Ultra Chameleon Chrome Pigments...

More swatches and comparisons.

I'm back with four Ultra Chameleon Chrome pigments that I bought to round out my collection of Supershift Pearls from Didspade. From Glitter Unique, I have Emerald/Blue/Gold and Copper/Gold/Green. From Spectraflair4u, I have #4 RCGC (Red/Copper/Green/Cyan) and #8 BPCG(Blue/Purple/Copper/Green). Both companies sell these for the same price, $11.50 per dry gram. Didspade's are priced at 5 grams for $34.75. 

Left to right: GU Emerald/Blue/Gold, GU Copper/Gold/Green, Sf4u Red/Copper/Green/Cyan, Sf4u Blue/Purple/Copper/Green

Since this post and my efforts are centered around matching the others to Didspade’s, let’s review the selection. Right now, they sell 11 different Supershifts: Invictus, Elixir, Solis, Vibe, Lithium, Dorado, Zionic, Wildfire, Nitron, Ametrine and Atlas. When they were first released, the Supershifts were being sold at a special price for just 1 gram so I bought the first nine; Ametrine and Atlas came out almost a year later and only at the normal price so they are two I don’t have. Not that I didn’t want them but I don’t need 5 grams… and that brings us to Glitter Unique and Spectraflair4u.

Didspade Supershifts

L-R: Invictus, Vibe, Nitron, Solis, Elixir, Lithium, Dorado, Wildfire & Zionic

Both Glitter Unique and Spectraflair4u sell UCC pigments under a slightly different name, Ultra Chameleon Chrome and Ultra Chrome Chameleon respectively, but [most of] the color names/descriptions and pictures don’t match each other, let alone match up to Didspade’s. I spent two weeks putting their speed shapes and car photos up against store photos of nails and polish bottles, even using my own nail pics of Didspade’s pigments. The goal was to add to color spectrum without buying duplicate colors and I was partly successful.

At the bottom of this post are my conclusions which, if interested, you can check out but I'm going to move on to the individual pictures and comparisons.

Glitter Unique Emerald/Blue/Gold

Glitter Unique Copper/Gold/Green

Spectraflair4u #4 Red/Copper/Green/Cyan

Spectraflair4u #8 Blue/Purple/Copper/Green

No, that's not your imagination, Sf4u's Red/Copper/Green/Cyan, the one I thought might be a match for Didspade's Ametrine, is nearly identical to GU's Copper/Gold/Green. 

Here they are side by side again and from another angle. In both, Copper/Gold/Green is on the left, Red/Copper/Green/Cyan on the right. Sorry, I have six cats, random hairs end up everywhere.

Based on the store pictures alone, I didn't think they looked much alike. Here's how they stack up against Didspade's Wildfire and Zionic, captured in three shots to show the changing angle. 

L-R: Wildfire, Copper/Gold/Green, Red/Copper/Green/Cyan, Zionic.

So technically they aren't duplicates and they do fill out the color spectrum somewhat.

Glitter Unique's Emerald/Blue/Gold very well could be a match to Didspade's Atlas and it too compliments the others nicely. Here Emerald/Blue/Gold is shown next to Didspade's Dorado and Lithium.

Spectraflair4u's #8 Blue/Purple/Copper/Green, perhaps unsurprisingly, fits right in with the five Supershifts Invictus, Elixir, Solis, Vibe and Nitron. The color shift is so close it's hard for me to decide where it would come in the color order but Blue/Purple/Copper/Green is most similar to Elixir.

L-R: Solis, Nitron, Invictus, #8 Blue/Purple/Copper/Green, Elixir and Vibe.

L-R: Solis, Nitron, Invictus, #8 Blue/Purple/Copper/Green

L-R: Invictus, #8 Blue/Purple/Copper/Green, Elixir and Vibe

That's all my pictures. I'm satisfied, enough, that I've rounded out the spectrum from the choices available. My next project will be attempting to create something new from the existing ones.

The best color order I could put them in is:
Wildfire
Zionic
Sf4u Red/Copper/Green/Cyan
GU Copper/Gold/Green
Dorado
Lithium
GU Emerald/Blue/Gold
Invictus
Elixir
Sf4u Blue/Purple/Copper/Green
Vibe
Solis
Nitron

Now if you're still with me by this point, below are the pigments available from Glitter Unique and Spectraflair4u- and how they might match up to Didspade's. I'd read on someone else's blog (and someone else's comment) that there were color matches between the companies so I tried to match them up.

