Second Style Magazine

Just a friendly reminder that ads to be published in time for Valentine’s Day should be submitted no later than January 20th, 2008. We still have availability in all ad size formats, except very limited availability on 2 page spreads. We have recently implemented new pixel dimension guidelines for ads. Please keep these in mind when you’re creating your artwork.

We are continuing our very popular buy 3 placements, get 1 placement free promotion which saves you 25% off our regular rate card rates. This deal is available in all sizes except for eighths of a page.

 This past week has been a very good week for our male readers over at On Your Toes.

Not only did Anessa report on the KaDeWe fashion show featuring designs from Eponymous Trenchmouth’s Jeepers Creepers, but Joel had a chance to interview Epo, and later introduce us to one of his creations, the Strike. Not just a shoe for bowling, Joel had this to say,

“The Strike is a marvel in that it captures an element of male character that isn’t exactly right off the pages of GQ, but has a certain charm and (in a hard-to-describe way) some sex appeal. What could be more symbolic of the American male icon than a pair of bowling shoes… bringing to mind chips, beer, the sound of crashing pins echoing through the room…? It’s one part of American culture that’s worth preserving and wearing as your own.”

Rest assured ladies, we did have some goodies for you too!  Anessa featured shoes from Digit Darkes, and the new edgy boots from Melanie Zhao of ZHAO SHOES, along with some really great outfits that compliments her feet perfectly.

As for me, I am in love with the new Classic Stackers from Shiny Things.  So hop over and take a peek, the stackers are classy and are my new shoe staple.

This week be on the look out for a contest that we will be running over at On Your Toes, where winners will be running away with some shoe shopping ammo. Until next week….

A few days ago I got an IM from a friend inviting me to come take a look at the fabulously fantastical prim work of Tekelili Tantalus. A jewelry and hair designer, Tekelili has created several works which draw on sources as diverse as the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, Frank Herbert and other dramatic and elaborately executed science fiction inspired designs.

If you’re looking for the fitting hairstyle for your space opera, this place will be a one-stop shop.

As an avid reader of Lovecraft, I couldn’t resist picking up this eponymous homage to the pulp writer. It features fully color-change scripted metallic prims and tentacle-hair, complete with an autonomously moving color-change eyeball. Spooky!

Shop Tekeli-li Dark Artistry at Asunder (111, 131, 39).

Seen in-world: Yes
Review copy: No
Friends list: No

(Photo shot on location at The Cthulhu Shrine, Park (136, 128).)

A few weeks ago a bunch of blogs swarmed the Second Life issue tracker “JIRA” to help pump up the request for more than 25 groups. I’ve been following the traffic on the Second Life developer’s email list, and I thought you might want to read about some of the planned changes to group functionality forthcoming in 1.19.0 of the viewer. (Although based on followup developer traffic, 1.19.0 may be delayed by several weeks because the engineering team is reverting away from the web-based login some of you may have played with in the release candidate and/or Windlight client.)

According to an email made by Joshua Linden here’s some of what you can expect:

* 61 bug fixes
* “Voice 1.1″
** Introduces moderated to (formal) group voice and group text conversations
** Moderation ability applies to group owner and group officer roles
** Moderation will NOT apply to one-to-one text or voice chat, ad-hoc group conversation, or to spatial voice chat.
* Auto-joining group chat sessions has been removed
** Group members must explicitly choose to actively “join” their SL Group’s chat sessions after they log in.
** Starting a new SL group chat only adds the requester to the chat session much like an IRC channel.

In other words, it appears you’ll have to actively opt-in to group chat sessions instead of now where you can only “semi” opt-out by closing the chat tab when it pops up.

I am unsure exactly how group (text) chat moderation will work, but that also seems like a positive feature change from the current functionality.

What do you think?

[poll=17]

Something that can be overlooked when you’re putting together your look for a given day is the little extra conveniences available inside of Second Life. Sometimes I wish I could pop up a HUD in real life!

With that in mind, I wanted to write about some of my favorite gadgets in Second Life – my skin, clothes, hair and shoes change constantly – but very few of these things do!

First up is the indispensable MystiTool by Mystical Cookie. This extremely useful gadget has over 40 different features jam packed into it. Everything it seems but a kitchen sink – and who knows what Mysti might add next. Among the features I use all the time are a built in face light, the amazing avatar radar, flight assist, a super handy teleport history, movelock and more! A full featured version of the tool is about L$400, but Mysti also offers a stripped down version for free! No well dressed avatar should be in Second Life without a MystiTool in my opinion. You can pick up either version at Avendale (197, 241, 22). An automated update system ensures that you’ll get new versions when they’re released for free!

Are you still typing /ao off? Get into the 21st century by picking up a free full permission ZHAO-II animation override framework from Ziggy Puff’s corner of Winged Isle (35, 83, 47). You’ll have to transfer your own poses and your own animation override card into the system to get it fully operational, but once you do, you’ll have a sleek HUD based animation overrider which lets you switch between AO sets with just a couple of menu clicks. If you’re just looking to dip your toe into the ZHAO-II, head over to the Second Style HQ on Le Zoo and pick up our freebie box which has a ZHAO-II complete with free poses already loaded into it. You can use that configuration as a template to build your own with your own poses. If you have the original ZHAO AO, you can use the free configuration notecard converter to get a headstart on upgrading to ZHAO II.

Are you a model, or do you aspire to be a model? It’s become standard issue for top models in Second Life to have a HUDDLES animation HUD set up with your best runway modeling poses. With the quick access to individual poses, it’s easy to stop and pose your avatar at each cue spot on the runway. Aside from that, HUDDLES can also help you start a spontaneous dance party with your friends, play sounds, rez objects and more! Check out HUDDLES HQ on Animation Island (116, 52, 322).

Who doesn’t like to kick off their SL session with a cute funny lolcat? Pushbutton Skolnick came up with the fun and fabulous lolcat HUD which lets you randomly choose one or go through them all in order like a slideshow. You can get one from her mainstone on Le Zoo (126, 217, 24).

Finally, I wanted to mention Dominus Skye’s Fashionista’s Closet which just got some great reviews from my friends at Stylecast, the weekly 10-minute (give or take a minute) fashion podcast. Another Dominus Designs product that I particularly like is the “Port-A-HUD” landmark organizer. If you’re like me, you probably have collected tons of unsorted landmarks in your inventory. With the Port-a-HUD you can just store them inside of the HUD prim and best of all, share them with your friends. It makes passing out landmarks to your shopping party a breeze, just a couple of clicks of a menu makes it all happen. Get full details at Dominus Designs on ImagineNation (193, 207, 23).

Alaska Metropolitan will open a new store tomorrow at Le Zoo for her new line, Opium Everyday. Everyday will be a line of casual to business fashion tailored for mixing and matching and making your own. To whet our appetites, it was featured today in a preview runway show by Metro Models. Shown along with Skin 2.0 skins and Calla hair, the show was packed and featured a lot of great designs that one can in fact wear Everyday. The designs I saw were elegant and yet practical- jeans, skirts, sweaters and shorts- the types of outfits I spend most of my SL time in- matched with great hair. When the store opens tomorrow, be on the lookout especially for a fantastic velvet track suit I loved from afar today and the “Roxy” Skinny Jeans in prefaded denim. Good stuff for Everyday indeed.

Told you I had a lot of skins on the shelves…. Skin Fx is a brand you may not have heard of yet though. The creator, Francesca Tsarchon, has been working on the skins on and of over the last 8 months and has even taken a break from SL, but she’s back now, and ready to release her first range of skins. I was pleasantly surprised when I tried the first one on. A lovely make up, and quite a pleasant level of body definition although not the level that I am pretty sure most of you would like to see. The over all body is very soft, with a hint of muscle tone on the belly. The navel could use a bit more depth, it is quite vaguely drawn at this time. Same goes for the kitty and the nipples. The legs, and knees in particular are nicely done with a smooth satin look to the skin. Cutest feature for me is the tush that has an adorable shading on the sacrum.

The main reason that I decide to blog these skins though is in the make ups. There are 4 skintones available, of which I am showing the 3 lightest (Infinity, Crystal and Pearl) and come for now in 8 different make ups. Francesca has also made a first batch of special make ups, with intricate drawing around the eyes, and alluring names such as Princess or Goddess. I love the eyebrows that are quite present, and Francesca promised me she would be working on lighter eyebrows too to please the fair and ginger headed among you. The eye make up is very nice and clean looking.. no smudges or blotches, and the lips are just juicy. Francesca kept the faces soft and feminine which I like a lot.

