What to look for in purchasing a skin/shape?

I'm a newbie (with a free skin now), camping and using lucky chairs to save up for my new and true SL skin and shape.

I have been looking around at different skin stores, and there are so many, in all price ranges.

Does a higher cost really equal a better skin? What makes one skin better than another?

This will be my one major SL purchase and will use up the Linden I'm saving up. I'd appreciate any advice on what to look for when purchasing a skin and shape.

Thanks!

Collect as many demos as you can, Tawny. You'll know which one is right for you by simply trying. There are inexpensive, great looking skins, and there are pricey rip-offs. The demos will be free, or at a push, 1L. As for the shape, you can either experiment with the settings yourself, or if you buy one, make sure it goes with the skin (or vice versa). What looks like a good skin on a particular shape can look horrific on another.

yes spend time looking and trying demos, everyone I know who bought one straight away have always been unhappy. my partner bought a skin and it didn't look good at all, however, she then spent the next week slowly tweaking her shape and eventually it all came together.

The only way to judge is if it looks right for you. There's nothing to say a free skin can't be great, or an expensive one terrible.

A few tips I'd give:

Sample some freebie skins, and see if you like them. If you're happy with them, why pay more? The only problem you might have is that you might see a lot of people with the same skin as you.

Shop around several places, and try the demos. Let them bake properly and view them under different light conditions. Try them with different hairstyles.

Find a combination of skin and shape that work together. This probably means getting your shape right first, then finding a skin that looks good on it. Sometimes a bit of shape-tweaking can help make a skin look right... one of the skins I wear has large lips, so the mouth shape has to be adjusted to balance that.

Related to above: know whether the shape you're getting is moddable. I built mine from scratch, so I'm not sure how common non-mod shapes are. If you get one that isn't, you won't be able to make adjustments, and sometimes that can be useful. Skirts, for example, look better if you make your butt a lot smaller. If you can do it, I'd seriously recommend making your own shape.

Good things on skins: subtle shading, choice of make-up, translucent textures (where you can change the avatar skin colour underneath for a wider range of skin tones) and free samples (you might buy an awful lot of L$1 samples, and if your budget is very tight, this could become an issue). Bad things: over-accentuated shadows and harsh make-up (unless that's what you're looking for, but in my experience it looks a bit cartoonish after a while).

Self-promoting plug ahead

Check my blog, http://virtual-freebies.blogspot.com. I list a lot of freebies, and frequently, there are very good things in there. Right now, Domestic-V (listed on the blog) has a box of 70 skins for 100L. Half of them immediately went in the trash, but there were several nice ones in there.

Otherwise, I highly recommend just running around getting demos. Be aware that your shape is going to make your skin look different than it does in the picture. Go to every skin store and get the demos - skip them if they cost 1L because that will add up too quickly. Try them on and weed out the ones you don't like.

And by the way, I've been here since June 2007, and have gone through 4 or 5 major skin changes

Edit: Also, I just about every freebie skin and shape on the planet. IM me inworld and I'll drop a package on you with the skins....and a little "welcome to SL" cash to help you with your demo hunting

Hi Tawny,

What they all said.

What makes a better skin is in the eye of the beholder (you). Some skins have more shading and definition; others have better freckles, or lip shape, etc.

Also, a bit off topic, but if you've been in SL less than 30 days, many skin developers have free skins/shapes for new residents. Test them out! You may like the shape from one place and the skin from another, try them together to see how they mesh. Some shapes are modifiable; others are not...same with some skins.

In addition, join the groups related to some of the skin developers' shops (Tuli and Fleur Skins come to mind). Many times groups members are gifted sample (not demos) packs of skins about to come out on the market.

SinSkins has a great freebie pack for under 30 day residents. Price on skins and shapes can be very deceiving. you have to try them on and see if you like them. Everyone has different tastes. An expensive shape or skin that you think looks fabulous on someone else, may look awful on you.

In addition to what everyone has already said,

I'd recommend lassoing someone who's opinion you trust, and who you don't mind seeing you nekkid, to watch you try all those demo skins on. A second set of eyes might catch something you don't.

Jerboa volunteers.

all been said before except that i cannot understand anyone buying a shape.

There is nothing that cannot be achieved via edit appearance and if the shape is mod then all you bought was a starting point and you have plenty of those to begin with already.

