Sunday, January 31, 2016

Mica Powders or Perfect Pearls?

Hey lovely people
I just can't believe it is my last post for craftykickstart16! Where did the month go? It sure was a lot of fun for it passed so quickly! :D Cyber hugs to all the lovely people who participated this month. keep your fingers crossed :D

Khadija asked me about some uses of Mica powders in the comment section of my last post. I know there are many powders in the market. I have two types- Perfect Pearls and Mica Powders. And I will do a little comparison in this post which is completely based on my opinions and is, by no means, endorsed :)


I have made a little comparison of these two powders with water, this Texture paste and Soft Matte Gel.

I personally have never done this comparison myself and naturally started using Mica Powders (I never owned Pearl Powders myself or used them a lot) So I was myself very excited to know how different or same they are. :) (thank you Kadjiha!)  

I took the closest colors I had in both the products, Gold in Mica Powder and Perfect Gold in Perfect Pearls. They apparently looked pretty much the same. Soft, shimmery and pigmented. Probably they are the same products from different brands only? (Pearl Powders are from Ranger Inc while Mica Powders are manufactured by Prima Marketing under the Finnabair's Mixed Media products- Art Ingredients)  But as you can see in the picture above, perfect pearls is by definition a truer gold than mica. No? 

Texture Paste
I used Texture Paste in Matte from Ranger Inc. Below you can find the picture of texture paste in matte mixed with pearl powders. What I noticed was:
1. It is not as pigmented in a matte paste as it appears to be in a powder- so you get a muted gold. and the shimmer doesn't stand out that much. 
2. It doesn't mix well. Can you see small dots of powder in the paste below? Although I gave equal time in mixing both of the powders with the paste. Perfect Powders took a little time to be mixed in well. Maybe they are not as fine as the Mica?  

Perfect Pearls in Perfect Gold with Matte Texture Paste

 The mica on the other hand, seems more shimmery and more pigmented to me in a texture paste. The colors of both differ a bit but Mica mixed in very well with the paste and I liked the results more.
Mica Powder in Gold with Matte Texture Paste
 Here is a side by side comparison in a different light setting. Can you see the grainy look in the perfect powder?
Left: Mica Powder- Right: Perfect Pearls
Soft Matte Gel: 
I love this product! It is a very strong adhesive for heavy embellishments that you might use in mixed media. During my workshop with Finnabair, I got to know that we could also make pastes using a bit of soft gel with mica powders. it so happened that I needed a gold label for one of my projects that I was doing in the workshop and I was not satisfied with any gold spray. Anna just made this paste quickly using the soft matte gel and gold mica and It was just what I was looking for :) I have been using the same to color many of the metals. I wanted to check if this works with pearl powder as well. So I tested it today.

Mica Powder is less "smoky" in the Soft matte gel. If you remember my altered configurations box, I used the same procedure to color the legs and the resin frame in the box. Check it out here
Mica Powder in Gold with Soft Matte Gel
 I have taken various pictures in different light setting so that you all can get the best idea.



and after the gel dried up: 


The leg I colored using the same paste. 

 The Pearl Powder, seemed very smoky at first and I figured that it is not as pigmented as the Mica Powder after the soft gel dried. It is a very soft gold. Maybe it is just a lighter color? After Pearl Powder mixed in soft gel dried, there was still a sheen to it and not the shimmer I was looking for.


After it dried up:

 Water :
I have the experience of using both with water. Both make great shimmer spray. If you are making a shimmer spray with the powders, make sure you dont add alot for it can clog the tube and the nozzle of the bottle. Just add a bit- enough to serve as a shimmer spray.


 I didnt shimmer it onto something because that is kinda difficult to show in pictures- I hope you all got the idea. :)

Mica Powder is a winner for me in all the three ways I use my powders. Do you know any other way to use your shimmer powders? I used them with Versamark stamping once (earliest ACDT post). you can check it out here and it has a video tutorial too :).  Would love to know any other way of using the powders. Drop them in the comment section below <3

Thank you so much everyone for playing along with us. I hope the posts helped each one of you in one way or the other :)  Your comments mean a lot. Feedback and appreciation is lovely, isn't it? You are welcome to tag me on Instagram or Facebook or message me on my business page anytime you want me to have a look at your project or need any tip. I will try my best to help!

Now brace yourself up and the lucky person will be announced real soon! :D
Until next time
xx
-J.

16 comments:

  1. Thanks Jaihan for this wonderful in depth comparison of Prima Mica powder with perfect pearl powder. I absolutely love how you paint your embellishments with a mix of soft matte gel and mica powder. They look amazing!!!
    Can't believe that this is the last post for Crafty Kickstart 16 .. I surely will miss all these super awesome posts by the team members and the tips and comments of the readers. hugz to ya all.

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    1. Thank you so much for leaving the feedback Amina. Thank you for coming up with this amazing idea of starting the crafty kickstart! <3

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  2. Love this post! I havnt used either and dont own any mica powders but I am sure to buy some now, thank you so much for sharing and the comparison was wonderful it really helped a lot :D <3

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  3. With all the talk going about mica powder, I too was wondering about the effects. This post has done justice to doing the comparison, now I know which one to get for what results. Thanks for such an informative post. Loved the posts throughout the kick start month. :)

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  4. loads of thanks to u and khadija :)
    i don't own any of the powders....... now i know which one to buy.
    this has been such an amazing month, I just loved all the ACDT posts & it was super fun waiting for the posts and interacting with you girls.
    Lots of love

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    1. thats so sweet of you! i hope we were of some help :)
      Hugs! <3

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  5. oh thanks Jaihan... I wanted to know the difference between both of these products and here your post is...thanks alot for sharing....after watching so many mixed media tutorials I knew some ways of mica powders but didnt know abour perfect pearls...let me know if twinkling h2o is the similar product or not?

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  6. Hey! i am glad it helped. I havent used twinkling h20's. Amina once used them in her project from AC. I know that they are not powders but cakes of shimmery colors that are activated with water.

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  7. Hayee thanks alot for doing this. This post is a bombshell for me, tbh. Im definitely going to place an order for mica powders now. I had a feeling that mica will win, lol. They look way more tempting than the perfect pearls. I only own one perfect pearls, thats in white. Thank God i didnot invest in more. Because now i will buy the beautiful micas ♡

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    1. Do buy. I love Mica! Although my use of mica is limited to mixed media only, they add beautiful shimmer over flowers too. Just mix them in water and spray it over :)

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  8. Very informative! Thanks for sharing J! Although I really don't know much about these products as well as the mixed media. Please do share some tips and information about the gesso, matte gel, and texture paste and the difference between them. Thanks!

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    1. Im so happy you liked it! Inj, gesso, gel and texture paste and very simple products. Texture paste comes in various forms (transparent, semi transparent, matte) but I enjoy the matte one best. It is, as the name says, matte and opaque (white for example) when it dries. transparent is glossy and colorless when it dries. You use texture paste with stenciling for example.
      matte gel again is matte when it dries. It has a gloss gel too which is glossy. I use matte gel as a glue. It is a very strong adhesive with which you can glue the heaviest of stuff too. It dries out completely matte and colorless.
      gesso is more or less like a white paint. If you are interested in knowing about the basic finnabair products- she has quite a detailed explanation of these on her website :)
      Goodluck! <3

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