Someone on here had mentioned that they liked using the Golden Matte Polymer Varnish right out of the jar to seal their dolls. MGDolls uses this varnish in combination with Super Matte medium, which I tried but got a sticky finish. Today I pounced the varnish straight from the jar onto this belly plate I painted in my class at ID&TS. I force dried it with a hair dryer. It did a good job of matting the sheen and left a soft finish. This looks very promising to me if it stays matte over time. I will let you know how it looks in several days. Here is a quick photo taken with my cell phone. It is not great for coloring but you can see the belly plate is not shiny nor does it look too dull and flat. This varnish also has UVLS which is good.
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I have used this for about 7-8 years now. Love it, and you can buy the 32 oz size much cheaper, per ounce. I think right now bet price is Amazon
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Does Amazon carry the paints? Or do you know? I’m still trying to figure out a paint I’m most comfortable with. I keep going back and forth with heat set and air dry.
I bought this jar off of Amazon.
MacPherson’s carries Golden paints and such according to MGDolls recommendations for her tutorials.
You can also buy lots of colors here:
I order things from Dickblick all the time.
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I seen some newer labeled bottles of Golden’s mediums at Michaels. They have been carrying the paint here(Oklahoma) for some time now- the hi flow that is but in limited colors.
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Can this be used over genesis paints?
I have not tried it but I have used other brands over them with no problems.
Once Genesis has been properly heat cured, air dry products usually stick to them just fine.
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So did I!
I have the set of 8 colors. I plan to try them when my back heals enough that I can sit for long enough to paint.
@anjsmiles Wondering if this is similar to Rebornfx 2in1? Sounds like it but not sure about the Removable part.
If you have used too much of the Golden retarder…like I sometimes do…it bleeds through the first layer and its why I originally tried putting the soft touch over it and that fixed the tiny dots of shine that came through. Ive been washing my doll parts if I use too much retarder now, like Melissa shows to do. I think it would also be ok just to do another light pouncing of the varnish. Ive had some babies sitting around for about two months and they still look great…no shine even with the soft touch.
No not the same at all. The 2 in 1 sealer is not at all matte. It leaves behind a good bit of sheen. This is matte.
Lil, this is another reason why I caution people not to us lots of retarder. It can slow down the cure time of the paints greatly. For those who use lots of retarder I would recommend letting your paints cure a minimum of 4 weeks first. Then apply a sealer/isolation coat and lastly this varnish or if you prefer to use a permanent varnish like Soft Touch then you do not have to apply an isolation coat. I myself use RebornFX sealer on all my paints before I varnish regardless of the brand varnish I plan to use.
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This is Megan i did with the orange hair and sealed with 2in1. (Which reminds me of the experiment i forgot to do-paint over 2in1 on practice head.). The first pic is daylight by a window and the second is tonight under ceiling light.The leg isn’t too bad but the arm does have some shine.I do like a totally matte finish.
@anjsmiles, Hi Angie, can you tell me what it means on the varnish jar when it says “removable”? Does that mean it’s going to wash off if you wipe the baby down with a soft damp cloth? Did you apply this varnish right out of the jar after stirring and then lightly pounce with a cosmetic wedge to matte it down? Did you add any matting powder? Does it dry sticky? Thanks.
I used Melissa’s recipe for isolation coat on my last doll. I don’t know if its that or the fact that Im washing the retarder off…also not using it in my paint washes…but I didnt have the same problem with this one.
this varnish doesn’t wipe off with water, after it dries.I never mixed anything in with it, just do two coats, pounced well, dry well in between’
you need to use alchol (sp) to remove it
Removable varnish refers to varnish that can be removed with a solvent such as ammonia. It does not mean it will come off with water. When using a removable varnish, you want to apply an isolation coat first which is a permanent sealer on the paints. Then the removable varnish. If ever you need to remove the varnish, the isolation coat will keep the paints from coming off. Then you can either re-varnish or paint over your work and then seal again.
I didn’t get a pic yet but my belly plate I sealed with this is curing to a more dewy and less matte finish than it started out. It looks pretty much the same right now as the RebornFX Ultra Matte Varnish when cured. I usually add more RebornFX matting powder to my varnish to get a more matte finish. I will have to test the matting powder in this product to see if it is compatible.
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Thanks ladies, I appreciate all your input.
Melissa tested the Polymer varnish with the Reborn FX matting powder. Its under Product Testing and Review.
Here we are 3 days out. The varnish should be pretty much cured now. It has a light dewy sheen to the finish. Very comparable to the finish I get with the RebornFX Ultra Matte Varnish I have been using. Here is my cell phone photo. I will be honest to say this is more sheen than I prefer my dolls to have but when it comes to air dry varnishes I have as of yet to find a finish that is as matte as I am able to get using Genesis Satin mixed with Matte.
@RebornsbyZebra, yes I saw MGDolls testing of the matting powder with the varnishes.
She did not use it the way the company recommends, which is to melt the powder in some distilled water first. Using the water powder mix will thin whatever varnish you put it in some but then that in and of itself will help to cut sheen as well. I have yet to play around with doing that.
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Do you bake after using it or it should be air dry?