Saturday, December 17, 2011

Cim Glass Testing: 803 Twilight Ltd. Run & 602 Purple Haze Ltd. Run

I noticed yesterday that CiM has so many new colors lately, that I am way behind in testing! I am going to try and make up for it this year - it's one of my New Year's resolutions.

Today, I am writing about two newer colors - Twilight and Purple Haze. Both of these colors are limited run, so if you like them, get them as soon as you can.

First up is Twilight, a gorgeous neutral transparent grey. This color fills a small hole in the 104 palette - it's not as warm/green as Effetre Slate Gray, and is darker and cooler than regular Effetre Grey. I like my greys to be on the cooler side, and this fits the bill nicely.

Twilight works up well - it's slightly stiff, but not enough to be a problem. It doesn't bubble or scum much - which is nice for a medium transparent color.

It layers really well, too - here with Effetre Dark Grey. I really love the encased stringer it makes - it's a perfect nuetral shade.

It also worked nicely as a layer between the opaque grey and the clear when encasing a base bead - it doesn't lighten too much. It is kind of stiff, so when using on top of a really soft opaque, like white or grey, make sure you use the outer part of the flame to heat it, to prevent the opaque color from melting faster than the Twilight. This will prevent any bleeding from the opaque underneath the encasing.

I saw no odd reactions in this glass when used with normal colors, and it didn't react with the clear I used - DH Aether. Twilight is a stable, consistent transparent color. Yey!

The other color I'd like to review is Purple Haze. I really love this pretty color. However, I think it's been mis-named. I don't consider this color either purple or hazy in any way. LOL I honestly thought that when I melted this I would get some sort of opacity or cloudiness. I was pleasantly surprised when I didn't. It's a pale transparent shade that works very nicely, if you keep it from getting too hot and bubbly/scummy.

Purple Haze is also....well, not purple. CiM describes it as a lavender/blue color shift (a similar, more accurate description was given to CiM's Count Von Count).  I found Purple Haze to be a lot less lavender/blue than Count Von Count. I think it sits comfortably between Count Von Count and Effetre's (also mis-named) Lavender Blue. What these people are thinking when looking at these colors is sometimes beyond me, in an amusing way. Thankfully, the name's not really that important, once you get to know the glass.
left-to-right: Count Von Count, Purple Haze, CiM Pink Champagne, Effetre Lavender Blue

Purple Haze also doesn't color shift nearly as much in sun or fluorescent light as other lavenders do. It does a small amount - turning a light lavender color with pink undertones. In incandescent light, it is cool pink with lavender undertones.

In my opinion, we have quite a few lavender choices for both layering and encasing. So I decided to use this pretty pinkish lavender to brighten my pinks instead. Here, I layered it with Reichenbach's gorgeous Opal Raspberry, a warm, deep opal pink glass that I just love (and reviewed several years ago). It's the most saturated pink in the 104 line - and I wish it wasn't an opal! I hope CiM can make this as a dense opaque color some day.

Anyway, Purple Haze changed the warm pink into a cool pink - something which I just adore.

The major note with this color is to make sure you work it cool - too hot and it burns and you get scum. This is particularly true when using it as stringer. However, it does encase well, works as a layering color, and makes lovely spacers. It's a consistent color - no striking or odd reactions that I can see.

I plan to put this pale transparent over pretty much anything orange, pink or purple. It's also a limited run, so get it while you can. Nice job, as usual, CiM!




8 comments:

  1. Kandice, I too expected hazing or opacity when using purple haze. :)

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  2. I love these reviews. You do a really nice job showing the shade in it's true light. I love the comparison to other glass so I really get why I MUST have the color :) Thank you.

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  3. I haven't tried any Purple Haze yet, but Twilight is one of my new favourite colours. I wish it wasn't a limited run!

    Beautiful beads, Kandice, and great info as usual :)

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  4. Thanks for the comments, everyone - I really appreciate the feedback! Comments are a blogger's best friend. :)

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  5. I love reading your reviews. As a newbie I find them invaluable. Thanks

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  6. Thanks so much for those reviews. I like seeing the colors all next to each other and makes me realize that I need to buy more purples!

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  7. How nice of you to help us out like this. I greatly value your opinion and am delighted to read more about these colors! Thank You.

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