I can only hope that Francesca keeps on track, making more lovely make ups and every now and then update and improve her skins and that she won’t decide to leave SL again.

Seen in world: yes  ~ Review Copies: Yes  ~ Friens list: no

Wow. January. Still. *laughs* Who knew? This time thing just keeps on going, and we keep finding new hair! Seriously, my wallet is glaring at me, but my hair folder loves me.

Wednesday, I kicked things off with a favorite shop of mine, Poinsettia II by Calla. This style is a messy updo with curls and a cute little ponytail falling down. I swear, if I could get my hair to do this in real life, I’d be dancing!

Friday, Teagan modeled a gorgeous style by Hair by Cher called Cynthia (pictured). A long, layered, straight style that falls just past the small of the back with long bangs, this style is casual and elegant at the same time. It’s great for jeans and a sweater, and holding hands with the one you love.

Saturday we got to see Glitz from Gurl 6. Short, straight, and shaggy, this style is cuteness with an edge. Six Kennedy can always be counted on to provide great hair, and this is no exception.

Sunday Teagan knocked my socks off with an asymmetrical style from Truth, appropriately named Sunday (pictured). Sleek and sexy, this medium length bob falls just past the neckline at the back and level with the shoulders at the front.

Monday was a return to the regularly scheduled Male Monday, and we got to see Dani by Hair Solutions. This style is great for casual guys, with a short, straight layers and a clean neckline. It’s hard to find good guy hair, and this looks like great stuff. Check it out!

Tuesday we wrapped things up with a find from one of the Japanese sims. Smoka‘s Shorthair (pictured) is one of only two styles I found at this shop, but they’re both exceptionally well done. The glossy texture wooed me, and I love the way the cut slopes from back to front. Delish!

So that’s our week! I hope you enjoyed it… we’ve got some fun things lined up for next week!

Next in the series “Grazia reviews skins” is Adore, the newest fruit on the tree in Sachi’s and Damen’s garden of Eden. Adore is one of those skins that have been in my inventory for a while and that have a hard time coming off my avatar everytime I decide to wear it, because it is so nice. The body reminds me a lot of Pandora, Sachi’s signature skin, but she seems softer and a little less athletic. The skin is also more pink than Sachi’s usual skintones (on which she did a very nice tutorial in the current issue of Second Style!) but it fits the soft femininity of this skin. The highlights on the body of Adore are so nice, as if you have been using one of those peeling creams and a rich body lotion afterwards, that give your skin a satin glow.

There is a bunch of various make ups for this skin, 11 in total, and I must say that the lighter ones have my preference here, but there is plenty of choice for everyone. Adore comes in 4 skintones and you can pick the eyebrow colour that fits you best, dark, red or blonde. As you are expecting from Adam ‘n Eve, in the single packs there is 2 skins, with and without pubix, as well as a mani- and pedicure that matches the make up, a set of natural looking lashes and a face lamp. Yet another example of the characterful skins that Sachi loves to make.

While you’re there… Sachi has been making a wonderful new gown too that was reviewed on Blunt Fashion Sense by Cherie Parker, and thanks to Daisyblue Heffermans, there are fresh make ups for my personal Adam ‘n Eve favourite skin Grazia (what else….)

Update: Issue #15 including the exclusive CHAI skin is now available. You can get the magazine from our website here, or in world from any Second Style kiosk such as the one outside our HQ in Le Zoo (136, 36, 24). (Maybe it’s obvious, but you only get the skins from an in-world copy of Second Style.)

The cover of issue #15 features Launa Fauna photographed by Iris Ophelia.

We’ve been hard at work getting issue #15 ready for publication. This issue features an in depth look into the world of Second Life skins. I think this issue may be some of our best photography and layout work to date, and I’m really looking forward to hearing from others about what they think. We also have a great designer’s tip by sachi Vixen about creating skin tones, mini guides featuring eyes and prim lashes, Style Girl, Ask Isabella, Scarlett Niven’s Fashion Finds and more.

Starting with issue #15, we’re going to be including commissioned “limited time only” content with the in-world magazine, just to provide a little extra thank you to our loyal readers. Issue #15 is going to include a brand new exclusive LF CHAI skin called Vedette – available in all CHAI skintones, with and without freckles, 14 skins in all.

