Ugly Duck "Jesica" Skin Showcase/Interview

Skin playlist:

The Clash- London Calling

Billy Bragg & Kirsty MacColl- A New England

This is England on my face, and Ploom on me noggin, ol' chap, what what!

Today I got an attachment from a group I'm a member of- a crazy duck gesture from the awesome Ugly Duck. Then I was alerted that there is a NEW MEMBER SKIN OMGYAY. I ran over cuz I love these skins and I love group gifts- I LOVE THEM. I stuck around and was lured into demoing the new skin- Jesica.

She's so purty, how can you resist?!

The "default" Jesica skin, sans any makeup on a regular slperson. Hair by Ploom.

I was lucky enough to be able to chat a bit with Fade Lei herself in her awesome store (seriously- even if you're not shopping go through the tunnel and explore, it's like a nightclub from Bladerunner back there!) about the Jesica skin while I tried it on. I have never been able to hear from the designer themselves about an in-depth creation, so I hope you find it as interesting as I did. :)

WARNING: This entry contains a topless photo to feature the skin.

Jesica skin in "Day" version, hair $1 fatpack of Sally hair by Sn@tch found at the Enky's Dollar$tore Freebies.

(I have edited the conversation out of IM chat form & some grammar/spelling, but no content was changed or altered.)

Fade Lei: (The Jesica skin) took me like 6 months to make that one...on and off-

to make it i zoomed right into individual pixels and blended each to the next. The body I drew faint little tan lines on even, and has new boobs/belly/ribs.

(At this point she put up a huge curtain for me so I could strip and oogle my boobies. What a lady!)

Picture: Jesica in "Night" version (how skins look in glasses is a big indicator of their quality, imo, and this looks adorable with them!), golf hat, Tati, boobs. Hair by W&Y, glasses by Artilleri, pose by Olive Juice.

[15:43] Lila Corith: hot damn, i love these boobs!

[15:43] Lila Corith: they don't have that weird undershading most skins do, that's awesome...

[15:44] Fade Lei: yes that was a main thing i wanted to do

[15:44] Fade Lei: i was tired of everyone drawing silicone boobs on airbrushed skins

[15:44] Fade Lei: i dont want to look like a fake magazine photo =/

[15:45] Fade Lei: i think beauty is in little flaws and such

15:45] Fade Lei: they all have their place i guess and im not knocking anyone who wants to look like that

[15:45] Fade Lei: just isnt for me

[15:46] Lila Corith: I love the little freckles scattered too XD

[15:46] Lila Corith: always good to have options, yeah

[15:46] Lila Corith: YAY! (I yay'ed because I am a huge fan of freckles, so sue me!)

[15:46] Fade Lei: yar thats what i mean :D i like little things like that to add character

[15:46] Fade Lei: i made my skins perfectly symetrical once and hated it

[15:47] Fade Lei: each side is slightly different

[15:48] Fade Lei: i just think that the human shape is never symetrical

[15:48] Fade Lei: and looks false to me when people do it on skins

[15:49] Fade Lei: its much harder to do them differently but worth it i think

Jesica "Eyeshadow" version- feminine- but I love the tomboy quality it takes on with an updo. Hair by Clawtooth (Somebody's Lady), Cotton Mini Dress in Green outfit by Kyoot in their MASSIVE sale.

Fade Lei: I dunno i just prefer natural looks but when i do makeup i try to make it like something youd actually wear irl, like not orange lips etc passed as red.

Jesican skin in the "more pinched" look, which has a lovely blush. Skirt by Kyoot at their awesome sale, sweater a freebie from SF Designs. Truth Boho hair in Burgundy.

Well, she did a great job- the skin is delicate without being bland, sweet without looking like an anime character. She said right now she's working on some more versions of Jesica, including one with freckles!! Though with the detail she's working with at this skin, we won't see that for months. When you try the demo she does include a note explaining why this skin costs more than the others, because she worked half a year on this skin. Yes, this blogger paid full price & I was more than happy to do it (and if you know me you know I'm a regular Scrooge McDuck) and I've already gotten a handful of very nice compliments on it!

The detailed work shows- while I love my favorite skins, Ugly Duck is truly a different, quick class of its own. It seems to balance out a realistic look with a touch of adorable absurdity. If you like to look VA VA VOOM! all the time, these skins most likely won't be for you. However, if you'd like to mix it up a bit with a subtle but well-constructed skin- it never hurts to try on the free demos.

Jesica skin in lipstick version- three red pouting ladies, rawr! New Truth hair in Boho "Cherry".

For those on a budget, you get a TON of fun skins for joining the group at $250, there are gatcha machines full of tons of skins for $200 each, and there's a free mime skin & poses there for the taking. I can tell you from experience that bringing in a friend to play "mime wars" is the best possible use of your free time.