Hello,

I am thrilled with the opportunity to comment on full spectrum paints. There is nothing like the experience, nothing to compare in any regard. We lived in Arizona and used Citron Paints. Every room in our home was painted a different desert color with agave trim throughout to unify the spaces. I painted key furnishings in each room in the gloss version of agave and it was memorable. What I like about it is that it has a presence. You have an experience in any room adorned with it. As to quality, we tried some Ellen Kinnon and it did not compare in my opinion with the quality of the Citron paint. The was a noteworthy difference in quality. I know this paint is expensive and I, fortunately understand the principles behind it that justify the expense. The point is this: every bit of this paint on the wall pays you back every moment you are in a room that is painted with it. I don't think it gets any better than that. Do not miss the opportunity. No paint I have ever used (we have owned many homes and often painted them twice with all kinds of paints) can compare. If you are lucky enough to have the chance to utilize it, consider yourself blessed.

Suzanne in North Carolina 12/26/08

Hey everyone,
Check out Philip's Perfect Colors: www.philipsperfectcolors.com.

He is a master, AND he mixes his colors in a C2 Paint LoVo paint base, so technically is the first paint to combine full-spectrum color with low-VOC technology, what's not to love about that?

His online color palette is gorg.

Inspirista-- Thank you! Thank you! I've been trying to remember Philip's name since December, looking on and off through the internet. His palettes are beautiful, and I'm glad to find him again!

I have used CITRON paint several times. IT IS AMAZING! I have used Fedora, Butterscotch, Jack O Lantern and Bora Bora. I am not a "blue" person but the shade of Bora Bora is so soothing and calming. I live in Pennsylvania so my paint is shipped...sometimes I do drive to a Ben Moore store for AURA, which is nice IF you have never been introduced to Citron full spectrum. The people at Citron are wonderful to talk to and help with selection.When Citron paint is on a wall and then AURA is beside it...you cannot believe the difference. I cannot explain it....you just want to touch your wall, it is so "moving." Good Luck!

I recently purchased paint cards from Citron, Ellen Kennon, and Donald Kaufman Color, and I want to add my experience and opinions.

First of all, I became interested in full spectrum paint in 2005 when I first heard about Devine Color (which ISN'T a full spectrum paint but was often attributed as such at the time). I researched the paint and the companies. At the time Donald Kaufman didn't have views of his paint on his website, except for a few pictures. His color names are numbers, so they are not exactly evocative. Citron paint had an incomplete daub sheet on their website which I printed out. Ellen Kennon had pictures of her paint in rooms and many other websites also had pictures of rooms people painted in Ellen Kennon paints.

Paint chips from these companies were not cheap at the time, my financial resources were limited, and my new home was already very nicely painted by the previous owner. So I put it off. Several months ago I received a complimentary paint brochure from Farrow & Ball and I was SO delighted with it, I decided to take the plunge and order a fan deck from a full spectrum paint company. I chose Citron paints.

This is what their website says: "Pick a color, any color! Our fan decks are 5"x3" samples of ALL of our luscious paint colors conveniently fit together in one colorful book." Imagine my surprise when my fan deck did not contain 99 colors in it just like their website has! When I emailed the company about this, this is the response I received: "the fan deck contains only our active colors; we can still make those colors (and we keep them on our online daub sheet if people want to see what they look like). unfortunately, many of those colors are available only in gallons, not in quarts and paint pots."

HUH?!?! First of all, their website does not mention "active colors" and over the last five years, their online daubsheet has changed once. I noticed that some numbers had been renamed, so I assumed that that meant the color previously connected to that number had been discontinued and a new color subbed in its place.

Let the Buyers Beware! For the record here are the color numbers that were omitted in my deck: 2, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 25, 27, 33, 49, 59, 61, 63, 64, 67, 71, 73, 89, 91, 94, and 97. So, I only got approximately 75% of what I thought I was paying for :( .

Since I was so bummed about this, I decided to remedy the situation for myself and I immediately purchased paint chips from the other two well-known full spectrum paint companies. I paid $100 (includes shipping) for my Citron deck, $75 shipping for my Kaufman deck, and $11 (includes shipping) for my Ellen Kennon deck (the thin strips option).

Here are my thoughts on full spectrum paint: It is noticeably different (to me) than your average paint. The colors are luminescent and stop short of being iridescent. I work with eyeballs for a living so I know that not everyone sees color the same way. (I'll spare you the technical explanation. )

Citron paint colors are bold and vibrant, a lot of the colors are very richly and darkly shaded. You notice them right away. They do seem to be influenced by the location where they are developed. When I first looked at my paint deck, it didn't scream "southwest" to me, but when I removed the colors I did not like right off the bat, and then laid them out to figure out why I did not like them, I realized that they had a "colors of the southwest" vibe going on. To be clear, that is not why I did not like them. It's just something I didn't notice at first glance that I did at second glance. I had originally mentally rejected Kaufman because I had the impression that the colors were specifically formulated to work with the NYC views, which are not the views I live with (and it turns out I was wrong on this point, anyway). If you live in that area of the country, or love the colors of that area, you would probably LOVE this full spectrum paint. Or if you like bolder more vibrant colors in you living environment.

Donald Kaufman colors are soft and quiet, in going through the deck I sensed them emotionally before I sensed them visually. The colors are very soft. Even the darker, bolder colors have a whisper-quietness about them. The non-neutral colors felt neutral in a way. The Kaufman deck had a lot of lighter, softer colors in it. It had several palettes in it and one palette is entirely devoted to shades of white. If you want a lighter, softer, space where the walls are beautiful but not necessarily the focal point, or if you live in an area that doesn't get a lot of light and you want to make the most of the light you do get, Donald Kaufman will probably please you.

Ellen Kennon colors are somewhere between the two. In the past, I had mentally rejected her colors because, from looking at website pictures, I felt that they were too muted for my tastes. It turns out that I was right about that. However, based on friends comments, my taste in color is unconventional, and I feel that Kennon paints would appeal to many people and would fit in in a lot of homes. I feel that I can best describe her colors as "museum colors". They are the colors that you notice on the walls from a distance and admire the color. When you are up close, the color becomes a backdrop and you notice what is in front of it. Her colors seem to be a fairly even mix of dark and light shades. A lot of neutrals.

One further note: When I fanned out the decks, Citron and Kaufman seemed to have the most harmonious palettes. You could probably put any two colors next to each other and they would look good together. With Ellen Kennon I noticed a few shades "stuck out" (but MOST would work well together). An attempt at cross-pollination between the various brands was a visual disaster. So if you are going to use full-spectrum paint in your home, stick with one brand for "line of sight" spaces.

If you are considering full spectrum paint, I hope that this helps shed a little light on which brand might be best for you. I really think it depends upon personality and taste and the type of space you live in and the light it receives. As for me, after all of this, I have decided to paint my bedroom a Farrow & Ball color and the other rooms in my home are TBD.