Hair Fair Designers — Kavar Cleanslate

Kavar Clearnslate - self portrait 2015

Kavar Clearnslate – self portrait 2015

Kavar Cleanslate is the highly popular and much-loved stylist behind the Exile brand. While he turns his hand to every style from short cuts to romantic updos, he is best known for his lovely long flowing styles and he innovations in texturing, tinting and streaking hair with HUDS that allow wearers to go wild with color.

 

 

Exile Siren's Call_001

Exile Siren’s Call can be found at Hair Fair. The lingerie is from Luxuria.

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Exile In the Shade

It’s Only Fashion: What’s the craziest thing you ever did in Second Life®? Most exciting? Silliest? Is there a story you can share that captures your Second Life experience?

Kavar Clearslate: I think the silliest was a few years ago (after a Hair Fair set up in fact) I set up this race track with friends in the sky with buildings that had those break apart scripts in them and we spend 2 hours wrecking the place with cars and prims flying everywhere, it was a blast.

IOF: What drew you to designing hair? When did you start? What are some of the changes that were most significant for you?

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Exile Walking On Sunshine

KC: I made hair for The Sims® for two years and years ago, So when I came to SL® the first time I was really interested in how hair worked here. It was prim hair and I remember the first time I tried to make prim hair I was in a sandbox, I barely knew how to play, and the sandbox had a return time set so I kept having to re-rez the pieces because I thought that’s just how all places in SL were.

The change that I think was the most exciting was mesh, it just opened so many doors style wise and people are still coming up with great new ideas to implement with it. Since mesh I think being more adventurous with styles is more fun and less frustrating then ever before.

IOF: How did you choose your store name? Does it have a special meaning for you? If your stores is named after yourself, how did you go about choosing your avatar name?

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Exile Future Outcasts

KC: Exile kind of described how I felt when I first moved to New Zealand…haha. it was a culture shock and It took me a while to get the hang of it being from a small rural place in the states. The word exile has a negative vibe usually, but feeling exiled and rising up always made me think the term could stand for having resolve too. Of course it just sounded cool to me at the time and was easy to remember I thought as well…haha.

As for Kavar I heard it on a TV show and it;s just been something that stuck with me, I liked the idea of something different then just my boring RL name and I had used it when I made things for The Sims so its just been a part of me for a while now.

IOF: What is the most challenging part of being a creator in Second Life? What is most rewarding?

KC: Challenging is that people can be cruel, that is true in any sort of creation though in any life. Anonymity makes this worse in Second Life and the Internet in general, but the rewards far outweigh that if you stick with it, I think. Getting a stray message from someone who is excited to have found your store for the first time still makes me blush and feel amazingly lucky to have gotten this far and been around this long.

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Exile Voltage. It comes with a hairbase, but since I am wearing the Lelutka mesh head, I used the Lelutka Karin HUD’s airbase applicator.

IOF: Where do you get inspiration for your designs? What is your process like?

KC: I look around for pictures of things I like on various sites, people send me ideas. I often sort of have a based idea for what I want and then work off that playing with different things and changing things here and there. I envy people who can take a photo and make that hair just as it is. I always end up getting carried away with what it might look like this way or that way and by the time it’s done;  I think well it doesn’t really look much like the picture at all…lol. Every once in a while I will get it right. A lot of them are just me playing in zbrush with no real aim at first, I’m embarrassed to say (very professional…lol.) I enjoy trying new things, and I have more failures in my work drive then I care to think about. but I often learn something from them as well so it all helps.

IOF: What sets your hair styles apart from other hair designers, in your opinion? What is your style or aesthetic?

KC: I’m not really sure, all I really actively try to do is keep evolving, keep trying to get better. I feel like there’s always something to learn. A new or better way I haven’t tried might be out there. As for aesthetic I really like just a bit of messiness in a lot of my styles, something to make them feel organic, I try for that a lot and sometimes it works and sometimes not.

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Exile Voltage with Bliensen & MaiTai jewelry


IOF: How has your second life changed your first life?

KC: Second life has altered my first life completely in many ways. I get to do something I really love for work. That is amazing to me and I feel so lucky to have that chance. And exile is something I am proud of, I am not the biggest or the best but I am still here and I’m thankful to the people who support me and the things I make. Also over the years I have met some amazing people here , some I still talk to everyday and some who have moved on, but they have all added something special to my life.

IOF: Is there anything else you would like to share with readers?

KC: Just a thank you to everyone reading, and thank you, Cajsa, for asking me to take part. Also, for any of you out there who want to be creators and just haven’t quite got up the nerve to take the plunge, do it! There will never be “too many” hair choices, or clothing options or home and garden things, etc., out there. Learning and creating here can be so rewarding on so many different levels. Also if you become the next big thing after reading this I demand early access to your releases so I can buy them first 😛 hah.

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Exile In the Shade ponytail with Glam Affair’s Arctic skin and the Glam Affair Avril applier for Lelutka Mesh Heads. The nails are one of the built-in nail colors with the Maitreya body.

IOF: What does Hair Fair mean to you?

KC: Hair fair is the biggest event of the year to me, its like, the Olympics for hair makers haha. Every year I spend the months before working on things, wondering if any of it is really good enough because the event is everything to me and I think about it all year long. I have a lot of memories tied to it and I don’ think my brand would be the same without it. Something about it makes you strive to outdo yourself. Older brands like mine can remind people we are still here and still trying to do our best to bring them something new and unique. Newer brands can be found and celebrated. It’s a great event that helps a wonderful organization every year, Wigs for Kids. The team behind it for the last few years, Sasy Scarborough, Whimsy Winx and Mel Vanbeeck do a great job. It gets better with each year and being a part of it is always exciting, I hope everyone who attends enjoys it and finds something they love.

Store info at Blogging Second Life
****SHOPPING LIST******
Poses: oOo Studio
HUDS: AnyPose Expression HUD
Skin: Glam Affair Arctic
Mesh Attachments: .LeLutka.Mesh Head-KARIN v1.1
Maitreya Mesh Body – Feet V3.4
Maitreya Mesh Body – Hand L V3.4
Maitreya Mesh Body – Hand R V3.4
Maitreya Mesh Body – Lara V3.4
Appliers: Glam Affair ( Lelutka Heads ) Avril Applier ( Artic )
Maitreya Nails from Lara HUD
Eyes: Aphotic Gloom – Aquilius Eyes (Hazel)Small
Hair: Exile for Hair Fair
Clothing: {Luxuria} Sakura – Body Applier *pink*
Jewelry: Bliensen + MaiTai – Tomorrow’s Cherries
Texture on a Prim – TRU TEXtures

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One thought on “Hair Fair Designers — Kavar Cleanslate

  1. Sasy Scarborough

    OOOOOOOOOOO Olympics that is an awesome thought, but in our Olympics you all get Gold medals, you are so wonderful Kavar, and I remember your first Hair Fair in 2008 and our first chat ever, it was great, and knowing you since and having our friendship makes me so happy ♥

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