Last Friday, Reek released a bunch of new beachwear options, and yay it’s love!  We always need new cute boardshorts and bikini tops to match, and if there’s a third option in cute bikini bottoms, so much the better.

There are several different styles of tops, including floral, tops with a pretty bird on one boob and then just gradiant solid colours.  They can all be mixed and matched with the boardshorts, and then if you like, there are solidly coloured bikini bottoms, with very cute sculpted ties on each side.  This is a can’t-miss for the summer months coming upon us (sorry, Southern Hemisphere).

In keeping with the Summer Is Upon Us theme, Glitterati has released some new pose sets, including this set with wearable Beach Balls.  With poses ranging from simply holding the beach balls to laying on them, it’s a fantastic prop set for the season.

P.S. I know it’s only April, but it’s damn sunny where I live!

Visit Reek’s mainstore

Visit Glitterati’s mainstore

Credits:

1st Photo: Hair – Fri.day Carrie in Timid Brown \ Skin – Belleza Elle 04 in Pale \ Earrings – Mandala Takayama in Turquoise \ Pose – Long Awkward Pose (Sweetheart Pose Set).

2nd Photo: Hair – Maitreya Green in Coffee \ Skin – Belleza Elle 04 in Dark Mocha \ Sandals – Surf Co. Freedom Flops in Black.

Belleza has recently released Elle, the third skin in what I like to think is a group of sisters.  Elle seems to be the middle sister, not quite as sophisticated as her big sister Jesse, and not quite as innocent as her younger sister Alyson.

Elle also offers more skintones than before, with two tones more than the last release, Alyson, and five more tones than what was offered with Jesse.  A new Fair tone has been added, which is more pale than Pale, and a new Mocha tone, shown above.

Also, I want to show off the new “Katey-kini”, Nayar’s latest release named after his partner, and it’s a super-cute bikini.  Yes, there are minor seam issues but they’re not generally too noticeable with your average AO.  I think the good points of the bikini far outweighs the seam issues, and the huge back bow is the best part.  Except maybe the halter top that creates killer cleavage, even if your boobs are tiny!

Worn:

Hair – Truth Sehra in Cocoa \ Skin – Belleza Elle 3 in Mocha \ Bikini – Nayar Katey-Kini in Tropical \ Bracelet – Muse Kailena in Ivory/Amber \ Pose – Long Awkward Pose.

Designer Tricky Boucher is a pretty generous guy, always offering group gifts to his subscribers.  I need to keep remembering that, because for some reason I keep leaving the update group when I need room (though once it was completely by accident), and I absolutely hate paying the L$250 group joining fee more than once.  I think I’ve paid the Belleza one three times now, and I’m not ever leaving again!

I also believe it’s a great way for all of your subscribers to try on all the skintones and check out the body without having to venture down to the store to pick up demos.  Don’t get me wrong, trying on demos to look at all the makeups is essential for me, but I like to have a starting off point too, to decide which tone’s makeups I want to see.  I am wearing the group gift in the Medium tone above.

The Nayar Katey-kini comes in nine prints/colours, five of which are sparkly for those who like to shine.

Worn:

Hair – Maitreya Green 2 in Chocolate \ Skin – Belleza Elle Group Gift in Medium \ Bikini – Nayar Katey-Kini in Blue Plaid \ Jewelry – Sigma Opus in Sea \ Pose – Long Awkward Pose.

Look at this bow?  Isn’t it gorgeous?!

The back of the Elle skin is no less impressive the front, either.  From the random mole placement on the right shoulder blade, to the truly rockin’ ass shading, this is a body you’d not only be unreserved about showing off, but you might even look for opportunities to do so!

Worn:

Hair – Truth Nicky in Swedish \ Skin – Belleza Elle in Pale \ Bikini – Nayar Katey-Kini in Bumblebee \ Pose – Long Awkward Pose.

