Polymer Clay glaze comparison

;The glazes I'll be covering in this review are varathane gloss, sculpey glaze, Modge podge, and clear nail polish. Now I know (for some of you more professional crafters) there are a couple other options for glaze which I did not metion. This is because I have very certain standards of which i do not post informational reviews that are not based on fist hand experience. So then, I will only be posting techniques I've tried, and with dedicated research I can state that what I recommend is very popular in the clay community and can be backed up by many other artists.

I've decided to start from the worst and build my way up to the best. So here goes nothing; #1 Modge podge. The best way to review Modge podge is to tell you my whole experience with it, beginning to end. I first tried using Modge podge as a glaze when i had run out of my normal glaze at the time. A friend had made a clay project while visiting and she asked me to glaze it for her. I, clueless complied, only to find I had none. I had read somewhere that Modge podge (a glossy crafting liquid glue) makes a good polymer clay glaze. Testing out the theory, I brushed the glue onto my friends project. I was very worried about all the bubble that appeared on the piece, but I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. The next day I found the project; bubbles still ominously protruding. I was very unhappy with the results. Along with bubbles, streak lines from the paint brush boldly stood out, along with cloudy white lines where the glaze was laid on ever so thicker. Modge podge was a desperate test and an absolute failure. Unless you're looking for a "streaked with bubble look", I highly do not recommend using this product for a polymer clay glaze, despite its many other wonderful uses!

Thankfully my friend was not bothered by how her project turned out and only thanked me for introducing her to polymer clay.

Next on the list is clear nail polish. Now thankfully for your sake, I don't not have quite as a lengthy story for this product as I do for Modge podge. What I will state though is the surprising minority of its users. Defidently not the most popular by far, the clear nail polish glazers defidently hold their own, but much more in the "kawaii charm making community" ( a style of polymer clay sculpting, though not nearly as technical as most). Clear nail polish'a convenience can be very appealing to many. Its cheap, you can probably find it around the house, and logically looks like it will do the job. In some ways it does, most it doesn't. Because of the small size of the nail polish brush, glazing can become an extreamly time consuming project (As it it is with any sort of brush glaze technique- which I will further explain in another post). Along with that, nail polish goes bad or dries out easily and quickly, resulting in an undrying, thick, goopy mess. Even if the polish is in sublime condition, you will find your projects feeling rather tacky, even after a day of curing. From some research I did, (which I can't prove is 100% true) I learned that most nail polishes contain chemicals which break down polymer clay. If tacky clay creations weren't enough for you, you probably don't won't want to hear about heats effect on nail polish. Maybe you've noticed ( if you wear nail polish) that on a hot summer day, you're nail polish might start to feel a little sticky, and if you touch your nails, you leave little finger print marks. The same goes for nail polish glazed clay projects. This can be really bad if you're making jewelry you plan to wear out in the summer. Either way, nail polish glaze has just too many repercucusions, though not always apparent at first. I would defidently recomend using this stuff for manis, and not for clay glaze.

Sculpey gloss glaze was my first introduction into clay glazing, and before I start, I'll let you know that this glaze also has its fair share of ups and downs. Discredited by many in the "clay community", the positives of sculpey gloss glaze are defidently overlooked. This glaze for one, is quite strong, looks fairly nice (depending on how well you apply it), and provides a good amount for those wanting to test its capabilities for themselves. An asked for birthday present, sculpey glaze originally became my go to gloss. Creating an extra glossy coat of protection on all my old creations, fulfilling a rather "finnished" look, I took to using this product at an alarming rate, soon using up the small overpriced bottle in which it came. After finnishing the bottle I went on to try more glazes, and sculpey's gloss glaze quality became prevalent. For one, this glaze (thick as it is) has to be applied with brush. As I mentioned Earliar, this is a time consuming process, not suited for mass producers as I am. Also, when the glaze is not applied evenly, cloudy areas will appear. Later on, when I had had the glaze for a while, bubbles started to form, especially in hard to get places or cracks. I would also recomend to be wary when making jewelry with scupey glaze covered creations. Sharp wires and eye screws can crack the glaze and ruin the look of the piece. 

Overall this isn't too bad of a brand, compared to that of the previous options. I really just depends on what you plan to make, how much you're making, and how you plan to use it.

Defidently the most fantastic of all glazes (which many can back up) is varathane polyurethane crystal clear gloss. Super shiny, thin, durable , and easy to use, I label this product as number one! Creations can be easilly dipped in this glaze (faster and effortless), looks super even, and dries within roughly an hour or two. I use this stuff on everything now. The only draw back really is the cost. 15 dollars on amazing for roughly two cups of this stuff!!! Don't even let me get into the gallon sizes! I've seen this product prices at 9 dollars in Canada, but that's nowhere local for me. So if you're at the stage where you've become a one man clay factory or a very serious artist, I would very much recomend this to you. They don't label this stuff crystal clear for nothing (which is better than most urathanes can say for themselves)! Now if you're only starting out with polymer clay in an art form where you need glaze, just go ahead and get sculpey's, just to get the hang of glazing and to see if you like the results in small quantities.

I really hope this review was useful. If you agree or disagree with any of my opinions, feel free to share below! If you have any questions about any of the glazing techniques I've presented, just comment and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!

Pearlescent Clay

A beautiful accent to all your sculpted projects can be accomplished with pearlescence. It adds lightness, shimmer, and a hint of glitz, depending on how you use it. I use it for making shimmery, satin like clothing for human sculptures and lifelike shimmering flowers. Pearl is great for delicate feminine projects as well as interesting cabochons. Now, there's a few methods at which you can accomplish this look.

Pearl clay is great for big projects. It comes in lots of Colors and plenty of brands carry it (Fimo, Sculpey III, Premo!) Its extremely shimmery. It is also great for accents on regular clay projects and easy to control.

Pearl Powers are also wonderful products! They come in ton s of colors and are created by a couple brands. Pearl Ex is my personal favorite. Pearl Ex comes in a fairly big container and the company carries TONS of colors! If this brand isn't for you, or you're looking for a smaller container,  I've seen combo packs at Hobby Lobby. Each combo pack contains about 4 coordinating pearl pigments and 3 glitters, all in small interlocking circle canisters. Either way you can't go wrong. You can dip small projects in pearl powder or you can easily brush it on. There's tons of techniques you can use with this product, each giving a completely unique look to your project. My advice? Experiment.

 

Along with pearl power, shimmery eye shadow or makeup can be used with great effect. Either break up the makeup or brush from the cake directly. It's cheap, convienient, and looks good on the clay as well as your face! This can be used with pretty much the same techniques as pearl powder. The brand I've tried is Lip Smacker's Dazzle Dust, but don't be afraid to try out different shades of dazzling eye shadow. It comes in a small compact and comes in two colors: pale pink and white. 

Despite the colors, this stuff is fairly transparent and works good on any color clay, the same being said for pearl ex (White). If you don't want to buy all the colors (Trust me, it's gets expensive), just get white. It doesn't actually show up stark white, so it looks good on everything, letting most of the clay's color to show through. 

Another great technique to use with shimmer makeup or pearl powder is directly mixing it into the clay. The pearl effect does become much more subtle, but it creates the look of actually pearl clay.