Skin advice needed

Getting out of my Linden bashing mode for a sec here....

I've been happily wearing my Another Skin (SE) in various versions for the last year and I think I'm due for a change. I really like the SE, but in trying on some demos, designers are getting more detail into them and the shadings are a little more realistic and defined.

I'm not big on heavy makeup in SL or RL. So I guess what I'm kinda looking for is something like SE but more realistic. Same general skin tones - slightly tan - not baked. There's a Redgrave 3 (full perms) floating around which I tried. The sun freckles are really nice and it's sort of what I'm looking for. However, it's a bit overdone on the eye makeup, the lips are too pouty for me, and the "shine" is a bit high. However, when I went to Redgrave to look at the for sale skins, I just about fainted at the prices. EEEK!! $9000L for a skin package?

I'd be happy with maybe 3 makeups and some style variations. Any suggestions on what to look at and where?? The Angel Tan from FNKY looks cute but a little strong on the makeup and pouty lips.

Look at some of the stuff at Abyss......

It's really just a matter of trying on a jillion skins and finding the style you like. Took me ages to settle on one designer as my main, but I do buy other skins if I happen to be out and about and find one that I like. I've also noticed that my tastes have changed over the years; what I adored in Feb 2007 is not necessarily what I like now.

I've had some great luck at Canimal.....as well as Detour....and Celestial Studios....to name a few.....also Lalique(sp) But the bottom line is definitely just trying demos until you find one that appeals. Another place to look is ARSNOVA or YourSkin....their skins are beautiful. As for pricing.....not much to be found out there for less then say 700L per skin. But...they DO exist. Panjen used to have some nice skins for 300L .... not sure if they're still around.

I know Eloh put out a newer line of freebies and they're available at the Gnube shop. I picked some up a while back and they're cute.

I'm making skins now too.....so it's good to know what folks look for.....I'm not big on heavy makeup either......

The pouty lip thing is as much a matter of lip shape as it is skin. I have been making shapes for 2 years and even the skins with the seemingly ultra pouty look are easily altered by adjusting the mouth. In fact....as I make skins.....I'm learning the tricks of getting super realistic features like mouth, bellybutton and so on..... and the default mouth is kind of thin and slack. So I'm seeing why so many designers are opting for fuller lips....it just looks more natural, even with a thinner mouth 'shape'.

Anyway..... happy hunting....I'm sure you'll discover something that's perfect for you~!!

Actually .... I'm pretty sure the "Fat Packs" for Redgrave skins are 2990, which can contain up to like 15-16 different makeup options, depending on which you choose.

I didn't like Redgrave for the longest time, but they've grown on me recently, and I now own two of their packs, (Leona and Lyla). The makeup doesn't seem as caked on as some others from there, and I did have to change my shape a bit so my lips didn't look so full and pouty, but I'm happy with them.

Another place which has similar styled skins is ... um ... Curio. Very nicely detailed, but if I remember, they had even more makeup caked on, and they were more expensive than Redgrave (3000L$ for a makeup pack of 6) But, they had 7 sets of 6 makeup styles (21,000 for the ENTIRE set of one tone).

ETA: Okay, I take that back, not all of the Curio makeup options look caked on, just depends on which pack you buy.

I actually thought of doing some very lite freckly spray painting on my SE skin just to make it look less smooth. I got the photoshop files when Eloh released them. But that seems like wayyyy too much work lol.

KK, I made my shape from scratch and I'm pretty happy with it so I can certainly change the lips. I tend to like light lip glosses (pinks, oranges, some browns) and I hate the raccoon eyes so many designers seem intent on pushing.

Thanks for the suggestions and I'll definitely see if these are still around. I like the SE series and my only issue is the realism factor seems to be a notch higher now. I do NOT need oil and tanlines and crap. :/

Try Genesis, a relatively new store by Ryker Beck. Her Candace and Eden skins are very pretty. My avatar is wearing Candace.

Bebae.

Also look in hunt blogs for skin stores. Some offer freebie skins during a hunt. Rockberry has lucky 'posters'.

Other skin stores (Akaesha?) offer a skin for posting them in picks or joining group. Try some of those things.

As someone pointed out, Redgrave skin packs are 'only' 2990 and you get from several to up to 15 or so makeups (depending on which pack) plus a free eyelash set. 2990 for that many good quality skins is a relative bargain. A lot of skin packs are the same price for maybe 3 skins. Not sure what said 9000. Maybe you had clicked on the 'skins plus shape', not sure. Or maybe you were tired and read it wrong. Who hasn't done that?

Check in on the SL freebie blogs they often post info about a free or (one Linden) dollar skin from the top shops.