Purchasing Options:

I know that some have expressed disappointment that you can’t get the multiple brow options in each skin purchase, but for the most part, I think it’s a fairly good way to do it.  Most often, people do not change their hair colour in SL, or at least not their hair colour family (like if you’re a brunette, you’re usually always a brunette, even if the actual shade changes sometimes).   So having the skins and skintones separated by brow colour is pretty smart.  Obviously, a dark mocha skin will not look good with blond brows, so that is not on offer if you want blond eyebrows.

Blond Eyebrows:

Skintones – Fair (new tone), Pale, Sunkissed, Medium, Tan.

Makeups – 12

Prices – L$1200 per skin, L$2500 per line of four, L$5000 for all makeups.

Brown Eyebrows:

Skintones – Fair, Pale, Sunkissed, Medium, Tan, Deep Tan.

Makeups – 12

Prices – L$1200 per skin, L$2500 per line of four, L$5000 for all makeups.

Dark Eyebrows:

Skintones – Fair, Pale, Sunkissed, Medium, Tan, Deep Tan, Mocha

Makeups – 20

Prices – L$1200 per skin, L$2500 per line of four, L$8000 for all makeups (except Fair has 12 makeups, and costs L$5000 for all).

Teleport to Belleza

Teleport to Nayar

But when I saw today the new exclusive Pose Sets for men and women, I think that was the most excited I’ve been!  I’m a sucker for exclusive stuff.  I still love my RFL 2008 poses from LAP and use them all the time, and I would cut off my prim feet before I’d give up the Maitreya special edition shoes I’ve managed to snag.

These are poses representative of the 104 pose creators at the fair, and I liked virtually every one of the thirty-six! poses included. But I’m not going to bore you all with the photos of every one of them, especially since you can see the poster here (and buy it before it disappears!)

From left to right, we have Baffle, ComPOSEure & Don’t Freak Out.  The casual poses from Baffle & ComPOSEure are definitely appropriate for my casual outfit, which I haven’t taken off now for nearly 3 days!

Juxtapose made the pose on the left, which I love (and I’ll have to go check out the rest of the store now, since I don’t recall seeing it at the fair during one of my *many* visits), Long Awkward Pose made the centre pose and Miamai’s to credit for the pose on the right.

On the left is a pose from Oh My Stars, the centre pose is from Sassafras and the pose on the right is from Slash Me Poses, which is a store name I love so hard I can’t even describe it.

And for my final pose montage, I’ve showcased poses from (L-R) doll, Storin & aDorkable Poses.

It’s worth mentioning that every Linden raised from the sale of this exclusive pose set goes directly to the fair’s chosen charity, Motivation, which helps those with mobility problems in low-income countries.  It’s L$500 well worth spending.

Make sure you check out XStreet to buy these poses before they’re gone and unavailable!

Outfit Worn:

Hair – Truth Hannah in Espresso \ Skin – Belleza Elle Dark Mocha 2 \ Top – Fri.day Traveler’s Tank in Leaf \ Pants – Miel Mo Linen Pants in Driftwood \ Shoes – Surf Co Freedom Flops in Dark Brown \ Jewelry – Mandala Soul Bracelet & Necklace.

Hopscotch is a new store (to me, in any case) and they’re full of promise.  There are lots of pose sets to choose from, and the poses are really cute.  I do have to say that I’m not a big fan of the transitions between poses, and I talked with creator Chandni Khondji quite a bit about them this evening.  She is a fan of the poses just getting from one to the next, as fast as possible.  I like smooth transitions so it’s not so jarring to my (perhaps sensitive) eye, but either way you prefer, you can’t deny the cuteness!  These poses are all a part of the Attitude set, which you can get at the Pose Fair until the 16th, so if you haven’t been yet, get your butt down there!

