I’ve already blogged the newbie male, and the thinking behind these connected posts is laid out there, so I won’t go over old ground again. If you wish to read about the thinking behind these 30 minute makeovers, thus easing your way into SL, please read the preamble to that post.

In this one, we’re going to do a 30 minute makeover for the ladies. Greater choice is available for you ladies, you’ll be pleased to learn, in respect of skins, hair and numerous other things.

So, as before, let’s register a new avatar…Eve Bare. Hmm…that name’s taken, it seems, so ‘Eve Bear‘ it is instead.

Same issue as I encountered with ‘Adam Bare’, the avatar disappeared totally and I had to log in via Singularity to re-render the avatar. And again, this did away with the whole ‘mesh skin’ nonsense.

After that it was straight off to Poudre to pick up their current free group gift of skins.

 

Ponytail girl with pink polka dots…the exact same look I sported seven years ago on day 1 of my SL

 

 

Poudre free skin added

While guys have the concern of having no genitalia at start up, I think ladies have as many concerns over shape. The default is short and dumpy, so time needs to be spent at some point tweaking the avatar into something more shapely. I’ve not spent an enormous amount of time on this, but I’ve made Eve less ‘hippy’, increased breast gravity to make her bosom more realistic (the default makes boobs look as though the avatar has undergone plastic surgery with someone trained in stonemasonry or something) and made her taller.

I can’t really help you with this. You’ve all got your own ideas on how you’d like your avatar to look, so experimentation with the ‘edit appearance’ slider controls is key here.

Shape altered to look more realistic (in my eyes)

OK…cool.

Next? Hair. As with Adam Bare, Argrace have a nice freebie style. Let’s try that.

Notice how a shorter hairstyle appears to accentuate Eve’s lips and eyes. They’re something I’d want to address in the ‘edit appearance’ options too, but for now we’ll let them go…there’s more goodies to collect within our 30 minutes.

Kat and Ever both mention Fab Free on their blogs. So let’s go there!

Lots of free goodies, from skins, to jewellery to clothes on their walls (the gifts on display change regularly), so it’s a place worth landmarking, and their blog is worth bookmarking. It’s like this…I check their blog every day. 

Equally importantly, the Fab Free blog has a section called the 30 Days List. Use it! It’s a list of links to stores who provide gifts for avatars under 30 days old. If Linden Labs aren’t making entry into SL a simple thing, then some of the designers certainly will assist! Worthy mentions for an excellent range of freebie clothes (and skins) has to go to Apple May Designs.

Again, Kat and Ever will be discussing elements such as these in much greater depth than I, so I say again, be sure to visit (and bookmark) both A Kat and a Mouse (Kat’s blog) and Ever’s ongoing blog on how to work your way into SL painlessly, called Happily Ever After. Pick up tips from both, as they are surely going to ensure you live your Second Life happily ever after.

Something I’m going to mention -less important in the context of a 30 minute makeover, but something to bookmark and come back to- is Pure Posion. A jewellery store, they’ve 20 or more free gifts available for ear-rings, necklaces and bracelets. I’m almost certain the entirety of my jewellery collection came from there.

As for the guys, Ydea offers a huge number of freebie outfits, so that is something that’s essential to check out once you’ve got the hang of the controls and understand mesh.

Further mesh -dozens of gifts!- can be found at Allure. And lovely much of it is too. Something I didn’t mention in the guys makeover post was that Allure’s sister (or should that be ‘brother’?) store, 360, also has some nice guy freebies available.

Finally, I should mention !Soul! which also has a good number of free gifts available.

Is Eve perfect? Far from it, but she has come a long way in 30 minutes, collecting a free wardrobe along the way.

And the time’s up! Yes, I could tweak her further, improve her face, body shape, look for other free hair, search out other clothes locations and so on. As I say, the ladies have it a little easier for a complete wardrobe. Free lingerie, swimsuits, shoes…I’ve not even gone there. But hopefully these who connected posts will show what can be done in 30 minutes to create a great looking avatar.

At no point did I spend a single linden dollar on either Adam or Eve.

Hopefully these two guides, working in tandem with Ever & Kat’s blogs, both emphasising the difficulties facing new avatars, and providing vital information regarding those first minutes and hours in SL, will help you orientate yourself better in SL. Please bookmark and read the ladies’ work, as they’re both offering great advice that Linden Labs should be picking up on and reacting to.

I’ll finish of a little newbie mini-series tomorrow with search tips regarding some naturist sims, with advice that I hope will also be applicable to a wider range of lifestyle or role play choices.

Ella

edited to add: a reader has pointed me in the direction of the Penny Cow blog, which highlights how to proportion properly. They’ve commented, below, that the ‘out of the box’ avatar is something like 6’5″ in height, so there’s no actual need to make the avatar taller. The reader is 100% correct in what they say. How to proportion is given in the link, my reasons for making the avatar taller explained in the comments below.