Belleza

Never been to Tiny Bird? Autumn Hykova stocks some fabulous styles, everything from tidy up-dos and messy pony-tails to really unusual wigs with unique accessories. This style, Bea, is rather playful with hair divided into sections that sweep out to curled ends. Inward curves keep a solid base shape, and a spotted feather clip laid flat to the side gives a quirky finish. The accent lines hold attention to the face, which is exactly what you want when wearing a gorgeous skin like Belleza's Jesse.

It's rare for me to wear tanned skin, but I must admit that I'm rather taken with Jesse. The shade isn't too dark and is certainly radiant, with a sprinkling of freckles and well-defined body that even includes cleavage versions in each pack. While I'm not one to tout my wares about town, I still really appreciate this option - now you can wear those figure-hugging corset tops without that strange sensation of something being missing, and your push up bras will be seen to be doing their job. It makes all the difference when your skin compliments your clothing rather than working against it.

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The makeup blends well with the skintone, giving a fresh-faced look. I adjusted my shape slightly to suit the plump lips, but I'm more than satisfied with my pouty look. These lips look wonderfully soft and supremely kissable, but I'm equally taken with every other feature on this face. The nose is very pretty - Tricky Boucher's shading is both subtle and believable, and really brings the skin to life, not only here but all over the body. The brows are well shaped and defined, right down to individual hairs at the near side if you care to look closely enough: you'll also find lashes drawn to the skin, which gives your prim pair a boost or can replace them entirely if you're wearing glasses (or were wearing glasses and somehow forgot to reapply your essentials). Just perfect.

The jumper is a current dollarbie from Du Pappillon, and I think the colour is wonderfully up-lifting. The dipped front is mirrored from behind, and I love the waist creases that reflect the tight fit. I've layered with a clean strappy top from Lookr and paired up with some of my all time favourite pants from Veschi. These have been on the grid for quite some time and I did need to tint the prims to match properly (viewer changes have taken their toll), but it's a quick and easy job. The puffed legs with the tight wrap around the knee offer a simple but elegant trouser solution that you could dress up as well as down. 

Siddean Munro of SLink has been making a mountain of stunning shoes lately; I have to say that I've been steering away from prim feet, but these are too well made to resist. I was very impressed on all counts with her Chelsea stilettos, not least with the two huds that attach: one to alter the size, colouration and nail paint for the feet, and the second to play with settings to colour the shoe stones and metal fastenings. As everything is customisable, you'll easily be able to match these to your skin colour and shape, as well as tweaking the finer details to suit your outfit.

The primwork is excellent all over, with feet arching into the super-high platform, encased in a weave of glossy straps. Even on the black pair you can see the detail, including perfect stitchwork. The ankle is secured with two thicker straps that join to the back and overlap at the front, flaiing into a tassle accented with stone and metal fastener. A neat zip is the finishing detail to the back of each shoe. These are a completely gorgeous and bound to be a wardrobe favourite: as there are currently several colours on sale, make sure you stop by at the store and pick up a bargain while you can!

Finally to mention the necklace from Illusions. I don't think you can still pick this one up as it was a freebie from the recent jewellery fair, but let it serve as another example of Siyu Suen's precise and beautiful primwork. The jewellery available in-store is well worth a look, you're bound to find something to make you coo.

Outfit:

Sweater: Du Pappillon, Pastelle Sweater, Lilac
Top: Lookr, Clean - White
Pants: Veschi, Jersey Girl Pants
Shoes: SLink, Chelsea Stiletto Heels - Black
Necklace: Illusions, Aurelie Teardrop Necklace 
Belt: DNR, Avana Belly Chain (Tinted)

Body:

Hair: Tiny Bird, Bea - Chocolate
Eyes: Curio, Tragic Eyes - Small
Eyelashes: gloW, Innocent eyelashes - Pure
Skin: Belleza, Jesse - Sunkiss 14
Pose: Reel Expression, Random Pose 20

Tricky Boucher is my personal hero. I love Belleza skins whether they're male or female - although generally the latter suit me best. Belle has a gorgeous face and the selection of makeups is fabulous including everything from dramatic studio looks to gorgeous day and evening glam. The Mocha lip colour is the perfect balance between pink and brown and sits beautifully with the softly smoked eyes. Delicately arched brows balance the entire face, and paired with these seductive eyes from SLB, you're bound to cause a few heads to turn.

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Of course, wearing the skin alone might cause a few road traffic accidents, so I put together a suitable outfit. I started with Velocity, a shirt created from the design of Adam's original fantasy outfit (no longer for sale). I love the boldness of the pattern, which looks great on the underlayer peeping through. 

This cute little shirt is from EmJay, and comes with three options. Unfortunately they're all on the jacket layer, but you have the option to wear it open, with one button done, or with three fastened. I love the rumples and wrinkles in the fabric which extend all over and offer a good sense of realism. I haven't shown it here, but I should mention that the prim collar on the shirt didn't work brilliantly for me. The texture wasn't up to the standard of the rest of the shirt, which was a real shame. 

I accessorised instead with this old group gift from Polina Kaestner's shop. The colours and looped shape give it something of a nautical feel when paired with a simpler outfit, but in this instance it simply gelled everything together.

The bracelets are absolutely to die for. I picked these up on the opening day of the recent jewellery fair, and I am ashamed to say I've only just gotten around to blogging them. If you haven't already picked them up, you're missing a treat: Siyu Suen has long been acclaimed for her marvellous masks, but the other prim delights on offer at Illusions make it more than worth a regular visit. This bangle is crafted from curls of metal which hold in place a large oval stone - colours of both the metal and stone are scripted to change, providing a huge amount of wear for your purchase. There are other pieces available for the set, so you can dress up or down accordingly. 

The bag is from Puddles and unfortunately is no longer available, but if you like the style you will find the latest collection in store. It's a cute piece, no modify but packed with a resize script, which is nice as it means you can use it as a casual day bag or a hefty overnighter, depending on your need at the time. 

I should also mention these pretty earrings from Beguiled. A simple nested circle design makes these a perfect casual earrings, and what's better is they're practically free. 

Speaking of inexpensive items, these jeans are currently available in the Decoy sale for a bargain price of nothing. They're well drawn and benefit from a selection of prim cuffs, with a gentle fade that gives them the perfect lived in feel. I'm not sure when the sale ends, so suggest you grab yours while you still can!

Hair is by Shag, and this is a lovely up-do accessorised by a colour change band. I haven't shown it here but the hair does come with an additional length of scarf which you can wear to the back or over the shoulder to the front. I'm sold on the swept fringe which falls a little over the right eye, with kicked ends that follow around the side and mirror the flicks from the short ponytail to the back. It's a lovely style that will see plenty of wear.

The boots are from Insolence: you knew Camilla Yosuke did more than just utterly gorgeous underwear, didn't you? These are sturdy winter knee-highs, made from suede and detailed with side stitching and a zip to the inner leg. While you can't see from the picture, I'm particularly fond of the heels which are shaped perfectly to glue to the sole, and widen at the base for a satisfying finish.

This jacket from Grasp demanded blogging, and while it's available for both men and women, Adam beat me to it this time. I have to say that my personal preference for coats is that they use the jacket layer and then prims to detail: this one doesn't disappoint, offering some very well made sculpted parts. The prims fit neatly without the need for editing, and there are plenty of sculpted embellishments. "Nothing a texture wouldn't sort," Adam said when inspecting the many sculpties used to create a button, "but kudos for the effort". Close examination shows that even the zips on the arms have their own sculpties, and while it seems there is quite a lot of photosourcing, there are some nice details like the hand stitching on the neck. A lot of effort went into this one. 

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The tshirt is iSpy from Lookr. I'll admit my designs are eclectic, but I often run with an animal theme. This one was inspired by our dog making eyes at me when I refused to share a snack with her. I think I managed to capture something of that woeful longing in her eye: wear it enough and you may find people start to pass you gifts out of some unplaceable sense of guilt. 

A trip to LikeA produced these grungy jeans, which really won Adam over. They have an interesting colouration at the top that's seldom seen in SL. Using it here makes the jeans more unique, and a worthy addition to your wardrobe even if you already own your fair share of denim. The cuffs have a good slouch to them and are scripted for easy resizing. The only downside with that is the cuffs are no-modify so tinting is impossible. With most standard sky settings they render fine, but unusual lighting may give a sharper contrast. 

The neckchain is also from Grasp and shows the same level of care and thought as the jacket. Because the tags are done in the same style as the jacket buttons, there's a certain amount of harmony in this outfit's design, which rounds the whole thing off nicely.

Belleza came up trumps with this skin. I can't resist the handsome smile, the perfectly hewn body, and that fine sprinkling of stubble that somehow jellifies my feeble female form. Rest assured that my love of the Belleza's ladies lines is completely irrelevant here. Notice how I didn't even mention the fact that I can shop in the opposite room while my better half peruses the latest in manly tans? I hope you noticed. I wouldn't want you to have me down as a self-centred skinaholic.

Moving swiftly on to the finale, this hair is another great style by MADesign. The sculpts give their dos an edge and charm that's easy to appreciate, proving to the sceptics that while there is generally a lot less choice in men's hair on the grid, there are some fantastic designers out there doing it for the boys.

Outfit:

Jacket: Grasp, Leather Biker Jacket - Brown (Mens)
Tshirt: Lookr, iSpy - White (M)
Trousers: LikeA : DP#01 - Black
Jewellery: Grasp, Dog Tag (Mens)
Shoes: Shiny Things, Old Boots - Hard Black

Body:

Hair: MADesigns, Jeremy - DB II
Eyes: MADesigns, Eyes Exposed - Love
Skin: Belleza, Ewan - Med 7
Pose: Cns Poses, Male Model s1 - Standing 001b