Friday June 3, 2011

Review: Decoden Whipped Cream Mediums

Today I will be reviewing the following mediums for whipped cream:

1. Winsor & Newton Galeria Modeling Paste(also reviewed here)
2. Decoart Paintable Textures Modeling Paste

As I mentioned in my first whipped cream mediums review, I'm constantly looking for better solutions for my whipped cream. A non-toxic medium that dries to a durable consistency, beautiful color, and beautiful shape is ideal. These two are the top of the line so far - both are very, very good mediums that satisfy all of the above to some degree. You can't go wrong with either product. Below is a picture of the Galeria.

dickblick.com was having a Galeria sale so the modeling paste was on sale at Blick Art Materials for 50% of its original price for $10.50. Because of this I got the bigger size. This paste comes in two sizes - 250 ml and 500 ml. It is still on sale as of this post and you can purchase it here.

Below is a picture of the decoart modeling paste, courtesy of Amazon. You can purchase it here.

When I bought it, it was $8.12. Amazon products frequently change prices in accordance with demand and for some reason the Decoart paste goes out of stock quite frequently. Well it is an amazing product and I will show you why. Below is a picture of a simple shell. The top shell, as labled, was piped with the Decoart modeling paste and the bottom shell was piped with the Galeria modeling paste.

These are freshly piped shells and you can already see the beautiful detail from the Decoart modeling paste. The Galeria does not hold the fine detail of the shells quite as nicely, unfortunately. Below is a picture of the Decoart modeling paste piped in swirls and dollops. Pardon my lack of piping skills >_<. Once again, click the picture for an enlargement.

It is no surprise that the Decoart paste holds detail better as it is a thicker, heavier paste. The Galeria paste is thin, fluffy, and light. Same kind of picture below, produced with the Galeria paste now.

If you're interested in seeing just how thick the Decoart paste is (what am I saying? You can't even judge without feeling it! xD), below is a picture of me spooning it out. It feels like chocolate chip cookie batter!

So how did they dry? Well, here's the interesting part. The Galeria paste dried brittle and hard. No cracking! It also dried a gorgeous icy white color. Awesome! Looks just like white fondant if you use it as frosting. The Decoart was just ever so slightly yellowish in comparison, but the difference was hardly noticeable. I got so excited about the Decoart that I deco'ed a couple of things quickly. Below is a picture of a higlighter cap I put a few tiny cookies on. You can really see the detail in this one. I was confident that the cream would be durable, as the folds of the cream are flexible - similar texture to silicone though not as shiny and rubbery looking. Both had a matte finish. I think that the yellowness of the Decoart can be remedied by painting over it in white - after all, it is a paintable texture! I personally have not tried it myself though.

Here is a close-up picture of a black notecard box I deco'ed. You really don't notice the yellowness here, if there is any.

And here is a picture of two macarons with whipped cream filling. The Heart-shaped one was made using the Galeria and the brown one was filled with Decoart paste. You can choose which one looks better; I'm going with the Decoart paste for its excellent detail. I'd say that both pastes are pretty much the same white color here.

And here's a picture of freshly piped Decoart onto the brown macaron.

Honestly, both are good choices and it's really dependent on what you want your pieces to look like. Both stay on materials pretty well, although I haven't tested sticking power on any whipped cream medium quite yet. They both dry in about the same amount of time - 24 hours to be safe. The flexibility of the Decoart paste really won me over, while the color of the Galeria was unmatchable. I encourage you to try both if you have the money. They're about the same price if they're not on sale anyway.

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