Tag: Celestina's Weddings

UPDATED! Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Free Gifts from the 2021 Valentine’s Shop and Hop Event

Have you joined the RyanSchultz.com Steals, Deals & Freebies group yet? I will be posting EVEN MORE news and tips on finding fabulous freebies and bargains in Second Life than I post here on the blog! More information on this brand new SL group here.

The annual Second Life Valentine’s Shop & Hop event officially opens tomorrow, February 5th, and runs until February 17th, 2021. Almost all of the participating merchants in the eight-sim-wide shopping mall have a free gift set out for their customers, over one hundred gifts in total, and the following are my picks for the most fabulous fashion freebies from the event!

All SLURLs in this blogpost should take you directly to the location of the freebie in the Shop & Hop mall, so let’s get started…on your mark, get set, go!

Women’s Apparel and Footwear

Here Vanity Fair is wearing the cute, playful Adore You dress from Candy Kitten, which features a broad, laced-up belt, and comes with a HUD to change the colour and pattern of every part, with six texture options for both the top and skirt! it’s sized to fit Maitreya regular and petite, Belleza Freya, and Legacy female mesh bodies.

The gift from Glitzz is this three-piece set called Woke Up, a lacy pink bra and matching panties and a loose white shirt to wear over top, which comes in the following sizes: Maitreya, Freya, Hourglass, and Legacy.

This fun and fuzzy bodycon dress called Mary is the Valentine’s Shop and Hop present from Rosary (sizes: Maitreya, Freya Perky, Hourglass, Legacy, and Kupra). This curve-hugging dress comes with a HUD as shown below, to change the colour of the dress to any of eleven different shades!

Celestina’s Weddings has an opulent, beautiful jewelry set as a gift, which includes the earrings, necklace, and ring as shown, as well as a matching bejeweled purse!

The gift from Valentina E. is the aptly-named Slinky Dress in lavender (which comes in a Maitreya Lara size only):

From ALTER Clothing & Accessories comes the Berry bare-shouldered ruched dress, in a complete fatpack of 29 colours as shown below (sizes: Maitreya Lara; Belleza Venus, Isis, and Freya; Slink Physique and Hourglass; Tonic Curvy and Fine).

From Envious comes this cute Kisses Love outfit, which includes the cropped sweater, the polka-dot miniskirt with garters, and the lace-up platform boots!

This next casual outfit Vanity Fair is wearing consists of two separate gifts from the 2021 Valentine’s Shop and Hop! The lovely ruffled floral top is the present from the Pixicat booth (sizes: Maitreya, Freya, Hourglass, and Legacy), and the embroidered denim skirt with the optional chain belt is the gift from Tachinni Clothing (sizes: Maitreya, Isis, Freya, Hourglass, and Legacy).

This sexy black top, skirt, and harness (all in one piece) is the gift from Asteria (sizes: Maitreya and Petite; Legacy and Perky; Belleza Isis and Freya; Signature Hourglass).

From the swan pond in the middle of the Deep Static booth, you can pick up a gift box with these Delia Valentine’s glasses, which include a HUD with 8 textures for the frames, and 9 different lens tints:

Now let’s take a look at some of the footwear gifts at the Valentine’s Shop and Hop.

ISON‘s gift are a complete fatpack (21 colours, plus 9 bonus colours) of these mid-heel height strappy leather shoes called Kenya, which come in sizes to fit Maitreya, Slink, Legacy, and Belleza Freya mesh feet. (Note that I had to adjust Vanity’s foot size under the body sliders, to get these to look right on her feet.)

From Gabrielle Hamelin come these black floral platform boots, perfect for stomping on someone’s heart for (Anti-)Valentine’s Day! They come in a mid-heel height, for Maitreya, Belleza, Slink, and Legacy mesh feet, plus an unrigged version for all other feet, so they should fit you!

Baiastice always gives such wonderful gifts at every Shop and Hop event, and this round is no exception! At the Baistice booth, you can pick up these deep red, drop-dead, thigh-high Gio stretch boots (sizes: mid-heel height for Maitreya, Belleza Freya, Slink Hourglass, Singature Alice, and Legacy mesh feet).

The gift from the FashionNatic booth are these Uma boots, to fit Maitreya, Belleza Freya, and Legacy female feet (note: not Slink, but you can always alpha out your feet for these boots). You can tint each of four different parts of this boot separately to one of no less than fifty different colours using the HUD, to match literally any outfit! Very versatile!

Finally, from the Son!a Edge booth comes yet another stunning ballgown gift for which they have become renowned, the Athena gown in lilac, which comes in sizes to fit Maitreya (and Petite), Legacy (and Perky), Freya Perky, and Hourglass mesh bodies. You’re sure to turn some heads in this at your next fancy soirée in Second Life!

