So far I've only used Pearl Dust that I've found at Micheal's. Locally it is the only store that carries any cake decorating supplies ;( I want to order some Petal Dusts and was wondering if anyone can give me their preference between these two brands (and why): Petal Dust by CK Products vs Petal Dust by Sunflower Sugar Art

Also can someone explain to me how Luster Dust varies from Pearl Dust?

For Luster Dust, which do you prefer between these two (and why): Luster Dust by CK Products vs Lustre Dust by Creative Cutters.

I also want to get some sort of Gold and Silver Dust - what do folks prefer? I've read that Highlighter dust gives a good color for these?

The colors will be used to accent fondant/gum paste flowers, figures etc and to use with stencils on fondant.

I am not sure of the difference between luster dust and pearl dust. I thought they were about the same thing. As far as ordering petal dusts I order mine from lusterdust.com. They have a good selection with great colors and decent prices. I have also ordered their gold highlighter dust and it works great. I used it on the dragon cake in my photos. It gave the gold look that I was going for. Hope this helped!

Wilton's Pearl dust, other than their White is like Luster dust in my opinion.

Pearl dusts are white colored dusts that have a shimmer to them. Sometimes they have undertones of other colors, which makes them irredecent.

Petal dusts are matte colors and are often used for coloring flowers.

Luster dusts are shimmery dusts but come in the colors, like blue, yellow, gold, silver and so on.

Most brands are pretty much the same and I think alot of people shop by color over brands.

One thing to note is that alot of the dusts out there are non-toxic which is not the same thing as edible. And there are a few that are non edible as well.

Wilton's pearl dusts are fda approved and are edible. Crystal Colors by SugarcraftLLC are also edible. They are actually powder colors that can be used not only as dusts, but also can be mixed into your buttercream, royal icing,fondant, gumpaste and so on. They do have some Crystalized colors which are similar to the luster dusts.

I think the Wilton pearl dusts are a poor excuse for Luster dust. They contain a lot of cornstarch and aren't really very shiny.

Highlighter dusts ARE NOT EDIBLE, so I rarely use them at all.

For petal dust uses that won't be eaten, I use ground up non-toxic CHALK pastels. I get the box of 48 at Michael's, grind them in a small tea strainer using the handle of a spatula and mix them to make custom colors. Petal dusts that are non-toxic are basically the same thing.

For edible petal dusts and luster dusts, I use Crystal Colors. All FDA approved, go a long way, beautiful colors, muti-tasking dusts. You can find them at sugarpaste.com

HTH
Rae

thanks for the explanation!

I've never heard of Crysal Colors - will check them out.

Are they (sugarpast.com) the only ones that sell 'edible' colors?

If I add the dust to fondant using a stencil application it will be eaten ... so how worried do I need to be about the difference between 'edible' and 'non-toxic'? i'm curious what others think of the differences?

As for using 'non-toxic' chalks, I had read about it and tried it on a little figure I had made - i found that the chalk dust did not stick to the fondant very well... i then tried some Wilton Pearl dust I had and it did stick without any problem... but i really wasnt' going for a 'pearl' look...

I need to place an order by tomorrow in order to get them in time for my next cake)

wondering if Crystal Colors are the ONLY edible 'colors' out there and what folks thing of 'edible' vs 'non-toxic' colors applied to a part of the cake that will be eaten?

I'm slowly working my way to buying more and more of the Crystal Colors. I loved being able to match my colors of my flowers to the colors of my cake when I did one of my ICES Cakes.

Non-Toxic means that it shouldn't hurt you but isn't meant to be consumed. Think Elmer's glue, it is non-toxic and yes I am sure somewhere there are kids that have eaten it and have never gotten sick.

You have to do what you feel comfortable with. I have used non-toxic dusts on my cakes in the past, even on parts that are edible and no no one got sick. But since there are dusts out there that are edible, I like knowing I can buy those and use those.

I hate Wilton dusts....I can never get them to do right! I love the little jars of CK dusts. They work great every time I have used them.

Thank you!!