It would take me hundreds and hundreds of words to describe all of the incredible things blogged at SexySecond this week, so I only hope to hit the highlights and tempt you with a few pictures.

Fannie Carter stopped by and blogged many, many things, including this minidress from Stellar Designs called Vinyl Vamp. This was actually part of the second post this week that Fannie did of things from Stellar Designs, her first post about them featured short skirts exclusively, while the second post included more variety.

Doing multiple posts on one store was a theme this week, as Fannie did two posts on Dark Eden as well. One post covered a fantastic fantasy set and the second post covered a variety of things from them. If you get a chance, do check Fannie’s posts as she found some unique and gorgeous things at Dark Eden, including some boots that I must have.

Speaking of boots, Arabeth Laval and Fannie teamed up to blog the very hot store Kitties Lair. While Fannie covered the shiny and sexy outfits that have been hitting the blogs all week, Arabeth covered a wonderful little cocktail dress and the boots you see here, which I have been drooling over ever since.

Arabeth also reviewed an incredible latex bodysuit from DE Designs’ new line called Project X. The bodysuit is named Grendel and I can tell you that it’s every bit the killer that the ancient epic monster it’s named for ever was. Arabeth also introduced me to a new store, Fireflies. In Arabeth’s words “Everything is definitely sexy. Everything is priced at either $1L, $5L or $100L.” Sold!

Nemi McCoy stopped by to review a new release from Rfyre called Drifter. Nemi reported that the Goth reputation of Rfyre intimidated her a bit but was totally won over by the detailed and versatile design.

Don’t forget to look into our contest; if you have something sexy in your wardrobe or store, or want to show off your photography skills, we’d love to feature you in the second edition of The Fifty Sexiest Things in Second Life!. Details on the contest are here. Thank you for reading, and we’ll see you next week!

Some time ago I promised Marianne a blog post about belly button covering clothing options, so it is high time that I live up to this promise… besides, over at Linden Lifestyles, Salomé has written a plea straight from the heart about EMS (Exposed Midriff Syndrome) and from the Second Style gang I would like to support this plea. Salomé… I am so with you on this one. In the mean time, women who refuse to give in to EMS are required to be creative and cunning users of the possibilities that their inventories offer. And luckily, we do have a number of possibilities

Alyssum Therian, over at Love Aly has made a set of cute layer belts on different hights on the various layers too, that might fix a small gap between your pants and top, but they won’t do for serious cases of EMS because they are not large enough. Corsets are a better option usually, but only when they come on the jacket layer, and when they are not too underwearish, after all, lets keep it stylish. Underwear as upperwear is 99% of the times for the working girls. However there are some wonderful corsets on the market that do just fine as an EMS cure. Paeoti Pomeray’s Hoop corset for instance at Nymphetamine (middle), or the corsets from the fall collection over at Pixeldolls, by Nephilaine Protagonist (right).

Some designers solve the problem by creating high waist pants which I think is a very elegant solution. Ginny Talamasca at Last Call made some exquisite ones. If you don’t have them yet,  make sure you get yours during the final sale that will start on the January 11, because all those lovely designs will be retired once the sale ends (date not known yet, but it may be a while) and gone forever. There are others like Artilleri and Casa del Shai that have high waisted pants too which wil be normally available. Shirt and undie layer for a tucked look top is also fine.. bottomline for designers is, the more layers you create your designs on, the more love you will get from your fashionista clients.

If your shirt  is not made on the jacket layer, then one of the most creative solutions is handed to us by Elka Lehane from Boing Fromage. She made 2 shirt add on kits to fix EMS on your casual shirts and “washed too hot” sweaters. It is a fix on various layers to match a shirt layer and to neatly cover the belly area. It comes either in a t-shirt version or in a polo version, and you can play around with tucked and untucked options, sleeve lengths and collars. If your EMS top is not too textured, you can always try to make a pair of knickers and match the colour of the top as closely as possible, but as said, this will only only work with litle textured tops, or in case it is a very small gap, otherwise you’d rather decide to wear the top in a different sort of outfit and continue looking for something that does work well.

Ok, due to downtime, slurls and credits will have to wait till next time I log in to SL after the grid goes back up, but in the meantime… happy reading!