Skin market

I've been wearing this Hybrid II Ardent skin for a long time now, ever since I discovered it and left my beloved Gala skin in inventory. I actually bought Feral first, but I decided it was a shade too dark for me. Now, I really only switch between the shaved and unshaved versions of Ardent, except for certain special occasions when I'll pull out the Nomine China White.

Hybrid II has been berry, berry good to me, but it's time for a change. I need a change for all kinds of reasons, but at least partly because my second life needs a kick start. This is a big one—just clothes shopping won't do it!

I do like several things about the Hybrid II. One is the colour. It's hard to find a non-white skin that does the colour as well as this. I hate dark with too much yellow. I also love the arch of the eyebrow and the general eye shape. I don't so much like the softness and lack of detail, nor have I ever really liked the pursed mouth.

I really like the detailing on the kitty of the Hybrid II, as well as the shaved option. Sorry, I'm just not big on pubic hair, not even a landing strip if I can avoid it. It's my smooth and slippery personal taste (or maybe lack of good taste for having published that). I would put up with a landing strip, but not anything really bushy.

The reason I bought the Hybrid II in the first place was because of a review in Linden Lifestyles. I don't find many skin reviews, but they have some, and I appreciate their advice. I went there again to see what's new, but hardly any skin reviews are recent.

Based on one review, I'm currently checking out photoreal skins from Insolence. I like several things about this skin, although it's not quite as dark as I prefer. The detail is very nice, I like the eyes, I almost like the eyebrows, and I love the mouth. I thought I'd waited for the rez before I snapped the photo, but I didn't, so this picture is less than it ought to be. In looking at these four photos near each other, I'm looking favourably on this one at the moment.

At the urging of my friend CodeBastard, photographer extraordinaire—she was kind enough to include me in her Boudoir Rouge series (be sure to check out the others too)—I'm also looking at RAC. But man, we're talking L$4,000 for a skin! Yes, the level of detail is very good, and there's a lot to like about this photoreal skin, but that's a lot of moolah for a girl with no job who just dropped three grand to see the ZeroG SkyDancers (with no regrets). As well, I'm not very fond of the southern zone. And the darker colour is one with a lot of yellow in it.

My alt has a skin from ND, and I like the makeup options for that one. The Hybrid II is not versatile, and it has pale fingernails rather than polish that matches the lip colour. Wrong! I've lived with that for a long time, but it's not my preference.

For some reason, however, I'm not sold on this skin for this avatar. I'm not sure that the face works as well for this shape as I've seen it work for other avatars. It's amazing what a skin can do when there's been no modification to the shape.

So I'm looking at any and all options, when I can make the time to shop, buy skin demos, and check them out. Suggestions appreciated.