Tag: Coco Designs

UPDATED! Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: The Top 21 Second Life Store Groups to Join and Stay a Member of, for the Best Free Group Gifts and Bargains!

PLEASE NOTE: My blog is still on indefinite hiatus; I have made a single exception for this blogpost. After this, I will be going back on my self-imposed break from blogging.

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 now post here on the blog! More information on this brand new SL group here.

Join the Scandalize store group for only L$20, and it will likely be the best twenty Linden dollars you have ever spent!

Today’s blogpost is in response to the often-asked question: What are the best Second Life store groups to join and stay a member of?

But before I answer that burning question, there are six freebie groups (i.e. they are not store groups) which you should already be following (source):

  1. Fabulously Free in SL: their group is free to join; here is a list of the gifts you can pick up with that group tag active
  2. Maitreya Gifts, Sales & News: their group is free to join; follow their blog to find out what gifts you can get with this group
  3. Mesh Avatar Appearance Maniacs (MAAM): it costs L$50 to join the MAAM group; here is a list of freebies you can pick up with that group tag active
  4. SL Frees & Offers: theirgroup is free to join; here’s their list of group gifts
  5. TeleportHub.com: it costs L$10 to join their group; here is a list of gifts you can get
  6. THIRD LIFE [Frees, Gifts & Hunts]: their group is free to join, although they have charged in the past; here is their blog

Now, on to the list of Second Life store groups which I do recommend you join, in rank order (with the most generous groups listed first). So, if you are short of group space, you can just work you way down the list until you run out of available group slots! As I mention below, some of these groups are free, so you could leave them after picking up all the steals, deals, and freebies!

I also strongly recommend that you always keep at least one free group slot available, so if you do have to join a group unexpectedly, you are prepared!

There are, of course, countless other freebie groups which you can join for free, just to pick up a free outfit, then leave immediately afterwards (e.g. Mesh Body Friends). Usually, there will be a sign in the store which you can click on, that will give you a link in local chat to join the group, next to a picture of the free item. (Remember to press Ctrl+H to pull up the local chat window so you can click on the link.)

The generous group gifts wall at Wow Skins (click on the black and white gift box for all the previous group gifts!)

Without further do, here is the list. Please note that I have given the EXACT spelling of the store group names below is given in bold at the start of each entry on this list, so if you are having trouble finding it, you might want to cut and paste that name into the Search box under Groups.

