Upgrade your Second Life

(click here for a raw shot)

There are a lot of upgrades happening in Second Life these days. Not only is Project Bento just around the corner, but if you have previously purchased the Maitreya mesh body or a Catwa mesh head, you can expect some more updates and upgrades.

First let’s talk about the Maitreya update. There was no update to the body itself but just to the HUD and the auto-hide script. Items with the new alpha auto-hide script now also un-hide when detached, which makes it a lot less confusing and faster to change clothing. The changes to the HUD include more grouped alphas and also the addition of hands and feet to the alpha section, which means we are able to hide our hands and feet instead of removing them every time we want to wear boots or gloves or for any other reason. Also love the new ‘nipples’ button which makes it easier to hide them when needed.

To get this update, you should receive it automatically once you wear the body. If you are already wearing the body, you can try detaching and then reattaching it to see if that prompts the update. If that still doesn’t work, head down to the Maitreya mainstore and just hit the redelivery terminal. I got my update as soon as I logged in and I’m so happy with it. I appreciate all of these changes that will make it a lot faster to change into different outfits.

Catwa not only has an update to her mesh heads, but she also has a special upgrade to her Gwen mesh head which you can purchase separately and will soon be available for all her mesh heads.

The updates & upgrade for the Catwa mesh heads include:

• The Gwen mesh head was previously released as an incomplete version back in December. Now it has been updated to include the 9 animations that all of the Catwa mesh heads come with.
• Gwen Animations Upgrade – There is currently an upgrade available for the Gwen mesh head (other mesh head upgrades will be coming soon) this upgrade is L$5000 (available on marketplace and the mainstore) and includes 12 eye animations and 42 mouth animations for a total of 504 animations to mix and match. See a video of me playing with the upgrade animations below.
• Catwa Female and Male Mesh heads shine tutorial – Catwa has put a tutorial on youtube showing how you can add shine to any of the Catwa mesh heads.

Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/iidGvlT4x0E

I’ve been meaning to submit an entry to this year’s 7th Annual Oscar Fashion Photo Contest and I finally got a chance to do it. Zaara has just released a beautiful gown at Collabor88 this month. It is a draped sari style gown and it comes in 8 rich colors, I’m wearing blush. I paired it with a new colored tattoo from Letis Tattoo, which will be released very soon. Keep an eye on the Letis Tattoo blog for the release announcement.

I went with a bit of a posed but playful look for the contest. I used the paparazzi cameramen that were available from the Rowne Arcade gacha from March 2015. I went to the Rowne mainstore now but I couldn’t find it there so not sure if it’s currently available. It comes with the perfect red carpet so it made my red carpet walk so much easier!

There are quite a few contests going on right now so I thought I would make a list for you guys, in case you want to enter. You can possibly find more linked contests in this plurk:

• Leap Into Love Snapshot Contest by Linden Lab – Ends February 29th, 2016 and first place gets L$10,000.
• 7th Annual Oscar Fashion Photo Contest Announcement – Ends February 28th, 2016 and first place gets L$25,000
• Addams Photo Contest – Ends March 11th, 2016 and first place gets L$5000 Voucher as well as clothing design.
• Photo Contest Group for THE LAST UNICORN Enchantment Event – Ends February 27th, 2016 and first place gets a series of gift cards from many different content creators.
• VOIDAR // Ashley Carter Pile-Up – Ends February 29th, 2016 and first place gets L$15,000.
• Genesis Spring PHOTO CONTEST! – Ends March 29th, 2016 and first place gets L$10,000.

Good luck if you enter!

Credits:
*Mesh Body: Maitreya Mesh Body – Lara V3.5 by Onyx LeShelle
*Mesh Head: CATWA HEAD Gwen V4.6 by Catwa Clip
*Skin Applier: Glam Affair – Catwa Applier – Lia by Aida Ewing (Flickr) (not sure if still available)
*Eyes: IKON Charm Eyes – Hazel by Ikon Innovia
*Hair: TRUTH HAIR Emeline by Truth Hawks
*Tattoo: Letis Tattoo : Arama color by Leti Hax (coming soon)
*Gown: Zaara : Thalia draped gown *blush* by Zaara Kohime (@ C88)
*Shoes: #EMPIRE – Anemone – Maitreya by QUEENshop (flickr)
*Clutch: je suis…de retour – clutch by Julia Merosi (not sure if still avail)
*Necklace & Earrings: MG Mata Hari by Maxi Gossamer (@ C88)
*Rings: Izzie’s – Celestial Midi Rings silver by Izzie Button
Red Carpet+Paparazzi: Rowne Gacha by RowneSL (not sure if still avail)
*Poses: Long Awkward Pose (no longer available)