Tag: Second Life Mesh Heads

UPDATED AS OF DECEMBER 24th! Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: FREE LeLutka Evolution Kaya and Logan Heads, Available ONLY from December 12th to 24th, 2021!

IMPORTANT NOTICE: I have been informed that many of the stores participating in the LeLutka 12 Days of Christmas promotion have already taken down their gifts today, December 24th. You also can no longer access the three special sims where you could pick up the LeLutka gift!

The posters for this event said it runs from December 12th to 24th, but I never know whether or not that means Dec. 24th is included in that date range! I find it very irritating when stores do this, and I do apologize to those of you who had waited until Christmas Eve to try and pick up these generous gifts.

O.K., I am breaking my vow to take a December vacation from blogging to report on a special, time-limited freebie in Second Life! LeLutka has once again this year decided to gift us with two free Bento mesh heads from their Evolution line, Kaya for the women and Logan for the men! These are the full and complete versions, on which you normally would spend thousands of Linden dollars!

According to their post on Flickr:

Hello LeLU’s,

It is so hard to believe Christmas is just 12 days away! We know last year we gave away two heads due to the pandemic and to help cheer everyone up, while we are hoping everything will be back to normal soon, we know it will be a little bit longer before it does. We have had a successful year even though we have experienced some bumps along the way, but one thing remains, your support has pushed us to reach new heights, and thanks to you, we are celebrating yet another year in Second Life.

Today, LeLUTKA has worked hard on two new releases (KAYA and LOGAN), but these are a little different… these will be set to L$0 for ALL of our group members from December 12th to December 24th (once this period is done, we will set them to our regular price), while this will not help alleviate the situation around the world, please allow us the opportunity to make this period a brighter one.

We only ask one thing of you, actually, a couple (lol):
– Do NOT use hammers as this will impact the performance of the sims.
– Take your HUDs off, and anything that will create lag.
– Stay time has been limited to 10 minutes per agent, those who remain will be sent home.
– And do not idle on the sims, this will ensure everyone gets a chance to grab the gifts.

We have rented a total of 3 sims in hopes that this will assist with the masses, please note: GIFTS WILL NOT BE ON OUR MAIN SIM, as we want everyone to be able to shop for their favorite heads. Take the taxi to one of the following 3 sims for KAYA AND LOGAN: 

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Twilight%20Woods/134/119/21 

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mischief%20Roses/128/128/2 

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilee/128/128/2

There’s a lot in these packages! Here’s the contents of the main folder of the Kaya head once you unpack it:

Note that you have 7 more items labelled “Unpack” at the bottom of this folder to unpack: Bakes on Mesh add-ons for LeLutka Classic and LeLutka Evo X heads, hairbases for Classic and Evo X, piercings, gestures—even a Christmas surprise!

Yes, that’s right: these heads come with a HUD to allow you to select whether to use standard-definition LeLutka Evolution Classic skins, or higher-resolution LeLutka Evolution X skins!

The LeLutka group is free to join, but this special offer ends on Christmas Eve, so don’t delay! Expect all three sims to be very crowded, so please be patient.

UPDATE December 13th, 2021: I was able to get a male alt into one of the three sims to pick up the LeLutka Logan head, and I wanted to show you what he looks like, using the default brow and head/body shape included in the package. There are 5 skin tones included in the package, but you will still need to purchase body skin to match (I just picked a skin tone for my Legacy mesh body that came the closest to this head skin, skin tone 3, but it’s not a perfect match). You can also see the eye settings on the included HUD; I have found that the eyes are very adjustable!

One thing which I forgot to mention is that about a dozen other stores are piggy-backing on this generous offer by LeLutka, by offering free gifts of their own! One of these stores is Stray Dog, where you can pick up the following highly realistic skin in three skin tones (again, only the head skin is free; you will still need to buy body skin). I quite like this skin, although it does have a bit of a frowny look to it!

Here’s what the Logan head looks like with the Clef de Peau gift, in one of the Clef de Peau skin tones and adding high-definition eyebrows from the LeLutka head HUD (again, you need to purchase matching body skin separately):

The gift package from Clef the Peau contains head skins in 5 Clef de Peau skin tones and 4 Velour skin tones (Beige, Fair, Peach, and Petal). This is what the beige head skin looks like (the eyebrows are part of the skin; note also that there is a gradual neck face so these skins might work better with a different body skin).