  1. !|SCANDALIZE|! – This group only costs L$20 to join, and you get so much for that! Scandalize is, without a doubt, the most generous store on the grid when it comes to group gifts. Joining the group also gives you access to their many lucky boards. Don’t forget to also join the new Scandals SL Frees & News group group for free, to pick up all the free Scandalize outfit fatpacks available at the Scandalize outlet store on the same sim! More information here. (Once you have vacuumed up all the goodies, you can leave the Scandals SL Frees & News group.)
  2. Hilly Haalan Fashions – You can join this group for free, pick up literally dozens and dozens of lovely free group gifts of women’s apparel, footwear, and jewelry at both the spawn point and at the nearby freebie store, then leave the Hilly Haalan group if you need the group space for something else! (Thank you for your generosity, Hilly!)
  3. ..Virtue.. – The proprietor of Virtue, Abiela Heartsong, generously offers 100 free gifts of modestly designed but ultra fashionable women’s clothing, in two panels labelled “Group Gift” located on the main floor of her store. The Virtue group is free to join and, again, you can always choose to leave it after scooping up all the freebies.
  4. -monaLISA- – The monaLISA store has almost 100 group gifts of women’s apparel and footwear (the group costs only L$50 to join).
  5. Glitterati by Sapphire – If you join the Glitterati by Sapphire group for L$100, you can pick up one hundred past group gifts of dresses and gowns at the Group Gifts area in the in-world Glitterati store.
  6. .:WoW Skins:. – If you are looking for free female skins, the skin store group you should definitely consider joining is Wow Skins, which costs L$199. For that fee, you can pick up a large number of free group gifts, plus a gift box with all the past group gift skins! Keep an eye out for days when you join the Wow Skins group for free. They also have a Discord server you can join. You can see some of these group gift skins here.
  7. *COCO* Update Group – COCO Designs has several low, black group gift walls scattered around the store, with well over 60 high-quality gifts (women’s clothing and shoes; the group is free to join).
  8. J-Store Designs – Juli Fashion Design has a group gift wall with nearly 60 gifts of womenswear, plus a few men’s outfits, too! The J-Store Designs group is free to join.
  9. Pink Cream Pie – For a group join fee of L$314, Pink Cream offers you free womenswear group gifts from the current year, plus all the gifts from the previous four years, too! (here’s the SLURL to their group gift wall, located on the second floor of the store). The store group also lets you click on their six lucky boards.
  10. Legendaire V.I.P. – Legendaire currently has 41 gifts of women’s clothing and shoes; the group costs only L$49 to join.
  11. LYBRA Update Group {free} – Lybra has recently updated the group gifts wall in their store, offering a wide variety of wonderful womenswear (the Lybra group is free to join, and there are also some group gifts on a nearby wall for the various freebie groups—see the list at the top of this blogpost!).
  12. …:::Beautiful Dirty Rich:::… – The Beautiful Dirty Rich (a.k.a. B.D.R.) store is also very generous with their free group gifts, and the B.D.R. group is free to join!
  13. .ViSion. Clothing Store – For only L$18, you can join the ViSion store group and pick up some lovely free group gifts located to the right of the entrance of the store.
  14. …::: LsR :::..! Fashion Friends ! – This group costs L$99 to join, and it gives you regular group gifts of L$300 free store credit to use on anything in the LsR Originals store, plus a wall of group gifts and a huge wall of lucky boards, just for group members!
  15. <FABIA> Mesh Hair – This group costs L$300, and the FABIA Hair store gives you 18 free group gifts of women’s hairstyles.
  16. Loki Store – The Loki Store group costs L$99 to join, and offers a nice selection of free group gifts (here’s the SLURL to their group gift wall in store).
  17. BELLE EPOQUE Customers – Belle Epoque usually offers a half dozen free group gifts on their group gift wall, located to the right of the main entrance; the store group costs L$20 to join. The group gifts tend to get rotated relatively frequently, so it’s best to drop by every three months or so to see what’s new!
  18. TRUTH VIP – For a L$350 group join fee, Truth Hair store group members receive a free group gift of a hairstyle fatpack with a styling HUD via the group notices, every single month! The hair is beautiful, so this is definitely a group to join and stay a member of! TRUTH VIP group members can pick up the previous months’ group gifts for only L$500 each (here’s a SLURL to that wall where they are displayed).
  19. Baby Monkey Junkies – Baby Monkey womenswear proprietor Pixieplumb Flanigan always has lovely group gifts of women’s clothing and shoes to offer, and the Baby Monkey store group costs only L$20 to join. You can pick up previous group gifts for only L$10 each at a vendor located next to the current free group gift.
  20. 7 Deadly S[k]ins – The 7 Deadly S[k]ins store group costs L$295 to join, but keep your eyes peeled for periods throughout the year when you can join the 7 Deadly S[k]ins group for free (for example, they usually have one just before they launch their popular Advent calendar every December 1st). With your group tag active, you can pick up the monthly free group gifts located at the front desk of the store. The group tag also lets you play the lucky boards in store! Here’s a SLURL to the location of the lucky boards.
The group gift wall at Belle Epoque (the group costs L$20 to join)

Happy freebie shopping!

UPDATE April 3rd, 2021: The Arcane Spellcaster store group is free to join this Easter weekend, and with that free group join you can not one but two L$500 gift cards, good for anything in their store!

You might want to stay in the Arcane Spellcaster group, as they plan to give away a L$500 gift card every three months! Here’s the SLURL to their store.

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Free Gifts from the FaMESHed December Round!

It’s Christmas time, and many of the vendors participating in the December round of the monthly FaMESHed shopping event have Christmas gifts for you! You do need to join the FaMESHed Update Group for free to pick up all these gifts.

