I have kept my word in significantly scaling back my coverage of Second Life on this blog, but today I chanced upon an Alice-in-Wonderland-themed hunt at a womenswear store called Meander/Me.
The proprietor of Meander/Me, Lemania Indigo, is someone whom I actually worked for, back in ye olde pre-mesh Second Life era of system-layers-and-flexiprim clothing! Yes, Vanity Fair once worked as a mannequin in Lemania’s first store, modeling new outfits and answering customer questions. I only worked there for a short time, but I do remember the experience fondly, and I often pay return visits to see what she’s been up to.
Of course, Lemania Indigo has moved on to embrace rigged mesh clothing, and she does such beautiful work! And you have a chance to sample some of her wares with a March hunt, which is fairly easy.
You are hunting for large pink Mad Hatter tophats, which are scattered throughout the store, with prizes ranging in price from L$5 to L$75. Here are the hunt legends: prizes 1 through 4 make up a whimsical Cheshire Cat outfit:
But prizes 5 and 6 were what prompted me to write up this quick blogpost! Behold the romantic Princess Alice ombre ballgown, which comes with a matching hair flower accessory, and it includes a texture HUD with 22 stunning colour options! (The Princess Alice gown prize is L$75, but I’m sure you’ll agree, that it is good value for the money; the necklace is a separate hunt prize, and costs only L$5.)
And here is my alt, Scarborough Fair, wearing the Princess Alice ballgown, which comes in sizes to fit Maitreya Lara; Meshbody Legacy; Slink Physique and Hourglass; Belleza Freya, Isis, and Venus; and the Tonic Curvy and Fine mesh bodies. (The hair flowers are an unrigged, adjustable attachment, which come with the gown.)
I mean, we all know by now, that Auntie Ryan is always a sucker for a beautiful ballgown! 😉
The Hatter Is Mad hunt ends March 31st, 2023, so, like the White Rabbit, don’t be late! Here’s your taxi. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the Princess Alice gown is a hunt exclusive, and not available for retail sale in the store.
Belle Epoque is among my favourite womenswear stores in Second Life, featuring modern, fantasy, and historical styles of clothing. And from now until the end of August, the store is once again running a Summer Hunt, offering one-of-a-kind clothing, footwear, and accessories as prizes. Here is the legend of hunt prizes, which cost only L$10 each, a significant discount on the regular price! Some are a new colour or texture on an existing item of womenswear, while others are new designs:
You are looking for a white stuffed cat with blue eyes, as shown below:
(See the little white stuffed cat sitting in the corner?)
The cats can be small or large, and many are stuck within vendor displays, or tucked away in obscure corners of the Belle Epoque store. All the hunt prizes are of the high quality for which the Belle Epoque brand is renowned, and they come in sizes to fit Maitreya Lara or the Meshbody Legacy mesh bodies (please check the legend above for a few items which also come in the Maitreya Petite and Legacy Perky sizes; not everything does). If you have a different brand of mesh body (e.g. Freya, Kupra, etc.), I am afraid you are out of luck! Depending on the garment, you might be able to use the alpha HUD on an Altamura body to get the Maitreya or Legacy items to fit you.
To model these hunt prizes, I have called upon two of my small army of Second Life alts, Moesha Heartsong (Maitreya Lara body) and Lily Pond (Meshbody Legacy body). Yes, I am giving my main avatar, Vanity Fair, the day off! (Also, Vanity already has over 245,000 items in her overstuffed inventory, and I do not need to add to it!)
First up, we have a couple of ballgowns: Moesha is wearing the blue floral patterned Amanda gown (hunt prize #5), while Lily models the pink Allegra gown (#15). Both are quite suitable for your next elegant soirée!
Are ruffles your thing? Then you’ll love these next two dresses. Moesha models the pink Ankara dress (hunt prize #30), and Lily wears the green Juliette dress (#31):
Next up we have two patterned frocks, the more formal but still summery floral Cheryl dress (#8) and the multicoloured polka-dotted Maite summer dress (#20):
These are just six of the 31 hunt prizes, all for only L$10 each—truly a bargain! Remember the Summer Hunt ends on August 31st, 2022. Here’s your taxi to Belle Epoque. Happy hunting!
I have a few RyanSchultz.com blogposts simmering on the back burner, but first, a short, snappy post about a great, free Second Life hunt for female avatars, offering a generous variety of clothing, makeup, and skin gifts.
The Summer Festival Vibes hunt is one of the monthly hunts held at the venerable and recently redesigned freebie store, the Free Dove. The hunt prizes are all from Alaskametro, and all you need to do is join the Free Dove group (for free), and hunt diligently for festival passes on purple lanyards which are hidden, five per location.
Here’s the hunt legend, so you know what you are getting:
Below, one of my alts (wearing a Meshbody Legacy body), is wearing the Arwen feather earrings, the Annika lacy top, the Eve distressed Eve jean shorts in faded denim, all covered up by this wonderfully detailed Misty fringed coverup jacket! All clothing comes in Maitreya Lara and Meshbody Legacy sizes only. The metallic body tattoo (Bakes on Mesh) is another one of the Summer Festival Vibes hunt gifts.
