Beard not showing

Hi all,

I am a newbie, but I am trying to have a beard on my avatar. I can create the shape fine, but there is absolutely no color (it makes my face look very bloated) or texture. Any thoughts?

Welcome.

There are 3 components you should know about.

1) Skin. The skin is basically a painted texture applied to your avatar. A good skin will add the details to make your face/body look realistic and not like a Ken doll.

2) Shape. This is the part you use Appearance mode to create. You can buy them pre-made in world, but with a little patience it's certainly easy enough to make your own.

3) Prim hair. The system hair you can make in appearance mode is only slightly better than being bald. The most popular option in world is to wear a "bald cap" which makes the system hair go away and then apply prim hair which you can get in just about any style imaginable.

You can experiment with these three things by using the complete avatars in the Library folder of your Inventory. Mix and match the parts and you will quickly see how they work.

Beards can either be part of the skin or a separate prim hair that is worn.

Most skin designers for men will offer a skin with several facial hair options. If you decide to buy a skin, the cardinal rule is ALWAYS TRY THE DEMO FIRST.

There are free skins out there but will require a little searching and you may not find one that really suits you. I'm not sure about free skins with facial hair; maybe some guys will come in with suggestions.