Here’s a look at some of the fabulous fashion freebies for female avatars. This avatar is wearing three gifts together as one outfit:

  • the sweater is the gift from COCO Designs;
  • the skirt is the gift from Safira; and
  • the boots are by L&B SWEAR.

The detail on the boots are a little hard to see in the first picture, so here’s a closeup! These winter boots are by Lapointe & Bastchild SWEAR, and they come in Frost blue, Pine green, and Merry red, in sizes to fit most brands of female mesh feet. Truly beautiful craftsmanship by Lapointe & Bastchild!

The skirt from Safira comes in two versions, either with or without a large bow at the rear, along with a HUD to change the colour of the stripe on the red skirt and the included panties to one of 23 different colours (or, if you wish, to remove the panties entirely, but Auntie Ryan is not going to show you that! 😉 …it would shock the children!).

Here my avatar is wearing the SWEAR boots in Frost blue, with the same Safira skirt as above, plus the Christmas hoodie from Giz Seorn. She’s all set for a romp in the snow (well, okay, maybe if she swaps out that miniskirt for some snowpants!):

Next up we have this Unicorn pink bodysuit by Tori Toricelli:

The gif from Scandalize is the Lizzi dress with a separate belt, which comes in a fatpack of colours!

You can also pick up some nice shoes. The Mozambique heels from Essenz come in a three-colour HUD, plus the ability to change both the colour of the sole and the metal on the cheeky little safety pin!

From Gos Shoes, there are these lovely red sandals:

And there is a metric TON of jewelry at the December round of the FaMESHed event! Here are just a few examples. First up is the lovely ornate, antique Princess necklace from Junbug, with a delicate golden chain and a light blue gemstone. Isn’t it gorgeous? I will definitely be wearing this with a light blue ballgown at my next swanky soirée!

Kunglers offers the following Doriana necklace in two versions: gold pearl (as shown below), and silver teal:

The FaMESHed gift from Glitzz is the elegant gold Amira necklace, which comes with a HUD to change the colours of the gemstones:

Next up we have the Tressa necklace and earrings from Cae, which come with a HUD to allow you to select one of six different metals, and fifteen different gemstones!

The gift from EarthStones is the lovely Devorah necklace and earrings in bloodstone:

Finally, from Supernatural we have this chic, versatile choker, which comes in either white or black, in gold or silver, and with two HUDs to change the two sets of gemstones to 35 different colours, to match any outfit!

You can also find a few menswear and home decor gifts. This charming milk can, decorated with Christmas holly and branches with red berries, is the gift from Trompe L’Oeil, and the sweater this male avatar is wearing is the gift from ELEMEN’S (it comes in blue as shown or in red, in sizes to fit the Belleza Jake and Signature Gianni male mesh bodies).

Happy freebie shopping! This round of the FaMESHed shopping event runs from December 1st to December 27th , 2020, so you’ve got plenty of time to swoop down and vacuum up all the fabulous Christmas freebies! Here’s your taxi!

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Presents From the December FaMESHed Event (Plus a Few Advent Calendar Gifts)

The December round of the FaMESHed Event in Second Life is upon us, and once again, most of the vendor booths have beautiful Christmas gifts for us! There is some really lovely stuff, both for your avatar and for your home. You do have to join the FaMESHed group for free to pick up all the presents.

Here Vanity Fair is wearing two gifts from vendors at FaMESHed: the Christmas Deer sweater from Just Because and the Hanna red heels by Phedora. (The blue leggings were part of the Dec. 4th Advent calendar gift from Appliqué Chic, and are still available today for free, but they will be L$10 after today):

The red Joy throw pillow and the neon Santa hat on the wall behind Vanity are also gifts from FaMESHED, by Fancy Decor and EQUAL respectively.