Btw, I'm not saying this about the specific one you had. I don't know which ones were ripped. But I do not know of any 'full perm' Redgrave skin. There are a few that were ripped (copybotted) and passed around or sold under the tables in SL though. (Obviously a lot of people do not know this is the case so even if you did have a ripped skin I am not accusing you of anything. Just fyi.)

It's ok. I ditched it anyway. Creator unknown.

I took the original (Se) Photoshop file and toned down the freckles on the face. Then I added some really light ones to the upper chest and back. Much better for now. But my shopping has just begun lol.

The new Eliah Eliot skin is called "Pleiades". You can search for them inworld, I think Gnubie store has a set of them?

I think you will be pleased with them. The face has just what you want, light freckles! http://sites.google.com/site/another/resources

There's so many talented skin makers. I'm very happy with Tuli. She don't have so shiny skin. Her mouth is very natural. You really should read freebie blogs. Tuli has given her group 2 different skins in short time, both are "Faith". The first one with natural makeup, the second with red lips. (the first one is gone from the group) I think she has a "bare" version of an older skin for free in her main shop. Her Elizabeth skins are retired soon, they are prized down. 3 makeups for 750 L! She also gives out free clothes and even eyes in her group... one of the most generous designers in SL. The joining fee of 250 L is so worth it.

Rockberry has new skins, and their group is free to join. They have a skin free in group just now, and many lucky chairs. They are very sweet and pretty skins!

Laqroki has a skin sale of their older lines. Their skin has always been good, so their skins that's 1-2 years old is worth buying. A lot of their skins has smoky eyes, so maybe that's not what you want. It's more natural done than Raccoon

Definitely ripped then.

I brought it up as a PSA, not to make anyone feel bad about what they didn't know anyway.

I didn't pay any attention to it other using it is a demo opp. The description said Club Goer Female but they had their naughty bits.

I found a couple of real Redgrave skins I could live with. And I was wrong about the price - most are are 2990 with 8 makeups. One thing I noticed about Redgrave -- the overly aggressive shading looks off during windlight midday but at any other time -- perfect. So far I'm leaning toward Emma2 in Redgrave but I still have some shopping to do!

Thanks I downloaded the Pleiades series and I got the Photoshop files. Eloh's skins are very cute and this time I'm glad to see the source files are at 1024x1024 instead of 512x512 like SE was.

Totally right.

The most detailed work I ever seen in SL with best body shadow details. Best skins in SL

Source files in a reso of 1024 x1024 wont bring up better details at all. I have skins with 512 reso and much better details than those that come in 1024 -

You can work on the source at 1024 and then resize to 512 for SL. Better control if the source is larger. That's how I do all my clothing. They start as 1024 in Photoshop and end up as 512 in SL. But I think it depends on the application too.

thats right, start with a large (as bigger the better) file and when the work is done you need to know the steps to compress them into the lowest possible file format. There are many different ways to compress the files after screen work in PS - and PS offers many different ways to make the files as tiny as possible. You will find whole books written about how to compress files using PS and other applications. But the statement that a 1024 is better than a 512 reso is simply wrong

I think that Soft Touch and Belleza are nice.

Why don't you ask people who have skins you like?

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I never said that. I said the SOURCE files were 1024x1024. Previously, the source files (native layered photoshop PSDs) for the Eloh's (Se) series were all 512x512.

All my in-world textures end up at either 512x512 or less. I resize using bicubic sharpen and get good results.

I showed off some skins to a couple of friends. 6 Redgrave demo skins, 4 from various makers (from suggestions here) plus a Pleiades (Eloh Elliot) skin that I ended up modding.

The winners were the modded Pleiades skin and the Redgrave Emma2 skin with a small edge to Emma2.

Both really liked Emma2 for its natural look while still having a little shine. Both liked the modded Pleiades for it's softer, light makeup look. Pleiades looks a little better midday -- Emma2 looks better at any other time.

The mods I did on Pleiades were to change the tone to something between the darkest and the next shade, knock back the freckles to 1/2 intensity and fool with the highlights a little. I can see a weirdness in the way Eloh did them which makes the skin look too mottled if the highlights are turned up. I don't know if she'd updated the PSDs since they were posted or not.

My friends were very patient. Of course, I was topless (ZOMG adult content). Maybe that had something to do with it.

That's not a Redgrave rip, that's a modified Eloh skin from the standard library. Not all of them have undies painted on.

Genesis was a nice suggestion, I spent some money there last night. Very nice work.

Technical question here: I'm 99% sure that to other viewers (not the wearer), resolution of textures that get baked on the avatar makes no difference to the time for rezzing the avatar. The question is whether it makes any difference to the time spent baking the textures onto the avatar itself, or if those textures are already normalized to some "avatar native" resolution at the time they're saved as tattoo assets. (I can dream up reasons why either approach would be "correct" but just don't know how it actually works.)