Tag: Kalhene Ariadna

UPDATED! Another Fifteen-Minute Second Life Avatar Makeover: You Must Be an Angel

No one on earth could feel like this
I’m thrown and overflown with bliss
There must be an angel
Playing with my heart

—There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart), by the Eurythmics

Time for another one of my patented 15-minute Second Life avatar makeovers! I hope that you enjoy these transformation as much as I do 🙂

This time, I have selected an alt which I have styled as a heavenly angel (her actual, Second Life legacy name is Prayerful Vigil, quite fitting!). Here is a before shot from 2018, a classic avatar with a system-layers-and-flexiprims outfit, outfitted with the free Bento wings and sword from the Marcus starter SL avatar:

And here is the after shot. This avatar is a perfect example of one of Ryan’s top ten tips for freebie hunting:

Be patient: Freebies can come and go; freebie stores like The Free Dove and Ajuda SL Brasil rotate their freebies regularly, so it’s worthwhile to visit every couple of months, just to see what’s new. It can take some time to pull together a complete look from various components picked up as freebies at different times from different stores and events.

In this case, the complete look was pulled together by patiently picking up freebies at various times throughout the past two years. I also took full advantage of the then-free Kalhene Ariadna mesh body when it was avialable! The wings and hale were the final two bits I picked up in the past week (please see the style credits below the picture for details).

This avatar is wearing:

  • Mesh Head: the Strong Face Bento mesh head by The Genus Project (free group gift; group is free to join)
  • Mesh Body: the Kalhene Ariadna mesh body (I was lucky enough to pick up the free predecessor of the current Kalhene Anya mesh body, which is now for sale for L$1,695 here; this body is compatible with Maitreya Lara apparel and footwear, and includes a Bento mesh head, not used here)
  • Bakes on Mesh Skin: White Queen skin gift by A&A (free on the SL Marketplace)
  • Hair: I picked this Jessi hair in goth white up from Sn@tch as a free prize in a previous year’s Trick or Treat Lane hunt
  • Necklace: This was a free hunt prize by Dreaming Thicket, in the Spring 2019 edition of the Twisted Hunt (which had a colour theme of gold and white, perfect for this angel avatar!)
  • Gown: This was also a free hunt prize in the Spring 2019 Twisted Hunt, from Appliqué Chic
  • Shoes (not shown): Amy flats from Hilly Haalan (free group gift; group is free to join)
  • Wings: golden Icon angel wings from Blueberry (I was able to pick up the Gold Pack of these wings last weekend, using the L$500 in free store credit which was in the group notices, and taking advantage of their four-day 50% Off Sale; the Blueberry group costs only L$20 to join)
  • Halo: Aether halo by Cubic Cherry (free gift at the current Engine Room shopping event; the event group is free to join; the halo is resizable and I made it smaller)
  • Sword: from the free Marcus starter Second Life avatar
  • Particle Effects: This is the only thing I bought at full retail price! The Valkyrie particle aura is from Cole’s Corner: animated halo, hands, and body particles in either silver or gold! (L$300; more information here, including an animated GIF)

TOTAL COST FOR THIS AVATAR LOOK: Only L$320! (L$20 to join the Blueberry group, and L$300 for the Valkyrie aura particle effects; if you need to purchase the Kalhene Anya mesh body, the cost is L$2,015)

UPDATE Sept. 30th, 2020: I just found the perfect finishing touch for this avatar! It’s a gold wing necklace, the free gift from the MINDS booth at the 5th anniversary round of the SanaRae shopping event (here’s the exact SLURL; it also comes in a silver version). It’s beautiful, and very fitting indeed for an angel!

“After” pictures taken at the Engine Room shopping event.

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: The New Bae Bento, Bakes on Mesh Head by META Is Only L$99 for a Limited Time

PERSONAL NOTE: Well, I actually lasted a whole TWELVE DAYS between blogposts, which I think is a new personal record!

I was going to save this particular blogpost for when I resume blogging in September, but I didn’t know how long this special, promotional price would last, so I decided to publish this post now rather than wait.

Because I need to work overtime (including evenings and weekends) on my full-time university job in order to meet some firm deadlines this fall, I regret that I will not have any time to blog about the various social VR and virtual worlds, at least this month. Consider this a one-off, single-time exception.

See you in September!

I swear, you come across great deals in Second Life in the damnedest places.

I was enjoying the blues at Bray’s Place (my new favourite hangout on the grid) and idly checking out what the other avatars were wearing (using the handy free What Is She Wearing? HUD) when I discovered a model of Bento mesh head that I hadn’t encountered before, from a company called META. And it’s a real bargain if you are looking for a Bento, Bakes on Mesh-compatible female mesh head!

It is currently on sale for only L$99, in what I assume is a special, time-limited promotional offer (here is the link to the SL Marketplace listing):

This is what the Bae head looks like, using the included brow shaper and body shape, right out of the box, with zero adjustments to the sliders. The shape of this head reminds me a bit of the freebie Catwa Freya head (sorry, it’s no longer a freebie!).

The head skin you see in this image is actually a full-head tattoo layer included with this head (I experimented and found that the butter body skin tone of 7 Deadly S[k]ins matches it well). I am wearing it on the freebie Ariadna body by Kalhene, which is, sadly, no longer available*. There was a slight neck seam visible, which I covered with the golden choker you see here.

After making various adjustments to the head and body sliders to my liking, here is my final avatar look, using the Bae head and the Ariadna body. In these pictures my avatar is wearing the Elvira skin from 7 Deadly S[k]ins in the butter skin tone (this was an Advent calendar gift from last December). I found that this Bento mesh head responds very well to the sliders, and of course it works with any Bakes on Mesh skins and makeup:

Here’s a full-body shot:

Now, I don’t know how long the L$99 promotional pricing will apply to the Bae head, so I would snap it now if you’re interested! I think this is a real bargain, especially when you compare it to Bento mesh heads that cost L$5,000 or more.