And in this picture, my alt (wearing a Maitreya-Lara-compatible Kalhene mesh body) is modeling one of the Karma LeLutka Evo X skins (which comes in three skin tones, including the head, ear, and body skin!), the Annika lingerie top, the Eve jean shorts in black, and the sheer Misty coverup in a black floral tone.
Add some sandals or sneakers and you’re all set for your next virtual folk festival!
Other Summer Festival Vibes hunt prizes include Bakes on Mesh/system skins (three full-body skin tones), BoM/Omega lipsticks and eye shadows, and fingernail textures for Maitreya or Slink mesh hands. Here’s another one of my alts (wearing the Chelsea head by LOGO), wearing the Kismet II Bakes on Mesh skin, along with the Crystal eyeshadow and the Backstage lipstick, along with the HUDs for the latter two items to show you the colour options (the makeup comes in both standard BoM and LeLutka Evo X versions):
The hunt ends on June 30th, 2022, so don’t wait too long to snap up these fabulous freebies.
Here’s a rundown of free gifts and inexpensive hunt prizes for Valentine’s Day, from a number of different locations in Second Life.
Shanti is holding a Valentine’s Day Hunt, where you are looking for the “XO” hugs and kisses symbol hidden somewhere in the store or in the grounds outside. The prizes only cost 2 Linden dollars each! Gift #10 is this lovely strappy dress, and the long-sleeved pink cardigan is gift #8. Total cost for this cute outfit is only L$4!
(The heart earrings are a free gift from Beloved Jewelry at the 2022 Valentine Shop and Hop, which ends Feb. 15th! They come with a HUD with 16 different metal textures and 56 different gemstones, to match literally any outfit! Get the SLURL and see pictures of more Valentine Shop and Hop gifts here.)
Below is the Shanti hunt legend, which unfortunately doesn’t tell you which number is which gift! However, this Low Price Fashion in Second Life blogpost does link the hunt prizes with their gift numbers, which should help you out a little bit. Happy hunting!
NILSY is a store which offers a free gift each week, and this week, the gift is this red party dress, which comes in a variety of sizes to fit most brands of mesh bodies. No group is needed, just teleport to the store and slap this sign! It’s worth popping into NILSY every week to see what their weekly free gift is.
(UPDATE Feb. 12th, 2022: Apparently Saturday is the day that NILSY switches its weekly free gift; I’ve been told that there is a different red dress you can pick up as of today! Below is a picture of the new gift, a strapless ballgown.)
Maai is another Second Life store which offers a variety of free gifts (the Maai group is free to join). The store usually has a new free group gift every month, plus a number of gifts for the various freebie groups, like Maitreya Gifts, Sales & News. Their Valentine’s Day present is this beautiful red ballgown with beaded straps, which comes in sizes to fit Maitreya Lara and Petite; Meshbody Legacy and Perky; INITHIUM Kupra; and eBody Reborn.
If you’re looking for a purse to go with this gown, Mon Cheri has among its selection of free gifts the Roxxy Clutch, a fatpack with three different Bento hand poses! You don’t need to join a group, just come to the Mon Cheri store, look for the gift wall to the right of the front counter, and buy them for L$0 each.
Here’s what the three static Bento hand poses for the Roxxy clutch look like (there’s also a version without a pose); these are high-priority poses which should work with most animation overrides. The fatpack HUD offers 20 colours for the clutch, 20 different decorative gemstones, and 12 metal textures, to match any outfit. It’s the perfect purse for any occasion! Here, my avatar is wearing it with the free gown from Maai I mentioned earlier:
Finally, Palomma Casanova’s long-running Second Life freebie store, The Free Dove, has a table groaning with Valentine’s Day gifts for you! You will have to join the Free Dove group (for free, of course!) to pick up these presents.
Time for a fashion show of five of these Valentine’s Day gifts from The Free Dove! First up we have this complete casual outfit from YDEA, which consists of the red patterned tied top, blue jeans, and high-heeled sneakers:
The present from Pandamomo is this grey knit minidress with a playful cutout!
The Alloma dress fatpack, the Free Dove Valentine’s Day gift from Le’La, comes with a HUD with 15 different textures as shown below:
From VIPs Creations comes this classy Louisa Golden Flowers outfit, consisting of a dress (which comes in two versions, with or without the gold trim), plus a pair of golden high-heeled sandals:
And NILSY has a Free Dove gift for you, too! It’s this strapless red beaded ballgown with the daring side slit (paired again with the Beloved Jewelry heart earrings and the Roxxy clutch from Mon Cheri which I mentioned above):
There are many other Valentine’s Day gifts at The Free Dove, so be sure to pay them a visit if you are looking to find some fabulous freebies!
