Tag: Pink Cream Pie

UPDATED! Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: My Picks for the Best Gifts from the 2022 Valentine Shop and Hop

The Valentine Shop and Hop event starts tomorrow, February 2nd, and runs until February 15th, with over 200 merchants participating over 10 shopping sims! Each store has a free gift for you, and today Vanity Fair is modeling some of those gifts. And, as you can see from these pictures, not everything is red or Valentine’s-themed! Please note that all SLURLs provided here should take you directly to the gift.

Let’s start with the underwear today! Here Vanity is wearing a layered undershirt and matching panties, the Valentine’s Day present from the Neve booth (which comes with a HUD with four colour options for each; sizes: Lara and Petite, Legacy and Perky):

From Belle Epoque comes this cheerful heart-adorned Lacey top and matching panties (sizes: Lara and Petite, Legacy and Perky)

This black-and-pink bodysuit is the gift from ViSion (sizes: Lara and Petite, Legacy and Perky, Freya, Kupra), along with L$400 in free store credit if you join the ViSion Clothing Store group for L$18 (the credit must be used before Feb. 20th, 2022):

Next up are a wide variety of dresses! The Super Star dress is from TO.KISKI (Lara, Legacy, Freya, Hourglass sizes):

The gift from Pink Cream Pie is a fatpack of the Tori Crush dress (Lara and Petite, Legacy, Freya, and eBody Reborn sizes), which comes with a HUD with 24 different textures for every single part of the dress!

Another minidress is this Zoe dress with the cheeky little cut-out, from the FlowerDreams booth, which comes with a HUD with 12 different colours and textures! It comes in a wide variety of sizes, too: Lara and Petite; Freya and Isis; Hourglass; eBody Classic and Curvy; Tonic Curvy, Fine and Minimizer; Signature Alice; and Altamura.

If you’re in the mood for something red, Baiastice has you covered with this Hatas dress! It comes in the following sizes: Lara and Petite; Legacy and Perky; Freya; Hourglass; and Kupra.

Or if you prefer something with a bit more coverage (after all, it is still February!), how about this lovely damasque Valentine dress with its tied, flared sleeves? It’s the present from Poeme (fits Maitreya Lara; Belleza Freya, Isis, and Venus; Slink Physique and Hourglass; Tonic Curvy and Fine; Meshbody Classic/TMP; eBody; and five fitmesh sizes).

From The Annex come two free gifts! The Dreams nightshirt comes in a fatpack of eight colours (black, green, grey, navy, peach, pink, purple, and teal), and if you join The Annex store group for free, you can pick up the ribboned Rhoda dress, which comes in nine colours (aqua, black, blue, green, grey, peach, pink, purple and yellow). Both gifts come in sizes to fit Maitreya Lara, Belleza Freya, and Slink Hourglass mesh bodies.

Be sure to drop by the QE Designs booth and pick up their generous gift box; it’s stuffed with many gifts of womenswear, and even a couple of home decor items! Here Vanity is wearing three gifts for QE Designs: the Everly top, Camilla denim shorts, and Gretchen tip-toe sneakers. Top sizes: Lara; Freya, Isis, and Venus; Physique and Hourglass; Tonic Curvy and Fine; eBody. Shorts sizes: Lara; Freya, Isis, and Venus; Physique and Hourglass; Tonic Curvy and Fine. Shoes fit Maitreya, Belleza, and Slink feet.

And here’s another couple of gifts from QE Designs, the Anya romper paired with the Una heels (each of which comes with a four-colour HUD). The romper sizes: Lara; Freya, Isis and Venus; Physique and Hourglass, eBody; Tonic Curvy and Fine; and classic sizing. Shoes fit Maitreya, Belleza, and Slink feet.

There are some truly lovely ballgowns for you to snap up as well! First, we have this red Bekka beaded-bodice gown by Sascha’s Designs, shown with another Shop and Hop present from ALTER, this lovely red-and-gold Vianney jewelry set (necklace, earrings, and ring). The gown can be worn with or without the flexiprim skirt attachment. Gown sizes: Lara and Petite; Legacy and Perky; Freya; Physique and Hourglass; Tonic Curvy and Fine; eBody Reborn; Kupra; fitmesh Medium; and something called Cinnamon & Chai (which is a body I have never heard of before!).

Another option is this stunning vintage ballgown from Blue Moon Enterprise, the Lady Rose Heart gown, which comes in only the Maitreya Lara size:

Here’s a close-up of the earrings, the Valentine’s Day present from Beloved Jewelry, which come in two different sizes (small and large), with a complete fatpack of metal textures and stone colours to choose from, to match any outfit!


Our last ballgown gift is a show-stopper! Behold this stylish Sol gown in soft pink from SOFIA, which comes with an optional star brooch worn at the waist (not shown here). Sizes: Lara, Legacy, Freya, Hourglass, and Kupra.

