Natalie

Natalie

Summer Playmate Blitz!

For all the fans who've kept checking this blog, even throughout the weeks without an update, I thank you. There is certainly some catching up to do even though Playboy has been pretty quiet in terms of any 'groundbreaking' updates. Nothing really eye-catching has gone on for quite some time now, and I see it as sort of a slow period for the magazine. The quality of both Playmates and Cyber Girls has stagnated in an otherwise strong year to start (for PMOM's at least), and so there hasn't been much on that front. However, I do want to highlight the past three ladies to take the stage - Misses July, August, and September.



For July, we find Shanna McLaughlin, easily the weakest entry into the 2010 race. Shanna is a complete train wreck of a Playmate, but earned her stripes in the "Playmate Shootout" competition, where amateur photographers shot their own models in an elimination challenge on Playboy TV. Shanna was absolutely not the best of the bunch, but some lucky breaks got her through, and thus she earned a berth as a Playmate of the Month.

Shanna is not entirely devoid of talent, but she suffers in an even bigger aspect: her looks. She is, unfortunately, just not very attractive. She tries, but just hits some horrifically bad poses time and time again. There really is very little that she truly does right, and in fact her pictorial wouldn't even normally cut it in the Playboy "amateurs" section. She simply has no pizzazz, no spark. In fact, her pictorial gets progressively worse, showing off her terrible breasts and her complete lack of sense for the camera.

• Face: C Shanna's face is angular and unattractive - it's plain and simple. There isn't a single shred of beauty in it.
• Body: C Shanna's breasts are overly large and soft, which completely destroys any sense you can get of her curviness. If they were a bit more firm, she could pull off a lot of poses with more strength and poise. Instead, she flops - literally.
• Talent: C+ She has no sense for what looks good, and does not belong in the category of Playmates.
• Pictorial: D Being a completely clueless model, Shanna produces absolutely no memorable pictures, and she only fails in doing what she wants to do. Whatever the photographers were thinking, it certainly didn't work.
• Centerfold: C Shanna's centerfold looks like just another entry in her pictorial, and is one of the most forgettable centerfold shots we've seen in quite some time.
• Overall: C- Is Shanna the worst Playmate of the new decade? For sure. Is she the worst Playmate we've seen in years? If you go past 2009's Jennifer Pershing, you could go as far back as another decade to look for a Playmate as poorly conceived as Miss McLaughlin. There has not been a more undeserving girl in a long time, and she looks to be a waste of space in such a prestigious position.

With a performance like July's, there's pretty much nowhere to go but up. But Playboy didn't

settle for that, and instead went way up, injecting some spice into an already reasonably competitive Playmate class. August brought Francesca Frigo, a Venezuelan firecracker with juicy sexuality and a gorgeous body. Francesca was a polar opposite of her predecessor,

demonstrating a penchant for the camera and a beautiful Latina style.

Francesca's unique look is captured wonderfully in her pictorial. Although its theme is drab and uninspired, it evolves from the traditional beach scene, showcasing her body at its most natural. The scene tops off with a very attractive view of Miss Frigo from head-to-knee, showing the photographic style with which she is most palatable - with shadows in her lower half, and a split open pair of lips that shows off her unique facial structure.

All this aside, Francesca then comes into her own, without gimmicks, and settles in the bedroom. In one of my favorite entries of her pictorial, she spreads her tip-toed legs and exposes her bottom, while coyly covering her top with a sparkling smile. It comes together in a more subtle, girl-next-door look that really shines. From here, she takes the bedroom scene to ridiculous heights. Her side shots show off her immense proportions (with a perfect waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7), and her overhead shots are particularly sexy. When she curls her legs up, you get a cozy sense that she is unbelievably comfortable in the nude. If you still don't have an appreciation for Francesca's milky skin and spectacular measurements, one look at this photo will make a believer of you. The pose takes advantage of her picture-perfect thighs and gorgeous calves. Her great pictorial closes off with an overhead close-up of her shadowy curves. Brilliant!

• Face: B Francesca's more unusual facial structure may be her biggest flaw. Her jawline is often very edgy (hearkening back to Tamara Sky), and she doesn't have the soft features that characterize other girls this year. Although her smile is bright, this is certainly her biggest drawback.
• Body: A Francesca's body is nearly perfect, with a powerful frame and excellent proportions. One of her greatest assets is her amazing legs, which complete the look of her rock-hard core.
• Pictorial: B+ She certainly looks much better in her comfort zone, and in the bedroom photos, she excels. However, the pictorial has some repetitive scenes, and wastes time with a silly series of beach photos.
• Centerfold: B+ In a year of very good centerfolds, Francesca adds to the goodness. It's a bright, beautiful picture with a great representation of her body and energy.
• Talent: A- Francesca's pictorial hinders her ability to really showcase her style, but it does a good job of showing how much energy and vitality she has. She truly knows how to move her body, and what looks good on camera.
• Overall: A- Francesca Frigo is certainly in the race for 2011 PMOY. Although her pictorial quality held her back in her ability to really show all she could do, it gave a good overall look into her knack for the camera. Francesca's poise and Latina flair come together with a hard, strong body to make for a gorgeous girl to look at. Although she doesn't have the intangible qualities that girls like Katie Vernola and Jamie Edmondson possess, she definitely is beautiful enough to make plenty of noise this year.