Women’s Hair

The gift from Vanity Hair is this fun, piled-high, über-teased Miss Lu updo, which comes in a fatpack of colours:

Men’s Apparel and Unisex Accessories

Etham is giving away a men’s wardrobe staple, a plain T-shirt with a 3/4-length sleeve, which includes a HUD with 8 different shades of black, red, and pink for Valentine’s Day. The shirt comes in in sizes to fit Belleza Jake, Legacy, Slink, and Signature Gianni and Geralt male bodies, and a “classic” fit if your body isn’t one of the aforementioned models.

A&D Clothing has a gift on some John Lennon-style sunglasses with round lenses, with a choice of eight different images for the reflections; these glasses are unisex and resizable.

Kungler’s Jewelry has a rather interesting gift: a set of two Valentine’s rings that can be worn together by one person, or split up, to be worn by two lovers! The rings come with a texture-change HUD, and the sign states that they are “highly editable and Bento friendly” (which means that you’ll probably need to do a bit of work to get them to fit you properly). These rings come in two sizes (regular and large) for either the right or the left hand.

Free Store Credit and Gift Cards

Once again, several stores are offering free store credit and gift cards! Among them are:

  • Addams: L$500 in free store credit (with no expiry date!)
  • Blueberry: L$400 in free store credit (expires in two weeks)
  • Bumblebee: a L$500 store gift card
  • EscalateD: L$250 in free store credit
  • Tachinni Clothing: L$500 in free store credit if you join their group (there’s a L$15 group join fee; the free credit expires February 24th, 2021), plus a gift of an embroidered denim miniskirt with an optional chain belt (sizes: Maitreya Lara; Belleza Isis and Freya; Slink Hourglass, Legacy)
  • ViSion: L$450 in free store credit if you join their group (there’s a L$18 group join fee; the free credit expires February 23rd, 2021), plus a fatpack of panties (sizes: Maitreya Lara; Belleza Isis and Freya; Slink Hourglass; Legacy; Kupra)

UPDATE Feb. 5th, 2021: Daisy Haven told me about yet another store that is offering free store credit. Go to the Mangula booth, and click the sign indicated by the green arrow below to receive L$300 in free store credit (expires February 20th, 2021):

Above the credit gift sign are two free gifts of women’s footwear, no group needed! And on the other side of the wall, there are three gifts especially for people who subscribe to the Mangula group—and it doesn’t take up one of your precious free group slots! The subscribe panel is located right at the centre of the booth, below the red Mangula logo, and it is free to subscribe (and there are many other subscriber-only gifts located at the Mangula mainstore location).

Thanks for the tip, Daisy!

Happy freebie shopping!

In these pictures, Vanity Fair is also wearing:

Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Advent Calendar Gifts for December 24th, 2020

Here’s my blogpost with links to four lists of Advent Calendars and 12 Days of Christmas Calendars, plus my “Top Ten” Calendars you should not miss in 2020!

And if you want to learn how to pick up SIX HUNDRED AND SIX presents on Christmas Day, here’s your detailed plan of attack!

Please note that, if you want to get a sense of what each store’s Advent calendar gifts look like before you teleport in, you can peruse Andonia’s exhaustive list of 2020 Advent calendars, which she has published on her Kinky Fox Designs blog. Just press Ctrl-F on your keyboard and do a search for the store name, and you will pull up pictures of most of that calendar’s gifts, to help you decide if it’s worth the trip. Thank you for all your hard work, Andonia!

Now, before we get started, you might want to limber up a bit. You know, touch your toes, do a few deep knee bends. You don’t want to pull a hamstring or something… 😉

Better do some crunches before you embark on today’s virtual shopping marathon! (photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash)

OK, now that you’ve stretched those muscles, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover today! While there are a few stores on the grid which will offer presents on Christmas Day (Petite Mort, Oubliette, Ari-Pari, Byrne, perhaps Entice, etc.), most Advent calendars and 12 Days of Christmas calendars give out their final gifts today, on December 24th.

Remember that the Advent calendar at 7 Deadly S[k]ins is unique, in that it gives out a present every single day in December, right up until New Year’s Day! Today’s gift is the Hope skin in the dew skin tone. (Hey, what kind of a colour name is “dew”, anyways? Isn’t dew supposed to be transparent?!??)

You will need to join the 7 Deadly S[k]ins group for L$1,000, or you can buy each of the previous days’ gifts for only L$25 each.