Glitter Unique	Spectraflair4u
Green/Blue/Violet/Red Cyan/Blue/Purple/Copper Pink/Violet/Red/Copper Violet/Red/Orange/Gold Blue/Purple/Copper/Magenta Copper/Gold/Green Emerald/Blue/Gold Green/Silver/Fuchsia Red/Bronze/Copper	GBVR #1...Green/Blue/Violet/Red CBPC #2...Cyan/Blue/Purple/Copper PVRC #3...Pink/Violet/Red/Copper VROG #6...Violet/Red/Orange/Gold BPCM #9...Blue/Purple/Copper/Magenta RCGC #4...Red/Copper/Green/Cyan WRCG #5...Wine Red/Copper/Gold GG #7...Gold/Green BPCG #8...Blue/Purple/Copper/Green APCB #10...Aqua/Purple/Copper/Blue ROGG #11...Red/Orange/Gold/Green GPP #12...Green/Pink/Purple

None of these are confirmed but here are my guesses:

-Invictus may match up to: GU’s Green/Blue/Violet/Red & Sf4u’s #1 GBVR (Green/Blue/Violet/Red)

-Elixir may match up to: GU’s Cyan/Blue/Purple/Copper & Sf4u’s #2 CBPC (Cyan/Blue/Purple/Copper)

-Solis may match up to: GU’s Blue/Purple/Copper/Magenta & Sf4u’s #9 BPCM (Blue/Purple/Copper/Mag.

-Nitron may match up to: GU’s Violet/Red/Orange/Gold & Sf4u’s #6 VROG (Violet/Red/Orange/Gold)

-Zionic may match up to: GU’s Pink/Violet/Red/Copper & Sf4u’s #3 PVRC (Pink/Violet/Red/Copper)

-Vibe may match up to: Sf4u’s #10 APCB (Aqua/Purple/Copper/Blue). I feel a bit uncertain about pairing #10 to Vibe but the remaining pigments are less likely. GU doesn’t have a possible match.

-Lithium may match up to: GU’s Green/Silver/Fuchsia & Sf4u’s #12 GPP (Green/Pink/Purple).

-Dorado may match up to: Sf4u’s #7 GG (Gold/Green). I do not believe GU has a match.     

-Wildfire may match up to: GU’s Red/Bronze/Copper. Possibly Sf4u’s #11 ROGG (Red/Orange/Gold/Green)

-Atlas may match up to: GU’s Emerald/Blue/Gold. I bought this one and it seems likely to match. Sf4u doesn’t have a likely match.

-Ametrine may match up to: Sf4u’s #4 RCGC (Red/Copper/Green/Cyan) or #5 WRCG (Wine Red/Copper/Gold). I guessed and bought #4, still not sure if I was right. GU doesn’t have a likely match.

Leaving these un-matched:

GU’s Copper/Gold/Green: I bought it. It doesn’t match a Supershift, and doesn’t appear to match any Spectraflair4u pigment exactly.

Sf4u’s #8 BPCG (Blue/Purple/Copper/Green): I bought it. It is in the same color range as Didspade’s Invictus, Elixir, Solis, Vibe and Nitron but doesn’t match exactly. Based on pictures, it doesn’t appear to match up to any of Glitter Unique’s pigments.

Didspade Releases 4 New Supershift Flakes

New SuperShift Flakes are now live on www.didspade.com and www.didspadeworld.com (International customers only)

Use code SSF15 at checkout for 15% off the SuperShift Flakes.
Promotion ends tomorrow @ midnight (M.S.T.)

$46.00 for 5 grams, making it $9.20 per gram. The four colors are:
Congo
Space Berry
Grave Digger - an homage to my favorite monster truck of the same name?
Tiger

The 15% off offer knocks them down $1.38 making them $7.82 per gram- assuming my calculator is correct.

I've looked at these on Didspade's site and based on pictures, they are not Ultra Chrome Chameleon Flakes under a different name and from a different manufactuer. UCCs are colored while the Supershift flakes look transparent or white-ish. Each comes with the following description:

Ultra high grade, intensely vivid color-shifting pearlescent flakes.
Top-of-the-line most dynamic shifts & richest colors available.
SuperShift flakes are made from pearl pigment material.
Varied particle sizes and shapes.
White Particle / Black base suggested

Didspade Supershift Pearls (Part 2)

Even though it is almost a year later, I'm going to consider this a follow up to my original entry,  Didspade SuperShift Pearls & Store Review. In that post I reviewed the store, their product line-up and their Supershift Pearls with pictures of them in bottles and the sample bags. If you haven't seen it before, I encourage you to do so. What I hadn't done was swatch nail sticks or photograph them for that review and I should have, but I don't mind saying that I was pleasantly distracted by five foster kittens at the time.

