This Experienced Contractor Proclaims a Full-Throated Five Stars
As an interior painting contractor, I had questions. Like why is the color deck...textured? How come there are hardly any greens, or eggplants, yet there are 119 colors, one of which is this blazing red? You should be able to get a purple out of all that, right? Well, the amazing staff of Alkemis patiently answered all my questions and more, and this truly is a fundamentally different (and better!) paint.
1.) It's textured to give you a sense that when this stuff goes on the wall, it isn't smooth. Nor is it rough per se, but it does have a certain texture -- sort of a matte, or perhaps more accurately a "suede" finish. Love that. When applied, the paint IS the wall - like it almost *becomes* the wall itself. What remains, after the evaporation and the binders have gone, is a coat of something that is a genuine solid, and lasts ages. It's how humans painted surfaces for aeons (that's why we find something buried for millennia and somehow the paint job isn't all gone)!
2.) Why not purple? First of all, they *can* customize more colors than just what's in the deck, but there are some hues that aren't as readily available given the types of physical pigments they're using. And you know what? That's OK. There are plenty to choose from (and even more if you contact them - they're wicked responsive), and the color deck itself a masterclass in harmony. Our own colorist concurs that my company could paint eight grand rooms with multiple sight-lines to one another in different Alkemis colors and they would harmonize incredibly well. It's a great palette.
This fan deck, and Alkemis, is the real deal and I, for one, am incredibly excited to apply this genuinely ecological (not just "slightly less bad for the environment" like conventional) paint. If you're a colorist, designer, or high-end conscientious interior painter who steers homeowners away from "good" and firmly toward fabulous, then get. This. Deck.
