Anything "Duochrome" or "Chameleon" can also be found using the tag "Color Shifting"

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Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Didspade SuperShift Pearls & Store Review


Didspade [Custom Paint Additives] sells all the things you’d expect from a company geared towards the automotive industry- metal flakes, pearl pigments, candy concentrates and of course color shifting pigments which is what earned them a spot on my resource list(s) but as with a lot of the companies I add, I’d never purchased anything so I had no personal experiences or products to share with you before now. While I’ll be showing you some of the Super Shift pearls specifically, below is a general review of the available products:
·        Metal Flake -ranging in size from .004” up to .025”
·        SuperShift™ Pearls
·        ColorShift Pearls particle sizes from 10-60um up to 100-250um
·        Pearls
·        Candy Concentrate
·        Halo EFX Gallons
·        Sprayers
·        Sample Packs
·        Liquid Wrap Products
·        Gear and Stickers

I’m stubborn so I try to avoid buying pigments that are so expensive, you buy them by the gram rather than by the ounce or half ounce- but I can only resist so long; most of the good ones are sold per gram so if you want to expand your collection of color shifting pretties, you’re just going to pay more (but just because you have to pay a little more doesn't mean you can't still pay the least possible). Providing I counted right, Didspade sells a whopping 38 different color shifting pigments, from the fine particle size C Series to the more sparkly, larger sized Epic Series, there’s bound to be something to suit just about every preference. Reasonably priced, you can get 5 grams (or more if you so choose) which is plenty, enough to make a simple pigment+base bottle of nail polish, or two, and still have some left to experiment with. I only own a single one of these, C4, so I can’t say how they’d compare to colors from other stores.

All the ColorShift Pearls are priced the same, 25 grams for $28.99 or "5 gram samples" for $5.80- only $1.16 per gram.

C1                Yellow/Blue/Purple/Green
C2                Greenish-Yellow/Blue/Purple
C3                Purple/Orange/Yellow/Blue
C4 *             Copper/Yellow/Gold/Green/Blue
C5                Red/Green/Blue/Purple
C6                Purple/Blue/Green
C7                Green/Gold/Purple/Blue
C8                Red/Orange/Green/Purple
C9                Red/Orange/Green/Pink
C10              Orange/Red/Gold/Green
C11              Lavender/Blue/Purple/Orange
C12              Red/Bluish-Green
C13              Yellow/Green/Purple/Blue
C14              Red/Green/Purple
                   
CX Series     30-120um      
CX 30                    Blue-Green
CX 31                    Gold-Green-Blue
CX 32                    Purple-Violet-Reddish Gold
CX 33                    Reddish Purple-Yellow Gold
CX 34                    Royal Blue-Purple
CX 35                    Aqua-Green-Gold
CX 36                    Purple-Navy Blue-Green
CX 37                    Red-Purple-Blue
CX 38                    Rose-Golden Orange
CX 39                    Orange-Gold-Rose
CX 40                    Gold-Green
CX Kingpin           Gold-Orange-Red
CX Superstition     Maroon-Plum-Blue-Orange-Gold
                   
Epic Series 100-250um  
Paris            Blues-Purples-Reds
Dynasty       Blues-Purples-Greens
Atlantis        Aquas-Greens-Golds
Sparta          Golds-Reds
                   
Twisted Series 15-45um  
Delta            Purple-Blue-Red
Immortal      Maroon-Plum-Blue-Orange-Gold
Riddler         Green-Purple-Blue         
                   
Space Series 10-60um     
Ecliptic                  Green-Blue-Gold-Purple
Flare                      Red-Pink-Purple-Orange-Gold
Gravity                  Burgundy-Teal-Purple-Blue
Ion                         Red Purple-Violet-Blue-Orange
                   
This brings us to the real purpose of the review, Didspade’s line of SuperShift Pearls. These are pricier than the other color shifters that Didspade offers, 5 gram sample for $34.75 ($6.95/g) versus $1.16 per gram for the above, but I believe they are worth the price. The description reads: "Ultra high grade, intensely vivid color-shifting pearls- Top-of-the-line most dynamic shifts & richest colors available." and that has proven to be true for me.