Hopscotch at the Pose Fair

Hopscotch Main Store

I’m also excited about my clothes, most of which are part of Fri.day’s last two releases.  The shoes are some of my recent favourites from any store in the past while.  I absolutely love the strap below the show at the heel.  I have no idea what the technical term might be, but strappy thing works for me.  They’re called Dream Booties, but they seem more pump-y to me.  I guess they do come very high on the top of the foot though.  Tough call.  The skirt is the new checked Vacation Mini, an easy-to-fit skirt with several colour options.  I absolutely adore the Dream Catcher bag, which comes in both shoulder and hand-held posed options, and an unposed version too!  I love that they always include so many options for the things they create, it’s one of those little things others might overlook, but makes them the go-to for so much in my inventory.

Fri.day Main Store

Outfit Worn:

Hair – Truth Grace in Espresso \ Skin – Belleza Elle 0 in Dark Mocha \ Shirt – Fri.day Ruched Buttondown in Black \ Skirt – Fri.day Vacation Mini in Charcoal \ Tights – Fri.day Opaque Stockings in Black \ Shoes – Fri.day Dream Booties in Pink \ Bag – Dream Catcher Bag in Pink \ Scarf – Decoy – Mraz Scarf in Raspberry.

Amacci’s poses are yet another new-to-me store at the Pose Fair, though the store itself is not new, just the poses part.  I admit, I live in a cave.  I suck.  These poses are part of the new release of fashion poses, Set 7, a good basic set of twelve poses with smooth transitioning.  I think they look more attitude-y than the Attitude poses from Hopscotch though!

Amacci at the Pose Fair

Amacci Main Store

Fri.day also released this very cute Reverie dress, available in eight great colours.  Ties are cuter on girls than they are on boys, I have to say.  And if you like, you can wear the dress without the top, so it’s just your basic little black dress.  I’m your hot working girl in this outfit, no hooker reference intended.

Outfit Worn:

Hair – Fri.day Deena in Cranky Brown \ Skin – Belleza Elle 0 in Dark Mocha \ Dress – Friday Reverie Dress in White \ Shoes – Fri.day Dream Booties in Black.

Don’t Freak Out is an awesome name for a store!  These poses are from the Full of Secrets series, and I like how they are a bit freer with the arms.  I sometimes grow weary of either the legs or the arms being the focus of a specific pose, but hardly ever both, and these work well with my avatar which is also a huge bonus.  The switching between poses was smooth too, a requirement for poses I use.

Visit Don’t Freak Out at the Pose Fair

Also Worn:

Hair – Truth Elysium in Chestnut \ Skin – Laqroki Elena 04 in Fair \ Dress – Nyte’N'Day Prost in Black \ Shoes – Maitreya Shanti in Black \ Jewelry – Sigma Lumina in Silver.

Everglow has tons of poses tailored for modeling, and these are but just a few.  I’d never heard of this store before the fair, but I’m looking forward to seeing what else comes out of that store.  I like the placement of the legs a lot, kinda cute and awkward and splayed.

Visit Everglow at the Pose Fair

Also Worn:

Hair – Truth Bailey in Chestnut (I think) \ Skin – Laqroki Elena 02 in Fair \ Dress/Leggings – Elymode Bandwagon in Red \ Shoes – Maitreya Esprit in Black \ Jewelry – Sigma Opus set in Charcoal.

Grazia Horwitz is premiering her second (that I know of) pose store in the fair, called Geez.  I used to buy some of her poses when she had Grapevine at Rue d’Antibes, but then it sort of disappeared.  Luckily, you can buy all of those old Grapevine poses at the fair for L$350, over 50 of them, and check out her new poses while you’re at it.  She has several mini-sets of poses available, mostly for the girls but one for the boys too.  These are my favourites, but from the various sets on offer.  I always like a good ass shot!

Visit Geez at the Pose Fair

Also Worn:

Hair – Truth Audrey in Almond \ Skin – Belleza Alyson in Pale \ Dress – Decoy Hot Addiction \ Shoes – Maitreya IXkin in Champagne \ Bracelets – Zaara

MAD Designs mostly has stuff for boys, but for the pose fair they’ve come out with a modeling set for the girls too.  They’re fairly basic but just fine for blogging, with poses that work to show off your clothes to their best advantage.

