SKIN/SHAPE EXPO 2009 IN SECOND LIFE

The Skin/Shape Expo opened over the weekend (and stays open through Oct. 10 on the KMADD Events sim), and my pal Charity Richez (she is, as Tomi Melendez says, one of the "skin whores") and I were itching to get in. But you know how it is with these things--the sim is packed and you get the dreaded message "Region is full." Didn't they know I was an intrepid reporter? But I had my strategy--an early riser, I'd hit it Monday morning, 6 est US time--those skin-hungry Europeans would be at work, respectable East Coasters would be taking their showers and having breakfast, and many further west would be fast asleep. I wasn't sure where on the clock the Asians would be, but I figured I could elbow my way in.

And so I did! But I must say that the next few HOURS were fraught with molasses-like movement, numerous crashes, and mounting irritation as rezzing took forever. Of course, many skin vendors are heavily scripted, so buyers have their choice of shades or, for the men, beard and moustache variations. And the builders tried. Their incredibly boring grey barracks were intended to keep texture-loading to as much of a minimum as possible. But I missed the Candyland fun of the Hair Fair!

I was a responsible visitor, shedding my flexiskirt, shoes and prim hair to keep my ARC down--not even an AO. But of course I had no fabulosity thus, and skulked about, hoping not to see any familiar faces. Thank god for the camera and its ability to pry up the street and in the door! I stood still and explored as much as I could from a statue-like position. One bold visitor shouted, "Hey! Who took a picture?" Why, me! I'm a reporter, not a content thief! And my readers want to see what's up!

I'm NOT a skin whore, as earlier readers of the Compass know. It took me two years plus to change my skin from an attractive (well, I thought it was!) freebie into a Kiko lovely--and Kiko has my loyalty. In fact, I felt so badly that Osuntomi Melendez/Kiko Moleno didn't have a Kiko Life booth, since her Mac has been giving her rl blues for a few weeks. But perhaps she wouldn't have wanted one--a recent message from a would-be shoe fair participant made me realize that I don't know how these things work--are they invitation-only? Do sellers pay much for the privilege? Is sponsorship huge? Does it result in enormous surges of sales? The only clue was that this Expo, like Hair Fair before it, gave some of its profits to charity--the Susan Komen Search for the Cure, in this case.

So what did I find? Oh, are you expecting me to rant that their were slim pickings of dark skins amongst the pale? Actually there were more sepias and umbers than I had expected, and even the official poster featured the attractive muscled back of an ebony gentlemen. What there were few of were male skins--and they need more, white, black, yellow, tan, green!

Also relatively few fantasy style skins--only a few Gothic ones, and a little sprinkle of runny mascara or arabesqued skin doodads. Some of the darker skins fell prey to most of the pitfalls of white makers--they just brown up their white skins, without understanding the range of undertones and highlights that keep brown skins from looking flat.













Shapes? Most model thin, a few curves, but again, people forget how much the shape makes the skin--more variety in facial features would be nice. In my snapping frenzy, I took photos of what I thought were good examples in the "ethnic" lines, and bulked up on demos of shapes so I could play and see how my skin looks with different features--just an experiment, mind!

I'll tell you this, as someone who has always made her own (and all her alts'!) shape, I was shocked to see that some shapes were in the 800 to 1000L category. Why? You're carefully playing with sliders, but... The cost of skins I can understand better--you have to be an artist to do it, you have to experiment to even make the templates comprehensible, no one wants to give their trade secrets away in classes or full tutorials, and to do a good one requires a learning curve and artistry. But a shape? Puhleeze! (Oh, do lambast me and tell me I'm wrong; the Compass hasn't gotten a comment in months).


















Okay, some observations. To my understanding, Adam & Eve have been around for a long time, and their understanding of skins and shapes shows. I was drooling over Tiberius as if he were in a plexiglass booth, tempting me to...umm...smile at him! Both shape and skin were for sale (though separately); I've always thought that's a sensible approach. Some nice women's skins here, too.









MAD Designs was another winner, particularly good at capturing a haughty expression that could outstare clumsy gents. The skins had the 3D quality and glow that comes from truly understanding color theory in a painting class--not just a quick Photoshop tutorial.



Some great Asian skins at [42], which also had a delicate quality to its displays. I enjoy the
mood some good designers' ads themselves create, with lovely composition and a firm feel for
establishing a brand with their photography style.





































Body Doubles had some great African American skins sprinkled amongst those of the paler nation, and they were done with flair--no mere brown Barbie dolls here! Nor was their "Congo" just a tanned Ken--he was "shape specific" as they termed it, and his nose and lips reminded me of the delectable Avon on "The Wire"--I was ready to tell Tiberius to get asteppin'!

Mannequin also had some lovely women's shapes, as did Damian.





















In short, it was all worth seeing. But
could the same effect have been had with less wear and tear if the sim had been a sort of 3D blog rather than temporary stores with scripting? I would have loved to roam through, and if I were a serious skin fiend, pick up LMs and a catalogue, or tp back and forth to the stores. Seeing the images would act as the lure, more vendors could participate, perhaps, and the whole experience would lack the frustrations produced by excessive laaaaaaaaaaag.

But do go. You'll enjoy it! There are far more vendors than I mention here, but I hope I kept my Compass readers' interests at heart as I selected the places noted here.

As for me, I'll be in Kiko butterscotch till my sell-by date, and then some!