Cernit Pearl – Just Released

Cernit just released a new line of polymer clay called Cernit Pearl. This replaces the previous Cernit Glamour and it has an entirely new look that they didn’t have previously. Cernit Pearl comes in eight colors in 56 gram packages. You’ll find the following colors.

• Black
• Violet
• Magenta
• Blue
• Green
• Pink
• Pearl White
• Yellow

What’s Different From Cernit Metallic?

Since Cernit already has a pearly-appearing clay, why would they want to make a new line? The Cernit Glamour line (now discontinued) had blocks with a very fine mica that merely shimmered instead of sparkling. It’s easy to assume that this new line would also have a small flake of subtle shimmer. But no. Quite the opposite. The new Cernit Pearl has a very large mica flake with a substantially reflective shine. It’s much more sparkly and has a brighter shine than the Cernit Metallic line. Like the metallic line, though, I believe that Cernit Pearl also contains a synthetic mica which gives it this substantial shimmer.

Several of the Cernit Pearl colors are the same as the Cernit Metallic. I’ve compared them below with the closest colors. Top row is Cernit Pearl. Bottom row is Cernit Metallic. Large circles are baked, small circles are raw unbaked. You can also get a closer look in the video below.

Compared to Premo Accents?

Premo Accents is the line of translucent, sparkly, metallic, and glittery clays made by the Sculpey company. You can compare the Premo metallic colors in my metallic clay comparison article here. These colors are very different. They’re much more intense than the metallic and pearl colors of Premo. And the shimmer or sparkle of Cernit Pearl is much more refined and yet intense than the glitter of the Premo glitter clays. Cernit Pearl doesn’t contain glitter.

Does it Darken with Baking?

It’s normal for translucent clays to darken (sometimes substantially) when they’re baked. Even though this Cernit Pearl does have a translucent base, it doesn’t darken appreciably. It’s actually hard to tell because the clay is so shimmery that it appears lighter, depending on the light. You can see in the photo above that the small circles of unbaked clay are pretty much the same color as the large, baked circles.

How is Cernit Pearl for Mica Shift?

Oh my. Just oh…MY. Like take my breath away gorgeous. Not only does this stuff have a great sparkle, it also has the right kind of mica particle sizes to make extraordinary mica shift. (Mica Shift is a ghost image in the clay that happens by manipulating the particles in a certain way. There’s a tutorial for it included in my Sanding and Buffing tutorial.)

Are All the Colors Equally Sparkly?

No, the black Cernit Pearl is more subdued. It’s still an amazing effect and the large sparkles in it are stunning. But it doesn’t make a very good mica shift effect. If you’re needing a dark for your mica shift, I would use the Cernit Metallic Hematite color.

Can You Mix the Colors?

Yes! Absolutely! I was a bit dismayed at first to see that they included an excellent magenta and blue (cyan) for color mixing, but no yellow (EDIT in 2022….they now have yellow). No worries. Just use the excellent yellow from the Cernit Metallic line. You can mix any and all colors. And with that stunning white pearl, you can now create any pearl or metallic color that you’d want. In fact, the pearl white doesn’t seem to have any white pigment in it. It’s quite translucent, aside from the mica shimmer. So your color mixes will be quite intense, as you can see near the bottom of this article.

Does Varnish, Sanding or Resin Intensify the Effect?

Yes! I know these colors sand and buff beautifully, as seen here. But I chose to apply U-POL spray varnish to one half of each circle to see how the color and shimmer would be enhanced. And I wasn’t disappointed. Oh my. Just wow. See what I mean? Sanding and buffing is even better (see further below).