Visit MAD Designs at the Pose Fair

Also Worn:

Hair – Fri.day Joanna 2 in Passionate Red \ Skin – Tuli Eva in Tone 3 \ Dress – Kyoot Celebrity Harness Dress \ Shoes – Maitreya Esprit in Nude \ Jewelry – U&R Dogs Rigoletto bracelet, Isolde ring.

P.S.  Makenzie, I totally stole your photo labeling idea.  Thank you.

The latest release is Emma’s way of saying she’s sick to death of winter, and bring on the summer already!  I can’t blame her really, though my winter on the west coast has been far better than what I’ve heard it’s like on the east coast.

My favourite of the bunch is the mid-thigh length jeans Shack jeans shorts with rolled up cuffs and in eight incredible denim washes.  These are so worn in and comfy looking, exactly what you’d want to wear over your brand new Moana Surf Co. bikini when you’re at the beach.  They are cut *very* low in the back, so if you are a fan of the hint of plumber crack, these are for you!

The shoes I’m wearing are the excellent Boardwalk shoes, also from Surf Co.  All these shoes coming out, I’m loving like a two dollar shoe whore!

Photo Credits: Hair – (L) Carrie in Jealous Red, (C) Maitreya Malou in Cocoa, (R) Truth Peta in Chocolate \ Skin – (L) Dutch Touch Roos in Cotton, (C) Dutch Touch Amber in Ebony, (R) Dutch Touch MaAn in Cocoa \ Bikinis – Surf Co Moana Bikinis \ Shorts - Surf Co Shack Shorts \ Shoes – Surf Co Boardwalk shoes \ Purse – YS&YS Espalmador Bag in Pink \ Jewelry – Mandala PearlRain in White.

Some of my other favourite releases, though it came out while I was on sabbatical from SL last year.  I’m a little bit Country is the name of this top, and it goes oh-so-perfectly with the Straw Cowboy Hat, my favourite feature of which is how it comes in both a regular shade and the faded version of that shade.  And the hat comes with a wheat shaft to chew on!

Photo Credits: Skin – Belleza Alyson in Pale \ Hair – (L) Truth Candice in Cocoa,  (R) Fri.day Jennifer 3 in Timid Brown \ Top – Surf Co I’m A Little Bit Country \ Jeans – Surf Co Belmar \ Shorts – Surf Co Shack Shorts \ Boots – J’s Western Boots \ Poses – Long Awkward Pose.

Finally, at my friend Bethy’s house lounging (cuz I’m too lazy to rez anything at my house) and reading a book, I slip into my comfy Courtyard slippers and Elma sweatpants.  I love comfy casual clothes in SL, and more often than not when I’m madly scrambling for something, anything, to wear cuz I don’t want to be naked, it’s these or the yummy yoga pants, both from Surf Co.

Photo credits: Furniture – The Loft \ Skin – Dutch Touch Roos City in Caramel \ Hair – Truth Audrey in Cocoa \ Shirt – Surf Co Rendezvous V-Neck in Light Grey \ Pants – Surf Co Elma in Dark Grey \ Slippers – Surf Co Courtyard Slippers in Red.

Check the SLURL’s page for in-world shopping locations!

Look at this face!  She’s so gorgeous and innocently sweet, though maybe she’s just luring you in with a false sense of security.  Either way, you fall in love with her smattering of freckles and softly kissable lips.  Well, I did anyway.

Read more under the cut.

The body is fantastic, and the skintone between Jesse and Alyson has changed slightly, but not in a bad way.  The tummy has a bit more definition, but the super cute bellybutton is the same.  Hey, when something works, you work it hard right?  The shading and texturing is fantastic, and the seams are really great as well.

Rather than just the two skintones that Jesse came in, Alyson comes in five, ranging from pale to dark tan.  There are sixteen different makeups, all applied to each skintone.  The makeups are gorgeous and perfectly executed.  There’s something for everyone, whether you like to be sexy and smokin’ in smoky eyes and red lips, or natural and sweet in barely any makeup at all.

