Goth Hair

I'm writing this before I've had my first cup of coffee so I apologize for any spelling errors. I wasn't too sure if this one was going to turn out well when I started doing it but when I was finished I found I absolutely loved it! It's a long shaggy goth style with a mix of cloth and actual dreads. The style has a lot of flex in it with the dreads and long hair strands. The hair is pulled back to form a short poofy ponytail with long strands left to fly in the breeze. Black and white cloth dreads of various textures are mixed into the hair for a special touch.

First Peek

I've been working on a new store build for quite sometime, working on getting the structure just right then creating the textures and doing multiple uploads of that only to have some invisible giant SL hand come out of nowhere, scoop up the intricately aligned pieces of my roof and toss them. Don't ask me what happened - I was moving the completed building and all of a sudden pieces were not only misaligned but spread all over hell's half acre AND twisted on not one, but TWO axis. Yeah, that was fun. After throwing a hissy fit in the living room and rummaging around in the back of the fridge for some form of a liquid "sedative" I settled in for the rest of the evening to fix things. Oh, and at the same moment my building exploded I lost the streaming music on my land too. Strange how these SL coincidences happen, isn't it. The roof mishap was actually the proverbial straw after suffering some other pieces disappearing into the cyber void. I ended up slapping it back together and calling it a night.
Anyway, in the periods of relative calm that appeared among the chaos I managed to get 10 new styles done. These will debut with the opening of the new store which (hopefully barring any catastrophic events) be on Friday, December 5th. All hair, including the 10 new releases will be at 1/2 price.
This is the first one, Yarrow. The hair is knotted on the top of the head with hair spikes arranged in a tilted circle. The bangs are a delicate layer to frame the face.
Next is Francine. The long wavy hair is pulled back into a mass of loosely piled curls. Wavy tendrils hang from the back and at the sides.

Greta nearly drove me insane. I lost the plot several times while trying to create the braided ball. The braid encircles the head, is pulled through an etched black metal tube and terminates in the braided ball.

Priestess is another that presented some challenges. This one is a braid that starts at the top of the head and twists around to fall over the shoulder. In the Meld packs, the only part that has the dual colors is the hair at the end of the braid.
Ingenue. I think every hair creator has a style called Ingenue and I'm no exception. This one is a more formal updo with a low prim count. I had no idea what I was creating when I set out to do this one and was surprised to find it was only 26 prims when I was done. I figured it could use a bit of dressing up so I created a flower for the back of the hair. The flower is color change and attaches to the chin so you have the option of wearing the style with it or without it.
Rene, which is shown in Red Gold, is the name of this style. Hair is parted on the right side where the hair is pulled back and pinned under the upsweep that starts at the nape and swings around to the left side. Hair on the top of the head is swept to the side and pinned under the roll along the left side. The bangs are likewise swept to the left and rolled into the longer hair on the left.
Pinch is shown in White Neon. Long bangs are loosely pulled back to meet the tendrils sprouting from the French roll at the back. Hair pieces are left to dangle at the sides of the face.

Gwen is a layered style. The hair is pulled back on the right side to expose the face. Volume is added to the left side starting at the crown and tapering down to the front of the hair where the the long bangs are gently swept to the side. Wispy shorter layers add more volume to the hair to give it a softer look.

Mark is shown in White Grape. This is a wispy style where the hair is swept from the crown to the front to frame the face. It's a nice style for guys that want a short hair style but gives the illusion of length. (Also looks cute on girls) ;)And finally is Criss. I know there's guys out there that will simply *hate* this style and others that will love it. This is style is simply out-of-control with shaggy layers. The hair is medium length and is swept forward and to the the right.

So there you have it - a sneak peek at the new releases due to be released tomorrow at 1/2 price along with existing styles in the store. Once I get the new build set down the store will be closed for about an hour so I can set all the prices. After that...have fun!

Kiss Store Information

Colors & Packs
There are 17 colors packs at a price of $L200 per pack which contain 7 colors each. The complete pack is priced at $L1900 and contains all colors boxed according to size. Demos are available for each style and cost $L1. The color demos are sold according to color packs and cost $L1 per color pack.

The Hair
All styles are copy, mod, no transfer and is made it in 3 sizes: small, medium and large. I avoid the use of scripts in the hair whenever possible for a variety of reasons.

Store Location
The main store is in Jeolla 224, 88, 67 This is the only location where you will find the freebies, newbie hair packs and all the styles. This is also where new styles will be launched first and the only location where promotions will be found.

Policy
Because the hair is 'no transfer' I can't give a refund for a purchase you change your mind on so please try the demos and be sure it's what you want before you buy. However, if the lag monster strikes and you end up doing a double purchase (buying the same hair style color pack twice) please visit the SL website at www.secondlife.com, copy and paste the double purchase transaction on a notecard along with your FULL avatar name and drop it on me so that I can refund one of the purchases. (If you're unsure how to do this, search for Elke Banting while logged into Second Life and simply drag and drop the notecard into the "Give Item" slot at the bottom of the profile.) Likewise, if SL eats your asset, do up a notecard and drop it on me.