Now we have the Merry plaid blue zipper skirt (part of the same Dec. 4th Appliqué Chic Advent calendar gift as the leggings in the previous picture), plus a lovely cropped sweater, the FaMESHed gift from Giz Seorn:

Here we pair the red cable knit mohair sweater by COCO Designs with the sexy red thigh-high Cate boots by Garbaggio (my favourite shoe store!):

Next we have the Shayla robe in green from Ricielli, which comes in both closed and open versions (obviously, I’m not going to show you the open one!):

The Scandalize gift is the Nairi dress in black with a separate black lace bralette:

The gift from Neve is this lovely outfit consisting of two separate pieces, the top and the matching skirt:

This is the Jane sweater by RIOT (which comes in green as shown and also in red), paired with the Adriana red glitter shorts by Bombshell. (The RIOT gift box also includes Jasper sweaters for the men.)

Next up is the Scarlett bra and panties, the gift from Belle Epoque, shown with the Punta Cana shoes by Essenz, which comes with a HUD to change the colour of the shoes themselves (3 options: grey, blue, and red), the sole (4 options), and the tie around the ankle (18 options):

Here’s a closeup on the shoes, which like everything Essenz sells, is wonderfully crafted, with much attention paid to details!

Finally we have the Cindy dress in mint green by Kaithleen’s, paired with the Dec. 5th Advent calendar gift from Essenz, the sand-coloured Honolulu shoes:

Here’s a closeup of the Honolulu shoes, which are bit too frou-frou for my taste, but they might be perfect for you!

You do need to join the Essenz group for L$350 to pick up their daily Advent calendar gifts, but all are beautifully crafted footwear, and I think that L$350 for 24 quality pairs of shoes and boots is a bargain.

The hair used in all these pictures is the Dec. 5th Advent calendar gift from Firelight Hair, a curly hairstyle called Melvena (you will have to join the Firelight group for free to use this calendar). The hair comes with a 3-colour HUD to change it to brown, black, or red:

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: The COCO Designs Ball-Jointed Doll Mesh Avatar—And Two Free Alice in Wonderland Avatars!

One of my Second Life avatars is a ball-joined doll (BJD) made many years ago by COCO Designs. It’s a fully mesh avatar that looks like a china doll! The Bavarian dirndl outfit and brown boots I bought at the original COCO Doll Store, which is long gone. I had just assumed that COCO shut down that original store due to poor sales.

The hair came from a store that has since closed down, called Bewitched Hair, and although it is an older flexiprims style, I love it because it reminds me of a doll’s yarn hair!

Well, guess what? Today I discovered by accident that COCO Designs still has a BJD doll store (at this exact SLURL)! And the best part is, everything is at a discount! You can pick up a boy doll or a girl doll body for only L$99 each! Here’s where you buy the girl doll body:

And the best part is, you can pick up a collection of nine heads to match that body, for free, as part of an extensive freebie section for BJD dolls!

So let’s take a look at what we can put together using the L$99 body and several freebies from the free gift area:

This avatar is wearing:

  • Avatar Body: BJD Doll body by COCO Designs (L$99)
  • Avatar Head: Emily (one of nine different doll heads available free from COCO Designs; comes in both open and closed-eye versions)
  • Hair: Bounce hair in candy apple red by Bewitched Hair with matching Willis bangs (this store is no longer on the grid, but you can buy several styles of rigged mesh wigs to fit this doll for only L$99 each)
  • Dress: Slip Dress in red (free from COCO Designs; it replaces the upper part of the body that came in the BJD Doll body package above )
  • Shoes: red ballet shoes (free from COCO Designs; they come with legs and feet to replace the default ones in the BJD Doll body)

TOTAL COST FOR THIS AVATAR: Only L$99!

If you like, you can add an ornate, animated doll key to her back—yet another free gift from the COCO BJD Doll store!

But wait, there’s more! In the freebies section, there are also two mesh avatars from Alice in Wonderland, the White Rabbit and Alice herself! Here’s what the Alice mesh avatar looks like:

There’s even a Toto attachment, where she holds the little dog in her arms! And here is the White Rabbit, who comes in two versions, in or out of costume:

So, if you are still looking for Halloween costume ideas, how about going out as a doll, or as a character from Alice in Wonderland?

Here’s the SLURL to take you directly to the COCO BJD Doll store.