To top off the trifecta of new Playmates that I'm adding reviews for, we find our current entry. Olivia Paige makes an appearance as Miss September 2010. At first glance, Miss Paige comes off as yet another cookie-cutter Playmate with bright blond hair and a plastic frame. Olivia, however, is quite a bit more than that, putting her at a high spot in this year's Playmate collection.

Olivia also competed in the "Playmate Shootout" contest with Shanna McLaughlin. Although she didn't win, after viewing her collection, you might wonder what the judges were thinking. First and foremost, Olivia's body pretty much carries her through her pictorial. She's tall, slim, and statuesque. Although she isn't as meaty as girls before her, her slender appearance lends itself

well to her posing style. As she lays out the goods in lingerie, you notice that she's also very nicely proportioned. Because she's slimmer, her curves are sharper and leaner. Her style is more crisp, and the pictorial is done nicely to complement this. Shots like this one, where she pushes out her curves intentionally, are common.

You should also notice Olivia's major flaw when going

through her pictorial - her talent level, and her face. In a photo like this, she comes off as tacky and downright strange, with a facial expression that is quite puzzling. Although it's nothing against the way her face is structured, it's moreso her sense for the camera that leaves you disappointed. She often has to try very hard to distinguish herself in photos, leaving her overreaching for poses that would otherwise come easily to other models. Through inconsistent looks combined with this lack of awareness, her stock is brought down on what is otherwise a very promising girl.

• Face: B- Although Olivia's face is not structurally flawed, she has some issues with her facial expressions that have the potential to ruin major parts of her pictorial. She often looks clueless and awkward, changing the looks of an otherwise fantastic pose.
• Body: A- Obviously Olivia's greatest strength, her body is slim, cut, and sharp. Her 120 lb. frame is not voluptuous by any means, but she knows how to set shots up so that she can accentuate certain attractive features.
• Talent: B- On the other hand, Olvia's greatest weakness is her inability to use her beautiful build to her advantage. She has very little clue on how to position her body for maximum potential. Although she takes on an active posing role, it doesn't always come across well.
• Pictorial: B Olivia's pictorial is ultimately very forgettable. There is very little costuming or setting going on, and it all seems very contrived and hastily put together. When it all comes together, it's just a little bit of shadowy lighting and cookie-cutter sets.
• Centerfold: B The centerfold is attractive, and does a good job of showing off her muscular body, but doesn't really do much else. Not very creative at all.
• Overall: B Olivia is a prototypical middle-of-the-pack Playmate. She has lots of tangible qualities that make her beautiful - a great body, radiant looks, and photos where she looks spectacular. On the other hand, there is nothing intangible that really puts her in the PMOY race at all. There are no breathtaking moments that really set her apart from anyone else. In the end, she's just another Playmate with not much talent to go around, but worth checking out on one pass.

There you are! Three new Playmates that offer a whole variety of looks for you to ponder. As for me, here are my best Playmates of the year so far, with only three left to go:

1. Amy Leigh Andrews

2. Katie Vernola

3. Jaime Faith Edmondson

4. Francesca Frigo

5. Kassie Lyn Logsdon

6. Olivia Paige

7. Kyra Milan

8. Heather Rae Young

9. Shanna McLaughlin

Summer Playmate Blitz!

One For The Ages

We've seen great Playmates come and go in the past. Through the late 1990's through the early 2000's, we had some of the greatest girls ever to appear in Playboy appear, and they did a magnificent job. Year after year, girls like Shannon Stewart and Karen McDougal graced the pages, and these were girls in a class all by themselves. They were the embodiment of perfection in the art of nude photography, and in recent years, Playboy has lost this ability to produce consistently classic models.

Especially in the past 2-3 years, the American version of Playboy has been seriously lacking in impact models. Sure, there have been some solid classes, like the 2009 group that was great from top to bottom, but there were still no true stars that would endure the test of time... until this month.

To get straight to the point, Miss April 2010 is Amy Leigh Andrews, who climbed up the Playboy ranks with relative ease, given what she brings to the table. Amy got her humble beginnings as Coed of the Week in August of 2008. Even back then, you could see that this girl had some future star quality, but it's still tough to tell that she could be so good. After a stint as Coed of the Month, she graduated to Playmatehood, where she debuted this month.

