PERSONAL NOTE: I’ve been meaning to write this blogpost for a while, but my life has been rather hectic lately, and I simply haven’t had time. However, today I am off sick from work with various aches and pains, and my worn-out 60-year-old body is telling me that I need to rest, recharge, and heal a bit, so I decided that today is the day I will finally write this review (that, plus I learned yesterday about the sale!).
Since 2017, my main Second Life avatar, Vanity Fair, has kept the same standard components: a Catwa Kimberly mesh head, and a Maitreya Lara mesh body (with Daria skin from The Skinnery). Every so often—usually after tearing my hair out struggling with the complicated and non-intuitive Catwa HUDs—I would teleport into the LeLutka store, to have Vanity pick up and test drive various models of LeLutka EvoX heads, as a possible replacement. LeLutka’s savvy marketing (including giving away free male and female heads every December for the past four years!) has lead to EvoX becoming pretty much the new standard across the grid.
However, each time I decided to stick with my Catwa Kimberly head, which I had grown attached to (something which is a common occurrence among Second Life users). So for many years, this was how Vanity looked:
However, in February, I decided to purchase version 1.0 of the Elle Era2 Bento mesh head from LAQ, after picking up and playing around with the free demo. Here’s what Vanity Fair looked like, wearing one of the three free head skin gifts available at LAQ if you joined the store group for free, called Sophia:
There are actually three heads in the Era2 skin package: Standard, EvoX, and SupremeUHD. Standard works with standard SL head skins, and EvoX works with any LeLutka-EvoX-compatible head skins (which, as I mentioned earlier, have become the new de facto standard). But what really sold me were the SupremeUHD (Ultra High Definition) skins, which are new and, I believe, an exclusive LAQ innovation.
The level of detail on this head with the SupremeUHD skins and makeup is just INSANE! Here’s an extreme close-up of Vanity wearing the Sophia skin:
I was also impressed by the animations section of the HUD, which offered a wide variety of moods and animations. You can select multiple moods, and the head randomly switches between them at random time intervals.
Here’s a 30-second video (no sound) showing a couple of those moods (in this video Vanity is wearing the Susanna skin on the Elle Era2 SupremeUHD head, which I picked up as a gift at the recent Bellisseria 5th anniversary celebrations). I switched from the Sophia skin to the Susanna skin as the skin Vanity Fair wears every day, and I quite like it! I also like the many different smiling moods of the Era2 Elle head, everything ranging from a simple closed-mouth smile to a broad grin!
Over the past four months, I have experimented with various looks for Vanity Fair using the LAQ Era2 head, pairing it with another upgrade, the Maitreya LaraX body, and I have been very happy with it. Here’s a gallery of a few of those recent looks, to give you a better feel for this head (please click on each picture to view it in full size):
And, if this blogpost has interested you in the LAQ Era2 head, you’re in luck, because this week only, the male and female LAQ Era2 heads are on sale for 75% off their regular price! The sale price is only L$1,150. When asked on Flickr how long the sale price will last, LAQ owner Mallory Cowen responded, “From now until midsummer (next weekend)”, so you have a limited time to pick these heads up!
Just teleport into the LAQ store (SLURL), and you will see both the female and male Era2 head vendors, along with four free skins (three female, one male) for the Era2 heads, if you join the LAQ store group (there’s also a sign for you to join the group, which is free). Both heads have now been updated to version 1.2, which include more hairbase and makeup options, among many other improvements.
I love this head so much, that I took advantage of the one-week sale to pick up six more Era2 female heads to use with 6 of my female alts! Here’s one of those alts, Fire Bird, wearing the SupremeUHD Emma skin (another gift if you join the LAQ store group for free). Again, please click on each picture to see it in its full-size glory, and to admire the details on this head and face skin:
Remember, this 75%-off sale only runs until midsummer (i.e., this weekend). Unfortunately, I do not know the exact date and time that this sale ends, so if you’re interested, please don’t delay, because this is an exceptional bargain!
FREEBIE FASHIONISTA TIP: In these pictures, Fire Bird is wearing the LAQ Elle Era2 mesh head with the LucyBody Atenea mesh body. Looking for an inexpensive, Maitreya-Lara-compatible mesh body? Slap the Midnight Madness board at LucyBody, and wait until it hits 350 (usually within 2-3 days) to receive a free Atenea female mesh body, which is completely compatible with clothing designed for Maitreya Lara! The feet on the Atenea body are Slink-compatible, with three heel heights (flat, mid, and high), but the newest version of this body also includes a special foot setting compatible with Maitreya Lara high-heeled shoes. (You can pick up a Bakes on Mesh HUD to use with this body for only L$250, to be able to wear any BoM skin with it; see image below.)
UPDATE June 18th: This evening, I used the Sophia SupremeUHD skin gift on another female alt, Summer Fall, to produce the following blonde look, which I am quite happy with (and again, I just love the genuine smile animations on this head!):
Also, in addition to the two new SupremeUHD hairbase HUDs in version 1.2 of the Era2 head, you can pick up a third SupremeUHD hairbase HUD for only L$1 at the No Match hair store, to match the hairstyles sold there (exact SLURL; see picture below):
I leave you with another look at Summer Fall at my favourite SL club, LOVE:
