When casting a spell, some sort of guide is usually handy – for avoiding accidental transfigurations if nothing else… So we put together this little page to help you get started with your little jars of magical science! And if you still manage to turn yourself into a newt, that’s on you.

First things first, there is a small plastic shaker cap inside our jars, which is easily removed (at worst with a small flat screwdriver, but normally fine by hand). While these can be helpful for the powders, you’ll need to remove them to get the flakes out. We included them to give a little extra security during shipping, in case a lid came unscrewed and gave anyone an accidental glitter bomb…

For our glitters and flakes, we always recommend doing a small test with your preferred resin, just to be aware of any sinkage. In thinner resins, our flakes can sink, but also adding things like alcohol inks can alter the viscosity of your resin, so make allowances for that. If you’re using thinner resin (eg. Dipoxy, Smooth-On 327, Icrystal, etc.) then we recommend waiting until closer to it’s pot life limit to get better suspension. As a tip – all our flakes are best handled with tweezers to reduce mess! You can also stir them more vigorously to break them into even smaller flakes.

Here are some quick-start guides on each range, with a few tips and tricks to help you get the most out of them. They are listed in order of particle size, smallest to largest.

Alchemy Dust

Smaller particles than the Arcane Shimmers mean more of a visible colour shift, and a greater spectrum of colours. These still have a sparkle, but it’s more of a shimmery lustre. These look really different in light compared to dark tinted resin, and again, only a small amount is needed for an aurora-like effect. The different prices reflect the amount of colours the individual product shifts between – less expensive ones might do two or three, more expensive will do four, five or six.

Arcane Shimmer

These are larger particles, so have a greater sparkle effect than the Alchemy and Transmutation Dusts, but still have a chromatic shift. In small amounts, they will still be transparent in dice, but larger amounts will give an interference like effect with the same colour palette.

Faerie Fire Interference

This is a shimmery powder that is transparent in small amounts, becoming more translucent as more is added. Rather than changing colours like our Alchemy and Transmutation Dusts, this has just the one colour, but packs a strong sparkle too. Use similarly to the Arcane Shimmers/Alchemy Dusts.

Phantom Glitter

Phantom Glitter is completely transparent and will exhibit one extremely strong colour as it catches the light. More effects can be achieved by varying the colour of your work and density of the glitter. Please test in small batches before committing to your piece as the viscosity varies dependent on product and ambient temperature. When using in very thin resin, our advice it to let your resin sit and thicken a little to achieve the best suspension with these glitters.

Spectral Shift Glitter

Some are transparent, but all will give a colour shifting effect between a range of colours with a lot of glittery sparkle. Though our glitters are heavier than our micas, they are still very small particles (no chunky hex craft glitter here!) at 200μm.

Glamour Glitter

These are super fine silica flakes, so give a diamond-like sparkle and shine.
They also give a subtle colour interference (similar to our Faerie Fire Interference, but in a more sparkly form), which will become more visible the more you use.

Chromatic Dragon Flake

These flakes sparkle from a high holographic intensity to a quick burst of colour as they shift in the light, each variant having it’s particular tone. They are translucent so can look very different depending on what colour (if any) you choose to tint your resin. Extremely light weight provides excellent suspension capabilities, but as always, please do check in your preferred resin first!

Kaleidoscope Flake

These are mainly opaque in resin (a few are translucent) and have a really
spectacular range of chromatic shifts, with a metallic sheen. They suspend really well in resin (do a test first if you use very thin resin) and are good for dramatic effects.

Mermaid Scale

These are transparent in resin but give a opalescent colour shift when they catch the light. The flakes look really different in light, clear and dark tinted resins so it’s definitely worth experimenting! These have the same suspension qualities as our Kaleidoscope flakes, so again, test before you use them on a larger piece.

Metallurgy Flake

These flakes are still mica/silica based, but coated to look metallic – can be used like any metal leaf/foil, either brushed on to the mould or stirred directly into resin.

If you like our pigments, please feel free to post about it on social media, and if you tag us @chromatic_castle or use #chromatic_castle, you’ll be entered into future giveaways automatically!