Each skin comes with a few options, like with a hairbase or without, and with a cleavage enhanced skin or without.  I really like the skins that come with the cleavage option right in the skin, though I very rarely choose that option.

Each skin is L$1200, or you can buy a line of four for L$2500, which is just a little under 50% off single purchases!  And finally, the fatpack of all sixteen is only $7000, a huge bargain.  If you’d like to see a sample of the rest of the skintones, you can check my flickr here.

Teleport to Belleza!

I have never made a secret of how much I really love the system skirt.  It is so beautiful when done well, and incredibly sexy.  To me it is, anyhow.  Ella is a casual day dress with a plunging V neckline and a wide wrap waist.  It comes in several colours in a floral print, and the little cap sleeves finish it off nicely.  These dresses are L$250 each.

Read more below the cut!

Oh My God I love this dress!  This reminds me so much of something Joan would wear on Mad Men.  Did I mention yet how much I love that show?  Yeah.  The bow and sash can be worn on the front or back and the contrasting colours work very well together.  The texturing is sublime, too.  If you love this as much as I do, you’ll want to pick them up at L$250 each.

I am a huge fan of the jaunty little hat that comes with this Fraxinus dress, it’s so freakin’ cute!  With the sweetheart neckline and flared skirt, this dress is perfect for a party.  The laced back adds interest to the deceivingly simple frock too.  This dress is L$350 each.

And finally, the dress that started off my spree at Ingenue this time, Japonica.  I don’t even remember where I first saw it or how I became aware of it, but wow is it gorgeous.  The huge flower at the waist reminds me of something Carrie Bradshaw would wear, except this is less giant and more classy.  Each colour the dress comes in has a contrasting flower, but I think this one is my favourite.

Now, I bought a bunch more of Ingenue’s outfits, and this post could go on for about 4 more photos, but I don’t want to bore you all with how much I love this store.   So instead, just go down to Ingenue and take a look for yourself!

Credits:

All hair by Truth and Friday \ Skin by Belleza (Allyson preview – when is this coming out already?!) \ Shoes by Maitreya and Ingenue (read more about the Ingenue pumps in my post tomorrow over on On Your Toes).

Phoenix Rising has some really gorgeous gowns, and I can’t believe I hadn’t ever heard of them until a couple of months ago.  I completely missed out on these beautiful dresses when they were released, but I’m definitely caught up now!  Natasja’s Seduction is lovely gown with a huge black skirt, and the bodice comes in several colours.  Now, while I do work for Phoenix Rising, I wouldn’t blog anything or work anywhere I didn’t love.  And the key necklace comes with the dress.  And I love key necklaces.

I know I’ve blogged the Icing Joli Bouquet dress before because I absolutely adore it.  I own every colour now, and I wish there were more!  I love the train especially, though if you’re not a fan of trains, it comes with a skirt without the train.  The roses at the waist are a perfect embellishment as well.

I recently bought the Ingenue Harlow dress for a different blog post, but I had to pull it from that one to instead blog it for my top five picks.  It’s different, bold and infinitely gorgeous.  I need to go back and get the rest of the colours now.  I wasn’t sure how much I loved it when I saw it and only got the one colour!

I used to work for Blaze as a greeter.  In fact, it was the first job I ever had in SL, and I got it about a month after I rezzed.  It saved me from having to do any of the standard things some people do to make money, like stripping or working in a hideous club.  I’m really not a big fan of clubs in SL.  The only one I ever liked was Seven Ultra Lounge.  Anyhow….the Gem gown is my all-time favourite one.  Look how sexy it is from the front and the back!  Blaze is a master at gowns, and I miss him being around and releasing more pretty stuff!