I want to be fair and completely clear here. While the focus of this post are Didspade's Supershift Pearls and these are the only ones that I actually own, I've read that they match up color-wise with the Ultra Chrome Chameleon pigments sold elsewhere and this is why I'm adding my own photographs to the mix. Didspade, no offense guys, stopped offering the pigments at $7.00+ per single gram and now they are 5 grams for $34.75, a good price if you need and want 5 grams but maybe a bit high if you're a hobby polish maker rather than an indie maker. Our 1-gram-alternative are the UCCs from SpectraFlair4u or Glitter Unique. Both stores have an assortment of colors for $11.50 per dry gram (as opposed to pre-dispersed which you may also buy), 12 colors for SpectraFlair4u while Glitter Unique has 9.

Returning to Didspade, they currently have 11 colors, 9 of which I own and they are: Invictus, Elixir, Solis, Vibe, Lithium, Dorado, Zionic, Wildfire and Nitron; Ametrine and Atlas are the two I don't have. As far as I know, Didspade was the first to start selling the super concentrated chameleon pigments, at least in a reasonable quantity versus price for us polish makers and I snapped up on their initial deal, managing to get 2 grams of each color. On to the photos!

Invictus

Vibe

Nitron

Solis

Elixir

Lithium

Dorado

Wildfire

Zionic

As you saw from the above, Invictus, Vibe, Nitron, Solis, and Elixir are all similar- as in the same range of colors- but none are identical. Below I'll give you some side-by-side photos to help you decide for yourself, with both ends of the nail stick visible. The nails showing on the bottom of each picture are the black nails- the pigment/base mix layered over black polish. The nails at the top of each are "natural nails", the usual color of artificial nails. Having both in frame lets you see more of the color transition at once.

The first set of two photos were taken in daylight indoors, without a flash and without more direct sunlight, the angle changing slightly from one to the other.

From left to right, Invictus, Vibe, Nitron, Solis, Elixir, Lithium, Dorado, Wildfire, Zionic

These two were taken in the same room in daylight, and still without a flash but with sunlight shining right on them which adds a bit more sparkle to them- though they are all of a finer particle size. Again the angle changes slightly from one to the other.

From left to right, Invictus, Vibe, Nitron, Solis, Elixir, Lithium, Dorado, Wildfire, Zionic

For these two photos, I split them up for a better close up group shot. 

From left to right: Invictus, Vibe, Nitron, Solis, Elixir 

 From left to right: Lithium, Dorado, Wildfire, Zionic

It's always good to have options. -MK

A few posts coming...

It's obvious by now that my interest in polish making and polish collecting has waned and my supplies are gathering dust- it will be a hell of a yard sale- but I have two or three posts planned for the coming days. Duochromes, specifically photographs of color shifting pigments from SpectraFlair4u and Glitter Unique, Didspade's Supershift Pearls (comparable to the UCC pigments from the other two stores I just mentioned), and some UCC flakes from Glitter Unique as well. These things aren't brand new inventory for them or me and I really should have posted photographs last year but didn't.

The purpose of doing it now? It takes me forever to decide which pigments to buy because I compare this company's photos to that company's to avoid buying dupes and to do accurate comparisons, you need more photos- and there aren't enough of those online. I did post my review of Didspade with bottle and bag photographs but neglected to take nail stick swatches. I didn't document the chameleon pigments from Glitter Unique and SpectraFlair4u at all until recently.

It's a' coming, as soon as I write it. -MK

Notice: 4th of July Sales

If and when more come to my attention, I'll share them with you.

Glitter Unique is having a sale:
10% on our ProColors, suspension bases, bottles, and supplies now through Monday :) No code needed, discount applied at check out. Obviously, the sale ends 7/4.

Saving $0.10 on the dollar adds up. This is an excellent time to stock up on frankening supplies including the very necessary suspension base.

 ***********************************

Didspade is also having a sale for the 4th:
20% off all weekend sitewide! www.didspade.com. Enter coupon code: JULY4TH. International customers please use www.didspadeworld.com. Sale ends midnight 7/4 (M.S.T.)

Let me do a little math for you here- $68.85 before shipping becomes $54.40 before shipping with 20% off.

-MK

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

o   All ColorShifts

o   Shop by Series

o   White Particle ColorShift Pearls

·        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.

Didspade - ColorShift Pearls
C Series       

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.

 “SuperShift” Pearls 

Nitron          

Elixer               

Invictus            

Solis                 

Zionic 

Dorado

Wildfire

Vibe

Lithium

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 1^st order of 5 grams total, I paid $8.99 for shipping whereas on my 2^nd and 3^rd 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