanderers besides the 3 special rares. They are so cute and adorable I simply could not resist to not have them in my pictures πŸ˜‰

The amazing pool decor you can find at the actual round from the Liaison Collaborative, made by Bee Designs.

As well an awesome new release you can find at the actual anniversary round of the Cosmopolitan events which only has a few days left. The “No.I don’t” hair style from no.match.

The perfect hair style for a warm, sunny summer day. With the little knot up at the back head and the long hair falling down your back it is perfect for swimming as well πŸ˜‰

Typical for no.match you get a lot of different possibilities for the color HUDs. I really love the hair textures of no.match an as well the special blond tones, they go so very well with my skin tone and the no eyebrow trademark that I now have for quite a few years.

Last but not least I would like to drag the view on the amazing “Diana D’Orsay” pumps as well made by [Gos]. With the delicate lace and the second color high light option at the back of the foot, they match perfectly to the lingerie, which as well has solid parts and amazing lace parts. The best advantage is, the color HUDs of both make a perfect match , because they hold all the same colors πŸ˜‰

Outfit & Accessories

Lingerie: [Gos] – “Diana Lingerie Set” (Maitreya) – NEW @ UBER

Shoes: [Gos] – “Diana D’Orsay Pumps” (Maitreya) – NEW @ FaMESHed

Body Jewelry: (AMD) – “Body Jewelry – Gold” (Maitreya)

Jewelry: AvaWay – “Emmanuelle Back Necklace #1”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.I Don’t” – NEW @ COSMOPOLITAN

Makeup: Zibska – “Delight” (LeLutka Applier)

Lipstick: Zibska – “Delia” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

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

Tattoo: RedFish – “Sexy Flower” (Maitreya)

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity – “Pool Bunny Vol 2” & Body Language – “FineSand” (Bento)

Set:

Dogs & Pool: JIAN – “Fun in the Sun Frenchies” (Gacha)

Pool Deco: Bee Designs – “Pool Decor Gacha” (Gacha) – NEW @ The Liaison Collaborarative

Location

Wicca’s Wardrobe (Garden Parcel)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Summertime and the living is easy…

… for those who like summer most likely yes *giggles*

Thank god in SL you do not feel any temperature and can enjoy summer quite a little more, without sweating all the time like in RL.

I again found a bikini, which I truly like and again I was facing the question… what else than laying on a beach or hanging out in a pool I could do for a picture. I mean there is nothing against those scenarios, but I do not like to do that in RL plus that would make just another of those kind of summer loving pictures. A&Y always is special to me – I love her designs, I love the way how the textures are and I do love the futuristic character that all her creations have. Because of that, I just do not wanna make an easy picture with it. To me it alway requests something strong and special.

For the “Electra Cyber Bikini” from A&Y you have the option to wear it as a full set (already linked) or you can wear only top or pants single as well. As usual you have the amazing HUD that we all know from A&Y to customize the bikini itself (2 parts), straps and metals. To underline the amazing straps I added an arm harness from L’Emporio.

While I was looking for shoes, I saw the latest release from [Gos] and it felt like the shoes were made for my look! The “Bella Thong Platforms” are part of the actual round of FaMESHed and with the straps all over the feet and around the toe they completely matched the outfit. Like always the shoes come for all the popular mesh bodies and with the Boutique, the Blueberry and the Metalic HUD. What I do like a lot os that [Gos] includes a materials and a non materials version for the shoes. You can decide if you want to take a picture with the ambiance occlusion shown or jut have a clear view on the shoes.

Yesterday I was talking to Falbala Fairey again after a long time. We both were busy with RL and even more I was happy when I saw her in the audience, when I did that interview with Trouble and Kess for SL15B (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=F8lihXKTySk)

After the interview we did a call on Discord and had a nice long chat about what has happened over the time. Many good news and a things were shared and I was in a really good mood when she suddenly asked if she could show me something. Certainly she could :p. A few minutes later I had a folder and very shy sis in my ears when she said “Maybe you can try them and tell me what you think?” I peeked and it was… POSES! I love poses and the more I love them when they come from a person I feel close to πŸ™‚ Little sis makes poses now! Here store is called Fairey Poses and what I instantly felt, when I tried the poses, was that those poses are done by someone that blogs fashion for along time. All the poses I got were strong and well thought poses for fashion photography. It was refreshing to see some edgy poses as well and especially the crouch and lean against the wall poses made their way right into my heart. It is so rare to find really cool and swag poses for fashion photography. The more I was happy to find exactly those 2 kind of poses made by Falbala!

Enough for today… I need to take a look at Fairey Poses now, to see what else Falbala made!

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit: A&Y Cybernetics – “Electra Cyber Bikini” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Good Vibes Fair

Shoes: [Gos] – “Bella Thong Platforms” (Maitreya) – NEW @ FaMESHed

Arm (right): L’Emporio – “Harness Arm” (Maitreya)

Legs: [ Sakide ] – “Yleria Leg Straps” (Maitreya)

Collar: Happy Undead – “Charming”

Glasses: .::Nanika::. – “Agnes Sunglasses Silver”

Nails & Rings: [CX] – “Shredder Claws” (Maitreya, bento)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: [NYNE] Hair – “Penny”

Lipstick: Izzie’s – “Fae Lipsgloss” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – β€œSimone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – β€œLara 4.1”

Face: Izzie’s – β€œPores & Blemishes” (LeLutka Applier)

Tattoo: .pichi. – “Pretty Blossom” (Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Fairey Poses – “Crouched 1″ & ” Waiting for you 1″

Seat: .birch. – “Mery Ottoman Black & Silver”

Background: Foxcity – “Photo Booth – Short Circuit” (Gacha, Rare)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Fantasy is Escapist, and that is its Glory

β€œFantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”
[J.R.R. Tolkien]

Isn’t Second Life a place where we can escape reality? Isn’t Second Life a place to experiment and live visions and dreams? – To me it is!

