CiM Testing: Aloe Juice, Muskmelon & Mint Chip

I love green beads. I have three of my own bracelets that I wear and two of them are green. When I'm out shopping for clothes (not often) after choosing things in black and grey, I opt for green.

However, when it comes to green glass, I am mega fussy. There are some very strong green glasses out there; bright emeralds, vivid grass greens and vibrant pea greens. Thing is, I like my greens a little more subtle, so when I received my latest batch of CiM test glass I was over the moon to see some really pretty, pastel greens.

I immediately put the Aloe Juice with the Muskmelon and the Mint Chip and got to work on a set that combined all three.

See? Soft, delicate greens that look very crisp and fresh. The greener ones are Muskmelon encased in Aloe Juice, decorated with Mint Chip. The paler ones are Mint Chip encased in CiM Clear*, decorated with Muskmelon. The spacers are a mix of all three greens.

Now for a bit about each green ...

Aloe Juice

This is just a beautiful transparent green. It's a proper green green and not a yellowy one like some other transparent greens are. In the CiM palette I'd say it's closest to Appletini but a touch greener. Aloe Juice is super-smooth, not stiff and the rod I had was totally bubble free. It also etches to a perfect 'sea glass' finish. Yup, Aloe Juice just became my favourite transparent pale green.

Muskmelon

Muskmelon is a cream-green. An ivory-green. The colour reminds me of lime milk jelly or the creamy mousse part of a Key Lime pie. Yes, imagine mixing evaporated milk with a touch of lime green and you'll have yourself Muskmelon. It's a nice glass. Totally fuss-free and Goldilocks (just right) to work with. It's streak-free (so many opaque greens are streaky) and it works well as stringer too. It also etches beautifully. All-in-all, it's a fab opaque ivory-green.

Mint Chip

Imagine CiM Dirty Martini but a touch greener. Mint Chip is a gorgeous, soft mint green and it's one that I'll definitely be purchasing. Again, it's not streaky, it etches like a dream, works as stringer and is a doddle to use. I do like an unfussy glass! It does appear quite a bit paler when encased with clear but that is totally normal.

So that's that. I'll definitely be ordering Aloe Juice and Mint Chip. The Muskmelon is one of those it's-nice-to-know-it's-there colours that would be just right for certain things but I'm not sure I'd buy a whole wodge of it.

* I used to swear by Vetrofond Clear. For years. Then after a few bad batches of it I decided to give CiM Clear a whirl and eventually fell in love with it. It wasn't love at first melt and it took me a while to get used to it but now I adore it. CiM Clear likes to be worked quite cool but oooh, it's lovely. Way fewer bubbles and less scum than Vetrofond Clear.