I Want It All!

Before I can go up to the second floor of Kiko Life Digital Cosmetics Company, I discover one more room of some very beautiful makeups to go with my new Remix skins.  Just beyond the room with Lucky Chairs and freebies and along the way to a tall, tall staircase, there are 20 different haunting and otherworldly Fae Fling makeups, and some really interesting and lovely Mendhi, plus a very colorful Chante line with 5 different choices, and the Empress makeup line.  If you want some really different choices for fantasy looks, I highly recommend exploring the Fae Fling makeups, and if you're considering putting together a complete and authentic look to go with your favorite saris, definitely investigate the 10 different full makeups offered Mendhi line, which can also be purchased as separate lipsticks and eyeshadows in various combinations.  The Empress makeups, named Nandi, Nefertiti, Sheba, Nzingha and Tiye, will make you look and feel like an African princess!  I absolutely have to follow Kiko's style tips and find that elegant braided hairstyle too, because someone worked really hard to make a convincing and becoming texture.  If you truly love colorful makeups, then you definitely want to check out the Chante makeup line, especially since bright colors are so hard to achieve on darker skins, and the work(wo)manship invested in these shows.  They would be great for runway shows, and should go really well with 80s inspired spring fashions.  Okay, I think I've bought some of everything now, so on to the next floor, where I expect to see some stylish shapes!  Actually, Kiko Life features complete avatar kits (particularly helpful for all you newbies, but even those of us who have been in SL a while might be considering yet another transformation), with shape (modifyable or non-modifyable), skin, makeup, 4 hairbases, eyes, a style card and a goodie bag.  And there's room for more things to be added, so I can't wait to see what Kiko Life has in store for us!

More at Kiko Life

I'm checking out the Remix makeups to go with my new Remix skins.  In the Remix:  Berry Baby sets are full makeups featuring berry-toned lips and smoky eyes with names such as AFK, Hate on Me, Like a Boy, and Juicy, while in the Remix Beaute line, you can choose from bright or natural eye shadows and lipstick shades such as Piquant, Bronzed, Beguile, Understated, and Sweetened, all of which are great for daily wear.  For a more dramatic look perfect for parties or fashion shows, the Remix:  Bitch Mama sets include Man Stealer, J.E.A.L.O.U.S., Envy, Poison and 4 More Haters.  These are lovely and edgy at the same time, offering a great change of pace from the usual pretty looks (not that I don't love pretty, but sometimes you do need some edge!).  I'm totally intrigued by the Remix:  Wild Cocoa line, which features really imaginative use of neutrals that go beyond the ordinary, including rich, deep lipsticks and eyeshadows that are really great accents for the Remix skins.  With such names as Amenolado, Criollo, Forastero, Trinitario, and Venchi, the makeup artists at Kiko Life pay tribute to the international beauty of women of color.  The Remix:  Red Bliss line represents another current makeup trend featuring shades of deep reds on the lips, and complimentary touches of lighter reds or pinks on the eyes, made popular on Fall 2010 runways, including Seduction, Sissy Poo, Snobby, Sophisticated and Stoosh.  Finally, the red theme is also used for some fantasy-based makeup in the Remix:  Hearts line.  I could see myself using these for some otherworldly roleplay or perhaps as part of a really seductive burlesque performance!  Among the 10 choices in Hearts are Dark Heart, Passion Play, Rio Heart and Tokoyo Red.  Perhaps I should take some flamenco lessons?

Because I hadn't visited this store in so long (thanks slow DSL provider!), I've missed The Essence of Ebony contest in its developing stages, but at least I can announce to you that tomorrow, February 20 at 1 p.m. SLT, Miss Essence of Ebony will be crowned.  Also, Kiko Life is participating in the Inferno Grid-wide hunt until February 26.  As always, there are Lucky Chairs giving you the chance to win skins and other freebies available in the store.  Come by, check out the demos, and do some serious shopping!

Seeing What's New at Kiko Life

Revisiting my store of landmarks takes me to some familiar and comfortable places.  Today, it's my friend Osuntomi Melendez's store Kiko Life Digital Cosmetics Company at Amina City.  Tomi is always busy making new things to make avatars, and especially avatars of color, look good, so it will probably take me more than one post to report on all the goodies!  Of course, skins are my first stop, so the first thing that greets me in that section of the larger space are the Remix Neutrals skins.  They are bundled with these seven options:  with and without cleavage, and each of those with freckles and moles, or shaved, and with tintable eyebrows.  Each skin bundle also includes a goodie bag with one pair of prim eyelashes with built-in facelight, a height detector, a totally adorable sculpted makeup set you can use to decorate your home like the ones in the store, some freebie model poses, and a posing stand.  The Remix Neutrals skins come in Cinnamon, Coffeebean, Creamsicle, Custard, Flax, Honeychild, Macadamia, Malta, Spice, Sunkiss and Walnut, so a range of skintones is represented; there's not just one dark brown skin, but there's also not just one fair skin, which is just brilliant!  According to Tomi and Kiko Moleno, this line of skins offers these benefits:  it gives you the MAXIMUM number of options by allowing you to wear the new makeups for Viewer 2 (or any SL client that supports the tattoo layer), but you also have an everyday face that you can wear in any situation and look so beautiful no one will notice you're not wearing makeup.  You can customize your look with shapes, hairbases and/or makeups (I'll tell you about those later!), also from Kiko Life.  They definitely are a great option and a great value.  Now I just have to make up my mind about which one to buy first....http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Arima%20City/117/201/26

Into Fantasy Skins?

If you are interested in trying out some unique makeups for role-play, you might want to check out CStar Skins.  The store specializes in offering limited-edition skins, an interesting concept if you want to keep your look truly unique.  Unfortunately, their dark tone in the fantasy skins like Bloody Mary, Inferno or GoreJus is still only a light brown (but it is genuinely brownish), while their tan will work for light-skinned girls.  The demos I tried  came with cleavage, hairbase and no-hairbase options which looked fine on the body, but I think some skin tone in the face may have been sacrificed to render the makeup colors--so the face didn't really match the body!  The store is busy right now because of a recent posting on a freebie blog announcing the Lucky Chair giveaways, but experimenting with skins there, and adding some adventurous choices to your inventory can be worthwhile and fun.  The most interesting thing I saw there was a shape and skin --inspired by the recent James Cameron film Avatar--called Neptune Savage, and though the Ocean Teal (blue) version that most closely resembles the Na'vi character played by Zoe Saldana is sold out, there are versions in Ruby (red), Emerald (green) and Poisoned (purple with some green highlights) that are a pretty cool way to totally transform your own avatar.  The Geisha skins come in Modern and Modern Stone versions; while the former comes in natural skin tones with dramatic and unusual but still pretty makeups, the latter offer a total transformation of your look for really challenging your imagination--the skin of your body is grey, like stone, but it is still quite pretty too.  Unico Solo's store is at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cstar/156/103/1661/

Shopping for Skins?

I was pleasantly surprised to find so many choices for representing women of African descent when I dropped in on the sale going on now at Pulse!  Lorac Farella has developed a great deal of skill with her designing, and has made a great effort to offer a range of darker-toned skins that are flattering and realistic.  If you like freckled looks, you should check out the Emotional skin in T4; if you are expecting a wedding proposal any time soon, you might want to purchase the one of three Tears versions, which have cleverly drawn smudgy eye makeup.  If your SL is more adventurous, you may need to add the Lessons, Chafed, Fight or Punished versions that include some strategically placed bruises, band-aids, cuts and scratches, or other marks.  I found the Valeries skin in Bistre to be a bit flat and gray rather than brown, but Valeries in Sienna or Sand will work if you are going for a mixed-chick/light-skinned girl look.  I really love the dramatic makeup too, really strong eye or lip colors, and the variety of brow colors; they will make your AV's face distinctive and memorable.  I feel like I'm looking at an albino version of my familiar digital self when I try on skins that are light; it took a few tries with the i skin before I found that Nos. 1--11 were all meant to be super-pale, so skip those.  Elegance 7 is a nice warm, honey brown, with makeups named for the months of the year that are subtle and natural, and ones for the seven deadly sins that are very dramatic--they will get LOTS of attention!  There is also a choice of makeups named for the virtues (are there seven of those too?), and they are really pretty and romantic.  I think the Life skins are my favorites, and Tones 8, 9, and 10 are all warm brown skins with 8 different makeups each.  They have just the right amount of shading and highlighting to make your AV look great, and you can get it clevage-enhanced too!  Almost all skins are marked down 50% right now, so check it out!