2 New Releases

Yeah, I've been pretty quiet lately. I've been working on a few things plus RL keeps interfering and if I tend to ramble during this post, bear with me as I'm easily driven to distraction today.

The first release is Soda pOp. This one is a 'fun' style with flexi fringe in the back and sides. Personally, I get a kick out of what I call the 'pomeranian' style pigtails on the top of the head. While I was writing this I had the idea to try it with a kid avatar shape and it actually looks pretty cute.

The second style is Spice. Yes, yet another style with chopsticks. I think it's a staple that every hair designer has to create at least one of.
This style is piled on top of the head with a couple of strands of long flexi fringe on either side. The chopsticks are color change and attach to the chin so the style can be worn without them if that's what you prefer. Because the style is vertical it suits avatars with oval and round face shapes.

These two styles have been released in the new color packs so you've got plenty of color choices.
*See the store info for color packs, pricing and location.

The End of Hair Fair

Some impromptu dancing to celebrate the end of Hair Fair for 2008. Clockwise starting in the foreground left is Leetah, Ina, Kid, Sasy, Tanya and finally me.



Kid was the hit of the evening. Sasy couldn't resist passing Kid a bandana to wear and once that was on his head...Sasy just had to pass him a few more items to compliment the headdress. I think Kid thought it was a maid's outfit because he sure seemed to be on the floor alot trying to polish the floor with all those feathers.






I didn't know men were that flexible but Kid managed to add some high flying kicks to the floor show. I think he looks good in the white outfit but the shoes need a little work. Nothing like trying to squeeze a size 13 foot into a size 5 shoe.


All the numbers are almost in for the money raised for Locks of Love. The tally so far is $2,758,973 Lindens. The hard work of everyone involved has paid off but much of the thanks goes to the people that visited Hair Fair to make it such a success!

Building tips, adjustments & tricks

I keep running into all these wonderful people through Hair Fair. I had come across Xiamara when I was searching Google to see if it had spidered my blog yet. She had reviewed a couple of my hairstyles from the fair.

Xiamara has put together a little section on her blog to help other residents with such things as adjusting hair, shooting a good avie photo, creating a skin, making an AO, and adjusting your prim attachments. If you have trouble with any of these (or even if you don't) it's worth a look. :-)
http://xiamaraugajin.wordpress.com/building-2/

One that didn't make it to Hair Fair

So I had originally created six styles for Hair Fair - one I wasn't sure about (I'm still tweaking it) and this is the other one, Phunk. I ran into a small problem with my texture script and was having a royal freak about time and things I still had to do so I shoved it to the back burner. I may yet do a second version of this - one without the long front bangs.
The hat is part of the style, the bangs are flexi and I've shown it here in White Raspberry however the demo in the store is in Red Raspberry, both of which are part of the new Meld packs. Incidentally, I called them Meld packs instead of tips simply because I was fusing two existing hair textures together, plus it was late when I was doing it.

Hair Fair 2008 et al

Well, for better or worse, I figured it was time for a blog (which is absolutely astounding for me since I'm a rather shy, lone wolf - don't ponder that one too long as it may lead to cranial medical conditions). I'm sure many hair designers have a more formal blog. I'll warn you right now...you won't find that here.
I opened my store in late May/early June last year so I missed Hair Fair. I know I haven't been exactly prolific with the hairstyles but cancer has a way of interfering with the best laid plans. (I found the lump about a month after my store opened.) Then it was the biopsy and surgery, both of which can only be described as a fiasco of monumental proportions, then came the chemo and finally the radiation. Yes, hair was, at one point, being made by a completely hairless designer. How ironic is that?!
Now that the whining is out of the way...back to Hair Fair. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I signed up. It's been grueling, hectic, chaotic and tiring but it's also been a complete blast! I was surrounded by veteran hair designers that I thought were breezing through this. After tuning into the Hair Fair group here and there I was relieved to find out that everyone else was having their own private panics right along with me.
Being on the inside of things I have developed a healthy respect for the committee members and all those who made Hair Fair possible. They did a fantastic job of organizing, keeping lag to a minimum and keeping us focused (although I'm sure if you asked them they would say the job was akin to herding cats - just try it sometime if you're not sure what I'm talking about). Many of the people involved were not only on the committee but vendors as well. I honestly don't know how they managed it all since I know I was about to pass out from stress and long hours just trying to get my own stuff ready.
I had a poke around the sims to see what other designers had done and I must say there are some fantastic and varied creations out there. But that's the whole point, isn't it? I mean it would be pretty boring if we all made the same type of hair. We all have our likes and dislikes, our favorites designers (I even have a list of my favorite designers...the people out there that, in my opinion, put out some pretty fantastic stuff time and time again.)
I learned a lot doing Hair Fair...a learning curve that I'm sure will continue, just not at such a rapid pace. And finally, a tip of the hat to Arhat Bingyi, a girl I didn't know existed until this whole Hair Fair thing started. Arh..you're a unique one...something we need more of. :)