Now, I know that was my top five, but I couldn’t do a gowns post and not mention Last Call.  I know Last Call is gone, and Ginny too (may he rest in peace), but there was a reason Last Call went out on top.  The gorgeous texturing and details, the prim work…all spectacular.  I know a lot of people have maybe gotten rid of their Last Call items, but those people are nuts.  Or maybe I’m a packrat.  Whatever.  I will never get rid of any of it, never!

Well, it took me more than a week.  It may have taken me more than two weeks.  But my top five in seven different categories series is finally finished yay!  Now I just have to finish my series on shoes over on On Your Toes, and then I won’t feel like such a blogging slacker.

It was incredibly hard to pick out five, but then I remembered:  I’m not picking out the five “best” of anything – I’m picking out my personal top five favourites.  They may not be the best in any category, but they look good on me and I like them, so there you go.  Your mileage may vary.  If I was willing to bend my own rules though, I’m sure there’d be five more skins in this blogpost.  But instead, honourable mentions will go to: Aden’s Gen5, which tbh I have no idea if it has a real name but it’s really pretty, Tuli’s Bella skin, Cake‘s Bella skin, L.Fauna‘s new skin line Lapine, Rockberry‘s Uma and Farrah (and maybe Jules, which I haven’t tried yet) and Belleza’s Jesse.

First is Laqroki (aka LAQ)’s Ania skin.  This is one of her more recent releases in the Glow series.  I love the face and I find it very soft and pretty. Talk about cheap, too!  The entire fatpack of like 10 makeups was less than 2K, and it’s my understanding that it’s because really only the face is new, though I could be wrong about that.  Really, all that meant was I could get the entire Ania collection, in all three skintones (fair, peach and nougat, worn here).  That’s my deep, dark secret, until now.  No one knew I bought all three tones.

Hair: Fri.day – Kate \ Lingerie: Zaara – Kanti.

LeLutka‘s been on a roll lately, releasing one great skin line after the other, while launching a fabulous new experimental fashion collection inbetween.  I really liked Eclat (aka Oksana), but the thicker eyebrows were not for the faint of heart.  The thinner eyebrows on Estelle, released not all that long after Oksana, were a bigger hit and I haven’t seen many avatars who don’t look pretty in this skin.

Hair: Maitreya – Alex \ Lingerie: Insolence.

Dutch Touch‘s Jolie is a goddess-like skin.  I was late in getting Cleo, which I loved.  I was late in getting River, which I loved more.  But then Jolie came out and I was like “Cleo, River, what, who?”  Jolie is amazingly beautiful, with tons and tons of makeups and lots of skintones (including a dark one, yay!), but is apparently going to be outdone hopefully soon by Gwen, which I’ll happily whore myself out to get a sneak peek of.

Hair: Maitreya – Zoe \ Lingerie: Fishy Strawberry – Ignition \ Ring – Paper Couture.

Alyson is a pre-release group gift from Belleza, and it’s not out in the store yet.  But Alyson is like Belleza’s own gorgeous Jesse’s younger, fresher, wide-eyed innocent little sister.  I’m really looking forward to seeing the entire lineup and I hope that’s in the very near future.  I was in the update group, which you have to pay L$250 to be in, and one night just before the holidays I went a little crazy in my group list and left nearly every group I could, Belleza being one of them.  Then the very next day I heard there was a skin gift in there, and I could’ve kicked myself for leaving early!  It’s a permanant fixture now, though.

Hair: Lamb – Baby’s Got Back \ Lingerie: Elymode – Halter Tank & Shorties (this colour was limited, but there’s other pretty colours).

And finally, we have yet another group gift pre-release, this time Tuli‘s lovely Eva.  I’ve been gushing over this one for a while now because it’s all I can do to just wait semi-patiently until it’s in the store.  I wear this most often lately, and the fresh clean makeup look is perfect for everything I wear.  I feel like going to Tuli’s sim and just standing there, waiting at the doors going “open open open” like that old commercial for some store in the US that I can’t ever remember the name of.

Hair: Truth – Lillian \ Lingerie – Blowpop – Yvette.