I am not saying my way is the best or the only one, as Second Life is a platform where everyone can do and life what ever they want. It should be a place where you can do everything that you can imagine and dream of for yourself. As kids we played Barbie or enjoyed various roleplay like Cowboy and Indian, Robin Hood and the Lady Marian or what ever we wanted. To me Second Life is just an extension of that.

I can dress up with everything my mood is leading me to. Mostly it is something I could not wear in RL. Sometimes it can be casual as well but usually it has some twist on it to make it my own. Often I was told, you need to decide to a certain direction to set a trademark or make yourself a brand – I never could decide for one and why should I in a world that gives you like nearly unlimited options? I thought by myself if it could not be my trademark to not have a certain look or style πŸ˜‰

Since I decided about that, I felt so much more free to experiment and play with all kind of things. There is only a few things, I set as my own limits to myself. I never would do porn, as I personally think there is no need to do that on a virtual fashion blog, as you can do so much more with nudity or semi nudity in an artistic way and it is nothing that I would like to share with a wide range of people anyways. As well i never would touch any illegal things, that go against common sense or the law, I never felt the desire to do such at all. That said, I just have fun playing with several things and lately I do love creating my own sceneries and backgrounds or add something personal to places I do love to snap at.

One of my favorite sim collectives for fantasy themed pictures is the Ippos Collective. A consortium of 4 sims. Sylpha, Nymphai, Ippos and Pegasoi. Each sim has a certain theme to it and all of them are decorated in an amazing way with much love to the details. All of them are changing their seasons, which always gives new things and settings to discover. There are a few parcels that are rented, but as long as you respect their privacy you can even rezz some props and pose stands to make your perfect shot. The owners are extremely sweet and kind and always have an open ear if you need help or advice. Most of them do amazing pictures like for example Duchess Flux. I am very happy to be allowed to call her a friend. She was there, backed me up and trusted me in some of the darkest hours of my SL. I won’t ever forget that – Thank you Duchie β™₯

I only can give a rough view of the sims as no words I know would satisfy the beauty of those very special places. You need to wander all across the collective and even then you won’t see everything on your first walk πŸ˜‰

Ippos is mostly a residential sim. It has a beautiful landscape of a fantasy world, like a hidden treasure in the middle of a forest. No wonder that it is built in such an beautiful way, since well known SL bloggers and photographers call that palce their home and the parcels are really desired and not often open for new rentals.

On Nymphai you will find all the amazing events like the Enchantment or the Secret Affair as well as some main stores of fantastic and creative designers.

Pegasoi to me looks more like the romantic and sweet fantasy part of the group. You will find the Lady Garden Cabaret there, which shows monthly shows of amazing and creative artists.

Last but not least we have Sylpha, the water sim. Any desire you have for water based pictures you will find there. Weather you would like to do some peaceful island pictures or you actually would like to really swim in Linden water together with fishes and dolphins – everything is possible!

If you like more and detailed info about the Ippos Collective just take a look atΒ https://threadsandtuneage.com/ippos/

If you are in such an amazing fantasy environment you have to dress up to fit in there πŸ˜‰ This time I wanted to showcase one of the amazing hats from Spartin Parx. The “Milli” hat comes with a huge HUD. You can change the base to 6 different colors and the sweet roses on the top have a variety of 9 colors to chose from.

I thought a long time about how I could style it to not loose the focus on the hat but as well have a cute fantasy look. First I thought about something uniform based, I do not know why and I discovered very fast that this was not the way it would work out. The hat had a Victorian touch to me and finally I found a sweet doll looking outfit that just did the trick πŸ˜‰ For the boots I went with the “Kora” boots form UTOPIA@Design. I do have an addiction to over-knee boots, maybe because I do not often have the opportunity to wear them RL, as they would not fit into my everyday job most of the time ;). With the laces in the front, they totally matched the Victorian look, while the steel caps in the front added some strong, modern feelings to the whole look, which i loved a lot for the whole photo composition.

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit: Violent Seduction – “Madame Chevaliere” (Maitreya,Gacha – Bra, Corset, Paudrons & Skirt)

Gloves: Maddict – “Starlet Gloves” (Maitreya)

Shoes: UTOPIA@Design – “Kora” (Maitreya)

Hat: Spartin Parx – “Millie”

Collar: Zombie Suicide – “Willow Collar”

Hair & Makeup:

Hair: No.Match – “No.Call”

Makeup: Slackgirl – “Kam” (LeLutka Applier)

Lipstick: Zibska – “Chooli” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

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

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Props: JIAN – “Wolf Pack & Companion” & Moon_Sha – “Cinderella’s Pumpkins” (Gacha, Ultrarare)

Location

The Ippos Collective

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin