What color of glow in the dark powder should I use?

Glow in the dark pigment powder is a fun colorant to use in soap, wax melts, and other craft projects. Unlike standard glow powders that are white or light yellow in color, our glow in the dark powders are mixed with a pigment. This means that the powder glows in the dark while also tinting your projects a colorful shade.

We carry 14 shades of glow in the dark powder, covering the whole rainbow. Glow powder can also be mixed together to create custom colors. The possibilities are endless! If you're wondering what colors glow in the dark best, learn everything you need to know here.

Powder Color vs Glow Color

One thing to know our glow powders is that the color of the pigment doesn’t necessarily represent the glow-in-the-dark color. In other words, the powder might look one color in daylight, but appear a different color once you turn out the lights.

This can be confusing when you’re new to pigmented glow colors. However, this guide will help you pick the perfect color for your project. See the table below for a comparison of powder colors and glow colors.

Color is highly subjective, but here are some descriptions of the colors as they appear to us. Note that ‘powder color’ refers to how the powder looks in daylight, while ‘glow color’ refers to the color you see when the lights are off.

• Coral Red: Powder color is salmon pink, and glow color is light pinkish orange.
• Deep Orange: Powder color is dark salmon pink, and glow color is yellowish orange.
• Ferrari Red: Powder color is intense bright red, and glow color is dark salmon.
• Magenta Pink: Powder color is bright pink, and glow color is fuchsia. Powder color is very similar to Magenta Purple but the glow colors are different.
• Magenta Purple: Powder color is bright pink, and glow color is true purple. Glow color is much more purple than the Magenta Pink.
• Pink: Powder color and glow color are both a light blush pink.
• Rose Pink: Powder color and glow color are both bright bubble gum pink.
• Purple: Powder color is a true purple, and glow color is a deep dark blue. Use this if you want your project to have a purple pigment in natural light.
• Blue: Powder color is sky blue and glow color is bright turquoise blue.
• Green: Powder and glow color are both a bright, lime green.
• Golden Yellow: Powder is a sunshiny yellow, and glow color is a bright greenish yellow.
• Yellow: Powder color is a bright lemon yellow, and glow color is an intense yellow – almost acid green color.
• Orange: Powder color and glow color are both a pumpkin orange shade.
• Orange Red: Powder color is a reddish sunset orange, and glow color is a darker pumpkin orange color.

How to Mix Colors of Glow Powder

If you love the pigment of one color, but the glow color of another, why not mix them together! When you use more than one color of glow powder, you can get completely unique shades.

For example, you might love the look of the Purple powder, but want to have your project glow with a bright purple color rather than dark blue (see table above). You can achieve this by mixing Purple with Magenta Purple powder.

To mix colors, you can blend them together in powder form or simply add both colors to your project at the same time. For example, you can add a few scoops of different colors to your melted wax.

Mixing colors will affect the pigment as well as the glow shade. Experiment with different combos and have fun with it!

Glow Intensity by Color

Another important thing to know about glow powder is that different colors will glow with varying intensities. This is because colors all give off different wavelengths of light – some of which will appear brighter than others.

When it comes to glow powder, colors in the 500-590 nanometer range will generally give off the brightest and most visible glow. This includes colors in the yellow, green, and light blue family. These colors are in the middle of the visible light spectrum.

On the other hand, colors in the 600-740 nanometer range (reds, pinks, and dark oranges), as well as the 380-500 nanometer range (purple and dark blue), will have a less intense glow. These colors are found on the ends of the visible light spectrum. 

All of our glow powders have a beautiful pigment and glow. Glow intensity is not about the quality of the pigment. Some are simply brighter than others due to the physics of light.

If you are wondering which colors have the brightest glow possible, we recommend ones that fall in the 500-590 nanometer range:

• Green
• Yellow
• Golden Yellow
• Blue

These colors tend to “charge” the quickest and require the least amount of light to be charged. You may find that green, yellow, and blue glow powders can be charged with just a short burst of incandescent light.

Purple, pink, and orange powders have a beautiful glow too. However, they tend to perform best when charged with an ultraviolet light source. Daylight or sunlight works great. These colors will also charge with incandescent light, but it will take longer and the glow effect might not be as intense compared to charging them with UV light.