Tag Archives: Aphotic Gloom

Hair Fair Designers — Leyla Flux

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the smell of you

Self Portrait of Leyla Flux 2015

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KoKoLoReS Skyler for Hair Fair 2015

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? 

Leyla Flux: Actually, I don’t think I ever did something really crazy in SL. I came here in 2009 for the premiere of my Machinima movie “Saving Grace” at the Machiniplex theatre, which was run by Sol Bartz, better known as Phil Overman Rice in the machinima world. My film was not a Second Life movie but made using the program Moviestorm and footage taken in the game X³ Terran Conflict, and I was asked to do an interview with Overman and the interested viewers at the venue. That was in February 2009. So I stood in front of the audience, knowing next to nothing about SL, in my noobie avatar. It was fun, and frightening at the same time!

Later that year, my film was shown at the Machinima Expo, by then I was already infected with the SL bug and looked much more stylish than in February. If you’re interested, you can watch “Saving Grace” on Vimeo, I’m still very proud of it and sometimes sad about moving away from making machinima, but it just happened. And yes, that time might have been the craziest I had in SL!

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KoKoLoReS Silence with Glam Affair Skin, Adam & Eve Makeup, Zaara Earrings.

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

LF: Once I found my feet in SL (with the help of Riott Viking and Lainy Voom, both machinimators and creators), I knew I wanted to make things. I started out with system layer clothes, built prim houses. Riott (she did skins) and I had a shop together, and it was going nicely. Then mesh came, everything changed, and I realised that if I wanted to create still, I needed to learn mesh. I admit I was pretty daunted by the idea (I never learned making my own sculpties), so Riott and I decided to give up our store. For a time, my blog was my only creative outlet, then I started to itch for doing something creative again and learned making poses, and finally dabbled in blender. I did tons of Youtube tutorials (thank you, Youtube!) and as I’ve always loved hair, I pretty soon was sure that I wanted to make hair. Cyclic Gearz helped me a lot – if you need blender lessons, she’s great! And around April 2014, I released my first hair.

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KoKoLoReS Lilibeth

IOF: How did you choose your store name? Does it have a special meaning for you?

LF: I’ve always loved the word “Kokolores”. To me, it’s nonsense in a positve sense, fun, light, entertaining, creative, colourful.

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

LF: I strive to get better with everything I do, and I’m a perfectionist. Sometimes the real challenge is to let something go! And a big challenge also is that you’re not only a creator, but your own marketing force, too. So much depends on how you market your stuff. A picture can make or break an item. Packaging, making colour huds, doing marketplace all takes up so much time, time I’d rather spend making more hair!
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Hair Fair Designers — Thora Charron

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Thora's New Face (unedited)

Thora Charron, April 2015

If you have ever wanted to discover what it feels like to be trampled by a herd of bison, just teleport to Lelutka after the group received a notice of a new hair release by Thora Charron. It is not for the faint of heart.

Why such excitement? I think there are a few reasons. For a redhead like me who wants to avoid the fiery and brassy reds, her hair textures are a wonder.  I am surely not alone. Her releases often reflect a theme, an organizing inspiration so there is always some curiosity about what new thing she has done. She innovates. While fades and ombres have spread like wildfire, I remember that they did not exist “back in the day” and the frenzy when she released her first hair with roots. There is thoughtfulness behind her releases that inspires curiosity, anticipation, excitement and stampedes.

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Lelutka Dakota hair with Coco Sheer Panel top and skirt and Essenz shoes.

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?

Thora Charron: Honestly, I really can’t remember anything that crazy. I remember helping tweak Minnu’s shape back in 2007 in some strange online game having no idea what Second Life was.

Once I was in-world, there were some very bad IM pickup lines, from back in my SL clubbing days. Some really unfortunate nude teleports to public places which tend to happen more often then one would think. OH… one really unfortunate typo during a photo shoot which I really am not going to reveal because it is super embarrassing.