Is This Really a Dark Skin?

My pet peeve about SL (besides lags and crashes) has always been skins.  Now I do recognize and appreciate the difficulty involved in making good skins.  I'm not a designer, but I have talked about the process with those who do have experience making them, and I do have faith in many of the creative types out there who have taken on the challenge of designing quality skins.  I also appreciate being able to go into a new skin store and being pleasantly surprised to find a range of choices for women of color (those of African descent as well as those who are not) to represent themselves.  The idea that there is only one variety of *darkness* is completely passe--besides simply being inaccurate!  There is not one single version of blackness any more than there is only one kind of pale whiteness, so if designers can make variations and degrees of *tan,* consumers ought to be able to see a full range of *dark* skins too.  Whether we are Asian, South Asian, Latina, African or African American (or some combination thereof), we want to be able to create avatars that look like *real* women!

Ethnic Avatar Packages at Kiko Life

Kiko Life offers some new complete ethnic avatar packages that are one of the best values for your Lindens in Second Life. In any package purchased you get a shape, a set of eyes, a pair of eyelashes and a collection of manicure/pedicure options and the package also includes a voucher so that you can choose the exact makeup you want in your favorite tone. Kiko Mileno and Osuntomi Melendez' s store also offers tons of choices, with 180+ skin options in gorgeous tan and ebony tones, including Butterscotch, Caramel, Cafe au Lait, Toffee, Tea and Cocoa, and 30 Complete Avatar packages, including Aziza, Nyoka and Meria. Demos are always free, and you can come into any store and try one or all of them out! Kiko and Tomi are also working on new releases of styled shapes for both men and women, and new makeups for the ladies. Now is always a great time to send Kiko and Tomi feedback. Is there something you'd like to see in particular, such as particular colors, eye options, or other default options with the skins? Do you have requests for custom work on skins? Kiko Life offers a wide range of custom makeup options, as well as piercings, tattoos, bikini lines, freckles, wet/sweat options, braces, wounds and more. Please drop a notecard in the main store at the specially provided drop box with your requests. They want you to help them make even better skins. Kiko Life has stores at Kiko http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kiko/194/30/28/, University City http://slurl.com/secondlife/University%20City/51/171/21/, Nederpoont, Sankt Marx http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sankt%20Marx/162/139/21/, Tranquility Island http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tranquility%20Island/230/89/22/, and they are participating in the main store in the Discovery and the Bedtime Stories Grid-wide Hunts going on until the end of June. That means, how many days are left?

Kiko Life

A notice from Fashion Consolidated invited me to visit another skin maker promoting their creations as the best and most glamorous offerings in SL, so I felt a responsibility to follow up on the invitation and check out what was being advertised. I was not surprised to find that this was yet another store where the darkest skin available for female AVs was presented as a Latina skin, or at least implied by the name given to it, Eva (as in Eva Longoria Parker). No, I was not surprised, but again, I am disappointed to find that people of color continue to be an afterthought in the minds of so many creative people in SL, at the same time that the parameters of acceptable or available skin tones that can be created within the combined software interfaces of SL as a virtual world and Photoshop as a space where images are processed for digital use make it so difficult for a true variety of skin tones to be designed. Needing my faith in the vision of a multicultural SL restored, I remembered that I had spent the previous evening in-world quite pleasantly fascinated with the African Diasporic shapes and styles available for purchase at Kiko Life. The main store is on a sim also named Kiko (204, 23, 28), and there are currently satellite locations at University City, Rosewood Piazza, New Jack City, Atlantislove, and most recently, Saminaka--I certainly hope more are on the way. From the names of the different shapes available for demo to the style cards included in the packages available for sale, my faith was definitely restored! For example, shapes for female avatars are named for Adenike, Amira and Ayo, Lucayan, Niara and Nyoka, among others, and the style sheets show vibrant and contemporary urban fashions defining each AV's style, along with many textured hairstyles (also for sale on the Kiko sim, in neighboring stores Street Dermatology, Twist Out, Shelly's Bootylicious Gear, and Divahtoos). The hair styles included cornrows, finger waves, twists and Afros. The shape demos that I sampled offered a true variety of sisterly bodies--full-hipped, thick-thighed, and high, rounded behinds, along with a real range of breast sizes and proportionate shoulders. I was also very pleased to find that the designer Osuntomi Melendez had taken the time to give each of the shapes distinctive facial features that include noses that are not all tiny and narrow, nor arms that are just sticks. When I visited, 30 different shapes for women were on offer, along with about half as many for men. Kiko Life's men and women look strong and sexy and really, genuinely, beautifully black, and I can't wait to see what shapes and styles will be added next!http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kiko/193/29/28/

