Sweet Life

The sunshine always kept you warm
So why see the world, when you got the beach
Don’t know why see the world, when you got the beach

~ “Sweet Life” by Frank Ocean

I went over to Baja Norte to enjoy the breeze and the ocean waves in this gorgeous dress from Flutter Memel. With a beautifully fashionable cut, it has gorgeous textures and a look that can take you from the beach to a party. She has created the dress in two colorways with a great HUD. I accessorized with jewelry from AvaGardner Kungler for On9. I especially love the texture of the gems. Strappy shoes from Senzati0n Domenitzo that are new at her store echo the square cut of the front of the skirt. My favorite part of my look is the smallest part—my nails. AlaskaMetro has been inspired by Hokusei and kimono patterns for some exquisite nail appliers she is featuring at the Bon Voyage event.

I have once again put on the beautiful Destiny mesh head from Catwa Clip for the Mesh Body Addicts Fair. Nicole Button has released a new skin that includes a lovely lip and beautiful eyes. Applied to this head, it’s a gorgeous look, especially with the optional makeups. KateForster Akina has made this great up-do for Hairology with two top knots. It comes with or without bangs. I thought the sexy fringe of bangs over my beautiful eyes from lonlysoule for the AnyBody event added a sultriness to my look.

Hair: *TKW* Otero by KateForster Akina for Tukinowaguma, available at Hairology *

Skin applier with makeup: Egozy.Jaya (Canelle) and Egozy.Jaya (Make Up) Canelle – Nougat by Nicole Button for Egozy *

Mesh head: CATWA HEAD Destiny V4.9 by Catwa Clip for CATWA, available at Mesh Body Addicts Fair *

Eyes: .ARISE. Lana Eyes / Brown MESH by lonlysoule for Arise, available at AnyBody

Mesh body: Maitreya Mesh Body – Lara V3.5 by Onyx LeShelle for Maitreya

Dress: Stories&Co. Sofia Dress – Party by Flutter Memel for Flowey / Stories & Co., available at Collabor88 *

Jewelry: (Kunglers) Aphrodite necklace – Crystal, (Kunglers) Aphrodite earrings – Crystal and (Kunglers) Aphrodite ring – Sapphire by AvaGardner Kungler for Kunglers Extra, available at On9 *

Nail appliers: alaskametro<3 “Kimono” nail art – Maitreya Manicure HUD by Alaska Metropolitan for AlaskaMetro, available at Bon Voyage *

Shoes: Essenz – Izmir (Maitreya) by Senzati0n Domenitzo for Essenz *

Poses by Valencia Southard for Marukin

Taken at –Baja Norte- by Lauren Bentham

Christmas Guilt

I am sitting here writing this blog and dressing up and feeling very anxious that I should be doing something else. Is everything set, wrapped, hidden or not, decorated? Could I be doing more? Is Christmas supposed to feel this anxious? This is what comes of working ahead and not leaving it til the last minute. You think you should be doing more….

I went shopping.. for myself for once. I felt guilty. I should be cleaning, decorating, cooking. Gah, the guilt. But this dress from Cerberus Noel was calling me, and I felt NO guilt at all as she is offering it for a mere 100L til Christmas Eve so get it NOW. It comes with two skirt options and the absolutely amazingly textured top and skirt plus these incredible prims. On the shoulder is a wonderful rose grouping that curves over to the back and is echoed in a hair piece. Look at the texturing on the roses! The guilt I feel about this is having paid so little for this dress!

My skin was one of a set that Ryker Beck generously offered as part of her and her partner’s 12 days of Christmas on their sim a couple days ago. What a wonderful gift! I have put it on a modified Harper shape to show a different facial structure which would be more appropriate to a woman of color. I am glad that Ryker has offered a darker skin in this most recent set. I would challenge her to modify the nose details to make it work with a wider nose. The skin tone is gorgeous.

Will anyone notice I didn’t make another batch of cookies or dust behind the buffet? Nope.

Hair: Tukinowaguma Deborah A ebony by KateForster Akina for Tukinowaguma

Skin: :: Exodi :: Isolde Corneille – 23 (Dk) by Ryker Beck for :: Exodi ::

Dress: *GF* Mermaid Dress “Layla” -Limited ed./white&red- by Cerberus Noel for G Field

Earrings: **PISA**Pink Moonstone Red Coral earrings by Emi Woller for **PISA** (No longer available)

Shoes:  *GF* Ribbon Slingback Shoes[V2] -red- by Cerberus Noel for G Field

Tragedy

Some days I am convinced we come to SL to create the tragedy and drama we don’t have in our own lives. This doesn’t diminish the pain people truly experience—the pain of the death of a loved one or lost hopes or the pain of physical illness. Rather, we come to SL to make stories that are human-based rather than based on natural causes. That’s why drama has such a good hold here—it’s what propels the narratives in our minds.

Sascha Frangilli’s newest creation—Wicked Swan—is a perfect accessory for your tragic moments. With its huge full skirt, subtly glittering brocade texture, elegant bodice and opera-length gloves, this beauty will fill all your nights with the drama you desire.

Add to the drama Hart Larsson’s newest skin, Candy. These have been several months in development and Hart, who enjoys painting in his other life, has crafted beautiful and evocative skins. This make up in particular, matches the drama ideal. I especially appreciate the subtlety of the pushup option (which I wear here). It’s perfectly appropriate for a bodice such as this to show more lift and this option is not crass or overdone.

“Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.” ~ Robert Francis Kennedy

Hair: Tukinowaguma Jelena ebony by KateForster Akina for Tukinowaguma

Skin: [PXL] Candy NAT Drama DEB with [PXL] Candy NAT PushUp by Hart Larsson for PXL Creations *

Dress: SAS – Wicked Swan Formal Version by Sascha Frangilli for Sascha’s Designs *

Jewelry: Donna Flora ASIA black set by Squinternet Larnia for Donna Flora

Around the World at RFL

As I have mentioned about a million times, the RFL Clothing Fair sims are built around a theme of traveling around the world. What is even more interesting is that you really ARE traveling around the world when you visit this fair. Contributors for this endeavor come from the four corners of the globe, amazingly. As you touch down in each sim, you will find contributors from that very country occupying the sim. Go to Rio, they are all having Festival; go to Tokyo, they are speaking in Japanese; go to Paris and the gentle murmur of French can be heard; and I won’t even tell you what they are doing on the Melbourne sim, but I can guarantee it involves lots of boisterousness.

For example, morea Decosta has contributed this very sexy dress whose proceeds go entirely to RFL. With its long flowing sleeves but dangerously short skirt and quick access wrap style, it’s perfect for the lady who wants to like to wrap up in silken sensuousness. morea is a lovely European lady who likes to make women feel and look sexy. And she is helping support RFL, so give her some goodness back at the Paris sim.

I travel to another part of the world with this lovely skin, made by milok Hermit from Korea. I always struggle trying to find skins that are not sparkly Caucasian or Malibu Barbie, for that matter. milok has a variety of skins that are not Barbie-like, all at a reasonable price. I was absolutely taken with this skin, which for once eliminates the fold in the eyelid, making the skin truly Pan Asian. The earrings are pretties I got from Anemysk Karu at the Accessory Fair.

Finally, the boots are brand spankin’ new (pun intended just a bit as you will see), just out by Oct Oakleaf. They are available in two versions—regular and 2.0. Regular employs good old invisiprims, but the 2.0 uses the new alpha layer for the leg to create the invisibility needed to jam your poor mesh foot into that pointy toe so you can teeter on that needle-thin heel (all in the name of fashion). Oct has also scripted in the ability to show or remove that seemingly innocuous little strapped-on buckle there (which is really an ankle cuff that is enabled for use with the Lockmeister and Lockguard sets of scripts, if you have such an inkling). It comes with a pair of cuffs I am wearing which are also fashionably sculpted and functionally scripted. I will not be sending you to a ponygirl store this time, however, so feel safe.

Sexy is the same in any language ;)

Hair: Tukinowaguma Deborah A ebony by KateForster Akina for Tukinowaguma

Skin: .Mother Goose’s  MIYO(2)_03 by milok Hermit for Mother Goose

Dress: MADYSON by morea Decosta for Morea Style

Earrings: [ glow ] Studio – Pure Sparrow  Earrings (white) by Anemysk Karu for [ glow ]

Boots with Cuffs: + ADDiCTIA + Adnata Boots Graphite V1.0 – SMALL by Oct Oakleaf for ADDiCTIA *

It’s All About the Boots

Freud once wrote an essay about “What Women Really Want.” He had no answer. I do. It’s boots.

There is one specific pair of boots that lingers in a woman’s subconscious. One pair of boots that her id can not resist. They have finally been made in SL.

Bax Coen has brought deep from our universal unconscious the boots we all want. I saw them a few days ago when Bax came by to show them to Raven and me. We begged her to release them, and today she finally did.

They are gorgeous boots. From the steel tip on the front of the boot up over the supple leather (so finely textured I can smell its rich scent) around to the zipper running up the calf to the Bax Coen logo on the zipper pull, everything is perfect.

But there is more going on under the hood. Bax has engineered a clever and unique set of scripts for these boots that make fitting them easier than ever. Now you can adjust the size of the boot by width and height—not just by proportion. That means a short avatar with a wider leg can get the boots to fit as well as a tall avatar with a thin leg. You are not constrained by that same resizing script that just makes the whole thing bigger or smaller.

Additionally, the script includes ways to change the metal of the boots, add or remove a flap that folds down or stands up, and turn sound OFF. And you can let someone else have control over the boot scripts, presumably if you are horrid at resizing and they are better at it. You can also tell the boots to destroy the scripts to reduce lag. Overall, a brilliant boot.

The boots deserve only the most fashionable, so I styled them with an inventive dress from LeeZu, spike earrings from Cora Lu of Paper Couture, and a unique hair style from Tukinowaguma that could only be found on the best catwalks.

What women REALLY want:

Hair: Tukinoawguma PINCUSION Ebony by KateForster Akina for Tukinowaguma Hair Style

Skin: Pulse Skin-Climax/Valeries-T Chamois/Burgundy BLK by Lorac Farella for Pulse Skins

Dress: * [LeeZu!] NOiR Moonlight Flexi Dress by LeeZu Baxter for LeeZu

Earrings: p.c.; Steel Spikes by Cora Lu for Paper Couture

THE Boots: BAX Prestige Boots Black Leather by Bax Coen for Bax Coen Designs