Below, Vanity models two different presents: the red latex Ryud pants are the gift from MEMOIRE (sizes: Lara, Legacy, Freya, Kupra), and from Addams comes the Betina Valentine’s top (sizes: Lara and Petite; Legacy and Perky; Freya and Isis; Hourglass; Kupra; eBody Reborn), which comes with a HUD with five different patterns as shown:

From Entice we have the gift of this wine-coloured, full skirt, imaginatively called Only Exception. And you can pick up the matching Only Exception top (which comes in two patterns, with or without the heart) for only L$50 nearby! Sizes for both skirt and top: Lara, Legacy, Freya, Hourglass.

The sneakers Vanity is wearing in this final outfit are also a Shop and Hop gift, from Lapointe & Bastchild SWEAR (they also come in a men’s black version; both men’s and women’s sneakers come in a variety of sizes to fit most popular brands of mesh feet).

Valentina E‘s Shop and Hop present is this jaunty cherry red beret (resizable via menu), which might just be the perfect finishing touch for your outfit!

And finally, there are several offers of free store credit or gift cards available for you to pick up:

  • Poison Rouge – L$500 gift card
  • Monomania – L$250 store credit (pay L$1, automatically refunded)
  • Nuve – L$350 gift card
  • ViSion – as mentioned above, L$400 free store credit if you join their store group for L$18
  • Rosary – L$500 gift card
  • Bloom Furniture & Decor – L$300 gift card
  • Little Fox – L$400 gift card
  • LaGyo – L$300 gift card
  • Salesita’s Creations – L$300 gift card if you join the ! ~ *Salesita’s Creations* ~ ! group for free (also a free dress with an 8-colour HUD, no group needed)
  • TREND – L$600 store credit if you join the ~TREND V.I.P.~ store group for free (credit expires February 10th, 2022; there’s also a free dress, no group needed)
  • Tachinni Clothing – L$150 free store credit, plus L$250 in additional free store credit if you join the ~ Tachinni Clothing ~ group for L$15 (all credit expires Feb. 19th, 2022)

Don’t forget that you only have two weeks to pick up all these gifts, plus many more fabulous freebies, so don’t delay! Happy freebie shopping!

UPDATE Feb. 2nd, 2022: Naria Panthar was once again done a YouTube video in which she unpacks and tries on all the gifts from all ten sims of the 2022 Valentine Shop and Hop! I recommend you watch the video on double-speed playback to save time, and keep a pen and paper handy to note down the stores whose gifts you like. Then, use this handy alphabetical listing of stores participating in the Shop and Hop to go directly to each store to pick up just the presents you want!

And one more ballgown gift to share with you! This is the Irina gown from 2Love:

This beautiful red ballgown comes in the following sizes: Lara, Legacy, Freya, Hourglass, and Kupra.

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Gifts from the 9th Anniversary Round of the FaMESHed Shopping Event

The ninth anniversary of the FaMESHed monthly shopping event is upon us, and almost all of the vendor booths at the event have a free gift for you! Vanity Fair will model some of those fabulous freebie fashionista finds for you today. Here’s the first look:

Vanity Fair’s entire look, from head to toes, consists of gifts from FaMESHED! She is wearing:

  • Hair: Diana hair by Phoenix (which comes in a full fatpack of colours)
  • Sunglasses: PM N1 glasses, the present from the BONDI booth
  • Top: this double-layered blue-and-white top is part of a complete outfit, a gift from Neve (which includes matching shorts)
  • Pants: these two-tone jeans are the gift from the Pink Cream Pie booth (they come in versions for flat feet and high feet), and they match the Neve top perfectly!
  • Shoes: peppermint Ada pumps by Garbaggio
  • Watch: Lana watch with a fabric wrist strap, the gift from Baiastice

Here’s the second look, once again FaMESHed gifts from head to toe!

For our second look, Vanity Fair is wearing:

  • Hair: Lola by Navy+Copper (comes in a full fatpack of colours)
  • Earrings: Leaf earrings by RealEvil Industries (comes with a HUD with 4 metal choices)
  • Dress: Maddy dress by Seniha
  • Boots: these sexy boots are the Farah tassel boots in gold, the gift from the Gos booth

Here’s the third look, again consisting of free gifts from FaMESHED:

Vanity is once again wearing the Ada pumps from Garbaggio, along with:

  • Hair: No Basics hair by no.match (comes in a full fatpack of colours)
  • Earrings: Triple Tear earrings in azurite from EarthStones
  • Dress: the Star dress in mint by Safira

For our final look, Vanity Fair is modeling:

  • Hair: Dana hair by Sintiklia, which comes with a Colors & Pastels palette as shown above (Vanity is wearing the default colour, right out of the box)
  • Dress with optional belt: Charlotte dress, the gift from the Luas booth
  • Shoes: Debra platforms by UTOPIA Design

The FaMESHed event runs from May 1st to May 27th, 2021. Happy freebie shopping!

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: Uber Anniversary Gifts

As you might know, one of my Top Ten tips for freebie shopping in Second Life is to hit the annual anniversary celebrations of the major shopping events, when most designers have free gifts at their vendor booths as a thank you to their customers.

Uber, one of the biggest and most popular monthly shopping events in Second Life, opened its sixth anniversary round on August 25th, 2020, and the event is running until September 22nd.