Skinthesis

Skinthesis is dedicated to providing you with quality hybrid skins in a wide range of looks that will work with almost any shape! Cane Sutter is pleased to present to you the first wave of products, the Mindi skins, which come in 6 tones and a growing range of makeups to suit your every fashion need. Skinthesis skins are created using both handpainting and photo-sourcing from Cane's own collection of personal images to achieve a nice balanced look that will provide a touch of realism to your avatar without going overboard and making it look out of place in Second Life. Cane does custom work if you're interested, so if you have a specific makeup request, or want your own personal distinguishing marks such as moles, scars, or tattoos, please state your interest in a notecard so Cane can get back to you with details and a price quote. Among the demos that I tried out were these really cool metallic skins; if you are inspired to make your own Bond-style Goldfinger video for You Tube, for example, you could wear the Gold Dust Woman version of the new Mindi line. In an imaginative fantasy tribute to my own name, I might just have to rush back to the store and get my own copy of the Bronzed Goddess, which sounds and looks so perfect! There is also the warm, coppery Lucky Penny, which made me feel like Beyonce, and the truly cosmic Silver Lining, which makes for a wonderful opportunity to create a very interesting and playful costume. The Mindi line also comes in Dark and Ethnic variations which suit women of African descent; although it would be nice to have more designers take on the challenge of representing a greater, more realistic range of skintones for women of color, Sutter has created some lovely makeups that have face-flattering dimension and gloss. Mindi in Dark or Ethnic skins has fourteen options for day and evening, plus the Revelry Collection, which is a great foundation for special events, even more interesting costuming such as 17th-Century French courtesan roleplay, and very dramatic runway shows. For all of you looking to reminisce about the 80's when you pop in to the themed parties with your miniskirts and mohawks, leggings and tunics and rubber bracelets, there is the makeup of the Radical Collection. You too can have shiny fuschia lips and deep slashes of blush, just like Robert Palmer's model-perfect video vixens! A recent addition to the store is the Flapper Collection, so you can be Daisy to your Gatsby with heart-shaped deep red lips and a charming beauty mark right where it should be. I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille!http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sterling%20Pointe/148/150/22/

Glowing Skins for Ethnic Girls and Boys

I spent over an hour happily and enthusiastically collecting demos of skins and hair and shapes to sample in Shiloh Jun's store Shybooty, and it's a wonderful place for women of color who are not at all shy about having generous booties! Now I am back at home trying on my new stuff, and I'm definitely seeing faces and bodies that remind me of my momma, my aunts, my sister and my girlfriends. Distinctive facial features were complimented by vibrant, glowing and flattering selections of makeup looks, and subtle details to the shading and freckling of skins overall gave them a realistic depth that pops on the screen. I found the shapes a bit too top-heavy for my personal tastes, but if your lover likes his or her hands full, well, you might like Shiloh's shapes too, and she also has a line of BBW shapes and kids' shapes available too so that a genuine family can be represented. Among all of the interesting offerings in the store is also a line inspired by the looks of Miss Universe contestants representing a true United Nations of feminine beauty, including Misses Brazil, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Trinidad, and Miss United States. They look so lovely, I hope more are on the way so that we can really play, maybe have our own SL pageant! I haven't even tried on any of the hair, tattoos or clothing I bought, let alone any of the men's shapes and skins, so when I do, I'll try to remember to report back! Even though I love my own shape and skin, the one I've been in since I first came here nearly two years ago, I plan to be playing with these new, fun, very authentically black pieces for a long while. If you want to look like a sista should, I encourage you to explore Shybooty too.http://slurl.com/secondlife/Marqi%20Global%20HQ/89/217/24/