The Skinny on Skins, Shapes and Getting your Look

I'm feeling terribly embarrassed right now, as I have been so busy doing this and learning that, I forgot to take pictures. Undaunted, I am proceeding with this blog post, and may or may not add pictures to accompany it at a later time. Lately I've been busy helping my SL love, Boog, get his look together. He has been exploring all forms of avatars since he first came to SL, you can see a history of this by skimming through the pictures here in my blog. Recenly he surprised me by announcing that he was getting a new shape and skin, and he wanted a sexy human skin look with the ears and tail of a neko added. (Wait till you see him, he is damn hot now, but that will wait for another blog post.) This has put me once again, back into the rather complicated world of shapes and skins in SL.

I did not have anyone to help me understand the relationship between shapes and skins, and I learned the hard way. I wasted a lot of money in the process, even up until very recently. I'm writing this post in order to pass along what I've learned and hopefully to help others avoid some of the trouble and financial frustration the learning process caused me.

Getting this part of SL is critical to your success or failure, for as in RL, there is great emphasis placed on what you look like. Now, you can get creative, like Boog did, and explore what it is like to walk around in a furry skin. A lot of people, or I should say BEINGS in SL have chosen this route and are quite happy.

I have seen several hot and sexy cyborg creatures walking around. My neighbor/landlady is a cute little brunette most of the time, but she also flies around as a dragon occasionally, and also has an "old hag" skin that is quite unsettling, all a part of her experience in SL. Just yesterday while shopping for tattoos, Boog and I encountered a lovely mermaid floating around nearby, complete with tail and sparklies. If you want to go the fantasy route in SL, terrific. However, the following information will be geared toward those who are trying to put together an attractive human look.

First, you must understand the difference between SHAPE and SKIN. There are certain stores, namely Alady, that are passing along erroneous information. They say that the shape is the most important decision, and the skin fairly irrelevant. They are doing this because they sell non-modifyable shapes, and it is simply their approach to sell more shapes, it is not accurate. The shape and the skin combine to create a unique combination, and are equally important.

The SHAPE is equivalent to the skeleton and muscle in RL. This is where the basic framework is laid out. The height, the thickness of the body, the muscle mass, also the facial structure.. the shape of the face, the size and shape of the jaw, cheeks, forhead, ears, nose and lips, all these things are determined by the shape you choose.

There are several approaches you can take. Some people like to make their avatar a virtual mirror image of their RL selves. Others want an idealized image of themselves in RL. Others leave their RL selves behind completely and make themselves look the way they fantasize about looking. One question to ask yourself is: How unique do you want to be?

There are some people who buy shapes that have been designed to look like some celebrity. You will notice that in order to achieve the exact representation of the look, you not only have to buy the proper shape, but also the skin that the creator of the vision used for their photos. In order to exactly recreate a look on a photo, you will have to use the exact same shape and skin used for the photo. Just the shape or the skin alone (more specifically, combined with some other shape or skin) will not achieve the look.

There are people who take the basic SL shape, given to them from the beginning of the game, and make it their own. They turn their face and body into their own unique creation, using a careful combination of slider controls available in the "edit appearance" mode. There are certain limitations to this approach as well. I was very happy with this solution for myself until my recent upgrade to a Hyperfusion skin. I still love my body's shape, but the details of the face, particularly around the nose, are not as smooth and natural as I'd like them to be. I am therefore trying to find a solution to this problem.

The balance, in my opinion, can be reached by searching (and believe me, it will take some time and effort, this search) for the best shape you can possibly find for you. If you want the ability to slightly alter that shape, in order to achieve a humanlike degree of uniqueness, here is the tough part, the shape you buy MUST BE MODIFYABLE. And finding that combination is a challenge. The reason you want it to be mod is so that you can tweak it and customize it to make it your own individual unique look. That makes the difference between just good and fantastic.

(Once you see Boog's new look, you will understand what greatness can be achieved by following this approach.)

The shape decision should be made first, for this reason. You cannot DEMO shapes. Once you buy a shape, you own it. There is no try before you buy. And yet, the shape you have on underneath a skin will dramatically affect the appearance of that skin. SO, get your shape first, then try on demo skins until you find the perfect combination.

Now, to the skin. (As an aside, I have wasted SO much money on skins in this game.) It is VERY important that you not invest in a skin until you have done your research. If you are first starting out, then get the best freebie or cheap skin you can find and make do while you save your Lindens and do your research.

You cannot skimp on skins. But keep in mind a high price does not guarantee good quality. There are many lousy, but expensive skins out there masquerading as good ones, so beware making hasty skin decisions. Also, the less money you spend on your skin, the more likely you will be seeing a lot of people who look a lot like you as you wander around in SL. So do your reasearch well, be patient, and be willing to spend a MINIMUM of $1000L for your skin, possibly two to five times that if you plan to make a career out of your looks in SL (as a dancer, model, escort, etc.).

Skins are exactly that, skin: the covering of the underlying skeletal and muscular framework. Here you define the color, the texture and tone, freckles and moles, the definition of the muscles (achieved by carefully applied shading), the color and placement of nipples and bits, including pubic hair. Also defined by the skin, and worth scrutinizing carefully, are the ears, the hands and feet, the finer points of the nose, lips and brows. For men, one of the most important considerations is the facial and body hair. Keep in mind too, that male skins do not come fully equipped. Because of the fact that a penis is basically attached to the body, the skin cannot incorporate the penis. The penis will need to be bought separately. That is outside the focus of this post, but there are many options and choices there as well.

The best approach, while skin shopping, is to collect demos of skins you like. Demos are free or $1L generally. Each will come in a folder with the demo skin and a LM (landmark) to the store. Collect these as you find skins you like, as you shop and decide on your shape, or as you make the choice to create and refine your own shape. Once your shape has been perfected and put into use, when you've looked and researched and learned and collected your stash of demo skins, it is time to make a decision. Find a private place, preferably with a good friend who will give an honest opinion, force the light in the world to NOON to give yourself very good light, and start trying on demos. The advantage to this method is you are not going to get distracted by the price, and you can see different skins from different designers one after another.

Once you have narrowed your decision down to two or three, look for tiny problems. One of the most common issues you will see on skins is the matching of the colors at the "seams". Look carefully and make sure all transitions are smooth. Also make sure it has not been overly shaded. Some men skins in particular have way too much "six pack" shading in the abdomen area, and they wind up looking ridiculous. Check over every point, using a very critical eye. If you find too many flaws, then keep shopping. This is not a time to get in a hurry. Finally once you find the perfect demo, grab the landmark out of the folder and go buy it. Now you can get on with your SLife, knowing that you are the hot and sexy avatar you always wanted to be.

Pictures and more on the adventures of Lorelei (and Boog) in SecondLifeLand coming soon. Until then.