*Note that the L$1,695 Anya mesh body by Kalhene (which is frequently updated, and simply gets better and better with each new update!) is the successor to the original Ariadna freebie mesh body. Anya is available to buy at the Kalhene store, and is fully Maitreya Lara compatible; please see this blogpost for further information. I am mightily impressed with this body!

Another Fifteen-Minute Second Life Avatar Makeover: Professional Business Woman

Everybody is familiar by now with the Elizabeth businesswoman avatar, one of Linden Lab’s selection of starter avatars for newbies:

Well, today I decided to give Elizabeth one of my patented fifteen-minute avatar makeovers, and take her to a role-play hotel operating in Second Life for a business meeting! The Essencia Hotel (website; SLURL) is a hotel and convention centre, staffed by both NPCs and role-playing avatars (you can even apply to work here).

To book a room, you just click on one of the kiosks in the hotel foyer, which takes you to a website. Rates range from L$150 a night for a standard twin single, up to L$500 a night for the premium suite!

If you join the Essencia Hotel group for free, you can even pick up a free gift: some luggage!

Here’s what Elizabeth looks like after her head-to-toe makeover. And, like any savvy businesswoman, she knows the value of a dollar. Everything you see here was free! (In some cases I joined a group when they had a free group join period.)

Elizabeth is wearing:

Mesh Head and Body: the free Kalhene Ariadna female mesh body (which, unfortunately, has been pulled from the SL Marketplace because of a DMCA complaint; more details here; I hope that this is resolved soon, but as Elizabeth the businesswoman well knows, legal matters over intellectual property can take time to resolve!).

Skin: Creamy in the milk skin tone from WOW Skins (a free system skin from the gift box of all the previous group gifts, located next to the panel with this month’s group gift; I joined the WOW Skins group when they had a free group join period a while back; Creamy is an older system skin, to which I added the Bakes on Mesh finger fix gloves which are part of a full package of BoM feet and finger fixes for Wow skins, tucked away on a shelf on the second floor of the new location of the Wow Skins store, located at this exact SLURL (click Show on Map and follow the red arrow).

Hair: Kristen by Ade (free gift from the SL17B Shop and Hop; more information here).

Eyes: Sahara eyes by Avi-Glam (free gift from the SL17B Shop and Hop; more information here).

Dress: Office dress in black from Kaithleen’s (I picked this up for free using the gift card that was a Christmas group gift from the store last December).

Shoes: I have been meaning to blog about this fabulous freebie for a while now! These are the sixtynine pumps in black, a free group gift from the KOKOIA shoe store (the KOKOIA group is free to join). These lovely free pumps come in six different neutral colours to go with just about any outfit!

Briefcase: I picked up this freebie from the SpotCat booth at a past Man Cave shopping event. It comes with the Bento hold post shown, and I think it’s the perfect finishing touch for this professional look! (Note: if you go to the SpotCat store in-world and join their store group for L$100, among the group gifts is a set of three of these briefcases for men or women, in white, brown, and black.)

TOTAL COST FOR THIS AVATAR LOOK: FREE!

All pictures taken at the Essencia Hotel.

BREAKING NEWS (Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies Edition): The Free Kalhene Ariadna Mesh Body Has Been Removed from the SL Marketplace Due to a DMCA Complaint

Please note that I am taking a vacation from the blog for the next two to three weeks, except for sponsored blogposts (and the occasional breaking news story such as this).

Have you heard?? Minusseven has posted the following comment to my most recent blogpost about the Kalhene Ariadna mesh body:

Unfortunately, the Kahlene body has been taken off the marketplace. I heard it was because Maitreya had complained to LL, but that might just be a rumor.

I have checked and it is, indeed, now gone from the SL Marketplace. In the back of my mind, I think I knew that this might happen, which is one of the reasons I loaded up all my female alts in SL just to pick up a copy of this freebie.

I’m not sure if Linden Lab has the ability to actually remove content from people’s inventories if a product is deemed to be somebody else’s stolen intellectual property (I seem to remember that they can, but it is not used very often). Daisy Winthorpe (who knows more about this than I do) has informed me that:

Linden Lab can pull the UUID of the mesh and the UUIDs of the texture. If the person who filled out the DMCA has proof enough, I am sure they will.

So, it would appear to be possible that we could lose all Kalhene Ariadna items in our SL inventories. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but we’ll see. I will be sorry to see this beautifully-crafted female mesh body go; in a very short period of time it made a big impression!

The creator, Claudia Urdaneta, posted the following notice to the Kalhene Second Life group:

Hi all. I want to communicate something important about the ARIADNA bodymesh. I have recently received a DMCA for my work, and according to Linden’s rules, I must remove the content and disable it from sale until this whole issue is resolved. In the meantime I will continue to work on improving, and on new items. I ask you for patience and I want to thank you for the welcome that my work had. I hope this matter will be solved and it will be available again soon.

DMCA refers to the U.S.’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act. When Linden Lab receives a complaint against a store or brand, they must act. You can read more about the process here when I blogged about a DMCA complaint filed against The Genus Project, which led to the closing of their in-world store.

Hoo boy, the people over at Virtual Secrets (the National Enquirer of Second Life) are gonna have a field day with this one! Everyone is gonna have an opinion, and point fingers (probably at Maitreya). There will probably also be something on the SL gossip website The Whisperer, who tends to keep tabs (and provide receipts!) on the never-ending drama and intrigue in the Second Life fashion community.

Stay tuned! This could get interesting.