Looking for a more 'average' avatar look

I'd like to modify my avatar to look more like myself in real life. That means finding a more 'mature woman' skin. I don't want an old woman, but not the little hottie bodies that all the skin shops carry. Anyone have any recommendations? I want to observe the differences in interactions I have as a 45 year old woman vs. my current avatar.

Thanks!

Brazen Women, perhaps.

Thanks Osprey. I'll check it out.

Look up "By Georgia". If she doesn't have something already, just IM her. She has been making some shapes and skins that she refers to as "off the runway" versions.

Why not just "build" your body according to your dimensions and but a reasonable skin?

because reasonable skins are hard to find....

wanna skin for a 16yo china doll lolita, there's thousands

wanna skin for a bronzed immortal goddess, there's ten's of thousands...

want a skin for a 20something hollywood starlet? just turn around.

bu heavens forbid someone want a decent skin that could be someone off the street, because you'll have to search hard.

Agreed. It took me several months of searching to find a skin that felt like "me", and that's the "goddess" version.

I second Brazen Woman - and if the OP is really motivated, their Classic Lines skin files are available for download on their blog.
http://www.brazenwomen.com/

I never did find a skin that matched "me" so I found skin templates on the internet, took a picture of me, and used GIMP.
The biggest problems - no one seemed to make a "tan" skin that was "natural" AND "dark", and they all assume that all girls have big boobs and paint shadows that don't look right on small/no boob girls wearing bikinis (or faerie leaves).

Definitely Brazen Woman. If you can't find anything you like, I bet Beebo can come up with something for you.

If you are serious about looking like your RL self, Namssor at Second Skin Labs offers a custom service. You submit a series of RL photos of yourself. They'll build you a custom skin and, I believe, a shape to go with it.

It's not cheap.

Well this gives me some ideas going forward for new skin creations!

I have to agree, it's very dificult to create an 'average' avatar. Part of the problem is the perfect symmetry.....no amount of slider tweeking can ever really mimmick the natural human form.
And skins....even flawed skins (that I've seen) still look too 'pretty' because they are works of art (really) I have seen a couple of elderly skins that looked great for what they are....but middle aged.....that would be a great challenge as a skin maker! I'll be 42 in 2ish weeks and I got a few things going on now that my avatar just can't quite reproduce lol

If you're looking for a nonglamorous skin, why not get Ruth out of your library and wipe the makeup off her face and adjust the shape to a reasonable body thickness. I used Ruth's skin for nearly a year until I made my own. If you are going to wear clothes, a skin does not have to be that great and shapes are not that hard to do.

If you need any help putting an AV together, give me a shout. I have made a fair few for fun and have some good full or copy+trans resources.

Edit: I have also made the shapes of a few people who still use them based one their RL pictures.

I'd love to make a more realistic looking avatar shape, if anyone wants one, let me know.

Skins, I vote too for Brazen Woman.

As a 35 year old woman in real life, I'm not finding much difference between my skin in my 20s from my skin in my 30s, but with a few exceptions. But then, I'm a fairly youthful looking 35, as I don't smoke, or drink a lot and try to live a healthy life. Unless you're living a rough life of booze and drugs, there isn't going to be much difference between you in your 30s and you in your 20s, skinwise. God forbid I age anything like Cameron Diaz.

As far as a face, you're probably looking for a few soft lines around the eyes and on the forehead. The soft lines around the eyes can be achieved without buying a new skin by increasing the bags around the eyes in your shape over 50%. I would save any pronounced lines on the forehead until you want to look like you are in your 40s to 50s.