Amy Leigh is a great model - there are no two ways about it. She executes every photo to

perfection, using stellar technique and always looking bright and radiant. She has the perfect Springtime look that makes her a great sight to see at this time of year, and her pictorials fit her personality beautifully. Amy always keeps the audience engaged with her active, dynamic posing style, which exudes professionalism like no other girl we've seen in quite some time.

I could go on forever just talking about Amy's posing prowess, but let's take a real look at her pictorial. Amy leads by showing off a few clothed pics, with this one setting the stage for Amy's schtick: she's a down-home, hard-partying college girl. The thing is, though, that her range is extraordinary, and she doesn't just resort to being the bubbly blonde all the time. This majestic photo kicks things off, with her face taking on a totally different look. Indeed, one of the strange things you'll notice about Amy's photos is that her face looks dramatically different in many of them, which is an unusual effect. This photo has a subtle, summery charm that is amazing and very appropriate. After she pulls off the covers, her body is exposed: a voluptuous, natural marvel.

So now, let's get to the coup de grace of it all... her body. Amy Leigh has one of the drop-dead sexiest bodies of any Playmate in quite some time. The next stage of her pictorial concentrates on her small frame and considerable curviness, like in this surprising shot. With her preview pictorial, I didn't notice how rotund and curvy her butt was, but it's definitely worth noting. Her smallish 5'2" frame does wonders to accentuate her twisting, winding figure. But through it all, the main improvement that Amy has made to her physique is her toning. Since her Coed of the Month/Week pictorials, Amy has seemingly slimmed down a large amount. You can see this in her photos, where although she has plenty of body to look at, her waistline is chiseled and spectacular. Her hard, washboard abs seemingly wrap her body in an hourglass form that tantalizingly brings the whole package together.

When Amy gets inside the bedroom, you can tell just how slim she is, albeit her size and curves. Her body is the epitome of perfection in the 21st century, with every little line and detail coming together with that gorgeous face of hers. And speaking of that face, it really comes across beautifully in these photos. She has an effect where she has a set of "smoky" eyes, which are cute and squinty. They are mysterious and attractive, and really put it all together. And when you combine that gorgeous face with those thick, gorgeous thighs, you have quite a sight to see.

The grand finale of Amy's extensive pictorial lies in her amazingly lit bedroom shots. First, she lays flat, exposing her full curvature. Then, she lays flat and flashes that incredible look of hers, but in this perspective, you get a whole different view of the way her thighs mesh with that amazing ass of hers. To finish it all off in dramatic fashion, she gets up and kneels, with a dark, artistic shot of her lower body contrasting with a bright, engaging smile with those pearly whites.

• Facial: A Amy's face is extremely unique, and it's what sets her apart from other models of her type. Her smoky, mysterious eyes are very interesting and engaging, while her face itself always looks new and refreshing in every pictorial.
• Body: A+ Miss Andrews has an impeccable build, with outstanding proportions, and a thinner waistline that comes across amazingly in photographs. Her slim, sleek abs beautifully complement a wonderful set of thighs that feed into a voluptuous, small frame.
• Talent: A+ Amy has an innate knack for the camera, offering a variety of refreshing poses. She is very dynamic in her photos (while not so much in her video sets), striking a vast array of poses in a limited number of photos.
• Pictorial: A Her photos followed a consistent theme, which took a bright, colorful approach given her Miss April status. Still, the pictorial picked up a more mature tone at times, which was fitting, since Amy does not always look her college-aged self, given the goods.
• Centerfold: A- Amy's centerfold is clean-cut and easy on the eyes, with bright colors and tones. It does a good job showing off her body, and allows her to exude a mature confidence.
• Overall: A+ I have gushed on and on in this post about Amy Andrews, and here is how I back it up. Amy is the first model to garner an A+ rating since Jo Garcia did back in 2007, and my 2nd A+ rating ever since starting this blog. On the right side of my blog, you'll notice my all-time A+ ratings, which constitute my "hall of fame." As you can see, no Playmate has received an A+ rating since Raquel Gibson in 2005. Amy is truly the best Playmate we have seen in years. She has outstanding talent and a congenial, accessible look that can draw in audiences with just a glance. Her physical stature is magnificent, with the effort she has put into improving her body being immediately visible. This is, in short, a wildly talented, once in a long time girl who positively shines in every photo.

It's taken quite long since my last A+ model. If you look at my list to the right, the last time we had a year without an A+ PlayboyCritic rating was 1996. Since Jo Garcia in '07, there have been no girls as talented and worthy of the title as Amy is. This year, we truly have a shoo-in for Playmate of the Year who would be unbelievably hard to top, unless we have yet another picture-perfect Playmate that busts on to the scene. Until then, enjoy the beauty that is Amy!

One For The Ages