Rainbow varnish and iridescent effect

Composed of transparent mother-of-pearl, iridescent varnish allows you to varnish and protect any surface while also providing it with an extraordinary visual effect. It is the simplest product among special effect varnishes and allows easy and quick application, to give a special touch, on a raw and bare material, or an existing paint.

The iridescent pearl varnish is therefore quick and easy to apply, in a single step. Iridescent is a loose term for the effect of fine particles, reflecting light and creating a shimmering effect that appears and disappears depending on the light.

It's a very pleasing effect to the eye, which universally appeals, probably because it subconsciously recalls the brilliance of stars. It is often confused with rainbow varnishes which belong to another family of iridescent effects : prismatic holography.

Iridescent pearl varnishes

While rainbow varnish reflects light, breaking it up into all the colors (the appearance of which depends exactly on the angle of view in degrees), iridescent varnish, on the other hand, also reflects the light, but converts it to a single color, regardless of viewing angle.

For example, it only returns green. This property is an optical phenomenon caused by the material of the mother-of-pearl particle which absorbs part of the light and therefore part of its color, then returns only part of it: for example green. The iridescent pearl varnish has the main advantage of being almost completely transparent: it will not change or modify the appearance of the object and the color.

It will bring a color of light that is superimposed on physical matter, like a luminous and colored spectrum. The pearlescent varnish shimmers, shines and brings a magical decorative touch to all surfaces.

The limits of pearlescent varnishes

This iridescent effect is created by special nacres which are microscopic pigments. Incorporating this effect into a polish creates a glossy finish that's convenient and quick. But the "varnish" version has a major drawback, especially when you want to paint and decorate vertical surfaces: as varnishes tend to be slow to dry, drips can occur, which causes the varnish to move and mother-of-pearl, but also with what we will call "marbling" defects.

The different types of varnish iridescent effects 

It is mainly according to the size of the iridescent pigments that we qualify and differentiate the iridescent effects. There are different families and sizes of mother-of-pearl (ultra-fine or "borosilicate" type, larger and more sparkling), but also sequins which give glittery, larger, stronger and less transparent effects. We also have the iridescent rainbow effects which are a phenomenon created by holographic or prismatic paints. Iridescent is therefore a fuzzy term that refers to ultra-fine light reflections.

Phosphorescent varnish