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Hair Fair Designers — Anya Ohmai

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Anya Ohmai is one of the most beloved creators in Second Life® for very good reasons. All of her creations are full of joy, her playful wit and quirky humor part of their DNA. Despite her unquestionable talent, she remains humble about her skills, seeing herself as a perpetual learner always striving to do better. She is also a person of character whose kindness goes to the marrow. She does not produce a lot of hair; but every year at Hair Fair, there is a crowd of eager fashionistas waiting to see what flight of fancy she has come up with this time.

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Ballerina Solitude by Anya Ohmai

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Ohmai’s personal style is very soft and feminine, youthful and sweet. The humorous motifs in her creations lead people to adopt a more kawaii sort of style with her hair. I thought it would be a fun challenge to go in the opposite direction, showing that her hair works just as well for high fashion styles. You will have to decide if I succeeded.

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?
Anya Ohmai: The most exciting thing that has happened to me in Second Life was actually one of the first few weeks I joined the grid. I was such an avid explorer back then because I was a blogger, so I made it a point to go to many different sims. I came across this little Japanese cafe owned by Amika Jewell and she was there to greet me as a newbie in Second Life. She asked me what I had wanted to do in Second Life and I told her I wanted to be a creator. Mind you this was an avatar that was a few weeks old, so Amika most likely thought I was completely insane. She did however give me some tips on how to do that and said if I ever made a store, maybe someday we’ll meet again.
Flashback to a year later, I actually met Amika at another Second Life sim and she asked if I had remembered her from back then. She proceeded to tell me how proud she was to see that I finally did make my Second Life wishes come true and that she owned so many of my creations. We proceeded to befriend each other and talk occasionally. I think that was exciting because no one else was too friendly with me when I started out, and for someone to remember me even though its been so long was just a lovely experience!
I think that captures the essence of Second Life’s warmth very well, there is a very human quality to it that you don’t find in many other games. I know that little gesture of kindness she showed me was probably not a big deal, but it did help solidify my love for Second Life.
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!Ohmai Salon Uni. You can change the crown to a band with the accessories HUD.

IOF: What drew you to designing hair? When did you start? What are some of the changes that were most significant for you?
AO: I actually started out thinking I wanted to be a Hair creator. Before Second Life I sold Ball Jointed Doll wigs in real life, so that background actually made me wanna do it in Second Life too. I started with a small store in creators pavilion back in 2009, with 2 hairstyles and a random array of clothes. I stopped doing hair after because I wasn’t very proud of the way I did hair. When I heard about Hair Fair, I thought it’d be awesome if I created hairs once a year for it – just to challenge myself and also try to fulfil the ‘want’ to make hair. Sasy was kind enough to offer me a position in Hair Fair even when i was new and that was an awesome opportunity!
The biggest change from the first time I made hair to the way I do it now would probably be the thought process that goes into it. Hair making works very differently from other creations. You start with a texture that you work around in, whereas other items start with model ling before you bake and texture. Thats a huge struggle in the beginning to switch my brain gears to operate that way. My experience in working with all other types of mesh creation has helped me understand and figure out that process more. I think the work I do for Hair now is more deliberate than it used to be – in the past i’d lay out a bunch of strands and hope it works somehow, now I actually visualize the end product before going into it.
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!Ohmai Salon Tako comes in three pieces, the pony tail, an additional cluster of curls to augment the pony and the tentacles. Each comes with a rigged and unrigged version.

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Hair Fair Designers — Kavar Cleanslate

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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.

 

 

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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.
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Hair Fair Designers — Tabata Jewell

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Tabata

Tabata Jewell Self-portrait 2015

Tabata Jewell is the force behind the iconic hairstyles at Vanity Hair. Her hair creations are instantly recognizable as she takes a highly individual approach, creating stylized and abstract hair styles that are perfect for high fashion looks.