Now, it just so happens that VELOUR is giving away body skins for male and female bodies! The problem is that the tones for the male body skin are called Moon, Pluto, Sand, and Silk! So I had to spend some time testing out combinations, mixing and matching Clef de Peau head skins with VELOUR body skins. Here’s the closest match I could get, the Beige Clef de Pau head skin with the Silk VELOUR body skin. This is the so-called “soft” body skin; if you want ripped muscles and washboard abs, you gotta pay extra for those, sweetheart! 😉

Finally, here is the Not Found head skin on the Logan head, which comes in five different skin tones (the one shown below is the Tanned skin; once again, you have to purchase matching body skin):

Below are my ROUGH NOTES on which stores are offering free gifts as part of this promotion. I have not included a few stores where I really disliked the look of the gift skin or cosmetics (sorry, guys!), and I have not yet visited any of the stores offering the women’s skin gifts (perhaps later this week?).

Note that all of these stores are INSANELY busy right now, so please be patient! I expect things will die down a bit when we get closer to Christmas Eve, which is the final day of these promotions. Even if you get into the sim, you still might have to wait a while because everybody is clicking madly on the same vendor panels to receive their gifts (at No Found, I waited a full fifteen minutes).

Not Found (free group join)
BoM male and female skins for LeLutka Evo X (head and ear skin; body skin sold separately) See above for a picture of the men’s skin (I couldn’t show you the women’s skin because the sim is currently, ironically “Not Found”!).
UPDATE Dec. 22nd, 2021: Here’s the new SLURL (thanks, Dreamer!)

Clef de Peau (free group join)
BoM male and female skins for LeLutka Evo X (head with neck fade and ears in 5 Clef de Peau skin tones and 4 Velour skin tones) Body skin sold separately, but note the VELOUR body skin deal below! (Please see above for a picture of the men’s skin, and below for a picture of the women’s skin.)

MILA (free group join)
Women’s eyebrows for Evo X

TOP1SALON (free group join)
Women’s lipsticks for Evo X

Lilo’s Fit (free group join)
Shape for Kaya head

Avi-Glam (no group needed)
Nice eyes in purple, green and brown (LeL, BoM)

DeeTalez (free group join)
Women’s skin for Evo X (see image below)

VELOUR (free group join)
men’s Eros Lite skins and women’s Ipanema skins in four skin tones each (also a Black women’s head skin gift). The men’s skin comes in versions for Belleza Jake and Legacy in the following skin tones: Moon, Pluto, Sand, and Silk. The women’s skin comes in versions for Maitreya, Legacy, Kupra, and eBody Reborn, in the following skin tones: Brownie, Chantilly, Ebony, and Porcelain (also a no-nipples version). A package of ear skin and neck fixes for the female skin is included.

The gift from VELOUR is male and female Bakes on Mesh skin for a variety of mesh bodies

Nuve (temporary free group join)
A very generous gift of women’s skin for Evo X (see picture below)

Lara Hurley (free group join)
Women’s skin for Evo X (se picture below)

Bold & Beauty (temporary free group join)
Women’s skin for Evo X (see picture below)

Glam Affair (temporary free group join)
Women’s skin for Evo X (see picture below)

Stray Dog (free group join)
Men’s skin for Evo X (head & ears only; body skin sold separately) Please see above for an image of this highly-realistic male skin.

Note that some stores which usually charge to join their store group are free to join during this promotion, so you just might want to stay subscribed to them if you have the group space!

UPDATE Dec. 17th, 2021: Here’s what the Kaya head looks like with the default eyebrow and head/body shape, wearing Tome 4 of the included head and ear skin, plus the brown eyebrow tattoo (you can also choose high-definition eyebrows from the LeLutka HUD):

The LeLutka Kaya head with default shape and skin

Unlike the men’s skin gifts up top, the Clef de Peau head skins and the Velour Ipanema LITE body skins do come in two of the same skin tones (Chantilly and Porcelain); the heads also come in the Cloudy, Frost, Ibiza, Rose Kiss, Sienna, and Sunkissed skin tones, and the body skin also comes in Brownie and Ebony. Here’s what the Chantilly Clef de Peau head skin and Velour body skin looks like together:

The gift from Nuve is this Angie skin for LeLutka Evo X, which includes the Bakes on Mesh body skin and ear skin in the package. This generous gift includes 15 different skin tones! Here’s what the Fair skin tone looks like:

