This is a new hair from Exile, simply called Group Gift. It’s free if you’re a member of Exile’s subscribo group. If you’re not a member yet, you can still join and grab the gift!

The group gift is MESH, so you will need a current viewer to see it. The texturing on this is wonderful. From what I’ve been able to see so far, a lot of texture placement has to be done outside of SL while you’re building the mesh. It’s great to see such detail put into this hair.

Exile’s Group Gift hair comes in two colors. Shown is the brown with purple highlights. There’s also a blonde with blue highlights. The highlights are mild enough not to be overbearing. It includes an alpha layer to hide any bald spots that may show up on your head.

If you’re still curious about mesh, this is a great hair to try out. :)

Hair – Exile – Group Gift – In-world Link (Join the Subscribo group, then click the board again for a list of past notices!)

I really had to show the back on this one, because that’s where most of the wonderful detail is. It’s very loose and tied with a claw clip. The length down the back is a separate attachment, so you don’t need to worry about it flying everywhere when you move your head.

It really feels like an autumn hair style to me, so I had to wear it with my new mesh outfit from JANE. To add a bit of fancy, I have on a jewelry set from MOOD. Details below!

Hair – Analog Dog .b – Ariel – In-world Link – L$275 per color pack

Jacket – JANE – Barn Jacket.Cider Mill – Coffee – In-world Link

Necklace – MOOD – Desiderio Brillante Indulgence – In-world Link

With the new mesh feature in Second Life, we’re seeing many more designers using it in their creations. Hair is no exception, and I’ve been excited to see what would be made as soon as I heard about mesh. :)

I’ll start off this post with a new mesh hair from Alice Project.

This hair is called Sohee, and I found it on the SL Marketplace.

At first glace, it looks just like a sculpted hair. It’s pulled into a side ponytail, with the longer strands sitting both in front and behind the avatar’s right shoulder. I decided to keep the lighter color on it, instead of wearing my normal dark brown/black. The texture work is lovely and AP offers many options for darker, lighter, or wild colored tips.

So what’s the big deal about mesh? I’ll be happy to show you:

I deliberately chose a pose that was impossible with sculpt or prim hair. However mesh hair moves with the avatar, so we can see that everything remains in place against my back and chest, no matter how I move my head! With sculpts, I would have spent a long time trying to find a pose that made sure the hair didn’t stick through me.

So this is very exciting to me! I am happy to try this new feature and use a new client, if it means no more stiff hair! Additionally, the mesh is ‘rigged’ to your skull, which means that it adjusts size depending on your head size. Hopefully this means that more varied avatars can wear mesh hair, including those who RP children or other small avatars.

The down-side is that you cannot manually resize a mesh hair. It moves with your skeleton, and is firmly locked to it. This will cause a problem if you need to adjust a strand or move the hair up/down a notch. It would be impossible. Designers are trying to work around some of these issues by offering different basic options, however it may be some time before we find mesh fitting everyone.

Hair – Alice Project – Sohee – Marketplace Link – L$1 for Demo, L$200-500 for color packs.

Skin – the body co – Chocolata – In-World Link

Dress – JANE – summer maxi dress.1975.berries – In-World Link

The Cutest style is a dual ponytail style with the ponies sitting on either side of the crown.  The ponies end as they brush at the tops of the shoulders.  The hair in front is parted on the left with framing strands falling in front of the ears.   Some strands are held off the face with small black barrettes on the sides.

The Cutest style costs $499L for a fatpack, $169L for a 5-color pack, and the demos are free.

Pose: Striking Pose – Christina Applegate, Skin: Lionskins – NOVA no hair(for members), Clothes: Cupcakes – Jeweled Top, Eyes: Tea Lane – Dark Brown Eyes(sqsm), Lashes: Cake – Bedroom Lashes

The Elise style is a simple ponytail that sits in place just below the crown.  The pony falls to just past the top of the shoulders with wisps of hair spilling down the neck.  The hair in front is pulled back of the face with loose tendrils falling in front of the ears.

The Elise style costs $300L for a 8-color fatpack, $75L per color, and the demos are free.

Pose: GEEZ – 008, Skin: Exodi – Lily v2 Dove – Girlie (Dk/C), Clothes: PanJen – Gem Camisk Pink, Eyes: Tea Lane – Dark Brown Eyes(sqsm), Lashes: Cake – Bedroom Lashes

The Sugary style  is a side ponytail that sides high on the right and falls down the right side.  The pony is held in place with a knot and is accented by a bow that is scripted to change to 10 different colors.  The bangs are parted on the right with strands falling back to the ears on both sides.

The Sugary style costs $499L for a fatpack, $169L for a 5-color pack, and the demos are free.

Pose: Striking Pose – City Chic 9, Skin: Tuli – Bella (pale/li) VIP exclusive, Clothes: Ingenue – Bonnie in Berry, Eyes: Tea Lane – Dark Brown Eyes(sqsm), Lashes: Cake – Bedroom Lashes

The Haver style is a short ponytail style with two ponies sitting low at the shoulders.   Evenly divided, the ponies fall forward over the shoulders with strands of hair holding them in place.  A wedge bang that crosses the brow from left to right angles across the right eye.

The Haver style costs $500L for a fatpack, $175L for a 4-color pack, and the demos are free.

Pose: Striking Pose – City Girl 3, Skin: Exodi – Stephanie Watler – Hot Date (Dk/F/C), Clothes: The u-neek – Shootya Shirt, Eyes: Tea Lane – Dark Brown Eyes(sqsm), Lashes: Cake – Bedroom Lashes

The Carnegie style is a short ponytail style with the pony held in place below the crown.  The pony falls just past the bottom of the neck with a few strands escaping.   The hair in front falls forward to frame the face with varying lengths.

The Carnegie style costs $130L per 3-color pack and the demos are free.

Pose: LAP – Rock Solid, Skins: Belleza – Thomas Med Release Group Gift, Shape: Dopplegänger Shapes – Syler Shape(male), Clothes: Tea Lane – Oscar Nerd V-neck, Eyes: Tea Lane – Dark Brown Eyes(sqsm)

The Jill style is a sleek ponytail that falls down to the middle of the back.  The pony is held in place just below the crown with a silver band.  The hair at the front and sides has been pulled back into the pony with a few looks wisps of hair falling forward onto the face.

The Jill style costs $300L for a fatpack, $90L for a 2-color pack and the demos are free.

Pose: Striking Pose –  Quiet Elegance 5, Skin: Tuli – Bella (pale/br) VIP exclusive, Clothes: Medley – ButtonUp Black/Red, Eyes: Tea Lane – Dark Brown Eyes(sqsm), Lashes: Cake – Bedroom Lashes

The Kate style is a twist that knots into a ponytail falling down between the shoulders.  There are wide metal hairpins holding the pony in place below the crown.  The bangs in front are parted on the left with a wedge of hair falling to brush at the right eye.

The Kate style costs $600L for a fatpack, $100L per color and the demos are free.

Pose: Glitterati – Breast Cancer Awareness – Singles 6, Skin: Belleza- Alyson PALE Group gift (cleavage), Clothes: AQUA – CasualHunger Pink, Eyes: Tea Lane – Dark Brown Eyes(sqsm), Lashes: Cake – Bedroom Lashes