I love realistic hair styles for everyday wear but one of the reasons that Vanity Hair is on my personal list of favorite hair stores is that she goes in the opposite direction, emphasizing form and innovation over realism. For formal wear, haute style looks and high fashion, that abstraction can be perfect.

 

 

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Vanity Hair Jumper at Hair Fair 2015

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? 

Tabata Jewell: Hello Cajsa!! If I am completely honest with you, it hasn’t been lots of craziness in my SLin the past years. But my beginnings sure were 😊.

When I started in SL, first thing I did was going to a dance club, I think everybody has done so, it is the fastest way to socialize. I can’t recall the name of the club something like breeze, anyway it was a jazzy music dance club. Everyone was wearing gowns and tuxedos, and there I was with my default avi. When I understood than in order to look half decent I need lindens I went to all the clubs looking for a job. And I finally got hired at one. As a stripper 😊. The name of the club was Moonlight , I earned my first lindens there. Had lots of fun, but back then there was no voice so we had to emote everything. I remember sweating at my computer cause I could not emote and take clothes at the same time. Then the club closed. I was really sad. But I decided I wanted to be a geisha and I enter in the Blue Lotus okiya, was there for 2 years and became a senior maiko. In the mean time I started modeling workshops at Modavia and combines both worlds. I finally decided to go for fashion by the hand of Modavia. Continue reading →

Siren Song

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This is the one song everyone
would like to learn: the song
that is irresistible:
the song that forces men
to leap overboard in squadrons
even though they see the beached skulls

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Hair Fair Profiles: Oblivion by Albakruna

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This is the first in a series of profiles of some of the designers at Hair Fair 2015. Albakruna designs fantasy and role play hair, with a strong emphasis on historically accurate hair designs. Her store is named Oblivion.

Hair Designer Albakruna – photo by Albakruna, used with permission.

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?

Albakruna: Actually I consider every day of my days in Second Life the craziest, silliest, funniest ever because let’s face it, even just hovering over a cloud in the sky while building is not that usual. What chained me to this world and still keep me thrilled about is the fact you virtually can do whatever as the imagination is the only limit and, we know, imagination has no limits 🙂
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Omni-Blogging: MSO, Hair Fair, Collabor88 & a Tinting Tutorial

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Baiastice released a gorgeous dress for this underwater-themed Collabor88. I will confess I was nervous about this month’s theme, but as usual, the collaborators of Collabor88 were not too literal and came through with flying colors – mostly blues. Continue reading →

AZUL has a great free gift for SOU Anniversary

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I like this casual summer dress from AZUL as a gift for the Sou by Creation.jp Anniversary. It’s loose and casual and just right for this hot summer heat wave that is sucking the energy out of me.

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I made a trip to LEA6 (Humanoid) to look around and found all sorts of fun to get up to.

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My Slink Obsession Makes Layering Easy

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I picked up this gorgeous jacket at Vintage and Cool – a vintage clothing fair held last year. I loved the beautiful lace and leather jacket and the lovely details, but had not found the opportunity to wear it – but when I put together this outfit focusing on some of the wonderful finds at My Slink Obsession, I remembered it and pulled it out of the closet. The lovely nail polish is from Stellar at My Slink Obsession.
150704_007The outfit really begins with the Somnia Cranial Trim top which was released today at My Slink Obsession. As with everything made by Sanura Snowplow, the quality is exquisite. The hand drawn textures in the bodice are beautiful and, by the way, are the reason I chose the jacket. The last picture in this post has a close up that lets you see how well the straps on the shoulders are done. That is where you can see the difference between the good and the excellent. Somnia is excellent. The only reason I do not wear it more often is she works with a much softer color palette than what I gravitate towards – for me, I generally go for prints and strong, bright, saturated colors. But coral? Well, coral is one of my favorite colors and is one of the universal colors that look good with every skin type.

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I shot the pictures outside ISON. I love this sim so much.
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