Here is the Salma skin from DeeTalez (you must purchase the matching body skin separately, but the gradual neck fade on this skin means you could probably match it with a different body skin). The head skin comes in versions with blonde eyebrows, brown eyebrows (as shown), or a no-eyebrow version. Ear skin, eyeshadow, and lipgloss layers are included in the package/

The Dani lightly freckled head skin from Lara Hurley comes in two skin tones (Pale and Midtone, both with red and brown eyebrow options and matching ear skin). You will have to purchase matching body skin separately, but there is a neck fade in the package which you can use with a different skin (I just reused the Bakes on Mesh body skin from Nuve for this picture):

The gift from Bold & Beauty is the women’s Frozen head and ear skin in 3 skin tones (Amber, Porcelain, and Sand) in 4 different eyebrows each (blonde, brown, dark brown, and browless). Matching body skins are sold separately.

From Glam Affair comes the following women’s LeLutka Evo X head and ear skin in two skin tones (Milk and Fair) in 3 eyebrow options (blonde, brown, and browless). The gift includes a separate package of tintable cosmetics and freckles. Matching body skin is sold separately, but the skins have a neck fade which means you could probably wear them with a different skin.

I also wanted to mention that many stores which are not part of the LeLutka 12 Days of Christmas promotion are also giving away skins for LeLutka Evolution mesh heads over the holidays. Here are just a couple of them:

Koonz (free group join)
Two women’s head and ear skins for LeLutka Evo X: Snow (4 Velour skin tones) and Mary (3 Velour skin tones). Body skins are sold separately, but there is a neck blend included in the packages so you could wear them with a different skin, as shown below. Please note that the Velour Ipanema LITE body skins gift mentioned above comes in one of the same skin tones as the Mary skin does (Chantilly).

Koonz’s Snow skin in the Rose Kiss skin tone

Dernier (free group join)
Women’s Kaya hear and ear skin for LeLutka Evo X in seven Velour skin tones (matching body skins sold separately). However, please note that the Velour Ipanema LITE body skins gift mentioned above come in four of the same skin tones (Brownie, Chantilly, Ebony and Porcelain); the Dernier Kaya head and ear skin also comes in the Rose Kiss, Sienna, and Sunkiss skin tones.

UPDATE Dec. 19th: I wanted to add a couple more stores which are giving away free skins for LeLutka Evo X (and I also updated the rough notes up top, and added a few more pictures to show you what the skins look like).

ItGirls (no group needed)
Women’s Natalia head skin for LeLutka Evo X in 7 skin tones (matching body skin sold separately):

Reed (free group join)
Ully women’s head and ear skin in 3 skin tones (Velour body skin sold separately). This skin does not come with eyebrows, so I used the high-definition ones from the LeLutka HUD, as shown here. Please note that the Velour Ipanema LITE body skins gift mentioned above come in two of the same skin tones (Chantilly and Porcelain); the third head skin is called Frost.

Happy freebie shopping!

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: the Free Leah Female Bento Mesh Head by Kalhene

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.

I have a lot of new people now following me on Twitter, and visiting my blog. If you are new to my blog, welcome! In a blog which I originally began a little over four years ago, covering virtual reality in general and social VR platforms in particular, many of my newer readers are no doubt puzzled and/or bemused by my regular blogposts about Second Life, which at the ripe old age of 18 is seen by many outsiders as quaint, outdated technology. You might be asking yourself: Why do I bother with SL, when there are so many newer platforms out there?

It’s because I still see Second Life as the perfect, mature, fully-evolved model of a successful metaverse, which many newer platforms would be wise to study, learn from, and emulate. I often joke that I got my Ph.D. in Virtual Worlds from the University of Second Life, and one of the lessons I learned is this: that people are willing to invest considerable amounts of time, energy and money in avatar customization! There’s a reason why SL has a marketplace with 2 billion user-generated assets to date, and still boasts an annual GDP of US$600 million! Many content creators earn a not insignificant amount of income by creating and selling mesh avatar heads and bodies, clothing and footwear, hair, makeup, and nail polish, etc.