Final comment on shape, if you want to buy a shape, go and buy prim skirts and belts and find a shape to fit those that you are happy with. There seems to be a prevalence for designers to turn out these items for teenage sticks that then are either no mod in the right parts or have inflexible scripted resize. I have given up and started making my own for more sexy womanly hips.

For newbies, modifying a shape with precision is not an easy task. Heck, I'm old, and it's still a daunting prospect for me. Some people are better with the sliders than others.

Some people don't have an eye for shape making, just like any other artistic endeavor. The problems with making shapes is you don't have a good reference point. The starting shapes are so awful,. It can be really tedious and time consuming fiddling with the sliders constantly.

Or you could just be lazy like me, and prefer to have someone else do all the work. Less work means more playtime.

Dropped a couple of skins on you inworld, including one of the unmodified Eloh ones. ^_^

Hi; I just say that you really need a shape that has modify rights. No matter how gorgeous the ad looks, you will want to tweak it a bit sooner or later. The ad is made to sell. It can have been photoshopped or just shown in the best possible and most flattering poses. That is business tools. Make people want to buy it.

It's already been mentioned a freebie blog, and I toss out one more: http://slfreestyle.blogspot.com/

It is lots of free and 1L skins. Get some of of those. It will give you an idea of what you like. Here is an example of where you can find some free skins inworld: http://slife.sezmra.com/. Follow the slurl to Crestfallen. It is also included 2 free shapes in each skin pack. These are a bit more "natural" than the average SL shape, meaning that they are shorter and not so bigbreasted. But they are modify, so it's great to play around with them in appearance mode and see what you come up with. Free and fun!

About prize and quality: It is as in RL. Some things are really good and cheap, others are bad and overprized. Some sell because they have a big name. What you like is a matter of personal preference. If you ask different people why they buy their skins, you will get different answers.

Lastly, there is 2 skin designers who send out free skins to their update group. Tuli and Blowpop. You need to pay 250 L to join the group, but then you recive generous gifts. That is a really good deal. Visit those shops, try on a demo and see what you like. IMHO, it is good skins and a bargain.

I'm on my best behavior in this thread. No pickup lines! Skin selection is serious business.

Of course...if asked....
"Hello Moneypenny, I'd like to loosen that bun and get to know you"

Yep, make your own shape, unless you just decide you don't have the eye for it.

Some tips:

1. Get one of those artist's "human proportions" drawings, like the da Vinci man. It can help serve as a guide to get the proportions right. Head size and arm length are two things that a lot of people get wrong. Just because that drawing is "the norm", though, doesn't mean that you can't have endless legs, a wasp waist and size DD tits...it's a guide, not the law, and in SL you can look the way YOU want to.

2. *small changes!*. Just a couple of numbers difference in the sliders can alter your look.

3. Keep tweaking. Maybe over the course of several days or weeks, as you notice things about yourself. Some of the sliders (e.g., height, leg length, torso length) interact, so don't be afraid to go back and re-tweak something after you change something else.

4. Save, save, save. Especially while you are developing your "look". Set up some kind of naming convention and save your shape when you make changes to it. I'm pretty much happy with my shape now...I only have three versions in my inventory. But at one point I had maybe ten or twelve iterations of me.

5. Skins. I love my Celestial Studios skins, but that doesn't keep me from looking for the "perfect skin". If you don't trust your own taste, search this forum for several skin threads...you'll get a long list of brands that people like.

Always try demos so you can see if the skin has seams on it or crazy marks not shown in the pics!

Skin and shape shopping can be a task and a half but some shape creators out there give styling cards with thier shapes so you can look like the pic (The Theatre at Devilfish does this for men) I'm sure there will be womens ones out there too. Again if there's an availablity try a shape on - they'll usually have huge hands or feet but the rest gives you a great insight to how the body will look.

Never buy shape from a picture that doesn't show the whole body - it might look like a good pic until you buy the shape to find you have strange looking legs and toes.

Don't buy a shape that isn't modifyable - it's a waste of cash!


Also keep in mind with skins, eyebrows and hairs/facial hairs (should you want any lol) can all be changed outside of the skin using the 'hair' function in appearance mode.

What makes a skin better than another is all in the eyes of the person buying it i guess, do you like something realistic? something cartoony? something futuristic? there's a ton of stores out there i mean THOUSANDS so be sure you shop around