Once again, I have called upon Second Life supermodel Moesha Heartsong to show you the rest of today’s bounty of womenswear gifts. Why, Moesha is now so famous, she doesn’t get out of bed for less than L$10,000 a day!* 😉

The Christmas Eve present from JUMO is the Faline dress in red. There’s no need to join any group, just come and click on December 24th on their calendar. You can also pick up all the previous days’ gifts for free. Don’t forget that JUMO will have a present for you on Christmas Day, and a final end-of-year gift on New Year’s Eve!

The final gift from the Advent calendar at Virtue is this attractive deep red floral Selena dress (the Virtue group is free to join):

Now head over to EscalateD, and look for the green advent tree (not the red one, which requires a paid group join). Note that you only need to click on the green advent calendar ONCE, and you will receive a folder containing all 24 gifts! (If you do click on all 24 dates, you will land up with 24 copies of all 24 presents, and then you will need to spend some extra time cleaning up your inventory to remove all the duplicates!)

The December 24th gift from the EscalateD Advent calendar is this hair and Santa hat combination, which comes in a full fatpack of colours. Shown in the picture below is the hair styling HUD, which also allows you to change the colour of the Santa hat and the left and right scrunchies:

Today’s gift from Essenz are these Graz shoes in purple (the Essenz group costs L$350 to join, or you buy this pair, or any of the previous days’ gifts, for only L$50 each if you do not wish to join the group).

Now I am going to show you gifts from a few Advent calendars where you can make a single visit and pick up all 24 gifts at one time! Highly efficient freebie shopping!

First up is Blackbird Lace, where today’s gift is this festive minidress with an optional matching scarf! While you’re in store, be sure to pick up all the previous days’ presents.

Among the 24 Advent calendar gifts at Coveted is this royal blue winter outfit (no group is needed, just come slap the dates on the calendar; there’s also a patchwork version of this coat as a different day’s present):

The December 24th gift from DM Design is this lovely Lione ballgown, which includes a HUD with 10 different colours! Again, be sure to pick up all 24 gifts at once! A free group join is required to obtain all 24 gifts of womenswear.

Today’s present from Donni’s Dollies is this beautiful white and gold dress (the Donni’s Dollies group is free to join). On one trip you can pick up 24 gifts, and each day’s gift includes both men’s and women’s apparel!

The Christmas Eve gift from ROA Design is this lace Aealia dress, which comes in three different shades: blush as shown below, plus lilac and aqua. Again, you can pick up all 24 Advent calendar gifts at once! No group join is needed.

The Advent calendar at TrendZy has 24 lovely outfits for women! Among them are the two ballgowns pictured below (no group is needed, just come slap the numbers on the calendar).

Fashion Fantasy has two Advent calendars with 24 gifts each, one for women and one for men. Moesha models two of the women’s presents: a floral halter top from December 8th, and embroidered leather pants from December 19th (no group required; here’s the SLURL to take you directly to the Fashion Fantasy calendar):

And among the 24 gifts from the Fashion Fantasy for Men Advent calendar is this red hoodie (don’t forget to hit Donni’s Dollies for 24 menswear gifts, too!).

But I have saved what I think is the most generous Christmas Eve gift for last! Pop down to Celestina’s Weddings, join their store group for free, and snap up this glorious golden ballgown, which includes the gold and diamond Mon Amour earrings and necklace!

Happy freebie shopping!

*stolen from a well-known Linda Evangelista quote!

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Advent Calendar Gifts for December 23rd, 2020

Here’s my blogpost with links to four lists of Advent Calendars and 12 Days of Christmas Calendars, plus my “Top Ten” Calendars you should not miss in 2020!

And if you want to learn how to pick up a whopping 629 free Christmas presents on Christmas Day, here’s your plan of attack!

Do I have a haul of fabulous and fashionable freebies for you today!

Today’s gift from Wow Skins is this very attractive Dana Bakes on Mesh/system skin in the sandy skin tone (the Wow group costs L$199 to join):

Wow Skins: Dana in the sandy skin tone

Next up we have the Hope skin from 7 Deadly S[k]ins, in the cotton candy skin tone. Coincidentally, this skin looks very similar to today’s present from Wow Skins! The 7 Deadly S[k]ins group costs L$1,000 to join during the month of December.

7 Deadly S[k]ins: Hope skin in the cotton candy skin tone

From the Advent calendar at Essenz we receive these Barbados wedges in coral pink, which include a HUD to change the sole, the metal, the texture on the wedge, and the colour of the stripes and ankle strap. The Essenz group costs L$350 to join, or non-members can pay just L$50 each to pick up this and all previous Advent calendar gifts.