One of those Second Life content creators is Kalhene, whom I have written about often before on this blog (here’s a link to all my blogposts about Kalhene). If you join the Kalhene store group for free, you can now pick up a lovely female Bento mesh head called Leah for FREE! Just teleport here, join the Kalhene group, and slap this sign to the right of the Kalhene Erika store entrance:

While the sign says the Leah mesh head is for the Kalhene Erika mesh body, you can use it with any Bakes on Mesh (BoM) body; in the following pictures I am pairing it with the Altamura Juliet mesh body (a Valentine’s Day group gift from a couple of years ago; this body requires a L$99 Omega system kit for Altamura bodies, plus a BoM relay which you can pick up for free from the Altamura store, in order to wear BoM skin).

Here’s what the head looks like with the included eyebrow and body shapes, without any adjustments to the head and body sliders, using the Sunkissed Bakes on Mesh skin included, one of four BoM skin tones in the package (Porcelain, Pale, Sunkissed, and Toffee). The system eyes are included as well, in four different colours. The HUD allows you to select from five different types of eyelashes, and 24 different colours of lipstick. There’s also BoM/system eyeliner, eyeshadow, and matte lips in the folder.

After making a few tweaks to the head and body sliders on the included shape, here is what the Leah head looks like:

Now, I don’t know how long this free group gift will be available, so I would encourage you to hurry down to the Kalhene Erika shopping mall sim and snap up this free Leah Bento mesh head before it’s gone! Here’s your taxi.

And, of course, I will be adding this latest freebie to my list of free and inexpensive mesh heads and bodies for female avatars, which I keep as up-to-date as possible as I find new products in my travels across the grid!

Happy freebie shopping!

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Four L$1 Bento, Bakes on Mesh Female Heads from Ca’lum

Ca’lum (a store which previously released four different dollarbie Bento heads for men, which I wrote about here) has now released four corresponding women’s heads, each with a distinctive nose shape as shown below:

The creator says in the SL Marketplace listings:

This is not a high quality head to compete with the other head makers on the market. It is a product for people who do not have the resources to have a more or less modeled mesh head, so it will not have or do great things like the others. Sorry about that, but I’m not an expert on modeling and animating heads in Second Life.

Each head costs one Linden dollar; here are the SL Marketplace links:

There’s also a fatpack of all four versions which you can buy for L$49, if you wish to tip the creator. Yes, four heads!

Each head is materials enabled, and includes teeth, as well as a HUD to hide the ears or parts of the skull, as well as choose from 4 different sets of Bakes on Mesh eyelashes:

These are Bakes on Mesh heads, and they do not come with skins, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem nowadays, as you can buy good quality BoM skins from many places. Here’s what the upturned nose head looks like, paired with the Elvira skin in maple from 7 Deadly S[k]ins, an Advent calendar gift from a previous year:

I’d probably play around with the default head shape and eyebrow shape a bit (the package includes both), but you get the general idea…this is a very attractive Bento head, at a price you simply can’t beat! I will add these heads to my ever-expanding list of free and inexpensive female heads and bodies. Happy freebie shopping!

UPDATED! Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: the Kalhene Analexa 4.1 and Erika 1.0 Female Mesh Bodies

I admit I have a soft spot for Kalhene, a Maitreya Lara-compatible mesh body at a lower price. Well, Kalhene has replaced their Anya female full-body (i.e. head and body) package and their Alexa transgender full-body package with a new, all-in-one Analexa body, version 4.1!

If you had purchased earlier versions of either the Anya or Alexa bodies, you can upgrade to Analexa 4.1 for free; just slap the Redelivery sign in the Kalhene store, located directly across from the N-Core footwear store.

For only L$2,495, you get a Bento, Bakes on Mesh body that is compatible with most apparel and footwear designed for Maitreya Lara, plus a lot of extra options which would normally cost you extra!

In addition to a transgender option (i.e. an optional penis with a HUD), the body comes with four different chest options (flat-chested, petite, normal, and large/implant breasts), a choice of two Bento heads, even hair and a nice starter wardrobe! In a previous blogpost, I did a detailed cost comparison between version 4.0 of the Anya body and a Maitreya Lara body/Catwa head combo, and now you get even more for your money with the Analexa 4.1 package.

Here’s what the head and body look like, wearing an outfit I picked up using a free QE Designs gift card at the SL18B Shop and Hop event, which ended yesterday. The Bakes on Mesh skin and eyes are included in the Analexa package.

