Have yourself a gifty little Christmas

It’s that time of year again, when stores reward their faithful group members with gifts galore. I’m focusing on three of those today, two of which are pay-to-join groups, and one of which is free-to-join. Skins, eyes, and jewellery.

First up, is the Belleza group. This costs L$250 to join and you can find it by pasting this link into inworld chat and clicking it.

If you’re kitting out an alt, or feeling generous enough to drop L$250 on a noob, then this is the group your alt (or the noob) needs to be in. First of all, because – once a member – you can head to the Belleza store and pick up their free-to-group-members male and female skins. Last time I checked, there were three different skins, each in three skintones, in both the male and female packs, available in the foyer.

Secondly, there are the group gifts. Admittedly, they’re not that frequent (but then, consider how much work goes into a skin, how long each one takes; they’re not going to keep doling them out for nothing!). At Christmas, though, you’re guaranteed a great gift, and this year is no exception. The female bloggers will, no doubt, have covered the ladies’ skins, so I’m showing the male ones. With all of these skins you’ll get three skintones: medium, sunkissed, and tan. I’m showing the tan variant of each.

My favourite is Jacob, with its neat chinstrap beard.

Next up, we have Ashton. Again with the chinstrap, but heavier stubble and a bit more overall scruff.

Lastly, we have Mathieu. Nice goatee skin… shame about the freckles! (Sorry guys; I don’t do freckles, but for you I endured *g*)

The next group is IKON (here’s the link). IKON is free-to-join, and right now you can find a pair of mesh eyes (with standard ‘old-style’ eyes included) in the gorgeous golden ‘leonine’ shade at the store. Better get your (ice) skates on for this one, though, because the group gift is normally only out for a week, and this one has already gone two weeks over that. I think Ikon Innovia might be leaving it out for longer as a Christmas treat for all his group members. Worth picking up, especially for the amazing HUD, which I blogged about here.

Finally, we have Chop Zuey Couture Jewellery. This group (link) costs L$350 to join, and both men and women will benefit from the frequent and generous gifts. While much of the texturing is a little too shiny for my liking, I’m always sure to find some worthwhile pieces throughout the year. At Christmas, designer Belle Roussel puts out three amazing Advent boards in the middle courtyard of the store: one for male group members, one for female group members, and one for everyone (no need to be a group member for that one). Inside each board are different pieces, and feel free to grab everything, as I do, no matter whether it’s male or female. You can complete whole jewellery sets that way.

Here are just three pieces from the Advent boards, followed by one very special piece. First up, the Darkness Falls choker (male group gift board) and earrings (free gift board).

Then, a great set of wing accessories, from the male gift board: On Wings of Eagles. (Yeah, they’re a bit shiny, but I kinda like ’em.)

Lastly, in the run-up to Christmas each year, Chop Zuey has a fundraising drive for the World Wildlife Fund. Last year, they raised USD500 from sales of specific jewellery items, and as the WWF is a cause that’s close to my heart, I make sure I buy one of the available donation items. This year there are two. The ladies item is an elephant necklace and earrings, and the male item is a panther necklace, and here is the latter: