Our definition of DIY Paint Colors ® Paint as compared to our other custom paints…At Paint Pearls, we pride ourselves on the quality of our DIY Paint Colors ® pigments.

These are quality metallic Iron Mica colored pigments known as DIY Paint Colors ® that have a good deal of their own iridescence built right in. The mixture, however, of our DIY Paint Colors ® pigments will never be truly transparent, due to the fact that they are solid particles of mica and iron. This does not mean that you can’t acheive a good degree of transparency from the DIY Paint Colors® paint pigments, it’s just that you will acheive total coverage after several coats, being unable to see whatever is underneath. We suggest using about 1/2 of one of our bags per quart of base clear or intercoat clear. Using a full bag per quart would basically make a colored metallic pearl paint. Our DIY Paint Colors ® paints can also be used to make your own ColorShift Pearls pigments, by mixing them with different ghost pearl paint pigments. This is usually done by a 3 to 1 Interference Pearl to candy pearl paint ratio, sprayed in about 5 coats. This is not something for the apprentice to try, but more for a skilled pro with the common sense to spray out test panels before attempting to paint an entire project. As we have said in other articles on this site, there are literally millions of possibilities of what you can acheive in the custom paint realm by mixing and matching our products.

If you must have a completely transparent candy paint job, there are other methods to doing it. DIY Paint Colors® paints have typically been a dye-based paint. Solvent-based dyes can be added to clear coats to create the identical candy paints that you will see being sold by the major manufacturers. The typical problem with true candies is that dyes will never hold up as long as pigments, and are very fragile to UV degradation. If you must have a true candy paint, go and get a small bottle of solvent based dye from a local reseller of dyes and make your own candy paint.

Remember, if you want your paint to take on the actual color of the candy pearl, we suggest painting it over a black base coat. If you already have a black car, then it can be scuffed up to make a good surface to paint on.

We have seen our candy paint pigment used in many industries, including powder coating, plastic manufacturing, custom airbrush art, and gel coating. They work just as well for beginners as they do for professionals. One common mistake that beginners make is that they buy our DIY Paint Colors when they want to create a paint that changes in the sun, or as we call it, a “ghost” pearl paint job. These candies will change the overall color of your project, so please keep that in mind! Remember to visit our tips pages for other useful information.

If you are still confused over which products would look good over your existing paint, or want to discuss your options, contact us! Or visit our FAQ page for more information. As always, we will try to answer any of your questions and hope to serve our customers in any way that we can! We thank you for your business.

-Matt