In addition, Kalhene has released a brand new full-body package called Erika. This is a fuller-figured body that reminds me of the Belleza Freya, INTHIUM Kupra, and Katena bodies, where you can get a much curvier, juicier figure!

Here’s what Erika looks like, right out of the box, with the included skin and long hairstyle, and wearing one of the 10 included outfits (the sneakers are a freebie from VERSOV):

The Erika body comes with not one, not two, but three different Bento heads! Here’s a look at the “soft” head, with rounder features, which I quite like!

And here’s a look at the second, “hard” head, with sharper, more angular features:

There is also an Asian head with two shapes, which unfortunately I cannot show you because I was unable to find a suitable Bakes on Mesh skin for it. (By the way, skins designed for other brands of mesh heads might look a little weird on this head. Always demo before you buy!)

Once again, for L$2,495 you get a LOT for your money. The package includes many options which usually cost you extra in other bodies (e.g. pregnant belly). Let’s take a look at what comes in the Erika 1.0 package, comparing it with the INTHIUM Kupra body, the one I think it resembles the most:

Kalhene Erika 1.0INTHIUM Kupra
Base Cost of Mesh BodyL$2,495L$3,999
Included Body Shapes5: skinny, natural, curvy, chubby, and pregnant3: skinny, curvy, and “bimbo” (ugh!)
Breast Options5 shape options; optional HD nipples3 shape options; 5 types of 3D nipples
Bento Hands and Nails5 fingernail options; 16 colours nail polish5 fingernail and 4 toenail options; 32 colours nail polish
Mesh Feet3 heel heights controlled bu HUD: flat, mid, and high; the feet are Maitreya Lara compatible4 heel heights controlled by HUD: flat, mid, high, and tiptoe; the Kupra body comes with three options for feet, supporting footwear made for Kupra, Maitreya, or Slink feet
Bento Mesh Head3 heads included: soft, “hard”/more angular features, and AsianNot included (Catwa heads cost L$5,000 each)
Starter Skin and Eyes5 skin tones, 8 eye colours2 skin tones
Starter HairIncluded (works with all breast types)Not included
Starter Wardrobe10 complete outfits with footwear (see images below for examples)Sport shorts, top, bikini top, panties, and thong
Transgender Option (Penis)IncludedNot included
TOTAL COSTL$2,495 (including hair and a very generous starter wardrobe)L$8,999 for the Kupra/Catwa combo (not including the cost of hair and wardrobe)

Here’s a look at some of the ten complete outfits, with footwear, which are included in the wardrobe package (please click on each picture to see it in a larger size):

In other words, you can hit the ground running with the Kalhene Erika body at one-third the price of a Kupra/Catwa setup; all you have to do is add an animation override and you’re all set to hit the grid as a big, bold, beautiful woman!

Remember, you can mix and match, and use the Erika head and body separately with other heads and bodies you might already own (the body comes with Catwa and LeLutka options on the HUD to avoid neck seam issues for those heads). The body responds well to the head and body sliders, so you should be able to adjust the shape to suit your preferences.

In fact, the only drawback that I can find with the Kalhene Erika body is that (unlike the Analexa 4.1 body), it is not compatible with apparel designed for other mesh bodies (which is probably why the designer included a generous starter wardrobe with ten different outfits). Given that most avatar clothing designers are loath to rig for yet another body (most already do 6 or 7), it will be an uphill battle to coax creators to make clothing for this body! However, the feet on the Erika body are Maitreya Lara-compatible (although you will have problems with things like straps high on the ankle or calf).

Given the creator’s track record, you can expect frequent updates to both the Analexa 4.1 and Erika 1.0 bodies. Join the Kalhene store group for only L$25 and pick up some free group gifts, such as outfits and shapes, at the store (here’s the SLURL).

Happy bargain shopping!

UPDATE July 8th, 2021: I forgot to mention that a couple of well-known SL vloggers, Isabelle Cheren and Naria Panthar, have already put the new Kalhene Erika body through its paces. Watch one or both videos to get a better feel for the body, before you buy:

Isabelle Cheren’s review of the Erika body
Naria Panthar’s review of the Erika body

UPDATE July 10th, 2021: A commenter gave me more information about the Kupra bodies: three options for feet (Kupra, Maitreya, and Slink), plus details on the clothing that comes with the Kupra body, so I have updated my comparison chart accordingly. Thank you, Olé Olé!