Daria posted a question about the differences in Cosmic Shimmer polishes and Inka Gold in the comments of my Gallery post.
I don't have much experience with any of them, but here's what I know so far.
Inka Gold is more solid, waxier. There are probably other ways to apply, but I applied it to the raised portion of my embossed paper with my finger. ETA : I just looked at a jar, it is also water-based, contains beeswax, and they say to apply with a soft cloth and buff.
The Cosmic Shimmer polishes come with a sponge applicator in the cover. Joggles has done a video on these where she also applies it through a stencil with either a Ranger blending foam, or a palette knife. They are water based. They dry quickly on the surface, yet they did dampen the paper which makes it nice for dry embossing without cracking.
The opal polish is opalescent. When I turn my card one way I see green, another I see more blue. AND they act like interference colors. Much different result on black paper than on white.
The lustre polish is shimmery, not glittery. The surface feels smooth to the touch, you don't feel glitter flakes. Maybe because it contains mica, not glitter? I'm almost positive it is not an interference color (won't change much on black, but might not show up so well either).
Both polishes improved after embossing. They became shinier. The demonstrator explained it as the paper stretching to reveal more mica?
I also have a few Cosmic Shimmer metallic polishes which I haven't tried yet. I don't believe they are interference either.
The demo I watched at Adventures in Stamping was with Stamplistic. I had seen him demo on youtube, so I sought him out at the show. They also sell a glitter polish which he didn't demo live. I bought my metallics from Joggles after watching her youtube a few months ago, I bought 1 opal and 1 luster from Stamplistic at the show.
When we got back to Jan's, she had the idea to use them with Inka Gold! Which had me thinking ... maybe I didn't "need" these at all! I have a few colors of Inka Gold. So if you are resisting the urge to spend (which I failed miserably), then get out your old Inka Golds (come in many colors other than gold) and play with those! Or, splurge a little and mix and match. I must like that limey green because I found Inka gold in a very similar color in my drawer.
You can find videos for more info on youtube. I would start with Stamplistic and Joggles, and also look for reconstituting Inka Gold.
FYI The Stamplistic demonstrator mentioned no need to use expensive card stock. He uses Georgia Pacific found at Walmart.
I hope this helped a little bit. Have fun gilding with whatever mediums you own. We also got out a tube of Rub n Buff at Jan's but didn't get a chance to play with it.
ETA : I couldn't leave you without a link.
Here is Bill with Stamplistic. He is demoing the Metallic Gilding Polish. Opal and Lustre polishes are new, so I didn't see a video for them, but they apply the same way. After watching the video, I realized I forgot to buff with paper towel. He also mentioned in person, that he ALWAYS checks the foam before he takes it to paper to make sure it is not goopy on the surface. As in the video, he mentions he wants the polish IN the foam, not ON it. Joggles has a little bit different technique, I'll let you find her videos. The polishes are sold both at Stamplistic and Joggles.
ETA again : Just found the
video that led me to Bill and Stamplistic in the first place. Additional tips.
Jan, check out the Glitter Kiss portion of this video. No mess glitter!