TCP Global Color Shifting Pearls

Prices Accurate 12/11/13, Links checked 12/12/13

Time to show off some pigments from TCP Global, in particular the Color Shifting Pearls.

The containers shown are not what they arrived in; those are my “portables” from SKS Bottle.

Color Shifting Pearls

Color shifting pearls are available in two versions, Color Shifting Pearls and Rev-Illusion Special Effect Pearls, both with 5 colors each and sold individually or in sets. I chose the “originals” and purchased them as a set of 1/2 oz jars for $74.75. This brings the price down compared to the single price but they are still expensive (although not as much as the Rev-Illusions which as a set is $299.25). I don’t feel they are worth that because they are disappointingly exact dupes for TKB Trading’s Travel To pigments which I already own and are more affordable. Judging by TCP Global’s pictures, I knew they would be similar but I didn’t expect dupes.

All the pearls (including the Traditional Pearls) are together in this photo, taken under lamp light.

1. SP113 Blue Green
2. SP117 Red Green
3. SP118 Green Blue Violet
4. CSP85 Blue Gold
5. CSP83 Blue Red
6. CSP82 Green Purple
7. FP112 Orange Red
8. CSP81 Red Gold
9. CSP84 Green Orange
10. SP120 Red Violet

Here is the set of 5 color shifting pearls alone and below are the same pearls next to their Planetary sisters.

Earth & Green Orange – Jupiter & Blue Gold at top

Mercury & Red Gold in the middle

Pluto & Blue Red – Venus & Green Purple on the bottom

Here they’ve been swatched dry over Black Mica for contrast, photographed under lamp light.

Mercury & Red Gold, Venus & Green Purple, Pluto & Blue Red, Earth & Green Orange, Jupiter & Blue Gold

For what these would look like as a black based polish, I refer you to my entry about the Planetary Sampler. After I used three of these in clear polish, I realized they were dupes and saw no point in creating the others. -MK

Color Shifting Pigments (Part 3)

Please refer to All Chameleon Pigment Suppliers for the latest info, options and prices.

This is a follow up to Color Shifting Pigments Part 1 and Part 2. Part 1 focused on House of Kolor chameleon flakes from the automotive industry while Part 2 encompassed other brands of automotive flakes. Part 3 should include all cosmetic pigments/shadows and where you can buy them but people's ideas of "duochrome" vary so much that unless I own them or someone else does and reviews them, I can't say for certain that they do indeed have color shifting properties. Like all shopping online, you make the decision to buy based on a picture and a description but the accuracy of these greatly varies as well. I think if a company wants to sell me on it, they better show me the color shift in transition. That being said, here's what I've gathered so far.

As far as I'm concerned TKB Trading was already tops in the duochrome category because of the Travel to pigments, or the Planetary Sampler as the set is called but with the addition of the Star Bites and Moon Dusts, I don't know who else can compete with the selection.

In the Star Bite Collection are three colors, Shanika Sun, Marinda Star and Cherika Moon- larger particle size, about 100-260 microns. They can be purchased as samples and 1 oz sizes, individually or in sets. Their description reads:

Shanika Sun shifts from gold to green to blue

Marinda Star shifts from red to orange to yellow

Cherika Moon shifts blue to purple to red orange.

Samples, 1 teaspoon, are $2.95 individually, a set of three for $6.00.
1 oz bags are $15.00 each ($.53/gram) or $35.00 as a set- $.41/gram.

If you want a better idea of the duochrome, Kitties26 of More Nail Polish showed us the Star Bites fantastic color shifting with her Duochrome Top Coats #2, #3 and #4.

The Moon Dust Collection has five colors: Aisha Gold, Crescent Crimson, Indu Rose, Lavender Luz, and Luna Blue. The particle size is finer and thus less sparkly than the Star Bites. They can be purchased as samples and 1 oz sizes, individually or in sets.
Their description reads:

Aisha Gold shifts from gold to green to blue

Crescent Crimson shifts from red to orange to yellow

Indu Rose shifts indigo to purple to red

Lavender Luz shifts from blue to purple to orange

Luna Blue shifts from cyan to blue to red

Samples, 1 teaspoon, are $2.95 individually, a set of five for $12.00.
1 oz bags are $15.00 each ($.53/gram) or $59.00 as a set- $.42/gram.

Kitties26 showed us these as well in her entries Custom polishes - Moondust TKB pigments Part 1 and Custom polishes - Moondust TKB pigments Part 2. The lady always posts great swatches and as we all know, others' swatches can be the deciding factor to buy or not.

Finally and more familiar to most of us is the Planetary Sampler which contains the seven Travel to pigments Mercury, Mars, Earth, Venus, Neptune, Jupiter and Pluto. Like the sets above, they can be purchased as samples and 1 oz sizes, individually or in sets. Their description reads:

Travel to Mercury: Shifts from red-gold to bronze

Travel to Mars: Shifts from red to copper to gold

Travel to Earth: Shifts from light green to rose

Travel to Venus: Shifts from lilac to red to silver to green-blue

Travel to Neptune: Shifts from turquoise to blue to violet

Travel to Jupiter: Shifts from gold-green to silver-green to blue

Travel to Pluto: Shifts from silver-green to silver-red to green-gold

These pigments are less expensive than the others. Purchased in a set, 1 ounce is $12.00 versus $14.00 ($.50/gram) if purchased separately. The set is $85.00, bringing the price down to $.43 per gram. Samples are $1.50 each or $9.00 as a set.

If you haven't already seen these as swatches, you can view mine here dry and in polish here.

Pure Luxe Cosmetics also sells the Travel to pigments but under different names, in smaller quantities and under the name of the Kaleidoscope Collection (but not sold as a set). I am making the correlation here between the Travel to's and these based on Pure Luxe pictures/descriptions and the Travel to(s) I own.

Visions (Mercury)

Faceted (Mars)

Luster (Earth)

Prismatic (Venus)

Mirage (Neptune)

Illusion (Pluto)

Oasis (Jupiter)

Does Fyrinnae qualify for a indie company? At any rate, though I have never purchased anything from the company, it is my understanding that Fyrinnae has a rather expansive line of color shifting eyeshadows under the collection name of Arcane Magic. The website shows 18 colors currently, with pictures and descriptions. $6.80 each for a full size jar containing 3 grams.

A more recent entry is You Mix Cosmetics. On this date, 1/23/14, the store is closed, soon to reopen. When it does, I'll update the information but until then consider this outdated and for reference only.

This store sells two things: Color Shifting Glitter & Color Shifting Pigments.

The color shifting glitter is available (as of the original date this entry was posted) in two colors and these are sold as 2 grams for $5.00, $2.50/gram. Following the links here  and below show some of them to be "on hold" which I take to mean "out of stock", will update when/if they become available.
Green to Gold
Blue/Gold/Red - On Hold
Purple/Green/Blue - On Hold

The color shifting pigments were available in 9 colors, and were sold as 1 gram for $5.00. I'm leaving the list intact in hopes these will become available again.
Blue/Red
Red/Gold
Gold/Green/Blue
Pink/Gold
Red/Gold/Green
Violet/Blue
Blue/Green/Gold
Purple to Gold
Blue/Violet

I somehow neglected to mention Glitter Unique for duochrome pigments. At the moment there are 6 colors, green to blue, violet to gold, violet to blue, red to violet to blue, red-green flip, and green to blue to purple.

green to blue, samples are $8.50, 1/2 oz- $18.00, 1 oz- $28.00
violet to gold, samples are $8.50, 1/2 oz- $18.00, 1 oz- $28.00. Out of stock.
violet to blue, samples are $8.50, 1/2 oz- $18.00, 1 oz- $28.00. Samples and 1/2 oz availale.
red to violet to blue, samples are $7.50, 1/2 oz- $17.00, 1 oz- $27.00. Only samples available.
red-green flip, samples are $3.00, 1/2 oz- $9.50, 1 oz- $17.00
green to blue to purple, samples are $7.00, 1/2 oz- $15.00, 1 oz- $25.00. Only samples available.

*New* Mon Ennui Cosmetics 1/24/14

Payment: 

Store Location: California

Shipping Method:

What's available:
Color Shifters

Other Info:
-MK

Related Entries:
Color Shifting Pigments (Part 1)
Color Shifting Pigments (Part 2)

Swatches: Updated Travel tos & Mixes

Links checked 12/12/13

All pictures can be enlarged.

TKB Trading's Travel to series (also sold as the Planetary Sampler) are easily among my favorite pigments, the reason being the endless variety of color they offer if you're willing to play around with them.

I've used these pigments in both clear polish, shown on the left and in black, shown on the right; you can see, there really isn't much difference. In my other post(s), they were shown on a white index card whereas this is a piece of black cardboard. The black background shows the color much better I think.

The order is Jupiter, Venus, Pluto, Neptune, Earth, Mars and Mercury.

These are the same bottles I posted in the first entry Swatches: TKB's Travel to…Pigments only downsized. I used these for the swatches above on the right and those below. The formula was basically the same for all seven (based on the full size bottle): ¼ Luster base, 30 liquid drops L.A.Colors Black Velvet, ½ clear polish, 6+ smidgen (the mini spoon) pigment.

Both of these were taken under the same lighting as the swatches I'll show you later.

Jupiter, Venus, Pluto, Neptune

Earth, Mars, Mercury

Now all those swatches were for comparison purposes. I have taken some of the more notable combinations from the Duochrome Combinations list and mixed them up as color recipes and polish. The (dry) color recipes are simply equal parts of each pigment required.

Set A-I

The formula on each of these was the same. 7½ drops L.A.Colors Black Velvet, 1½ ml Luster base, 3ml clear polish, 4 drops (mini spoon) of the mix. The recipe was broken down for TKB's Duchess Elizabeth mini bottle that I have measured as holding 6ml.

295- Mix A: Venus-Merc 3:1

296- Mix B: Pluto-Jupiter 3:1

297- Mix C: Earth-Jupiter 3:1

298- Mix D: Venus-Mars 3:1

299- Mix E: Jupiter-Mercury 1:1

300- Mix F: Jupiter-Mercury 3:1

301- Mix G: Pluto-Mercury 3:1

302- Mix H: Earth-Neptune 3:1

303- Mix I: Neptune-Venus 3:1

From top to bottom we have Mixes B, H, A

From top to bottom we have Mixes E, D, C

From top to bottom we have Mixes I, G, F

Set J-Q

The formula on each of these was the same. 3-4 drops L.A.Colors Black Velvet, 22 drops Luster base, 1½ml or 45 drops clear polish, 2-3 drops (mini spoon) mix. Recipe downsized for a 3ml Bon Bons mini bottle.

321- Mix J: Pluto-Mars 3:1

322- Mix K: Pluto-Neptune 3:1

323- Mix L: Jupiter-Pluto 3:1

324- Mix M: Earth-Pluto 3:1

325- Mix N: Neptune-Earth 3:1

326- Mix O: Venus-Pluto 3:1

327- Mix P: Venus-Neptune 3:1

328- Mix Q: Venus-Jupiter 3:1

From top to bottom we have Mixes L, K, G

From top to bottom Mixes O, N, P

From top to bottom Mixes Q, P

Now aside from the original 7 Travel to's, none of these formulas were configured for actual use on my nails. I wanted to test those particular combinations to see them in transition but they are all very sheer as is, requiring at least 4 coats for these swatches.

Happy Duochroming! -MK

Related Entries:

Swatches: TKB's Travel to…Pigments

Duochrome: what does it really mean?

The Lust for Duochromes

Franken: #266 Atlantis

Links checked 12/12/13

This franken polish, #266 Atlantis is another layering polish but also a duochrome, shown in this post (on the nails) over #224 Blackstar Turquoise. Any resemblance to China Glaze's polish of the same name is coincidental as I made this before I knew of it.

The supplies used were: 1 bottle, 2 BBs, Sinful Colors Nail Junkie, L.A.Colors (Color Craze line) Radiation, Sally Beauty's glitter I labeled Sally B & Vial A from my Hobby Lobby glitters (view both of these here), Then there was the later addition of TKB Trading's Black Basic Black base to darken it slightly and TKB's Travel to Earth pigment making it a D/C.

The bottle up close.

A closer shot of the glitters used, taken outdoors in sunlight.

Both glitters shown in small swatch in clear polish.

Travel to Earth photo also taken outdoors in sunlight. Though you can't see the color transition you can see its bright green flash.

The exact formulation was 1/3 SC Nail Junkie, 1/3 LAC Radiation, Sally B & Vial A glitters, 3 drops Earth pigment and 3 drops TKB Trading's Basic Black base to darken it slightly.

When any of the glitters I own are used, the appearance of the polish is bumpy; the texture changes with the size and amount of glitter used.

Swatches of Atlantis by itself on paper, the left on black, the right on white. Taken indoors in sunlight.

And shown below on nails over #224 Blackstar Turquoise. I have to rely on these to display the duochrome effect (as the angle changes) so these are in the order taken.

This set photographed indoors, daylight but no sun.

Outdoors with sunlight but not direct.

One last photo, outdoors in direct sunlight.

 -MK

The Lust for Duochromes

Links checked 12/12/13

I've been silent for a while, in part due to the blues and the rest because I am simply bored with polish and pigments but in the midst of it, I continued to try and crack the color code. Well I'm done cracking and you can enjoy the fruits of my labor.

I had spent a lot of time trying to make a new duochrome from the original Travel to polishes I made (shown below) by sampling them with store bought polish. The process frustrated me to tears- literally, because after a week all I'd done is make variations of the same duochrome over and over. Generally the Travel to pigments from TKB Trading can be viewed as a having a 3-color-shift and while the store bought polish made them more vibrant, it also seemed to limit the range of the duochrome effect which I didn't appreciate.

I had also tried using Hilite Red pigment with the Travel to polishes and it too seemed to limit the color range so I didn't bother trying other colors of Hilites. The results weren't bad so I probably will in the future but it wasn't what I was going for.

I went back to the original Travel to colors (of polish) and made two charts. The first was a color mix with a ratio of 1:1 meaning one drop of a color mixed with one drop of another. For example, one drop of Venus with one drop of Pluto.

The second was with a ratio of 3:1 meaning three drops of one color mixed with 1 drop of a second. For example, 3 drops of Jupiter with one drop of Neptune. Drops of Jupiter? Isn't that a song by Train?

For the record, it doesn't matter that I used my black-based Travel to polishes for these charts; the Travel to pigments used in clear polish have the same color shifting (but darker). The reason for only going up to a ratio of 3:1 is because more than that and the 1^st color becomes dominant; in other words 4:1 of Mars and Mars is the only color shift you see.

Neither picture above is great quality but I wanted you to be able to see what I based my assessment of color on. Proceeding in that fashion I was able to see how the color shifting changes as you add greater amounts or, as my husband phrased it, "See the trend." I also found it was entirely possible to create a new duochrome from the original Travel to's if I had enough patience to sort through the information.

I've listed all the pigment combinations that resulted in a color shift that was different from each other and from the original Travel to's, shown in blue. I imagine the ratios would work for dry color recipes as well.  

Allow me to explain my chart to those of you that may be confused- and yes, I realize it is a bit confusing. For example, we'll take these entries on the list:

Name + Name, Ratio	1st Color	2nd Color	3rd Color
Mercury + Pluto 3:1	Pink	Red	Orange
Mars + Venus 1:1	Pink	Orange	Lt. Orange

The first column, Name + Name, Ratio, shows Mercury + Pluto 3:1.

Mercury and Pluto are the pigments combined in this one, 3 drops of Mercury to 1 drop of Pluto which results in a 3-color duochrome. The first planet listed is always the "3", the second planet is the "1" in the 3:1 ratios.

This duochrome starts out as pink and goes to red and then to orange. They are listed as first, second and third color (and separated that way in columns) to make them easier to compare to other combinations.

A ratio of 1:1 means one drop of a color mixed with one drop of another. For example, one drop of Mars with one drop of Venus.

I said "drops" because that’s how I did the testing, with liquid drops of my polish but it doesn't have to be drops, they just have to be equal parts. You could also use the syringes TKB sells if you're working with polish rather than dry pigment- for example 3 ml of Mercury to 1ml of Pluto.  Or, with the dry pigments, using TKB's mini spoon set, it could be 3 smidgen of Mercury to 1 smidgen of Pluto.

Name + Name, Ratio	1st color	2nd color	3rd color
Mars + Pluto 3:1 Or Mars + Neptune 3:1	Pink	Red	n/a
Mercury + Pluto 3:1	Pink	Red	Orange
Mercury + Neptune 3:1	Pink	Peach	Red Orange
Venus +Mars 3:1	Pink	Peach	Lt. Yellow Green
Mercury + Venus 1:1	Dk. Pink	Orange	Yellow Orange
Mercury + Venus 3:1	Dk. Pink	Red	Orange
Mars	Red	Orange	Yellow Orange
Mercury + Pluto 1:1	Pink Orange	Red	Orange
Mercury + Earth 3:1	Pale Orange	Orange	Yellow
Venus + Jupiter 3:1	Peach	Orange	Green Yellow
Jupiter + Mercury 1:1	Orange	Orange Green	Blue Green
Mercury	Dk. Orange	Yellow Orange	Yellow Green
Mercury + Neptune 1:1	Brownish	Orange	n/a
Venus + Earth 3:1	Silver Brown	Silver Yellow	Pale Yellow
Jupiter + Mars 1:1	Dirty Yellow	Greenish	Green
Mercury + Earth 1:1	Yellow Orange	Orange	Dk. Orange
Jupiter + Mercury 3:1	Olive Green Orange	Olive Green	Green Blue
Mars + Earth 1:1	Yellow Green	Lt. Orange	Dk. Orange
Earth +  Mars 3:1 Or Earth +  Mercury 3:1	Lime Green	Yellow Green	Orange
Jupiter	Pale Green	Blue Green	Blue
Pluto	Silver Green	Purple	Pink
Jupiter + Venus 1:1	Silver Green	Green Blue	Blue Green
Jupiter + Neptune 3:1	Lt. Green	Aqua	Med. Blue
Earth +  Pluto 1:1	Lt. Green	Pink	Dk. Pink
Earth +  Pluto 3:1	Lt. Green	Yellow Green	Red
Earth +  Jupiter 3:1	Bright Green	Pale Green	Pale Orange Pink
Earth	Green	Orange Green	Red Orange
Earth +  Neptune 3:1	Med. Green	Green Blue	Red Purple
Jupiter + Neptune 1:1	Lt. Green Aqua	Aqua	n/a
Neptune + Mercury 3:1	Green Blue	Lt. Blue	Lt. Purple
Neptune + Earth 3:1	Green Blue	Lt. Green Blue	Purple Pink
Neptune + Pluto 3:1	Green Blue	Blue Purple	Lt. Purple
Neptune	Dk. Aqua	Blue	Purple
Jupiter + Earth 1:1	Blue Green	Green	Lt. Purple Gray
Neptune + Venus 3:1	Blue Green	Med. Blue	Blue Purple
Mars + Neptune 1:1	Blue	Lt. Purple	Pink
Venus + Neptune 1:1	Med. Blue	Dk. Blue	Gray
Venus + Neptune 3:1	Purple Blue	Silver Green	n/a
Venus	Lt. Purple	Red Green	Olive Green
Mars + Pluto 1:1	Silver Purple	Pink	Reddish Pink

Related Entries:

TKBTrading's "Travel To..." & "Sparks!" pigments

Swatches: TKB's Travel to…Pigments

Duochrome: what does it really mean?

Swatches: Updated Travel tos & Mixes