The final gift from the 12 Days of Christmas calendar at Baby Monkey are these suede wrap boots! You don’t need to join a group to snap up these beauties, simply pay the calendar L$1, and your Linden dollar will automatically be refunded. While you’re in store, why not pick up the previous 11 gifts as well! Altogether, they form a colour-coordinated capsule wardrobe in cream, pink, and chocolate brown!

The present from Mishmash Fusion is this cozy blue and grey snowflake sweater with a snowflake pattern, which comes in sizes to fit various women’s mesh bodies. The Mishmash Fusion group is free to join.

The next two pictures show you two gifts together: the beautiful Eowyn elven gown in opal green from Eclectic Stars (no group needed), paired with the Charlotte diadem, the gift from the Advent calendar at Vagrant today (the Vagrant group is free to join). You’re all set for your next fantasy roleplay!

The crown comes with a HUD to change both the colour of the gemstones, and the metal textures:

Today’s gift from Virtual Diva is this haute couture Carmin bodysuit, collar, and corset! The Virtual Diva group is free to join during Advent. As you usually have to pay a fee to join the Virtual Diva group, you might wish to remain in the group after Christmas to take pick up some high-fashion group gifts throughout the year!

Among today’s gift from the eBENTO shopping event is this red and silver Estrella ballgown from Elisea Carter (the eBENTO group is free to join):

Lastly, we have this drop-dead gorgeous emerald green ballgown, today’s present from Celestina’s Weddings (the Celestina’s group is free to join):

Happy freebie shopping!

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Advent Calendar Gifts for December 21st, 2020

Here’s my blogpost with links to four lists of Advent Calendars and 12 Days of Christmas Calendars, plus my “Top Ten” Calendars you should not miss in 2020!

I’m running a bit late today again, my apologies!

We’re getting down to crunch time in the last few days leading up to Christmas Day, and boy, do I ever have a haul of Christmas presents for you today! Today’s gift from Entice is this cute brown dress (the Entice group is free to join):

From the 7 Deadly S[k]ins Advent calendar comes the Hope skin in the darker, coconut skin tone, which come in Bakes an Mesh/system and Omega applier versions, plus a fatpack of the Gillian skins in five skin tones, also in BoM and Omega versions:

7 Deadly S[k]ins Hope skin in the coconut skin tone
7 Deadly S[k]ins Gillian skin in the oak skin tone

Remember that the 7 Deadly S[k]ins store group does cost L$1,000 to join during December, but it’s worth it. (Or, if you prefer, you can pick up all the previous days’ gifts for just L$25 each, using my daily Advent calendar blogposts as a guide.) Also, don’t forget that, unlike other store calendars, the 7 Deadly S[k]ins Advent calendar has gifts every single day, right up until New Year’s Day!

Here are two December 21st gifts from the Advent calendar at the eBENTO shopping event which I quite liked: the striking Zoey hoop earrings by Supernatural (which come in silver and gold versions, with two HUDs to change the gemstones to match any outfit!), and the eye-catching, crystal-adorned black plat pumps from Celestina’s Weddings. There is no cost to join the eBENTO group.

Below are two 12 Days of Christmas calendar gifts, worn together: the fur coat and hat are from the calendar at No Shot, and the thigh-high laced leather boots are today’s gift from the Baby Monkey calendar. You do not need to join any group to pick up these gits, and if you prefer, you can wait until Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and pick up all the presents at one time! I just love it when Second Life stores do not force me to log in every day to pick up that day’s item. (I mean, it’s fun, but by this stage, it’s rather wearisome.)

The gift from the Advent calendar at Vagrant is this red top (the Vagrant group is free to join):

The gift from Justice is a relative rarity from an SL Advent calendar: a Christmas-themed item of apparel that is not bright red or green! This shoulder-baring Skye shirt with the tied sleeves comes in this muted Christmas ornament pattern, which I find a very refreshing change. The Justice group is free to join.

Today’s gift from the 12 Days of Christmas calendar at JUMO is this stunning Arden gown in red (the JUMO group is free to join):

Finally, these last two freebies are not Advent calendar gifts, but the free Christmas gifts from my friend Solas NaGealai of BlueMoon Enterprise are so wonderful that I had to add them to this post! You will have to join the Blue Moon group for free to pick up these group gifts.

The women’s present is this gorgeous red and gold ballgown, sure to turn heads at your next Christmas gala!

And the men’s gift is the red and gold Mouse King outfit, straight out of the classic E.T.A. Hoffmann tale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, which includes the crown, cape, and even the boots! You can wear this outfit with or without the optional mouse head.

Happy freebie shopping!