Didspade didn’t release these all at one time so I acquired Nitron, Elixir, Invictus, Solis and Zionic at the beginning of April and the last 4- Dorado, Wildfire, Vibe and Lithium- about a week ago so some photos are in two sets and under different lighting. I did find these to be impressive regardless of whether they were layered over black, might even prefer them not layered, because it doesn’t take an extreme change in angle or lighting to display the color shift (and a few even remind me of the old Sally Hansen Nail Prisms). I'm sorry, no manicured nail pics here, anyone that knows me knows I rarely paint my nails but I will get nail stick photos posted soon. Didspade themselves provided plenty of better photographs on their website for individual colors so please consider mine secondary, added input. No trick photography here, just them doing the wonderful thing they do.

Nitron          
Elixer               
Invictus            
Solis                 

As soon as you open the package, still in their little bags, you can tell these are not your standard color shifters because not a single one is a white, orange or pink colored powder. I was perfectly content to stare at them in my hand and watch the color change initially.





In pairs:










Side bottle shots



Front view:


And individual bottle shots side by side with their bags.

Dorado



Elixir



Invictus



Lithium



Nitron



Solis



Vibe



Wildfire



Zionic



After letting my pictures speak for themselves, here's my conclusion:

It was a pleasant shopping experience and I had no reservations placing a second and third order- each one was nicely packed in a bubble mailer and shipped in a reasonable time frame from Arizona to Kentucky and I’ve been happy with what I’ve received. The shipping price however is worth noting- on my 1st order of 5 grams total, I paid $8.99 for shipping whereas on my 2nd and 3rd orders, both of which were 4 grams total, I was charged $3.49 to ship each. I don’t know what the reasoning for the price difference is and I haven’t asked but that means you can order 4 grams twice and still pay less in shipping than for one 5 gram shipment. Also, if you do order 5 grams or more, you may have to sign for your package when it arrives, not an issue as long as someone is at home.

Didspade gets a A for customer service as well as their products. I've only contacted them once on an unrelated matter but they responded pretty quick, quick enough to satisfy me and I have relatively little patience sometimes. Ok, most the time.

Based on the color intensity,  I might compare the SuperShift Pearls to the better known Ultra Chrome Chameleon (or Ultra Chameleon Chrome or UCCs), also highly concentrated color shifting pigment(s) that is sold by Glitter Unique and SpectraFlair4u- or the “Super Chameleon” pigments sold by Solar Color Dust. I don't own any of those either, for the record. 

Price per gram, Didspade's SuperShift Pearls are a slightly more affordable and satisfying alternative and you really should give them a chance. -MK

11 comments:

  1. Great review, thank you! How much of the SuperShift Pearls did you use per bottle? The entire gram? Was it enough to give good coverage? Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. 1 gram of these doesn't seem like much in the bag but there's enough there for, estimating, 3 full size bottles- though 3 might be pushing it. For each bottle I made, I used 5 level drops of pigment using the Drop spoon, (set available from TKB Trading or Glitter Unique, the smallest spoon of the set. With it being the Drop spoon and level, 5 really isn't that much. For that ratio and over black or dark polish, 2 coats of the Pearl-mixed polish would be enough. Over bare nails/clear coat, 3 coats would probably look better to achieve opacity but not required to see the color shift well. For all but Invictus, I've made one bottle each and have some left. From Invictus, I added a single drop to a different polish and yes, there is still some left of the original gram. I hope that helps! Thanks for visiting and reading.

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  2. Great review. Thanks for all the pics!
    Do you think these would make good stamping polishes (over anything other than black)?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, I don't think they'd do much as a stamping polish though I have no experience with these things. A stamping polish has to be pigmented enough to do it's job in one coat and one coat of these would be too transparent still... unless you're going for a sheer effect.

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  3. does anyone wanna sell me 1 gr of Wildfire and Invictus and ship to Poland? like in a letter?... I`d pay 10$ for each gram . ughhhh why they stopped selling 1 gr samples.. mommyo@op.pl Monika

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know why Didspade stopped selling the 1 gram samples because per gram, they were actually making more than on the 5g sample. I asked actually, before July 4th, but haven't received an answer on that, or on the possibility of selling sample packs. Maybe it was just too much work to weigh out and package individual grams. I don't know of any store other than Didspade that sold them as 1 gram samples, I'm sorry. I too wished to buy more.

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    2. I emailed them - I was so distraught too - they told me it was a promotion & that it had ended.
      I did mention how silly it was for them to stop selling 1gm bags, when they had just gotten popular with nail techs around the world! :/
      I keep checking back with their site, in hope that they'll bring back the 1gm promo bags, but they haven't :( so sad!
      I'm in Australia & US$35 (before postage) is just way too much to spend on 5gm of a color I may not even like :(
      I do have my heart set on "Solis" though & may lash out, one day!

      They've just released their version of the quite popular "Holo" pigment, too & a 5gm sampler of it, is US$40!!
      Probably worth it, as I paid a ridiculous €20 (AUD$35) for mine & I only got 1gm :(
      That was before it became too popular though & dupes were created. :(

      Sometimes it pays to wait!
      Not with DidSpade though!!
      That promotion stopped midway through my adding to my cart & all my 1gm colors were removed before checkout :'( I cried.

      You are very lucky you got so many colors!!! DON'T EVER SELL THEM - if you do, charge a bundle for them!!! lol

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    3. AndriART- I ended up with 2 grams each of all available colors before their "promo" ended and no one will be getting them- unless I end up with granddaughters and maybe I'll be nice. I hadn't anticipated that Didspade would stop selling them but I moved as fast as my budget allowed because I wanted enough to work with. There are still 2 US suppliers for the equivalent Ultra Chameleon Chrome pigments but the price is higher, $11.50 per gram whereas Didspade's 5 gram sample works out to be $5.95 per gram. I still have my original SpectraFlair so I've not tried any company's alternative but please, let us know if you do.

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  4. Have you tried to use the super shift pigments over a black nail with non tacky gel top coat? More specifically have you tried the color shift powder in this way from didspade? I bought 4 color shift powders because they were cheaper for a 5g but can't get the effect I need!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're talking about "scrubbing" it in on top like they've been doing with the chrome pigments, right? I've never used a gel polish/coat or used the scrubbing technique but I believe Cathy over at the blog More Nail Polish has done something with the Chromes that might help you. There is a distinctive difference between the Supershifts and regular colorshifts too because the color intensity. I think I only own one regular color shifter from Didspade and it was basically the same as every other companies. Only the Ultra Chameleon Chrome pigments and the Supershifts pack that extra color "punch" and unfortunately they come with a bigger pricetag.

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    2. Depending on what you've tried... Polish Luxe on YouTube uses isopropyl over the no-tack to assist with attraction of some pigment.
      I found my pigments to repell after isopropyl.
      Keep in mind DidSpade pigments are specifically designed for automotive painting & to mix with 2pac & applied with a spray gun.
      I have known a nail tech to use a latex-head eyeshadow applicator, to apply DidSpade pigment.
      Not to use your finger, because it will fuse to the texture of your fingerprint, more than the cured gel.
      Also, speed rather than pressure is recommended for the friction to leave the pigment on the gel.

      It's difficult.
      Different brands of pigment have better ways of application - most are tricky.
      I have chrome, holo & a set of 11 chameleon pigments all from the same brand & the chrome & only 6/11 chameleon pigments will work with my finger over no-tack. The holo works best with an inhibition layer. The other chameleon pigments are temperamental AF! Sometimes I can get them to stick with just my finger, other times I need a silicone tool & other times, it won't stick to the first layer of no-tack gel, but it will stick after 2 coats o_O

      I hope all this info is helpful & I'm not just rambling!! haha

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