And, to celebrate, there is a free gift which you can pick up at each vendor booth (no group is needed). Here’s what the gift box looks like, you can’t miss them:

Because Uber is so jam-packed with shoppers and browsers, I would strongly advise you to wait until mid-September to pop by and pick up all the fabulous freebies!

(Me, well, once again I couldn’t sleep last night, a common complaint during the coronavirus pandemic, so I was lucky enough to able to teleport into the very crowded sim at 5:00 a.m. this morning, so I could collect all these gifts to show to you as soon as possible.)

Please forgive my use of a pose stand to show off some of these outfits; it’s the only sane way I could get through the dozens and dozens of gifts without going insane!

My favourite gift from the anniversary round of Uber is this charming embroidered dark blue belted skirt by Giz Seorn, which I have paired here with the Brooke top by Blossom&Seeds (the B&S gift also includes matching shorts in the same blue-and-red pattern). The Devorah sunstone earrings, the Uber gift from EarthStones, complete this look. Vanity Fair is all set to head out to the nearest folk festival!

Next up we have a much dressier look, the stylish lilac Charlize dress by Valentina E, with the black leather clutch by Zenith (which comes in a full-black version and the brown-accented you see here):

Here, Vanity is sporting Kaithleen’s rollneck sweater in mint green, which comes with a HUD to tint the collar, hem and cuffs a different colour. Here, I added the gift from Jeune, the Mara jersey skirt in red. The reds don’t match, but I was a man in a hurry…so there is an (unintentional) Christmas feel to this particular outfit!

The Uber gift from Masoom is this daring, backless olive green Imogen jumpsuit, with sexy slits up the side of the legs (and if that isn’t sexy enough or daring enough for you, it also comes in a sheer version!). The Polynesia high-heeled sandals, the Uber gift from Essenz, are the perfect finishing touch. (The sultry side-eye Vanity is giving you is optional.)

Up next we have the delightful, summery Croissant (?!??) dress, the Uber gift from Neve, which comes with a HUD with four different ombre tones as shown below:

The plunging neckline of this next dress, the lilac Tori minidress (the Uber gift from Pink Cream Pie) is the perfect spot to highlight the long, long, long dangle necklace by Mon Chérie, which comes with a HUD to change the metal to one of 12 different colours, as shown. (The PCP gift comes with built-in panties that you can tint to one of 24 colours—or remove completely—via a separate HUD.)

Another one of my favourite gifts from this round of the Uber event are these wonderful rose earrings from Baiastice, which come with a HUD to change the colour of the gemstones and the roses! I think Vanity will be wearing these a lot, as they can match pretty much any outfit!

Chokers are very useful items to have in your SL inventory, and they are particularly handy to hide, say, a slight seam or mismatch in skin tone between your mesh head and body (which sometimes happens to the best of us). Luckily, you can pick up not one, but two choker gifts at Uber! (Well, at least two. There may well be more…but I confess that I haven’t unpacked everything yet!)

The Reckless choker by Avec Toi comes in a complete fatpack, with 36 colours for the leather, and 8 colours for the metal studs:

The high-fashion golden Diane metal choker is the gift from David Heather:

Osmia’s rather bizarre unisex Uber gift is this bucket hat (safety pins included), which comes in a fatpack of colours. Perfect for your next fishing trip! 😉

And (of course), Uber has so, so many gifts of footwear! Here are just a few of them.

From Mangula, we get a complete fatpack of the strappy Leila shoes, which coms in two versions: the ones that have straps going up your calves, as shown, and a second, shorter version that doesn’t go quite as far up your leg:

Seniha’s Uber gift is a complete fatpack of the Caroline wedges, where you have numerous options for tinting each part of the shoe:

Now for something completely different, these awesome black combat boots with the side pocket, the gift from Memoire! These come in sizes to fit both male (Legacy, Belleza Jake) and female (Legacy, Belleza Freya, Maitreya Lara, Slink Hourglass) feet.

Here’s a few more shoes that I picked up (not fatpacks, just single colours as shown) from Vanilla Bae:

And from NX-Nardcotix:

And from Nerido:

And from Decoy:

And finally, these completely over-the-top pink pumps from Breathe:

But I saved the best gifts for last: this cute little stuffed sheep from Le Fil Cassé, called Aggie Snow, which sits on your head, and an absolutely adorable fat red chinchilla, the gift from Foxwood, which comes in two versions, one you hold as shown here (comes with a Bento pose), and another for decoration!

I mean, look at this not-so-little cutie! Look at him!!!! I may just have to go back and buy the entire fatpack of chinchillas at the Foxwood booth!! Awww…

Like I said up top, this round of Uber runs until September 22nd, 2020, so you have loads of time to swoop down and scoop up all the freebies. There are literally dozens and dozens of other gifts not shown here, including many items of home decor.

Happy freebie shopping!

Vanity Fair is also wearing:

  • the Kimberly Catwa Bento mesh head
  • the Maitreya Lara mesh body
  • Daria skin by The Skinnery
  • Dasha hair or Astra hair by Truth 
  • and the beautiful Sahara eyes by Avi-Glam (a gift from the recent SL17B Shop and Hop event, but they are also a group gift at the Avi-Glam mainstore; the Avi-Glam group costs L$5 to join)