This summer, my husband got me the Technicolour Kit by Culture Hustle ($46.00 USD) (Stuart Semple’s art supply wing) and I’ve been dying to play with it. However, like so many of us, I never really felt I had anything that was “worth” playing with these supplies. I get it into my head that this notebook is too pretty to screw up, or these paints are too expensive to waste – and then they end up sitting until I decide I’m good enough.

I ended up with a spare practice canvas this weekend working on Dutch pours and finally decided, what the heck. Let’s do this.

I wanna preface this by saying that it will become quickly apparent as to why I ONLY do abstract and watercolors – I cannot draw to save my life. Also, this is obviously not a sponsored post, or a paid review or anything like that – I just buy art supplies and before I do, I always search out as many experiences as I can in order to make a good judgement so this is me contributing to that in hopes that it helps someone else!

The kit comes with three pieces – “Stick”, “Prysm” and a foam brush, reminiscent in shape and material of a beauty blender type sponge. I recommend watching the video that Stuart Semple put out to announce the product because it’s a great 101. The premise of the material is simple: brush a thin coat wherever you want the powder to go, let it dry to translucent and pat/push/brush the powder on with the enclosed sponge stick.

I remember watching it and thinking that it really reminded me of using holographic or chrome powders for nail art, something I’m very familiar with.

Below are some pictures of the process. You can see that I first taped the main area, then the smaller areas for my crystals that I was creating. The glue dried very quickly – much less than the 10 – 15 minutes recommended, but if you aren’t familiar with this type of glue, it won’t hurt you to wait until the time’s up so you don’t start powdering before the surface is ready.

The sponge is honestly worthless. The top part that attaches it isn’t long enough to give it a sturdy home, so it bends and warps and it’s like using a hot dog to apply this powder, tbh. It also ended up crumbling in parts, and I wasn’t brushing or rubbing vigorously. I was pushing the powder into the glue and moving onwards. I get that we’re not buying the kit for the brush, but if you’re gonna call it out like Semple did in his video and provide it as a tool to use, make it serviceable. That’s a pet peeve of mine. It’s like buying a makeup palette and they talk about the brush included that was specifically designed for use with these pigments and it turns out you can get a better one at Dollar General.

What about the pigment?

Well, it’s not going to be opaque so don’t expect that. Holos work better on darker surfaces, so for the most intense reactions, you’ll want to use something much darker than what I used here. The powder has good staying power and it’s refractive, but (and I hate to say this) I have holo powders that are much more intense than this one for significantly less. I’m not sure if this has to do with Culture Hustle’s process or if the materials used for this are ecofriendly (such as with their not-glitter), but I wasn’t blown away, even accounting for the lighter colors.

I outlined everything in Blk 3.1 (I was part of the kickstarter backers that got caught at the very end when they had to reformulate due to exploding bottles). I believe that this helped a lot with the holo effect, giving it something to bounce off of.

Here’s a picture of the rainbow gradient I was able to get. The subtle color is about true to life for this one.

None of the pictures have been put through filters or adjusted in any way. Holo is hard to capture with pro equipment, and I am just using an iPhone so keep that in mind. If I were to do this again, I’d block out the shape with a dark background, then apply the Prysm.

Overall, I wouldn’t say that this is a miss – if you think that you’ll use it in some applications. $46.00 is a lot of money for a supply that you don’t have a clear vision of use for. I do feel that CH has better supplies to use for like, artistic purposes.

It went great over acrylics, and I didn’t notice any degradation or damage to the paint underneath at all. What I’m planning on doing next is a head-to-head with some of my nail powders over a couple of blacks – the Blk 3.1, a mars and a carbon based black, just to see what the actual comparison is.

If you don’t have nail powders, or enjoy Culture Hustle’s products, then pick it up. I’d recommend picking up some sponge eyeshadow applicators as well and forgoing the applicator included in the kit.