Making faux with polymer clay is definitely part of the fun of the medium. For metallic effects you have all sorts of options. All of the brands I have worked with have a selection of “metallic” clays that aren’t bad. You can add metal or mica particles, use surface decorations such as paints or pastes… Ginger Davis Allman, of The Blue Bottle Tree, has an excellent look at a variety of ways of getting a metallic look with polymer clay.
I’ve tried all the methods in Ginger’s photograph above except the Inka Gold and Precious Metal and they all have their place. I use plain gold clay for pieces I want the colour gold but am not worried about it being sparkly or shiny, generally in sculpting. I love the pastes and pearl ex on black clays where you want metallic but with a bit of the base colour as well. Using them on black makes a great aged look. Metallic leaf is good for when you actually want it to look like metal. Acrylic paints I’m not a fan of unless you need to paint up a piece with dimension in which case it makes a great metal finish.
My guilty secret though? I use plain metal coloured clays the most. The other materials tend to be used in classes because they have more bling but my work tends to not be that sparkly. It didn’t stop me from buying everything though.
